Here are the pros to coupons:
It's free money!!!
The Cons:
Time and effort to cut and maintain the coupon organizers.
A lot of coupons might not be what you would buy.
Here are some tips to help sway you to use coupons:
If you hate cutting coupons, you can pay your child (if old enough) to do this for you. My daughter loves doing it and all I have to do is organize them.
EBAY! Yes, go look on ebay for coupons that you can use. These will save you on purchasing a paper and it will save you time. There are different ways to search for coupons, type in the following according to what you are looking for:
- Coupon Lot
- Baby Coupons Lot
- Food Only Coupons
- or type in a product I.E. French's Mustard Coupons. You can usually find some lots of one item for pretty cheap. When you know something will be free that week(with coupon), go Wednesday onto Ebay to ensure you will get the coupons before the sale expires.
Wan't multiple coupons but don't want to pay for them? Go to your neighbors and family that you know will not use their coupons and ask them to save them for you. I get 4 sets of coupons a week and never buy a paper. It never hurts to ask!
Even if you have a coupon for something you wouldnt normally buy, go ahead and file it in your organizer anyways. You never know when you can find this item free with coupon, that way if you don't like the item, all you wasted was the tax.
My top tips for using coupons:
- Just because you have a coupon for it, doesnt mean it's a good deal. My rule of thumb is it must be over 50% off with coupon or I will not buy it.
- Stockpile ~ If you find something on sale that is a great deal and that you will use a lot of, find that coupon lot on Ebay and stock up on them so you will have them and won't risk them not being on sale again.
- Two coupon organizers ~ I use two coupon organizers, one for food items and one for non food items. They are plastic and fit nicely in my purse. Others use envelopes, tackleboxes, and ziploc bags. Whatever is easier for you, I like to keep mine organized.
- Check the ads before leaving the house. If you put the coupons you know you are going to use in one envelope, it makes it really easy to stick to your list and it saves a LOT of time.
- Never leave home without them! You can use coupons from places like Walmart to the grocery store to Walgreens. You never know when you will find some unadvertised deals.
- Check out the clearance items, this way you will get more bang for your buck if they are clearancing out something that you have a coupon for. This is especially valuable for the health and beauty items.
Internet Coupons: Internet coupons are free and can really help when something is on sale for the week. Now every store's policy is different on what they accept but many stores will accept internet coupons. My top sites for internet coupons:
Most sites will allow you to print two of each coupon, please don't abuse this sytem! Do not try and copy your coupons that you have printed.
It will take a little while for you to notice how much you love coupons but once you start getting the hang of how to use them efficiently, you will be hooked! Like I said, it's free money and when you see at the bottom of the bill that you are saving 60%, 70% and even 90% yes I have saved that much MULTIPLE times at the store, you will actually look forward to grocery shopping!
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