I have heard it a thousand times... "I wish I had time to coupon..." I honestly have found myself unable to come up with a response to this because, in my head, I am thinking, "How can you not have time?"
Each week, I spend about 30 minutes clipping coupons. When I am taking a break from writing or blogging or while dinner is simmering on the stove, I start looking for deals. I will go through the ads and find which deals are going to work best for me. Then I write them down on a sheet of paper to deal with later.
The night before I coupon I set up my transactions. For example, if I am going to do the 5/25 coupon at Dollar General I will try to create 25 dollar transactions and keep my OOP as low as possible. If I am doing CVS, I will focus on rolling my ECBS in order to use them instead of actually paying for anything.
Couponing really does not take a lot of time and if you are so busy that you just can't take 30 minutes a week to clip coupons, I have two tips for you...
1. Slow down and clean up your schedule. I bet if you took a look at what you have to do and how much time you actually have left that is not being used productively you would have time.
2. Use digital coupons. CVS, Dollar General, and Kroger offer these. All you have to do is click the coupon and it is clipped to your account.
Personally, I understand what it is like to not have a lot of time. Between running my freelancing business, raising my children, taking care of my home, preparing meals, doing all of the shopping, and taking care of all of the finances on top of running my blog, the Everydaycouponers facebook page and trying to get a YouTube channel started... I get it. Of course, we all have to focus on getting enough exercise, spending time with our families, and having fun as well right?
Things can get pretty hectic but if you really need to save money or if you are trying to save up to make a big purchase like we are, how can you not make time to coupon?
Take a look at yesterday. I went to the store and spent less than 20 dollars. This would have taken me about an hour to earn. But I turned that 20 dollars into 204 worth of products that I am not going to have to pay for. Therefore in my little bit of time I spent preparing for that trip, I increased the value of my dollar 10 fold!
How about this? Yesterday our grocery bill was 19 dollars and change. Is it worth the time? OMG, of course, it is worth the time! There is no other hobby that is going to benefit your family and your finances so much.
I have another blog where we talk about finances, time management, household management and such... I'll link it at a later date but I am telling you that if I have the time to coupon anyone can find the time.
But I Don't Have Any Money
I get that. When you first start out it can feel like you have to have all this extra money to put into couponing but is that really the goal?
The fact is that you do not have to extreme coupon. You do not HAVE to create a stockpile. Instead, why not take that money that you already have budgeted for household items and increase what you can get for it.
For example, instead of struggling to get 10 dollars worth of laundry detergent and toilet paper because that is all you have to spend this week, why not get laundry soap, toilet paper, dish soap, shampoo, conditioner, and some cleaning products for that same 10 dollars? Why not use coupons to turn that 10 dollars into 100 dollars worth of products?
Or keep it simple. If you are going to purchase laundry detergent this week anyway, why not use a coupon and get it for a lower price? Or get 3 or 4 for the price that you would normally pay for 1 so that you don't have to worry about it for the next month or so?
Couponing does not have to be complicated and it does not have to cost any extra money. The point of couponing is not to amass some huge stockpile that never gets used but it is to save money so that you can use it for other more important things such as buying a house or a car or coats for winter.
Each week, I spend about 30 minutes clipping coupons. When I am taking a break from writing or blogging or while dinner is simmering on the stove, I start looking for deals. I will go through the ads and find which deals are going to work best for me. Then I write them down on a sheet of paper to deal with later.
The night before I coupon I set up my transactions. For example, if I am going to do the 5/25 coupon at Dollar General I will try to create 25 dollar transactions and keep my OOP as low as possible. If I am doing CVS, I will focus on rolling my ECBS in order to use them instead of actually paying for anything.
Couponing really does not take a lot of time and if you are so busy that you just can't take 30 minutes a week to clip coupons, I have two tips for you...
1. Slow down and clean up your schedule. I bet if you took a look at what you have to do and how much time you actually have left that is not being used productively you would have time.
2. Use digital coupons. CVS, Dollar General, and Kroger offer these. All you have to do is click the coupon and it is clipped to your account.
Personally, I understand what it is like to not have a lot of time. Between running my freelancing business, raising my children, taking care of my home, preparing meals, doing all of the shopping, and taking care of all of the finances on top of running my blog, the Everydaycouponers facebook page and trying to get a YouTube channel started... I get it. Of course, we all have to focus on getting enough exercise, spending time with our families, and having fun as well right?
Things can get pretty hectic but if you really need to save money or if you are trying to save up to make a big purchase like we are, how can you not make time to coupon?
Take a look at yesterday. I went to the store and spent less than 20 dollars. This would have taken me about an hour to earn. But I turned that 20 dollars into 204 worth of products that I am not going to have to pay for. Therefore in my little bit of time I spent preparing for that trip, I increased the value of my dollar 10 fold!
How about this? Yesterday our grocery bill was 19 dollars and change. Is it worth the time? OMG, of course, it is worth the time! There is no other hobby that is going to benefit your family and your finances so much.
I have another blog where we talk about finances, time management, household management and such... I'll link it at a later date but I am telling you that if I have the time to coupon anyone can find the time.
But I Don't Have Any Money
I get that. When you first start out it can feel like you have to have all this extra money to put into couponing but is that really the goal?
The fact is that you do not have to extreme coupon. You do not HAVE to create a stockpile. Instead, why not take that money that you already have budgeted for household items and increase what you can get for it.
For example, instead of struggling to get 10 dollars worth of laundry detergent and toilet paper because that is all you have to spend this week, why not get laundry soap, toilet paper, dish soap, shampoo, conditioner, and some cleaning products for that same 10 dollars? Why not use coupons to turn that 10 dollars into 100 dollars worth of products?
Or keep it simple. If you are going to purchase laundry detergent this week anyway, why not use a coupon and get it for a lower price? Or get 3 or 4 for the price that you would normally pay for 1 so that you don't have to worry about it for the next month or so?
Couponing does not have to be complicated and it does not have to cost any extra money. The point of couponing is not to amass some huge stockpile that never gets used but it is to save money so that you can use it for other more important things such as buying a house or a car or coats for winter.
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