The disadvantage to this approach is that I may miss some great deals at the drugstores. For instance, the Register Rewards at Walgreen's expire after just two weeks. You see, I have tried monthly shopping trips before, but when I receive those rewards, I can't stand the idea of wasting them, so I make the half hour trek to the closest store every two weeks even if I don't need to. While I'm there, I stop at Walmart, Save a Lot, etc., and spend more money saving money. As wonderful as it is to stock up on free stuff from the drug stores, I'm just not sure it's worth it. I may save just as much money (or more) by shopping less.
Here is another motivation for me. I spend $2.00 on a Sunday paper every week JUST for the coupons. Neither Seth nor I actually care to read the newspaper. I know that may seem a travesty to some, but we get our news online, on TV, and on the radio. I just don't want to spend $8.00 on coupons every month, even though I save more than that every month couponing, especially when most of the coupon inserts seem to be filled with ads for ugly house dresses and diabetic socks. For my monthly shopping trips, I am hoping I can find most of the same coupons online. Without the newspaper coupons and flyers coming into my house on a weekly basis, I will be less tempted to run out and spend money to get a good deal.
Don't get me wrong, I still think using coupons is a good idea. I am just too busy right now to pour myself into it like I have been. Plus, I really want to try to make more of my own food and cleaning products from scratch, and couponing just doesn't contribute much to those kinds of things. For instance, how often can you find a coupon for a gallon of vinegar or a bag of flour? I have put off making a homemade alternative to deodorant and making a powdered cream of anything soup mix just because I've had coupons to buy that stuff from the store. Maybe cutting back on my couponing will inspire me to actually experiment and try some of these things. If they don't work, I can always go back.
What are your thoughts? Is it possible to save just as much money shopping less often as you do shopping more often with lots of coupons?
2 comments:
I just started using coupons from the internet this week. I've been wanting to for a while but my printer refuses to work with my "new" (read 2 year old) computer. When I was still in school, I'd use a printer there and since I only really needed things printed less often than once a month it didn't make sense to invest in a printer once I graduated since my husband could print out the few things I needed at his job. But my boss (also one of my best friends) gave me the go ahead on using the printer in the office for coupons if I want and I found a lot of great ones, and several were the same ones that we get in the ads in the mail/newspaper. Our area started offering just the coupons from the Sunday paper for free w/o having to subscribe. It was optional but I'm not going to say no to that!
Once you try your cream of soup recipe, you should post it if it's any good! I've been trying to make more things from scratch too (hamburger helper seasoning mix for one) but I've not heard about cream of soups before.
hey so I always think to comment on your posts and don't and feel like a jerk so I am coming back and commenting (I even leave your blog up so I will come back and comment and then I accidently close the window and forget!)
I think for where you are in your life it makes perfect sense to not coupon...it is a lot of work and planning, that is for sure! I just did an amazing deal at cvs (so excited) but I bought 3 newspapers this week to do it...it was worth it because I got so much and still have a ton of coupons I know I will use but I had to plan to buy that many and sometimes it kind of hurts my brain!
your ahead of the game because you know how to for real for REAL coupon and can jump back into it whenever you want
hope you have a great week!
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