Couponing

The other day, I was at Walgreens using coupons to purchase several mascaras for $1.50 each (great deal, right?). While checking out, the Cashier said to me “I wish I knew how to coupon”. I gave her a few tips on how to get started and this got me thinking that I should post something about the pros and woes of couponing.

 I am fairly new to doing this, so I am by no means an expert. First, here is how I got started:

 -Food Storage. My original reason for getting started doing this. For the past 4 years I have been trying to create a one-year food storage. On a meager (and I mean very meager) budget, it was difficult. I would buy a little extra here and there but I always seemed to use it up when the budget got tight. 
-Both of my sisters dabbled in couponing but I never really paid attention to how much they saved or how they went about it. I actually thought I would end up spending more money and buy things I didn’t actually need. 
 -One day, the local newspaper guys were outside Walmart with a promotional offer so I signed up with the intentions to start couponing. 
-I went home and researched how to do so. I went to a website my sister mentioned once (thekrazycouponlady.com). They explained things so clearly and soon I was off on my first couponing excursion! 

A few thoughts and observations: 

-It is a lot more time consuming that I thought it would be. I am getting faster at researching and making my purchases and I am sure I will continue to get quicker. But, time should be taken into consideration before you get started. 
-Newspapers are not as essential as I thought they were. There are so many great coupons online. There are still some great coupons in the paper but a lot of them can be found online. I might be considering stopping my subscription when the promotion is over but I will re-evaluate when the time comes. Point being, you can start even without a paper. 
-Budget! When I started couponing I didn’t think about all the deals I would come across that I couldn’t pass up and I didn’t set aside a specific budget for it. A lot of these deals were things I would need in the future but the deal on them was now. In the long run it is better to buy when things are on sale rather than when you need something. Just be sure to budget ahead. 
-Don’t buy things you won’t use. I watched an episode of Extreme Couponing the other day and these people bought like 70 bottles of mustard because it was cheap, but come on, who can use that much mustard before it expires?! I find that wasteful, not budget friendly, and rude to your fellow couponers. 

I certainly wouldn’t consider myself extreme in the couponing arena but non-the less I am glad I have started. Paying attention to deals around town is something I have always done, but now I can attach a coupon to these deals to make it even better! My future budget is very glad that I now have at least a year supply of deodorant that was completely free, mascara for super cheap, free hairspray, $.20 hair gel, etc. Not to mention my original goal of food storage is flourishing.