Guest post from Kelly of Kelly Cox At Home:
Coupons can be a blessing and a curse. While they can save you money, they take up your time too.
Several years ago, my husband and I were trying to live on 1 income and looking for ways to save money. We learned how to coupon and literally cut our grocery budget in half. I was ecstatic, but quickly realized that I had a dilemma. Couponing began to creep in on my time in the evening and on weekends.
My goal was to continue to save money, but I didn’t want to coupon like it was my job! Family time is so precious and I wanted to free up my schedule and spend less time with coupons.
If you wish to do the same, I’ve got 3 tips to help you cure what I call “Coupon Time Creep.”
1. Realize that you can’t do it all.
We are all busy with home life, family, friends, work, church and so much more. I encourage you to give yourself grace and accept that sometimes you’ll just have to miss a deal or two. Oh well!
We can’t do (or coupon) everything, but we can set boundaries and priorities to help us save money and still enjoy spending time on what really matters.
I wanted to continue saving money but I had to limit my coupon time, which brings me to my next point.
2. Set a timer
When I first began to coupon, I would look up from my clipping, printing coupon frenzy and realize that I’d lost an hour of time. Oh my! I meant to start dinner, write an email and call a friend. Coupon Time Creep strikes again…
My solution to this (much too frequent) scenario was to set a timer. In other words, I’d give myself 20 minutes to devote to couponing and then stop. Whatever I had completed coupon wise during that timeframe would just have to do. In fact, I found that I stayed more focused because I had a looming deadline, and I wanted my time to be productive!
3. Limit yourself to one website and one store.
Couponers will sometimes visit multiple websites to compare coupon matchup lists and scour the internet for every sale or deal to be found. They will also often travel to several stores in the name of the deal. (I’m describing my former self here.)
I encourage you to save yourself time by considering one coupon website and one store. I’ve applied this concept to my couponing and now save both time and money! In fact, I’ve saved myself hours of searching and driving around because I picked just one.
If you coupon in order to save your household money, I encourage you to watch for the occasional Coupon Time Creep!
Your family, friends and household are so much more important than chasing after ever deal and coupon.
Remember you can’t do it ALL, set a specific amount of time aside, and pick one store and website to focus on.
You’ll be blessed to find you still save money and manage to preserve your time as well!
Kelly is a Christ follower, blessed wife, mom-to-be and a lover of all things home. She blogs over at Kelly Cox At Home about her journey at home and passion for debt-free living. She hopes to encourage others in that goal, while sharing tips on how to manage and enjoy all things that make up HOME!
Good article. A lot of times people just think of the money that couponing saves but not the investment they put into it. You have to put a dollar value on your time. If you had a job, you’d make a least minimum wage an hour so couponing should save you at least that much for each hour you invest.
Great post! As a new coupon-er, I spent a LOT of time doing it. And in that season of life, that was okay. I was a stay-at-home mom with one baby and a husband who frequently traveled. It was a fun hobby that allowed me to save money instead of spending it! But as life has gotten busier, I’ve given myself permission to let most of the deals go. Most weeks I hit up one drug store and one grocery store, and call it good. I still get my toiletries for almost-free, I save on groceries, but couponing is not allowed to become a stresser.
I think people that keep a coupon binder are wasting way too much time. I divide my inserts in separate folders (Smart Source, Red Plum , PG, Publix and all others in another). I date and gem clip my coupons together.
Since I keep a stock ( not tons and tons, thank you….that is selfish) and scan the Publix ads. I search to see if they have a coupon for the item on sale and if it is something I will use. I go to that date insert, cut the coupon and add the item to my list. I go with list and coupons and my eyes do not stray. (Coupon binders in the store cause this to happen). I buy what is on my list and leave. I go to Aldi and buy produce, dairy products and canned goods I need and leave.
I check the CVS ad and see if there is something I absolutely have to have. I search for coupons and make one trip there. (Usually once or twice a month). If I get a coupon for $5/25, 20% off or 25% off, I find items I use with high value coupons that offer ECB with certain amount of purchase. I make my list and often buy the full price items with discounts and coupons and then make another transaction (or two) and use those ECB to get sale items with ECB.
I have a suppy of detergent and dishwasher detergent that will last a year or so only because of good pricing. I keep about three to four of each condiment and thing extreme couponing is wasteful and stupid. It great to get a good deal but who the heck needs 70 bottles of mustard to brag about and let expire.
And………I spend an hour or less a week couponing. I do go to Sam’s once a month to buy meat including bacon and sausage since it is cheaper there than at store with coupons.
Great post Kelly 🙂
Thanks, Keelie!!
I used to go to multiple stores before I had kids, but now it’s not possible. I bought the paper for a while, but I felt like I wasn’t getting enough out of the coupons for it to be worth the subscription price. I tried getting deals at Walgreens and was frustrated. They would always be out of things, and then I would have to get a rain check and keep coming back to see if it was in stock yet. Now I just stick with Aldi and Walmart, using whatever coupons I happen to come across online.
Aldi is one that I stick with too! I have one store I use coupons but then Aldi is my fave for my regular grocery trips. You can save so much there!
Great words of wisdom + helpful tips! Sometimes I have to let a deal go to save the sanity of my family & myself 😉
I love your title and this post, Kelly! I totally know what you mean about time easily slipping away while couponing. Great tips to save time and sanity!
Thanks, Alex! 🙂 Balance is key in all this money saving! Family is more important, of course!
There was a time when I would get quite upset with myself when I discovered I had missed a great coupon deal. Money was tight, and couponing was a big help for our budget. Eventually I realized that I was spending way too much time searching for deals. Now I’ve narrowed it down to just two web sites that I visit on a regular basis.
Annie, my situation was similar and I found that I saved time by looking at less sites and choosing my main store. I enjoy to coupon more now because there’s less pressure to keep EVERY deal!
I agree. Until about 6 months ago, I was spending too much time with it as well. Not only that, but the time traveling to and in the store. Even though Target, Meijer, Kroger, etc are within 5 miles of my house (multiple locations of each store! Double the deals right?!)… city traffic meant that it could take 30 minutes to go those 5 miles. Then the frustration at the checkout if a coupon “beeped”. Then the cashiers who closely scrutinize every coupon and try to find a way to not accept it.
I’ve cut way back on using coupons now. I’m still getting some great deals but I have my time back. We’re not stockpiling as much either, which makes my husband happy. I’m now using one of the shelving units that used to hold couponed stuff… to hold my hobby supplies! Yay!
Jessica, sounds like you tweeked the time you spend on it all and it’s helped you too. I’m so glad! Also, hobby supplies are important and just think you made room for it all. 🙂
I love these tips! the first one is probably the hardest, but I think that realization goes a long way.
Very well put. Time is money, so while you might be saving money at the store you’re “spending” time looking for the deals. There are times I have more money than time and the “deal chasing” is minimal. Other times I have more time than money and I have time to track down more deals. Like everything in life, it requires balance.
Balance is key! I am with you. I enjoy saving money but oh how I enjoy my husband and our family more! 🙂
Agreed! Often times my time is better “spent” invested elsewhere
I’ve had this problem! Especially since I went back to work full time, hard-core couponing is not for me. I get Kroger coupons in the mail, load electronic coupons from the Kroger website, and shop at Kroger. I just let the other deals pass by.
I let many deals go on by too. I’m so much happier to do that than trying to chase deals around!
What a great article. This is a problem that is very relate-able for many of us, I am sure. I am happy that, while I coupon, I’ve found some more realistic boundaries that work for our situation. But, it took too many years of the “coupon time creep” to re-assess the balance of couponing. Thanks for the great tips!
Thanks, Barb. I’ve freed up so much time as I’ve learned to conquer “coupon time creep.” Plus, I find that it’s more enjoyable in the right boundaries.