Wednesday, March 2, 2011

"I work and don't have time to coupon!" - Here's what I say...

Since I've started couponing, I've heard the saying over and over again that couponing is time consuming. Yeah, it's not easy or everyone would be doing it. Keep in mind that I have a 2 year old that I have with me 24 hours a day. A 6 & 8 year old that are at school from 7:30-2:45, and a husband that works 6 days a week, anywhere from 10-20 hours a day, to which, may also be called in on his days off, so I don't have ALL the time in the world either, (See what my day looks like here). Here's some tips for working moms that may think they don't have time to save money!

Sunday:
Get your newspapers and grab the coupon inserts and the sales ads for the stores that you want to shop at. Pack these things up in your briefcase or whatever items you take to work and save for later. Done!

Switch your reading material:
I know we all love to read magazines & books, so switch out People magazine for the weekly Sales Ads. I usually buy more than one paper, so I'll leave one set of ads in the bathroom, so when you are doing your business, you can flip through the ads, another set will stay in my coupon binder and go with me everywhere I go so that I can reference it at anytime.

Print your coupons:
Sunday night, print any new coupons that may be available. Most of us like to go online on a daily basis anyways, to either check our e-mails, socialize on websites like Facebook, (read this blog), etc., so while you're online, print your coupons and pack those up along with your coupon inserts and sales ads to take to work with you on Monday.

Organize your coupons while at work:
When you're at work, use your breaks to cut those sunday inserts and printable coupons and organize your binder. I usually find time to cut up my coupons when I'm waiting for the kids to get out of school. I usually get there about 30 minutes before the bell rings (if you're a SAHM, then you understand this), and lucky for me, it's usually the time when my 2 year old is taking a nap, because she usually falls asleep in the car about that time. I listen to the radio and cut, cut, cut, it's very relaxing.

Late night or whenever your "me-time" is:
When all the kids go to bed, and you've turned off your computer, sit down with a pen and paper and figure out your shopping list. This is usually when my "me-time" is. I used to watch any recorded T.V. that I missed out on during the day, but now I spend some of that time going over all the ads and making lists of what I will buy (or not buy, because some things are FREE), on the following day.

Grocery Shoppping:
We all have to do this anyways, so obviously you have time to grocery shop. With couponing, you may have to shop more frequently though, or go to multiple stores. Before couponing I used to try and go once every 2 weeks and to only 1 store (I LOVED Walmart for this one-stop shopping, and they really DO have the lowest prices), but that never worked out because someone would always forget to tell me that they ran out of something very important like shampoo or something!
With couponing, sales vary weekly, so you don't want to shop once every other week like I used to, because you would be missing out a weekly sale every other week! Also, sales start on Sunday for retail places like Target, CVS, & Walgreens. Sales start on Wednesdays for grocery places like Albertson's, & Kroger. So now I try to shop on Sundays and Wednesdays because you'll find that there are way more people that coupon that you thought and all those great sale items go quickly!
What I do now though, is make a list of stores that I need to shop at, and I'll note if I am buying refrigerated or frozen items so I can determine if I can go to a store on the way somewhere else like a doctor's appointment, etc. For working moms, you can hit up CVS & Walgreens on your way to work, or during your lunch break, and leave it in your car.

Hope I've helped you find time in your busy day to start couponing. It will really pay off! - Think of it as a second job!

Happy Shopping!
 - Veronica

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