Coupon Clipper

This morning on the Today Show, they did a piece on Coupon clipping. They had Stephanie Nelson, author of the book “The Coupon Mom’s Guide to Cutting your Grocery Bills in Half.” On the show, this woman went to CVS Pharmacy and bought $83.00 worth of stuff and paid $1.00 for it after coupons. ONE DOLLAR. 

 So, it got me thinking…maybe I should at least glance at those annoying coupon books that show up in my mailbox three times a week. The Today show also said that Stephanie saved so much over the past year it was equivalent to having an additional part-time job. Now, I already own a business and have a second part-time babysitting job BUT if I can add the pay of one more job by taking ten minutes a day to browse these coupon books—I’ll do it!

My only fear is that I will now spend money on things I don’t need just because I have a coupon, opposed to saving money on the things I do. So, I’m going to need to really follow the Coupon Mom’s “Principles of Strategic Shopping:”

1. Know your prices:

I need to become familiar with the prices of the items I regularly buy, instead of just grabbing them and throwing them in the cart. This way I will know and appreciate a good deal.

2. Know your store’s saving programs:

Dear Target, What are your saving programs? Love, Kristin

3. Know your coupons:

I need to organize the coupons I do cut, I’m thinking of getting a little rolodex or a small accordion style folder to store them in. I’m thinking organizing them by store will be most helpful—then when I know I’m making a trip I can just go through the coupons for that store.

I have already cut some coupons and I plan on using them tomorrow on my day off. They just so happen to be to Express and Cabana Tan….excellent!