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The following is a guest post by Outside the Box Mom:
Thanks to your comments on this series, we have some great questions to address…
Question: I have tried and tried to learn to coupon with no luck. I am always amazed by you ladies that can coupon and coupon well!
Answer: “In my experience, there’s no such thing as luck.” Obi-Wan Kenobi, Star Wars
Start small and slow. Look at your old grocery lists and old receipts to pick the most expensive item or the total cost of items that that you buy most frequently. Use coupons on those items. Then, watch for those items to go on sale. When you pair a sale and a coupon, you get the most savings.
Once you are comfortable with with using a coupon on 1 item or a few items, work your way up to at least 10-15 of the items on your regular grocery list. Once you begin to see your grocery bill decrease and your grocery budget stretch further, you will want to try more and more deals.
Having a positive attitude any time you try something new will take you a long way. You can beat yourself up that Betty down the street saves 90% on her grocery bill, only spends $20 a week, and gets in & out of the grocery store in 10 minutes. Believe that you can learn some new strategies and resolve to have a cheerful, positive attitude while using coupons. In the beginning, it may seem like a hassle, but with more and more experience, you will have fun and you will save money.
If you keep a positive, creative, persistent attitude, you will succeed. Learn more about couponing and deals in your area from blogs, use the coupons you do have available to you in your area, and get more practice at shopping the stores near you.
Submit your questions and challenges in the comments and they will be addressed in future posts.
–Sign up to receive my new FREE e-book on Saving Money with Coupons. Find quick, easy, time-saving tips and solutions for moms at Outside The Box Mom.
If you missed any posts in this series:
- Goals when using coupons
- Common reasons why people don’t use coupons
- #1 obstacle in using coupons
- Types of coupons available and where you can get them
- Ways you can organize your coupon stash
- How to make a grocery list
- Shop at different stores to stretch your buck
- Know the sales cycle
- Start small
@Clancy Harrison, Welcome to the coupon sisterhood. Thank God for the internet. Back in the day, I belonged to boards on mycoupons.com and learned so much from the coupon veterans. Now we have blogs that provide matchups that tell us exactly what to buy and which coupons to use. Woo hoo!
@My Journey With Candida, Your daughter’s right, you CAN do it. Everyone has “coupon ability.” It’s like eating potato chips, you’ll never be satisfied with just one.
@Jessica Knorr, Way to go. Just keep at it. It only gets better!
@Debbie M., try clipping them to your grocery list 🙂
I love to coupon and just started doing it! I am so thankful to all the blogs that help support couponing!
My Daughter does very well at couponing and tried to get me into it. I have no coupon ability and I would rather not do it. She tells me if I wanted to do it I could…. She’s right!!
I’m still learning the ropes on couponing but I am starting to get the hang of it. I started off small like the article suggests and found that to be the easiest way to stay on top of things. I still have a lot to learn but I am getting there. Great article, thanks for sharing!
I suck at couponing too! I cut, put in a place I’ll remember so I can take with me shopping… And woulda know it, I walk out the door and shop without them… almost everytime …
Great article… I’ll learn one day…
http://scatteredmusings.net/