Making a lifestyle change when shopping with coupons
Using coupons – even thinking about using coupons – can seem a little scary and even intimidating. If you take a step back and ask yourself WHY you want to use coupons – then you already have stepped up to the plate. My biggest reason for using coupons was because we took a huge pay-cut and didn’t have a choice but to find a way to make ends meet. Using coupons took us from spending $800 a month on groceries and household items for a family of 4 to about $300 for our family of 6. That freed up the money we lost and made it so we felt a sense of accomplishment in knowing we are using free toothpaste, hair care for $1 or less, etc.
It is also nice to think about all the things we having in our stockpile. We didn’t even have an extra tube of toothpaste before, we didn’t want to afford it! And now we have so much, we give it away like candy! lol. Once you answer the question of why, you will be able to have a level of determination which will lead to what kind of shopper you are.
The biggest part of using coupons is making a lifestyle change. You have to become more conscious of deals and saving money. Have the desire and want to be able to save that money in order to actually take the time to make it happen. It can be slow going at first while you are learning everything. I have only been doing for a few years myself, but I couldn’t go back to any other “way of life” if I tried, simply because we have made a lifestyle change, and it “hurts” to pay more for something when I know I can get it for cheaper.
Very rarely will I give into convenience over conscious and buy something full priced. And that is mostly because I don’t have a choice. Even now, my husband will call me before heading to the store to make sure anything we need isn’t on sale or that we can get a better price. It is just a lifestyle chance that has helped us be more aware of how much we are spending and lets us get better deals because of it.
Have you made a lifestyle change when it comes to your finances?
Other great Extreme Couponing Tips:
- When enough is enough
- Using Self Checkout when using coupons
- How to start couponing – Gathering and Organizing Coupons (Week 1)
- Figuring out how many coupons you need and the three types of shoppers (Week 2)
- Cashier Profiling
- Multiple Transactions
- How to save money on groceries when the sales aren’t good
- Shopping the Sales
- How to change the zip code on coupons.com
- How to Save money on ink when you print coupons
- How to Double Coupons at Stores
- Using a Price Point List to compare prices
- Do you “shop” or do you “buy” when Grocery Shopping?
- How many coupon inserts do you need?
- How much do you need to stockpile?
- How to get coupons on your mobile phone
- 10 Grocery Items you should NEVER pay full price for
- 7 important things to know about reading coupons
- What to do when your rewards (catalinas) don’t print
- Easy ways to cut your monthly out of pocket costs on bills and groceries
- How to save money when hosting a party, potluck, or barbeque
- Buying Multiple Newspapers
- Shopping at one store or multiple stores
- Calculating the best price to get the best deal
- 5 Simple Ways to Save Money on Clothes
- Keeping Track of your Printable Coupons
- Stacking Coupons
I am a benninger at couponing I would love to save more at the grocery store. I get the items on sale and I use the coupons but my grocery bill is still high. Can you help me save more money each month. I had watch the 2 women on the news and they only spent $1.34 at the grocery store. Please email me back with an response.
I started using coupons when our expenses went up and our income went down. (Big lifestyle change). I use to cut out everything but it was too overwhelming but now I just cut out what I really use.
Thank you for this article…. I really need to start using coupons!!!
Yes, you’re right! My life changed after I used coupons. I became more conscious of deals and saving money from that day! 🙂
Thank You for sharing your interesting article!
Love the tips!
Thank you for the great article. I really like how you added the additional article links.
Couponing has changed our lives… we are always up for NEW tips! Thank you 🙂
thanks much for great article you shared with us; many good tips/resources.
I’m using coupons but I seem to be doing something wrong because I still spend quite a bit at the grocery store.
i need to start learning more about couponing to save our family of 6 some money!! i do shop around and buy things on sale and stock up on sale priced items but i wouldn’t mind saving even more!
You made a good point that a total change is necessary. We try to use coupons but often find that the store brand is cheaper and buy that if the product is truly as good as brand name.
I love using coupons, I’ve even been made fun of in the past for using a coupon for anything I can. I don’t care, if I can save some money why not go for it? It’s a lifestyle change I made, I can’t stand buying something for full price anymore.
Hi, I can’t devote all of the time it takes to do couponing really well, but every little bit helps I guess.
New to couponing and these tips really helped
when it comes to couponing, I try. I could improve quite a bit but I learn more each week.
Thanks for the advice. I am seriously trying to take all the advice and tips I can get because I am trying to learn to be a great couponer!
Great post! Keeping coupons someplace convenient is a big help – they’re no good if you’re at the store and your coupons are at home!
I am trying to use more coupons. The financial change has been in the way of money saved on anything goes into a savings account. We are tweaking things all the time..toward the saving more.
the only thing that bugs me about fellow couponers is when they take it too far. I have seen on the (dreaded extreme couponing show) people get like 10 free gallons of milk, or 100 boxes of cereal.. you can’t tell me you eat all of that. I have a few tubes of toothpaste handy, as well as extra shampoo, toothbrushes, pasta sauce, noodles, but excess of 50 jars of sauce is just too much. it becomes a point when you really are in a way robbing the company, because although you are following the rules, these companies put coupons out there for you to try their products at a lower price (in order to entice new customers) or reward loyal ones. they’re not putting coupons out there to allow you to get 100 toothpastes for nothing. that’s not the point of coupons and i think a lot of peolpe forget that. If you donate them, or really do use all of them then fine, but i feel that a lot of the food items that couponers get goes to waste. this leads to another huge problem in our society: waste. we have all this food and toiletries in our cupboards but yet we can’t give one jar of sauce to someone who needs it. i always go through my cupboards and if i didn’t like something, i will give it to a family member or donate it to the local food bank (if i bought more than one of the item thinking i was going to like it).
so, i think one tip of couponing that i think slips a lot of peoples’ minds is only get what you need!! why buy 10 mustards when you use the same one a couple times a year on hotdogs and hamburgers? as couponers we need to not only be financially smart but also considerate to others and also the environment. if we sell out the shelves of all this food, companies will produce more thinking that its flying off the shelves, when really in a few months it will expire and we will pitch it to the trash.
I agree with you! I hate going to the store to find the item I want is completely gone because someone just before me took all of them. Jeez, I only wanted one – they take 100. Now my family goes without so you can put them on your shelves and gloat. That is selfish!
I hope those people tip the cashier for all the extra work.
you used to spend $800 a month?!?!?! sheesh!!! i spend $200 tops for two people!
Thanks for the tips and encouragement to remember the why!
Thanks for the tips. Making the change is so worth it. Love getting more for my money. =)
Coupons are great for items that you use. I have run into the problem of seeing store brand items for less than a brand item with coupons. I have actually ended up spending more than I normally would at times getting things with coupons versus just getting what I really need. It is great to get things for less though, and it is still a work in progress.
love the tips and tricks in this post! thank you!
Thanks for the great tips!!
New to couponing and these tips really helped. Awesome article!
It is simple. I buy WHAT I want, WHEN they want to sell it to me cheapest. For non coupon items, but “out of season”. For example, buy summer clothes in September for great deals.
I need to get into coupons…
Great article. I have not done much couponing but would love to learn how in order to cut spending..
Great tips! I definitely need to start using coupons and better at learning how to use them correctly.
Thanks for the great tips! I love couponing!!
This is a great post! I have to say couponing has really changed the way I live. I now have extras of items that before I had to scrape pennies to get.