Put the Scissors Down!

I'm not talking about my child here (but she is cute, isn't she?). I'm talking to you, crazy coupon clippers! Wait a minute. Isn't this blog by a gal who is an avid coupon-user? That's right, I use coupons when I shop. But I only clip the coupons after I've made my shopping list. Here's why...

Clipping is what prevents many from even using coupons. They don't want to spend the time clipping and organizing. Or they spend the time clipping and feel like they actually need to use them all, thereby spending more money than they would have without the coupons. For me, I hated cleaning out all of those expired clipped coupons from my organizer. Not to mention, these days I try to limit my scissor-use to protect those little fingers you see above.

At the beginning of this year I started a method that has saved time, and money. I'm going to give you a simple list to hopefully get you started:

1. Buy 2-3 newspapers (depending on your family size) each Sunday when there are coupon inserts.
2. Collate and file the coupons by date in an accordian file.
3. At least a day before you plan to shop, visit a site like Southern Savers to make your personalized shopping list.
4. Only clip the coupons from your list (Southern Savers provides the insert name and date for easy reference). Tip: highlight or mark corresponding dates with the same color or symbol so you can cut all your needed coupons from an insert at once.
5. Take your list and envelope of coupons to the store and save!

There are numerous how-to articles and videos if you want more information on couponing, so I'm not going to go any further for now. I want to emphasize that you should do what works for you. Even if you can't get the hang of couponing, at least only buy what is on sale. But before you give up on couponing, give yourself several months of practice. I know it took me that long to feel comfortable doing it and to know that I was actually saving money.