Wow! I've been doing a bit more research on coupons. Most people don't use coupons. They feel it isn't worth the effort. Let's check that out.
* First off, coupons are like money. If you save 50 cents on an item you were buying anyway - that's 50 cents more in your pocket.
* Manufacturers print off 318 billion dollars worth of coupons annually.
* Only 3 billion dollars in coupons are actually 'cashed in'.
* 315 billion dollars worth of coupons go into the trash each year.
What do you think? I think there's 'buried treasure' waiting to be discovered!
Why we don't use coupons:
* We feel it isn't worth the effort.
* It takes too much time.
* We just don't think of it.
* We don't plan ahead.
* We don't know how to get it all organized in order to be beneficial.
* We want to spend extra money at the store (not really, but it makes a good point).
Now, I do use coupons, but not to the extent I could. So, I am challenging myself to get more educated in using coupons and sales fliers for maximum savings. I have read the Coupon Mom's book and am currently reading her e-books online. You may want to check out the e-book on www.mygrocerydeals.com also, for extra tips.
Many years ago, a few gals from our church got together and made a price book of our local area stores. That was a large, discouraging endeavor. Today, you can download an Excel version from www.mygrocerydeals.com and fill it in with the items you normally and consistently buy. That will probably be about 20 items or so. When you get that down, you can continue to add to your book, store it in your computer, make copies when you need them and even share them with friends. Price books give you a good idea of normal prices so you will recognize great deals when they come up.
The Coupon Mom uses Sunday fliers in a very easy to use way. Just keep your Sunday coupon fliers from your local newspaper (don't cut out the coupons) and label them with the date at the top. On her site you'll find your stores' deals and the coupons that go with those items according to the fliers (our area isn't in her database, but you can still use her coupons coupled with our area's store deals from www.mygrocerydeals.com) . She does the work for us. All we have to do is keep the fliers and label them for easy use.(You can also just print off the coupons you wish to use, just be sure to check with your store's usage policy of printed coupons.)This is all nicely explained on her website, so check it out. If you don't have time to do that now, just start keeping your Sunday fliers from your local newspaper.
My next venture? to check out our area's coupon policies. This also makes a difference in the way we can save $$. So check back again.
How's the $4 meal challenge coming?
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