First let me say that I am just a normal person like everyone else and I hope by sharing my thoughts I make you think and make you laugh all at the same time. I like to make things as fun as possible and I am not trying to offend anyone I am just trying to offer up some advice that I find very useful for myself and many others and at the same time not bore you to tears!
I am a single mom and I have a full-time job (and it is NOT couponing, lol). This being said I do not have 40 - 60 hours a week to scour the internet for the best deals out there like a lot of EXTREME couponers do. One of the main reasons/excuses I hear from people as to why they do not use coupons is that they simply do not have the time. At first I thought I used the same reasons/excuses simply because I had no idea what I was missing out on and how much money I was actually throwing away every week!
My method of couponing is quite simple and I must say it is quite effective. I still have time to work, spend time with my family and friends, be a great mom, and have a little fun (at least occassionally!) and I do not eat, breathe and live by coupons or deals (not that there is anything wrong with that!). I am admittedly anal and I have to do everything efficiently and precisely or I just don't feel the need to waste my time or energy on that particular task! Of course everyone is different and everyone has different things that work for them so the best advice I can give you is research every method until you find what works best for you. Would I like for everyone to follow my advice... and do I think my way is best... well of course I do... that's how we anal folks roll. But I also know that what I think about couponing (and everything else for that matter) is just my opinion and we all know what they say about opinions (you know... they are like a#@holes... everybody has one:). So the following is just my take on couponing (and if you could see how many coupons I have and how much money I save you would truly think I am a coupon guru and although I like to think so too it's just my humble, or not so humble, opinion).
So many EXTREME couponers think alike that they are like Stepford couponers... not that there is anything wrong with that but sometimes you have to think outside the box. If you have 40 - 60 hours a week to waste simply trying to save your family some extra money then my method more than likely will not be best for you. However, if you are just interested in saving money and still having a life... please continue to read!
I will start with the method that a lot of EXTREME couponers live by. They save every single insert from every week and file them away in accordians and then only go back to that insert when someone (that they have spent hours looking at their website) tells them there is a deal on an item and which insert to seek out. Not only did they have to file the inserts each week, now, for one single coupon they have to sort through all of those coupons again, cut out each coupon insert by insert, somehow organize the coupons they have just clipped, then re-file the insert back in its appropriate accordian and then fumble through their coupons at the store (I see this every time I go shopping and each time I do it boggles my mind!) to find the coupons they are looking for. I met one lady who had accordians for her inserts, an accordian for her store rewards, an accordian for her store coupons and a binder for the coupons she was going to use on her shopping trip... it wore me out just looking at all of her accordians/binders!!!! Then, a week later they find another deal and have to go through that same process again... find the inserts, clip all of those coupons, file the inserts back in the accordian, then go to the store and fumble with them in their hoards of files! I would pull all of my hair out and trust me I would not be an attractive bald person! I do not have that much time in my life to waste but kudos to those that can afford to spend that much time dedicated to the sport of couponing! I am not an athlete, I am more of an athletic supporter:)
I have given you a brief overview of the "COUPONING BY INSERT DATE" overview. Now I will explain to you how I, a lazy genius (I have the IQ to prove it), prefer to keep my coupons organized. It is so simple that for some crazy, unknown reason a lot of EXTREME couponers can not grasp the concept. I simply clip and file EVERY SINGLE COUPON I come across that meets the one basic requirement all of the coupons in my binder must meet... is this coupon for a product/service that I would use if someone gave it to me for free? If the answer to that question is yes I clip it and file it in my wonderful binder and go on about my day. I generally spend 2 hours a week clipping and organizing my coupons. When I get the Sunday paper, which is the a major contributor to my coupon binder, I also keep each sale ad. Then, after I have organized my coupons, I go through each ad and find the deals that I am interested in and open my binder to see if I have coupons for those items. I make a list for each store that I will visit that week with exactly what I will buy, I calculate how much I will spend, and then I go to that store and stick to the list! The only time I ever deviate from my list is when I find a clearance item or unadvertised sale and I get the product for a steal! With my CUT IT OUT Coupon organizer if you find Herbal Essences on clearance you simply open up your binder to the Health and Beauty section and go the the Herbal Essences sleeve and see if you have a coupon...it takes seconds...or you could spend hours on the internet searching for a deal on Herbal Essences, then spend another hour searching for those Herbal Essences coupons and cuttingt them out... it's exhausting to even think about doing all of that for me! The beauty of my organizer is that you have all of your coupons on you at all times and if you find one of those deals you know whether or not you have a coupon for it. If your coupons are in your accordian filed by insert date you have absolutely no idea of what coupons you have... you wait for someone else to tell you what's on sale AND you spend hours surfing the internet for such information! Not only are you wasting soooooo much time... you are wasting money! If you do not know what coupons you have how can you possibly maximize your coupon savings??? If I have a coupon I want to be able to not only know I have it but be able to access it easily if I need it! Is anyone starting to see that an accordian is just a time-sucking machine?????
Again, I am only trying to help others and give you alternatives on how to save money. After all, that is why we are all using coupons isn't it... to save money? I am not trying to offend anyone or discount anyone's way of couponing... I am simply offering an alternative and trying to save you a lot of time and since time is money... well...you get the drift... I am trying to save you some money!
Thanks for letting me share my thoughts/ideas/ methods with you! I appreciate you all so much!
Have a great day and God Bless!
Tina
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