Wednesday, April 3, 2013

(not so) EXTREME COUPONING!



Unless you live under a rock or have been in a coma for the last few years, you’ve probably heard of TLC’s Extreme Couponing.  It debuted in spring of 2011, and couponing has become main stream ever since.  I’m not talking about your momma clipping coupons out of the weekly grocery ad; today’s couponers are a whole different breed.


Before O was born, I did a little bit of couponing.  I didn’t get all crazy with it—I wasn’t one of those people who walked out with $60.00 worth of groceries for $6.00 (I’m not nearly organized or patient enough for that)—but it is a good way to save a little dough if you don’t mind spending some extra time doing it.  I only had two rules for my couponing:

1.       I wasn’t going to buy anything simply because I had a coupon.  If it wasn’t something we needed or already used, I wasn’t spending the money (no matter how little) on it.
2.       I didn’t want to spend more than 3 hours a week clipping coupons or looking for them online.  I know three hours seems like a lot, and it is, but it’s time-consuming, and it’s pretty easy to get sucked in.  

Keep in mind, this was something I was doing before O was here.  It’s probably pretty easy for you to guess why I’m not doing it anymore.  Also, I never saw too much success.  I remember my most rewarding trip to Target: I saved $15.00 on $120.00.  It took me at least two weeks of clipping coupons from the Sunday paper and numerous hours of online couponing.  Once we got to the store, it probably took me 2 hours to find everything I needed (and to make sure I had all of my coupons).

Although I didn’t see too much success with couponing, I will say that there are some websites out there that make it a little more convenient.  If you’re interested in couponing, or if you’re just getting started, you should really check these out:


Good luck, if you decide to give it a go!  Do you coupon?  If so, what do you do to stay organized? 

No comments:

Post a Comment