Oh, no. Another article about how coupon-clipping is a waste of time. I just found this article on Yahoo Shine. These types of articles keep popping up all over the place. In the article, she complained about:

1. Coupon clipping takes too long

Honestly, I spend 10-15 min. a week cutting out coupons. I am very selective in what I cut out. I know that 50 cents/1 product is better than 20 cents/10 products. By doing quick math, while scanning the coupon flier, it's easy to decide what coupon(s) will be used.

2. Coupons are for products that will never be used

Coupon ads are a vehicle for promoting new products. But I have seen a lot of coupons for basic products like bread, cake mixes, soup, etc. etc. It's not all candy and cookies.

To maximize coupons, one must:

1. Remember this formula- coupon + sale + double coupons= big savings

That is how smart shoppers score so many good deals. If I relied on saving money based on 40 cent coupons, I'd never save anything. But I shop by thinking ahead to stockpile certain items, plus my regular grocery needs.

2. Be organized

I have a coupon binder, but when I go to the store, I use a envelope, with my list written on the outside. I'm not brave enough to bring my coupon binder in the store! I brought it in once, and some asked me "what's that?" My response, "uh, my coupon binder". They looked at me like I had 2 heads! I know it shouldn't bother me, but who needs to get bugged while trying to focus on shopping?

3. Focus on the end goal

Scoring $100 worth of groceries for 10 cents is a once in a lifetime event. That is one reason those "Coupon queens" aggravate me because they make it appear that it happens all the time. I know, for a fact, that it takes everything lining up just right (sale + high value coupon) for it to happen.

My end goal is to save my family money. And I have. But it takes time to build a stockpile, and I know coupons can be annoying (as I discussed in a recent article), but for me, they are worth it.