Couponing Tip: Easier Couponing for Working Moms & Dads

Couponing Tip: Easier Couponing for Working Moms & Dads

1. Get organized! This is the first and most important rule for success. Find the right method that works for you, and invest some time in setting up your system. Once it’s set up, it will be much easier to maintain. The binder method seems to be the most popular, but there are plenty of other methods that may work even better for you. Check out my Couponing 101 Guide to see my method and How I organize. 
2. Collate your coupon inserts so that identical coupons stay together but make sure that they match because sometimes they can have the same coupons in them BUT be located on different pages. This is a huge time saver when you clip. Instead of clipping individually, I made a 3-part video on this that can be found here. Some of my readers staple the pages after they have matched them up and then cut. I choose not to. 
3. Plan how much time you want to put in, I work full time (37.5 hrs weekly), a mother of 2, a part-time student, and a wife. Make yourself a schedule so that couponing becomes part of your weekly routine. Saturday mornings I get my newspapers at Dollar Tree and I cut and sort them. Sunday Morning I do my shopping. Throughout the week I will periodically check to see if Target has added more to their clearance, check the sale ads for the upcoming week and make my lists. I also keep an eye out of newly released coupons and print them. So I do some clipping throughout the week. I will spend 30 minutes tops on this before I go to bed. It's easier when the kids are in bed and the husband is watching sports!
4. Don't stress about missing out on the next deal. Do what you can, and be happy with the amount of money you are actually saving instead of driving yourself crazy thinking about how much you could be saving. In order to save time, focus on 2 stores for that week. I will look at my ExtraBucks, +UpRewards and my Register Rewards to see which expire first. Whichever expires first then that is the store I will be shopping at to take advantage. 
5. If you are too busy to find deals yourself then I recommend you go to different blogger sites to look for coupon matchups. Google is amazing. I try to do coupon matchups as much as I can but with working full time and going to school part-time, It tends to be a lot of work for me. At this moment I am the only one that handles this blog. 
6. Your time is often more valuable than the money you save. Make time for the most valuable people in your life. I would much rather spend my evenings with my husband and our kids than making sure I have enough boxes of tissues, paper towels, etc. So, go shop, save money, and at the end of the day enjoy yourself. You deserve it! We all deserve it!