Clipping Coupons

Continuing on with the saga of my weekly grocery budget...

I would say I generally save about $6 a week by using coupons. Sometimes, I only have a few dollars worth of coupons but a few weeks back, I had $15 so it all averages out. I try really hard to save my coupons for when items are on sale or on rebate so I can take advantage of a cheap sales price and the coupons.

Since I wrote about my grocery budget, several anonymous "donors" at Derek's work have been saving their coupons for us and putting them in his mailbox. (Okay, Ellen told me she was doing it so I can personally name her but we usually get 2-3 Sunday paper coupon sections each week. So if it's you, thanks. We do use them.)

I also print coupons off from several online sites. The ones I use the most are:

Coupon Bug

Smart Source

Coupons Inc.

The coupons are set to be on the site for a set amount of weeks, with new coupons rotating in to take the place of old coupons. You can usually only print out so many of one coupon so it will tell you if you've reached your maximum. You do have to download some printer software with these. Also, you do need to be careful when using online coupon sources. Often you get asked for personal information in order to get coupons. (With the ones I listed, if you do need personal information it is usually just a one time deal. Once you've signed in with them, you're good to go and won't be asked again. And you may not need to enter your personal information, I just can't remember.) I'm very reluctant to give out my email or phone number to people because I don't want obnoxious sales calls or SPAM. (With the emails, I have two email accounts: my home email and then a free email from Google. I use the home email for the people who I actually want to contact me. I give out my gmail/Google account for things that I am afraid may lead to SPAM, like the coupon sites. That way all my SPAM goes to the google account which I never actually use.)

Happy clipping!