Coupon Clipping – is it Worth the Effort?

I have recently been inspired to save more money at the grocery store by a mom who is a coupon guru. She has it down to a science and saves a small fortune every month – so I thought I would give her method a try. The most important principle she taught me was to save your coupons for when something is already on sale. This principle does however trade the logic of buying only what you need for buying only what’s on sale that you have a coupon for - even if you won't need it for another 6 months. I am now saving about 20% at each shopping trip, but…

There is an issue, not with the coupons per se but with the way that we are buying food – there aren’t any coupons for the produce isle or anything that is fresh. Things are often on sale, but you can’t get the satisfaction of extra saving like you can with the processed food, so I found myself buying things I wouldn’t normally buy in the name of saving money.

I didn’t enjoy eating them as much as I thought I would, so the coupon clipping has since been scaled back. I am still buying things as they go on sale, but not buying anything simply because it’s cheap. Eating well is better than eating cheap and I thank God everyday that I’m not forced to choose the latter.