My wife and I started a new hobby about 3 months ago that has actually ended up saving us money. How much? Almost $250 since we got started. Its also fueled a competitive streak in my wife that was very unexpected and sparked a savings goal for us to shoot for as a couple in 2012.
But our fun pass time of couponing is probably a lot closer to an obsession for contestants on the Extreme Couponing television show broadcast on the cable network TLC. In this program, people go to extremes to save money on every day items by organizing their coupons in folders similar to baseball card collectors, monitor the internet for special deals from manufacturers, and hoard mailings that are sent out by local grocers. It was through this television program that my wife and I were introduced to our new hobby.
If youve never seen the program before, heres the gist of it of the show: A contestant that is very into couponing is interviewed. Typically, this person has a stash of free items hoarded in their garaged or basement that theyve acquired at steep discounts throughout the years. Usually theyve got dozens or hundreds of similar products: 100 bottles of mustard, 50 rolls of toilet paper, large quantities of diapers, and other household products that dont have short expiration dates. Then the contestant explains how they save so much money with coupons and finally go out and make a large purchase at a grocery store. Often times the contestant will fill up a two grocery carts worth hundreds of dollars at retail and only end up paying pocket change after the savings.
How My Wife and I Got Started
Although, my wife and I have gotten hooked on Extreme Couponing the tv show, the contestants on this program are a little bit more invested in their couponing than we would like to be. Many contestants spend 20 hours or more per week trying to find the best coupons on the internet, newspapers and magazines. Since my wife and I both have fulltime jobs selling adult sized reusable cloth diapers this type of time commitment just isnt realistic for us. Still, weve come up with our own coupon clipping regimen that works better for us. If youre looking for an easy hobby that can also save you some money, these tips could be for you.
Organizing Coupons
About an hour every week, my wife and I take out our clippers and convene at the dinner table to clip and organize coupons that weve received in the mail or through our newspaper subscription. We get bi-weekly mailings from the local grocery stores, which are our prime savings targets and place them into a scrap book that helps us organize the coupons. In addition to helping us save money, this also gives us the opportunity to chat during the week. Clipping coupons does take time, but it doesnt take a whole lot of mental effort. We take the time to catch up, drink some coffee, while saving a few bucks in the process.
In addition to traditional coupon clipping, weve also taken our hobby into the 21st century by getting to know some of the discount websites available online. My wife and I were very surprised to find out that there were literally hundreds, if not thousands, of websites online that track the best coupons for you. Do a search within Google for coupon websites or grocery coupon websites and youll quickly discover hundreds of ways to save. One of our favorites is CouponMom.com.
Our personal goal for 2012 is to save over $600 on necessities during the calendar year. Considering we saved almost $250 in the first three months of our little experiment I believe this goal is very attainable. You might never see us on an episode of Extreme Couponing, but my wife and I really enjoy this new hobby that we can share together. But the savings is just the icing on the cake as what we enjoy the most is just getting a block time that we always spend together during the week.
