We've all seen the posts, blogs, and shows on couponing. It looks awesome, doesn't it? Women with shopping carts full of food dancing because they paid $1.56 for $200 worth of food and pictures of pantries that look like grocery stores.
I don't know about you, but I've tried this game a time or two. I've cut coupons until my hands hurt, made detailed grocery lists with estimated prices and meal plans that even the pickiest family could enjoy. But it never lasts and I've never saved more than 30% in one trip. Ya know why? Because I don't have 2 hours a a day to figure this shit out! And because I'm lazy. It's a lot of work, this couponing thing. So sometimes I fail because I'm lazy and I just don't have it in me to scour the internet for coffee coupons. And sometimes it's because I literally don't have the time.
So instead of eating a bag of Cheetos in the corner while sobbing because I only saved 28% on my last Target trip, I'm going to dance in my computer room and take pictures of my 9 boxes of International Coffee I have stocked up and make a list for the rest of the lazy/busy moms that want to get in on this gig.
1) Put them in Something Grab a binder, an envelope, shoe box, your kid's torn up school folder and start printing. It doesn't have to be pretty girls! Just get something to gather those coupons in that is portable. I have a shoe box next to my printer and a binder that fits in my purse, which happens to be more of a book bag because I am a purse pack rat.
2) Get a New Email- A lot of sites require sign up to get good deals. So grab a seperate email and send all that junk there. When I had everything going to my main email I was deleting like crazy. Now, I check my extra email when I am in the mood to save.
3) Follow the Good Sites- There are some great sites out there like Krazy Coupon Lady and LOZO that will do the work for you. Krazy Coupon Lady posts deals through out the day with links to where to print the coupons. She tells you exactly how to get that package of pasta down to .05 And LOZO is just awesome! Sign up, put in your grocery list and in a few days they send you a link for coupons that matched your list. Freakin AWESOME.
4) Print When You Can- My printer is a piece, so sitting at the computer for 2 hours while I wait for my 176 coupons to print is a no-go. I "clip" all my coupons, open up all the sites and keep that in a seperate window. Then every time I sit down at my computer to check email or facebook I print up a few pages.
5) Clip Everything- I clip every coupon I may or may not use. For instance, diapers. I clip every damn diaper coupon I find. Since I don't sit down and look through the ads for deals, I can use whatever brand is having a deal that day. Last week Target had buy 2 get a $10 gift card on Pampers...I don't usually buy Pampers as they are way more expensive than the cheapo Target brand that happens to work just as well. But lucky me I had my coupons so not only did I get 10 bucks for two I saved 3 dollars on each box.
6) Keep your Coupons with You- I frequently have to do last minute and surprise shopping trips. If my coupons are on me, I'll actually spend a little more time planning the trip and I'll use the damn things before they sit like expired guilt on my dishwasher.
7) Dance and Take Pictures- Okay, so maybe we aren't the gals that can save 98.7% on shopping trips, but 28.4% is still something to smile about. So whatever you save, be happy about it. Take pictures of your little victories and share them all over facebook.
And for those of you that love and depend on coffee as much as I, here's my super happy coupon tip of the day
~Coffee Mom
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