Saving money on groceries is critical as a homemaker. It’s easy to overspend on any given shopping trip, and money saved can go towards other important things in the budget. One huge way that you can save money on groceries is by couponing. But, here’s the deal, in the 7 years I’ve been married, I have never spent more than 1/2 hour of my week clipping coupons or looking for coupons online. I have never been an expert, nor will I ever be one. It’s just not for me.
Side note: This doesn’t mean I can’t get along with people who coupon. I doubt that couponers would exclude me from their circle of friends just because I don’t use coupons! If you love couponing, please remember, this is just my opinion. My way of life and personality are both huge factors as to why I just have never picked up this habit.
© leungchopan / Dollar Photo Club
Not everyone can justify clipping coupons. Here are some valid points as to why couponing might not be the right thing for you:
Your time is valuable.
Couponing is a big time-waster for some people. If you work from home, you might be able to make much more money than you could save in the same amount of time you would clip coupons. Even if you don’t work, your time is a very precious commodity. It all comes down to how much you value your time. If your time is valuable, couponing might not be right for you.
If I started couponing, I’d want to save at least $15 for every hour that I spent clipping. That also means I should be saving $3.75 every 15 minutes. I honestly don’t think that I could save that much money. I would rather spend that time on my blog, doing tasks for my husband’s business, spending time with my family, or doing my household duties.
You buy mostly fresh, real food.
I honestly have never seen a coupon for onions, broccoli, or ground beef. Maybe there are coupons you can clip that are for fresh foods, but they seem to be the exception. If you eat a diet of fresh food, then it doesn’t make sense to coupon. Food you can buy with coupons will just take up space in your pantry and then go bad if you don’t end up eating them.
We’re not extremely healthy, but we don’t buy too many pre-packaged products. It just wouldn’t make a lot of sense for me to buy food just because I can save money on it. It’s not saving money if you are buying stuff you normally wouldn’t.
You are impatient.
I don’t have the patience to sit there and cut out coupons. Ok, so maybe coupon clipping is a thing of the past. I’m not all up on couponing, so I’m not sure if there are more digital coupons that couponers rely on or if they still use their scissors to cut coupons out. In the case of physically cutting out coupons, I’m just not going to do it.
Sometimes I will use digital coupons. It’s so much easier to just check a box on a screen and add it to my coupon collection than to use scissors to cut them out. Every once in a while I will see a coupon I know I can use in the RedPlum insert and I’ll cut it out, but it’s a pretty rare occurrence.
You’re not organized.
Couponing requires some attention to detail (which, yes, I have plenty of), but that attention to detail needs to translate into an organized system (which, no, I do not have). I’m sure I could learn how to get them all organized, but again, my time is too valuable.
You tend to be forgetful.
If you forget your shopping list most days, what makes you think you’ll remember to bring your coupons? I have only left my shopping list at home a handful of times, but I just know that adding one more thing to remember would push me over the edge.
Also, how am I supposed to remember 5 different stores’ coupon policies? There are too many of them to keep track of. They change all the time. I would feel like I needed to study for a test to keep up with them.
You have hobbies that are way more exciting.
I want to live my life doing things I actually enjoy. Couponing just doesn’t ruffle my feathers. It doesn’t get me excited in the least bit.
You get flustered easily.
The kicker for me would be the final step to all the couponing: handing the coupons over to the cashier. If I got up to the register and couldn’t find the coupon I wanted to use for some product, I would go bright red and get all awkward. Then I would get even more embarrassed because I would ask the cashier to put the item back. Yeah, not exactly the kind of interaction I look forward to engaging in at the grocery store.
Here’s how I see it: you don’t have to coupon to save money. You can still be a thrifty person and not use coupons. The only reason I would want to coupon is to save money, but as you can see I don’t believe it would save our family too much money anyways. For now, I’ll stick to shopping the sales and being smart with the food I have already bought.
What’s your take on couponing?
Linked to: Thrifty Thursday and One Project at a Time
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Charlee Flaminio
I do coupon but how I coupon continues to change. I do use more digital coupons than in the past. I also make sure to shop the sales and stock up when prices are at their lowest. That and cooking from scratch save me a lot. It’s also the way I was able to buy all the diapers my son has used for under $50. It does take time, but it’s a fun game and a geeky hobby to me that I do enjoy. I know it’s not for everyone…and we can still be friends, Charlee! 🙂
Oh, phew! I am glad to hear that you didn’t take this post the wrong way. I bet if I enjoyed it, I wouldn’t mind the time it takes either. You got all your son’s diapers for less than $50?? That’s quite a steal! You’re definitely smart for making sure that you are doing other things to save money on groceries. Thanks for sharing the reasons why you love to coupon, Kristen! 🙂
I always wanted to try couponing but I ran into the same problem you mentioned in your post. Most (and I strive for all!) of my shopping cart is full of whole foods with tons of fruits and vegetables. And I haven’t seen a way to coupon doing that! I’ve appreciated your other tips for being a thrifty shopper since I don’t coupon!
Coupons are a way for big food companies to get more people to buy their stuff, I think. So it does make sense that if you eat food that is pretty fresh you won’t be able to save in that way. I’m so glad my other tips have helped you with your grocery budget, Cristina!
Great points! I don’t coupon for groceries because of the time issue. To me, time=money, and I could use that time to focus on money making activities instead. I recently wrote a post about tricks to save money on your groceries without using coupons. With the right planning, people can still save big on their groceries!
I know! I read that post and there were some very useful tips. I agree that time=money for a lot of people. I try not to spend too much time on meal planning each week for this very reason.
I don’t coupon beyond using mobile apps like Cartwheel and RetailMeNot. I just have other things I’d rather do and don’t have the patience to carry around any extra paper! I also buy 90% of my groceries at Aldi and they don’t accept coupons at my location (or any location, if I’m correct).
We don’t have an Aldi here, but if we did, I’d be shopping there for sure! It’s interesting that they won’t accept coupons. The only reason I wish I had a smartphone is so I could use those apps to save some money. I can print off coupons before I leave home, but I usually forget!
I couponed for a year and realized I have too much to do to manage it. Not only did it take a long time to clip and organize the coupons, planning my shop was so stressful, and it took twice as long at the store because I had to check a recheck that I had followed all the ridiculous rules on the coupon. I gave it a good shot – it’s not for me.
Hey, at least you tried it!