Overwhelmed by Coupons!

When I first began coupon shopping I would spend a few hours on Sundays clipping, filing, purging and organizing my coupons. I found that I would be purging so many coupons weekly that where expired because I never used them. It seemed silly for me to be spending all this time clipping and organizing coupons if they were of no use to me.

I now do not clip coupons until I am ready to go to the store. Each Sunday, I will organize my coupon in a file folder system. I will date each one of the folders so that I can find coupons easily. I longer clip any coupons from my inserts until I need them.

Due to the great resources we have with blogs and coupon sites, we are able to determine sales and coupons that match sales before we enter a store. I do not leave my house without a list with the items I will be buying and a stack of coupons to match my items. When I have my list of items I can easily go through my folders and cut out the coupons I will need and print them from the internet for my store purchases.

When I first began doing this I worried that I might miss a deal on a clearance item that I knew I had a coupon to match the item. In that case if I really need the item, I will come back and get it the next day with my coupon. Making a second trip to a store every so often is a much better use of my time then spending a few hours every Sunday clipping and organizing my coupons.

I found that typically I do not return to the store to pick up the item I saw on sale. I usually don't need the item.

This system allows me to stick to my list. I believe that I save money by not buying impulse items. I also feel like I save time by not wondering the store for a long period of time. I have my list with the items I will be buying and those are the only items I will purchase. The longer I am in a store the more I will buy.