The Lazy Couponer

I am about to admit something to you all.  I have not clipped a coupon in over a month.  I have a huge stack of coupon inserts taunting me at all times, but I can't get the motivation to sit down and go through them.  It has been a busy month, and I honestly have had no time to shop properly (think frenzied trips through the grocery store only because we are out of everything fresh), so I haven't made time for the coupons, either. 

Am I upset about this?  Not really.  It was time to take a little break.  Have I totally given up couponing?  Absolutely not.  Even though I haven't clipped coupons and purged my Couponizer of expired coupons in a while, I've still been  using the coupons I have and also printing and using coupons, which I find easier than sorting through inserts.  And yes, I have spent a little more than usual on groceries, but it actually hasn't been that bad because I've been paying more attention to the ads and making sure that I'm getting things on sale to keep the costs down. 

My point here is that you don't HAVE to be a hard-core couponer to save money.  You don't HAVE to devote 10 hours a week to clipping/sorting coupons and driving around to different stores to get the deals.  You don't have to read every coupon blog and know about every single deal.  You can just do what YOU can do...you may not have time to devote to coupons or you may not WANT to clip coupons every week.  You can clip the coupons when you get around to it, or just print a few from Coupons.com before you leave for the grocery store.  Or, (gasp), you can leave the coupons behind and STILL save money by shopping from the ad. 

There are always going to be couponers out there who get a shopping cart full of groceries for $5 after handing over 100 coupons.  Good for them...that truly is AWESOME.  But just because you are not one of them, don't feel like a couponing failure.  Saving $5 off your bill is awesome, too!   Using coupons is not a competition and the bottom line is that it has to work for you and your family whether you use a coupon on every item you buy or just for a few things each week.