Finding Balance in Couponing…
As I have stated many times in the past, I often struggle with finding balance in my life. If I spend too much time on the computer, clipping coupons, or deal shopping, I feel like I am neglecting my kiddos and my hubby (and vice-versa). And it seems that I am not alone when it comes to finding balance. Check out this email that I recently received from reader Rachael…
[h2s_box]I would love to hear from you and your followers about how they balance couponing and life! I’ve been using coupons my whole life (thanks mom 🙂 ) but started seriously couponing just last year. It is great, but it takes so much time. I am hoping for some good advice, I want to coupon to help out my husband (I stay at home and we have 4 kids in school) but it has taken over too much time! Help![/h2s_box]
With that being said, how do all of you find that perfect balance (or is there even such a thing)?! Do you ever feel overwhelmed with couponing and deals? Do you ever want to go into a grocery store, leave your coupon binder behind and purchase everything at full-price just to take a break? If you have taken a break from couponing, how long of a break did you take and did you come back feeling refreshed? Feel free to answer any or all of these questions and share any additional tips that you may have.
I’ve felt all your pain. I’ve given up on free for sake of free unless I happen to be in the store for needed items. Then I’ll pick up to throw in my donation box. I grocery shop usually tuesday then hand out my left over $10 off $50 to people that appear to need. Then I shop other stores one day a week. I keep enough product on hand to last till next sale unless its a spectacular non parishable. Life’s to fun to waste causing myself stress.
That said its thanks to sites like this that allow me to minimize my time spent couponing.
I started couponing about 7 years ago and after the show extreme couponers I decided to stop. It started to be hard shopping, because people were looking at me like on of those, and even cashiers asked if I was one of them. I never used many coupons, usually one or two of each products. But I have realized that I have spend more money using coupons then, vs not using it now. Before I have purchased products that we did not even used, I was getting them just because they were cheep or free. Now I shop once a week and get ONLY things that we will eat and use. I have learned to budget and that is the key to saving.
I had been only going once a week on Publix’ penny day (and only to stores that are nearby, unless work takes me to the next town). However, it has been tempting to go again when they have deals that must be purchased Friday-Sunday.
I’m in grad school, so my time is not exactly plentiful at this point in time (though in a different way than many of Collin’s readers). Honestly, pretty much the only thing I coupon for anymore is toilet paper and paper towels. I have changed the way I eat almost entirely (more whole and organic foods, less processed foods), and while they do have coupons at times, it’s nothing like the freebies (or close to free) I used to get. I would say 90% of what I do is buy stuff when it is on sale and find ways to use it and work it into my diet for that week (or two or however many it is before I actually get around to grocery shopping again). For me, it is about buying what I will use and what I actually need, as well as being aware of what good prices for various items are. For example, I am an avid coconut oil user, but I NEVER EVER purchase it at Whole Foods (which is where I now do most of my grocery shopping) because it isn’t a good deal. I either order it online (usually from Amazon or Vitacost depending on who has the better deal when I am about to run out) or will purchase it at Trader Joe’s (the closest one is 2 hours away so I only go when I am there visiting family).
I think it is being aware of what is and is not a good deal and then sticking to only the things you will actually use regardless of how good of a deal it is that really helps.
I don’t know if I would even classify myself as a couponer anymore (and yes, I did at one point). I think more than anything I am a thrifty shopper, and I am quite alright with that. At this point in time, it is what works for me.
I try to look at couponing as a fun challenge that rewards me with cash as opposed to an essential part of my grocery trip each week. I budget so I can cover what I need before coupons, and I shop with cash. Then, I save any difference from using coupons for something special for our family. Also, Rachael, IMO, if you are staying home and raising four kids, it sounds to me like you are already doing a great job at helping your husband out!! = )
ACTUAL AMOUNT SAVED
I SERIOUSLY had to take a look at this recently. I was also obsessed. I finally realized I needed to take a long, hard look at how I was spending my time (you can NEVER get this back-once your time is spent, it’s gone). I am a stay at home mom as well and we need to keep track of our finances HOWEVER, couponing is not our primary or even a secondary source of income: we are blessed so that coupons just SUPPLEMENT our income. I created this “cost/benefit analysis” (if you will) to measure how much time and resources I was spending and how much money I was actually saving. This formula is pretty specific to my region and our circumstances however, input your own numbers to make them specific to you:
Amount Saved ($) – $ on transportation (20 cents per mile-which includes gas & wear/tear on my car) – cost of printing coupons (I included cost of ink, paper and internet) = Actual Amount Saved
Actual Amount Saved / Hours spent cutting, searching and searching for deals=
ACTUAL AMOUNT SAVED/HOUR (on average)
I needed to find a way to measure how much my time was worth and while I know there are other factors involved, time was the biggest one for me. Here is a calculation example:
$100 saved on receipt – $32.00 (Drove 10 miles to various stores)- ($30/week on internet services and smartphone) = $68 Actual Money saved
10 hours searching deals online, printing, clipping and organizing coupons
$68 DIVIDED by 10 hours of “couponing” = $6.80/Hour
When I got my amount, I had to ask myself: is an hour away from my family worth the $6.80 (or whatever) I am saving? While I know there are wrinkles in this formula and anyone could play with it to make it specific to their own life, the number I came up with was enough for me. I still “coupon” however, I try to maximize this avg. dollar amount per hour by MAXIMIZING money saved AND (big big AND) MINIMIZING TIME SPENT. I hope this helps someone. I am sure someone else has already created a formula but if so, I wasn’t able to find it 🙂 Happy Balancing 🙂
Amen, love your advice, I break it down to what my last job’s pay was, 10dollars and hr, after research, gas, ect, if it doesn’t break down to 10bucks an hr, then its not a deal I want to waste my time on.
I use the $10 an hour guideline too! I have thought about how much I save on taxes (this savings is not considered taxable income-so that’s a plus too!
Besides skipping the products we don’t use, I also take the tax into consideration. When an item is $5 before the store reward, that amounts to about 50 cents tax here. This helps me to keep in mind whether or not it is worth the bother– especially when it involves then having to keep track of the reward/expiration date and being forced to spend money in that store. The products that are $10 or more I almost always pass on for that reason.
I dedicate a certain amount of time for printing, organizing etc. I split this up daily so I can be ready when I go. I hate extreme couponers the show because I think it gives us a bad rap. I am stay at home mom a one income family with three kids hubs works I do everything else. I have taken breaks mini ones because I was frustrated with it feeling like work and lost the joy. But I missed it, lol. I revamped the style of coupons I use I don’t buy anything cheap or free we don’t use or I cannot donate.
We eat a lot of fresh foods, etc. so I coupon in the other areas snacks, staples, etc. I just bought 18 boxes if cereal, Hawaiian punch 8 packs x2, 3 Scott big roll 12 packs, 3 Brawny double roll 8 packs, rice x 3, Mac & cheese, 4 six packs if coke and other items for around thirty dollars. This is why I do it. I can take a nice vacation because I spend half my budget or I don’t go at all because I am stocked and we spend money only on milk, bread and veggies.
By the way-GOD BLESS Collin for what she does! I LOVE to write and considered writing my own blog just for my family and friends. After thoroughly researching it and even going as far as to buy a domain, I realized: NO THANK YOU! I thought of Collin a lot: she is really putting herself out there and while she may be earning money from this website, this would take a GREAT deal of time, effort, attention to detail and at times, it HAS to be stressful! I will be more than happy to allow Collin to make money off of anything I buy or view that she suggested because SHE DESERVES IT! THANK YOU SO MUCH COLLIN! YOU DO AN AWESOME JOB!
Amen Emily! My friends, often tell me I need to set up a blog or get paid to help others coupon. I just love to save money and if I help a few of my friends a long the way Yeah! I don’t think I could devote that much of my time to online. I would find it very hard because we are outdoors people, and having to keep a smartphone next to me while I’m enjoying nature..just doesn’t click..I always refer people to Hip2save! 🙂
Wow Cheapcheap! It sounds like we are really on the same page with our couponing 🙂 I would love to help people by writing a blog however, I worry about all of the cyber bullies out there and I also worry VERY MUCH about identity theft! I would want to write about my family too however, identity thieves are VERY SMART and I honestly worry about them piecing together personal information about me and using it to THEIR advantage! I am probably being really paranoid however, as a former employee in Corporate America, I have seen the WORST OF the WORST in identity theft and IT MAKES ME SO MAD!
I have been couponing now for like 1 year and half. I think we can coupon if we want to I know it takes ALOT of time sometimes I clip and organizes for hours at a time but my key is it to do it in parts if you would say. While I have my free time, While my 4 yr old is at pre-school, then when hes busy playing games or something I browse deals and stuff as well, and then when he’s asleep. I balance all that in the day time sometimes as well as cleaning and taking care of my kiddo and my hubby. Also another thing take a break have at least one day that you do not clip coupons at least just browse around for deals online, something easy and yet not so much time consuming!! hope this helps 🙂
Carmen M.
The first step to “wean” myself from chasing the deal was to stop the newspaper subscription. once all the old coupons in your binder expire, you will fill your time with better things to do and fill your fridge and pantry with healthier things you actually WANT, not the things the manufacturers want you to buy. Good luck !
Completely agree with what Lise says.
Me, too. We want more fresh foods– not a dozen pouches of cookie mix (at least some of us in our household ;).
You said this well, Lise!
I believe the balance is all about doing your best in a given moment. I don’t feel guilty, since I know I tried my best! And yes, I limit myself to deals – no more CVS, Rite Aid, and Walgreens (only Kroger, Target, and malls) since I am back to college and my youngest is only 4.
I stocked up on personal essentials before I had my baby (shampoo, soap, etc). When the baby was about 6 months old, I dipped my toe back into couponing. Baby is now 16 months old and I’m back in full force, only now I primarily coupon for organics. I will only let myself shop once a week and need a minimum of 3 “deals” to go to a store. I eliminated Walgreens & Rite Aid (too tedious and too much stuff to remember). I only shop at Whole Foods, Target, and Kroger. In another week I can add Trader Joe’s to that list. People tell me I should do a blog on couponing and I tell them heck no! I have no time for that. I tell them to check out Hip2Save, because that’s where I get my info. I dislike extreme couponing, because I’m usually the one that finds the empty shelves. Nothing is good in extreme. Moderation is the key!
I basically shop at WF and Trader Joes (with a bit of Stop and Shop too). I mainly only use coupons at CVS — and always check out the Sunday paper. I stock up on toothpaste etc, and I only buy what I use. I never got into buying stuff just because its cheap — I don’t care if candles and febreeze type stuff is on sale — I don’t even take a look since that’s just not my thing. If its a practical item and I don’t use it (ie certain shampoos) I might get and donate it. Also, I limit how much I have in inventory. For example I can only really store 2 bottles of laundry detergent (without me finding a creative place to store it) so I only start watching possible sales when I’m running low. Another thing I do, I often won’t clip coupons if I know I dont’ need that item for a long time (especially if bulky hard to store).
I do use some coupons at WF (including their own coupons) etc but only from those in the paper or I see a good mention on this site (thanks) or I get an email from some companies (on the list for).
i have been couponing for about 20 yrs when i was just 7 may parents would coupon and tell me you pay ur part and i loved it stopped in my teens but started up when i got married. 2 years ago i was at the point of addiction LOL would go to the store 20 miles away with gas $4 plus a gallon so it was not going well for me until i had an intervention my husband brought up a good point your time and gas being away from your family even arguing because i wanted to go get my almost free stuff. 2013 was a new year for me and couponing i decided to ONLY buy what i need and have actually stuck to that plan and it has work for me but everyone is different.
First of all, Hip2Save is awesome and it’s my #1 coupon site. Financially, I NEED to use coupons…but it is also something I WANT to do. I enjoy checking the site daily for good deals. Take what you want/need and leave the rest behind…or tell a friend or family member if you know they need a good deal Collin posted!! 🙂
hip2save its the biggest source of time saving to me, its easier to come in few times (or several times) thru the day and check up on the deals and matchups, I usually make a quick note of any deal that catches my eye and at the end of my day then dedicate a few hours to printing, clipping, making shopping list, and organizing. These all happens after my husband is fed and my lil 3 year old princess is asleep. I find it hard to concentrate and fully organize myself when the daily crazyness is going on. Another think that has helped me a ton in the 4 years i`ve been couponing is preparing my shopping trips completely before I walk out the door, this means outside my huge binder in an envelope for each store I keep my shopping list (printed from the weekly deal match ups right here) with each one of the coupons and quantities or x deals am doing. I always carry my binder as a backup, always as I go thru the store isles look for those clearance tags and when something I need or might family use catches my eye instead of wasting time taking out the binder and searching thru hundreds of pages I go straight to my phone and look up the item name on hip2save coupon data base, this trick mostly works for me 99% of the time because I never ever miss a sunday of inserts… the value of the coupon might vary because of the location. And finally after couponing for quite some time there is weeks in which yea there might be some amazing deals going on some crazy amount of freebies to get, but if I simple dont feel like going out to run around in the stores I simple dont. 🙂 at the end of the day as long as I know I have toothpaste for the next few weeks I know the freebie is coming back before I run out. Couponing has changed my life is so many amazing ways, even when I used to work full time and had my lil girl in a day care I never felt that that was bigger help to our family finances than couponing, we have everything we need and we could ever wish for and it costs us so lil, now am happily a stay a home mom and I can dedicate myself to my daughter, my ohh so hard working hubby, and my home… 🙂 hope this helps!
I’ve been a couponer for many years now. When I first started I was trying to take advantage of every deal and coupon, nearly driving myself crazy if I didn’t “score” the deals. I quickly realized after getting burned out that most deals eventually come around again. Not all but that is ok. Family comes first and if you are stressed for time, rattled and not really there for your family then everyone suffers.
I find it hard to strike a balance too. To get the savings I want it means putting in the time, which is in short supply. I was wasting so much time with learning how to Walgreens lately and realized its not worth it. I have CVS a few blocks away and I do so well there with so little preparation that why waste time learning a second place. I do go to the grocery store twice a week, 2 different locations of the same one, as they are always out of the sale items. Always. Even with no coupons if you wanted to buy it on sale you have 2 go to 2 places to get everything, When I have slowed down with couponing the grocery bill is just so high, and when the kids school is looking for something I can just go in the pantry and pull it out, no going to the store. I say find 1 grocery store, 1 drug store and maybe Target and Walmart. Make 1 trip a week if possible. Then you and your budget are happy.
(I think the same about figuring out all of Walgreens’ stipulations regarding Balance Rewards. I don’t want to be keeping track of even more things– yet just last week I learned of the load-to-card coupons at Walgreens and CVS– when the free Fritos were posted– and felt compelled to check it out and get our cards registered, even though I never found any Fritos available. It made me wish I hadn’t bothered.)
It is hard to balance, and yes, I have wanted to leave the coupons behind and just shop, but I can’t! I can not pay full price when I know I could get it for less. This new year I have slowed a bit. Not chasing every deal and not spending so much time looking for deals. Christmas did me in, but I feel good now with about a month of a break!
I’m a stay at home mom with two kids. When I found out we were having our youngest, I promised myself I’d try to keep the same budget for food except we had a new baby. I spend no more than $50 a week on food, diapers and baby food. Nursing the baby has been the best economic decision, and best for her too.
I coupon undercover Lol. I don’t have a binder, a notebook or calculator in my cart. I don’t clip every coupon. I have a newspaper subscription but may buy a few more if it’s a good week and file the inserts away by date. What I like to do is find ONE store to focus on for the week. I will watch another coupon blog for that store that week that has the best sale (ex. KrogerKrazy is only for Kroger). Make a list, put the coupons in an envelope and I’m done! I say I coupon undercover because I save 50-90% a week but only the cashiers know me, if even.
With the baby and the older one with lots of medical issues, that’s what works for me. That’s how I balance my couponing.
Eat less mac and cheese and chasing junk food = better health and time for family. How simple was that?!
It really sounds like a lot of us have concluded that we need to be less compulsive about couponing and be more careful with what we spend our money on. Besides all of this it does seem to me while there still are a lot of good deals out there, they are not as plentiful as they were a few years ago. For example, I used to frequently be able to get deodorant and lotion for free or possibly for 50 cents. That rarely happens now. I think the whole Extreme couponing exposure has been detrimental to us “normal” couponers.
A little late on the comments here, but since most of the above solutions were about cutting out couponing/deal shopping or significantly lessening them, I thought I would add what I do to make it work. To me, giving up couponing is not an option and I always feel it a privilege to get these deals and be able to have a nice stockpile for emergencies. For the last year, I keep an envelope for each month with just that month’s receipts in it. So I also make a paper to go into that envelope which lists the date, store, oop amount vs. value: what I would’ve spent going into the store that day if I didn’t use coupons/rewards. I consistently save 65 – 75% each month. The stores I frequent are within 2-3 miles from home. So I know that it is worth it there.
As far as time goes, I needed to do a little improving, so I came up with couponing related tasks that should be done on certain days of the week. This page is in the back of my binder. And it looks like this:
Sundays: Shopping at drugstores & buying newspapers
Mondays: Binder cleanout, cut and file new.
Tuesdays: Last day for grocery store sales, if needed. (Store sales in my area start on Wednesdays)
Wednesdays: Create matchups for local grocery stores & Target.
Thursdays: Grocery store and Target shopping trips.
Fridays: Create matchups for next Sunday’s drugstores.
Everyday: Check my blogs each afternoon for deals/printable coupons (takes 30mins usually)
This has helped me manage my time and my thoughts related to couponing and be responsible with my computer time. I think that is where it gets the easiest out of control is trying to search for deals. Hope this helps!
Thanks Kelly! This is EXTREMELY helpful! I am using your advice! 65-75% is AWESOME! Would you mind sharing how many hours a week (ballpark average) you spend on devoted to “couponing”? I really appreciate your insight! I would agree that quitting couponing is really not an option for us either-I save a few hundred dollars a month and that really adds up! I found I save about 35-50% on average. And I also LOVE having a stockpile on hand.
Can you tell me how you organize? I have a 3 X 5 index card for coupons I KNOW I will use within the month (I only print/cut out from inserts the ones I KNOW I will use) and then I save the newspaper inserts, by month, in an 8 X 11 pocket folder. I usually put grocery and Target ads in there to look at at some point during the week.
Thanks so much!
I have several things I do for organizing coupons. I have my coupon binder but once a week, I pick out the coupons that are expiring that week. I find that way I can always look first at these before I head to the store. Before I did this, I was always letting coupons expire. If any coupons do in fact expire, I put them in a bag to be donated to servicemen overseas. I also have a small organizer that is divided up by stores: CVS, Publix, Walgreen’s etc. When I have gotten together the coupons for certain deals at stores I plan to go to, I put them in that store’s section and then have them easily available for my trip. Works out very good for me.
I used to b really obsessed with couponing buying 3 or more Sunday papers for inserts . My local Meijers stopped doubling coupons and i think other stores arent far behind . I still check out coupon sites especially yours and use in store coupons from my iphone
With very few exceptions, I don’t print grocery coupons off the internet. It started out because the barcode software would’t work on our old computer, then it was because the printer died, but it has turned out to be a blessing in that it helps to keep the amount of items I’m putting on my list manageable and reduce the amount of products I end up with that are deals but not anything we would ordinarily choose. If I need a store coupon, for example for paint, I will occasionally print that out at the library. It is 10 cents a page there, so it really makes me selective as to whether or not the cost and effort is worthwhile.
I hate the extreme coupon show too! Those people are crazy. Why would anybody need a years worth of toothpaste etc. I stocked up when they were free all the time but I didn’t go overboard. I used them for xmas stocking stuffers (my daughter has a lot of friends on food stamps and as we all know it isn’t covered) and give to elderly neighbors etc. It is hard to find the time to coupon for me too but luckily I can do a lot of it at work before, lunch and after that way I can shop on my way home (then I don’t have to count gas as I pass them one way or another on my way home). It really helps me make my budget go further as I am supporting two disabled brothers and two grandkids. I don’t know what I would do without Collin. I wouldn’t have time to save without her blog. I remember my mother using coupons in the Commissary but they were never like the ones you can get now. They were usually only 10 cents or 15 cents off. I used them in the Commissary when I was married too sometimes but didn’t use them like I do now.
Sometimes I get stressed when I have to buy things without coupons but that is life I guess. My granddaughter loves couponing too and she is only 8. She always asks “Oma do you have a coupon for that” or she brings me some when she sees the peelies on the shelves.
God bless you Pat for taking such good care of your family! It’s great to hear that you are using coupons to help people who really need it. I also try to help family and friends out as we have a few who either are unemployed or barely make enough to get by. I also give toiletries to family and friends for gifts-they appreciate the help and I appreciate that Christmas doesn’t put me into debt! Thank you for taking care of your loved ones and thinking of others!
Thank you for your kind words and the smile you just gave me. There are days that I am blessed and then there are other days like when one brother keeps letting the dog in the front yard (we have two acres in the backyard which is fenced in) in the morning and then goes back in the house for coffee and forgets him. Then I have to drive around trying to find him before work. Makes you want to scream. I just keep saying that is why they are on disability over and over again. Ha!
So to start up i always have been working until i became a mom and came to the states and realising how outragous expensive childcare is here. So after a quick caluclation i realised that if i would go to work i would pay somebody else to raise my child and dont have anything contributing to my familys income. So after doing pretty much budgeting and comparing prices i ende up about 6 months into couponing.
I know you guys say its sometime with gas internt and the time you spend you not making enought to come out and you cant claim it doing tax time. But lets be honest as homestay mom all we have is time and for me for example i need internt anyways since i refuse to pay 100 of dollars for TV provider we witched to netflix and have amazon prime whats a lot let of the cost and further more internet is mostly my only way to comunicate with my family back in europe. SO i dont even calucate that it And time we have a tone of it when our kids are in preschool/School and hubs is working. So before i spend hours watching tv, browing facebook and what not so ever mind as well use it more wisley to help my family budget.
As we all know as soon as you new you try to get every deal that you thing you can use and doing the research at the beginning to understand all those coupon policy i barley had time for my family. So after good look i wanted to spend some more time with them.
So i stared to focus to do my clipping and shopping when my son is in preschool or when he takes a nap. I supscribes to twitter (yes i have it but only to get sms from colline for example or other good site like wildforwags or totaly taget) and then go through those delet what i dont need or dont want and keep what i am interest and then i look if its really worth to drive for example to taget (since its on the other side of town) or not. And since walgreens is pretty much in walking distance i really look at that.
SInce i am pregant and always worn out latley i have even weeks where i am so not in the mood to do anything and thats ok. Since deals are repeating themself and so on. But i really depent on collins deals and all the other people that dedicate they time to find those deals and couponsmatchup Thankyou for that.
BUt summarice it i dont know what i make an hour and i dont really care. But with that i can help better our budget for other things and instead of earning money that goes straight to daycare at least i earn something raise my child the way i think its right be there when my husbands needs me and just feel like contributing to this family instead of just cleaning and coupoing is a way for me to get out of the house since we just move here and i barley know anybody and everything else is pretty much having a heavy price tag. So my balance is: Get what i need thats is a good deal and where i dont have to drive for one item half through town,
I find balance by not couponing for most groceries. Instead I buy almost all of my groceries at Trader Joe’s (which carries very few brand names to actually use a coupon with) where I feel like their prices are reasonable to start with. I get all my couponing out at Target/walgreens for pretty much everything other than food. I used to coupon for groceries and it took too much time and I was tempted to buy too much junk food because “it was a great deal!”. Oh and I would also yell at my hubby for forgetting the coupon or buying an item that wasn’t on sale. Well, I still do that sometimes…😊