You have to think of couponing that way, as a job. What you make an hour varies. Sometimes it will amaze you, and other weeks it will be slow. The nice thing is that you set the hours, and you don't even have to work that week at all if you don't want to!
My suggestion is to think of how many hours a week you are willing to give over to your new job. For me, it's about an hour a day, and some of that is done while I'm doing other things. For instance, I may be waiting to pick up the kids at the bus stop and I'll use my iphone to see what the deals are online. In one hour, I can be made aware of usually about ten deals at various (or sometimes even one!) places that are going to save me money. Usually that money amount is well over min wage, and there are no taxes lol! So, think of it that way but....
ONLY GIVE THE JOB WHAT YOU WANT TO!
Remember, you are the boss here, you are not a slave to all the deals, you are a prioritized busy woman, so give it just ten min a day if you can and only pick up that free of cheap item if you happen to be at that store. It can be that simple. Even if you only do that, you will save.
Let me demonstrate. I'm going to go over to Southern Cali Saver right now and time how long it takes me to see what the deals are that I would do at Target and Walgreens this week. Ok...here go...
Ok..in 8 min I skimmed to see what deals I would do. Here they are:
Kotex U tampons $3.99 - $1.00 coupon, get $3 rewards (used like cash in that store)
Coupon Paycheck = $4 (rounding the penny...ok:)
Ajax BOGO (Buy One Get One Free) .99 w/ in add coupon= .49 ea
Buy two
Coupon Paycheck= $1
Target
Banana Boat Sunscreen (I don't even have the coupons needed to get these free as many do. I am just getting back into this and don't have the paper's coupons from the needed dates, but that's OK...I need some of this for my husband and kids anyway so it's still a good deal with just the Target coupon)
Buy two, get a $5 Target card....$6.49 ea
buy two= about $7
minus two $1 off target coupons
minus $5 gift card value
Pay $6 for two
Coupon Paycheck= $7
(it would have been $13 with those coupons)
That is it! Not much this week I am doing at either of these. I don't need a lot right now so I'm not even looking at the so, so deals. Southern Cali Saver does this wonderful helpful thing of putting a red check on the items that are outstanding. Unless I know I need something, I am looking to just skim the cream of this process so I don't look at the rest for now. Also, there were some red checked diaper items and free breathe strips I have no need for, so I'm not even gleaning it all) ((UPDATE: Those are not breathe strips, they are natural sleep aid strips, sorry. So, I will be doing that deal especially because it has now become a MONEY MAKER: go here to find out more.))
SO...in 8 min, I was made aware of a savings of?
$12
Yes, you do need to factor in the rest of the process such as cutting and gathering your coupons, going to the store, looking for the item etc. Still....
Let's just say that my savings would be about the same looking up the rest of the cream of the crop deals for the rest of an hour, I would be looking at a coupon paycheck of about...
$75 or so! That is a well paying job people....just sayin.
Of course it's not that great all the time, but when there is nothing, you don't take the time to gather and go anywhere and you really loose nothing but the browsing time. We all have a little browsing time when we do other things. There are going to be big score weeks and low score weeks, but if you are looking for the cream of the crop, and not trying to do every somewhat discounted item, you won't use much time. Remember also, that though I call these discounted items "paychecks", for me they have to be things I would buy anyway and definitely use. Also remember that there are often real, true, actual money makers that add to that "paycheck".
My friend Karen always encourages me when I get away from saving, back into it to do just a little something. She is always right. Just so you know though, I drag my feet sometimes and I just don't do it at other times. Some balls have to just drop, and this is definitely one of them that I allow to drop. Just starting with the free or close to free stuff with one drugstore would be saving you money. She is so right.
Try to remember also, you live in a day and age that does homework for you! Just the two sites I follow daily (and throughout the day on my smart phone) highlight what I should be looking for, give me links and do all the work for me! This use to take a lot more work years ago. My two links are in the side bar all the time. Join the facebook pages of your favorite sites to get updates all through the day. Many you have to act on right away because they are facebook offers that are limited. For instance, while I was writting this, I was alerted to a $2/1 coupon for Country Time's half and half lemonaid/tea. Most places this will come out for two free. I had to just click over and print it. So, it's pays to follow these blogs. More on that later....
Tomorrow, I will post what I do practically to get started to keep it simple and stress free.
Feel free to ask questions.
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