artofthecoupon.com

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I was in line at Walgreens today and there were two older women behind me.  As always, I had my stack of coupons and my coupon binder was resting in the baby seat.  They started to talk to each other, commenting on how organized I was.  Then, one of them went on to say “I just wouldn’t do that… it’s not worth the time to save a few cents on paper towels.”  This is a common comment from coupon-haters.  And I’m here to tell you that it is very very misguided!  

There are many reasons why people might not want to use coupons.  They may simply not have the time, or not be organized or disciplined enough to keep track and watch the sale flyers and do everything that is required to coupon successfully.  People may simply hate to clip coupons, and I don’t fault them for that… there are frugal habits that I hate to and don’t do even though I know they would save me money (line drying laundry is one that comes to mind).  However, a misguided view that coupons only save you a few cents here and there, and mostly on products that you don’t use, is not an acceptable reason not to use coupons.  

Coupons Don’t Save Much??

CVS prints your savings at the bottom of your receipt after a purchase.  Each year, my savings is at or over the $6000 mark.  My quarterly spending is usually around the $20 mark, so that means I am spending about $80 a year and saving $6000.  Is that a good return on my investment, do you think?

All over the internet you can see stories of people playing The Drugstore Game and coming home with carts full of stuff for a few cents.  This week at Walgreens alone I have gotten endless amounts of Scrubbing Bubbles, Crest Mouthwash, Nabisco Cookies, Milk, Robitussin, Pringles, and various other items (a water filter and a rice cooker, for example).  Did this cost me anything? No… in fact, I MADE $33 in Walgreens Register Rewards (i.e. money I can use to buy anything I want at Walgreens over the next 2 weeks) and $6.99 in cash (rebate from the water filter).  This is not unusual… at least once or twice a week I walk out of a store richer than I was when I went in, with some free stuff to boot.  These stores are literally handing out money if you match up the right coupons with the right sales… and a lot more than a few cents here and there.  

But Coupons Are For Items I Don’t Use

A lot of times, there are coupons for items I don’t use.  But, someone out there uses the item.  So if I can get paid to buy an item, and then turn around and sell it at a garage sale or donate it and get a tax write-off, or give it to someone as a gift or just to be nice… well, that seems like it’s pretty useful.

Besides, a lot of coupons out there are for things that you can use.  Do you throw out garbage? Last month, I got 2 boxes of garbage bags for free from Walgreens.  Do you use toilet paper or paper towels? I’ve been paid to buy these items at CVS.  Shampoo and toothpaste… please, if I don’t make at least $1 I wouldn’t even consider purchasing a box/bottle since I am now swimming in it.  

And, like I said before, you can often get paid to buy items.  I don’t need the 3 Revlon nail polishes I bought at CVS this week.  But, I do need the milk and the eggs that I got for free by buying these 3 nail polishes, using a $3/15 CVS coupon, and using 3 $2 off Revlon coupons.  And I’d much rather “buy” and donate the nail polishes than pay $6.15 for the eggs and milk.  

But It’s Too Much Trouble

Sometimes, maybe this is the case.  If a deal is really complicated or requires a lot of steps, then it may very well not be worth your time.  But, the internet reduces the time required to match up sale flyers and coupons and makes a lot of the deal-finding work moot.  Sites like slickdeals.net and hotcouponworld will match up good deals with coupons.  Couponmom does the same thing for grocery markets.  These sites are free. I spend about 15 minutes a week perusing the Walgreens, Rite Aid, Walmart, and CVS threads to make a master shopping list for the week.  You don’t even have to cut coupons to use these sites, because they even tell you which weeks flyer the coupon came out in, so all you have to do is sort your flyers by date and then go and cut the coupon in the flyer you are told to find.  

I keep my master shopping list and the coupons in the car, and when I drive by one of the stores on my list or when I have some time to kill, I pop in and do deals.  It need not take more than an hour a week to get almost all of your groceries for free (excluding meat and produce, which most of the time I can’t get for free… although I do try and once in a while there are great deals).  

If you want to be selective and only do deals that make you X amount of money or deals on products you really use, that’s a fair position to take. 

So, I challenge anyone who thinks that coupons only saves you a few cents on paper towels, to take a second look at what not couponing actually costs you