Month of Savings - Day 4

I often joke that I am able to be a housewife because I use coupons. That is actually a semi-joke. It is not the only reason I am able to stay at home, but it is a serious contributing factor. Using coupons is a good way to stretch your budget if used correctly.

My first personal rule is to use coupons honestly. I do not think it is worth the guilt to my conscience to get a deal dishonetly. I find too many good honest deals to go after one that is not.

My second personal rule is that I do not buy something simply because I have a coupon. If it is something I know I will buy anyway (example: Dh's allergy medicine), I will try to combine the coupon with a sale to get the best deal. Otherwise I only use the coupon if I am getting the product free or nearly free.

Organization is the key for effective coupon use. I prepare my shopping lists prior to going to the stores. I clip all my coupons for each store together. On my list I make a note of the coupon to use with each item. I will refer to the coupon while I am shopping to make certain it is applicable for the item I am purchasing. The preparation takes a good bit of time so I want to cut my shopping time down as much as possible.

Here is what I purchased on a recent Wal-Mart shopping trip.

I got a 2 Ltr Diet Dr Pepper, three packs of Quaker rice snacks, large can of Planters nuts, three packs SeaPak shrimp, Jello rice pudding, and two packs of Schick razors. I got all of this for $1.92 with coupons.

Today I saved just over half of my food bill by shopping with coupons. I do stock up on items that my family uses. I have a bigger stockpile of non-food items than I do of food items. It is nice to be able to put together a gift basket or help someone out simply by shopping in my pantry. Coupon use allows me to do this.

I think with the current economic times that coupons are "in". Hopefully the sterotype that only "poor" people use coupons will fade away or at least diminish. Coupons are just good money sense.