It’s easy to fall off the coupon clipping wagon. Heck! It’s hard to GET ON the coupon clipping wagon. Here are a few ways to make it a cinch.
- Turn coupon clipping into a game. Appeal to your competitive side by seeing who in your household or pool of frugal friends can save the most on their groceries.
- Set a time limit. Part of the reason I put off coupon clipping is that in my mind the task will take forEVER. Instead, set the kitchen time for 15 minutes and madly tear through the newspaper coupon inserts and websites to print coupons. I find it easier to focus and get started on a task if I have a firm deadline.
- Create a reward. Tell yourself that if you can save $10 on groceries by using coupons, you’ll get to spend $5 on a fancy latte or frozen yogurt. Save the other half. Sets appropriate dollar amounts for your situation and chose a reward that motivates you.
- Clip with buddies. Sounds ridiculously domestic, right? But I like to think of it as harnessing girl power. Gather your frugal friends for a coupon clipping gab-fest! Set out a dish for coupons folks want to swap.
How else do you motivate yourself to clip coupons?
UPDATE: One reader said she gets her kids involved! Whatever money she saves from the coupons they clip go toward whatever they are saving for (currently, a Nintendo Wii). Here’s her video about it.
Related:
Paying for coupons: two reader recommended web sites
Welcome to Bargain Babe! I’m Mara, and I’m so glad you’re here. I am an obsessive bargain hunter and penny pincher, and I am determined to live a full life without EVER paying full price.
“Create a reward.” I like that idea!
When I come home from each grocery-shopping trip, I check the sales slip to see how much I’ve saved by using coupons. I then put that amount in an envelope to be saved for Christmas shopping. More than $100.00 per month is easily accumulated.
Wow, you must be very popular around Christmas! This is a great way to save for the winter holidays (and I’m one going to use in an upcoming blog post!)
I started subscribing to the paper a month ago specifically for the coupons. This month I’m tracking my savings progress. The money I save will be just that! No special projects or lattes or Christmas shopping- though those are all excellent ideas!
I joined a coupon train. I feel obligated to clip all the coupons and send them off to the next person so they’re not disappointed. I also get a nice big envelope of coupons in my mailbox to go through every week.
What is a coupon train? Do you send on every coupon you clip or just the ones you don’t want? This is such an interesting idea I’m going to look into it. Glad you mentioned it!
Dont subscribe to the newspaper when there arent coupon inserts in every issue. Plus, by subscribing you get 1 issue per week. When you buy them on your own you can purchase 2-5 depending on how many inserts and what savings are offered. Then you can stock up on those items and thats how you save BIG money!
Here is the Sunday Coupon Insert schedule that will tell you what coupon inserts are coming out on what days. 🙂
http://www.couponboom.com/coupon-insert-schedule/
Happy Savings!
Thanks for this great coupon resource, Helen!
Whether or not you use an Internet database, it’s generally the holiday weekends where there are no coupons.
Examples from my area newspapers this year: there were no coupons on Easter Sunday or on President’s Day weekend.
Julia, I don’t understand comments such as yours on June 25 @ 8:13 a.m. I see these cryptic entries among the comments on many topics and I can never figure them out or why they’re there. Can you explain?