Some people call me the Coupon Queen.  My kids even laugh at me and say if the house were on fire and we needed to flee to safety that I’d grab my coupon box before leaving.  We pretty much only go out to dinner if we have a coupon to use and yes, I even have one of those cute fabric coupon holders I take into the grocery store.  So, maybe I’m a Coupon Geek, rather than a Coupon Queen.  I actually have three coupon boxes: one in the house and one in each car.  I do love me some coupons!

Despite all of the mocking I get for being thrifty and always using coupons, studies now reveal that 72 percent of shoppers have turned to the dark side…well, uh….the coupon side.  Today’s troubled economy has more consumers thinking twice to pay full price.  More and more people are converting to couponing and since 1998, September has been declared National Coupon Month.  The first coupon was handwritten in 1886 by Coca-Cola. Smart company.

TLC even has a show now called “Extreme Couponing.”  Have you seen it?  You’ll be inspired!  According to Nationalcouponmonth.com, 20 minutes a week of clipping and clicking online for coupons could save you over $1000 annually.  Sometimes a lot more.  True story…

I had just given birth to our third son and knew we were outgrowing our first home quickly.  I drove around town looking at homes for months, trying to find the perfect house and neighborhood for my growing family.  I fell in love with a particular home, but wanted to make sure it really was the right place for us.  I prayed about it and the next weekend I saw a coupon in the newspaper for $5000 off homes being sold by that particular builder.  It was like a sign!  I just knew that a house I could purchase with a coupon had my name written all over it!

Budgetsaresexy.com has listed the reasons why coupons are awesome as:

1.    You save money!  (My mantra is “Never pay full price!”)

2.    Instant fun family activity!  (We clip while watching TV.)

3.    You can feel accomplished and proactive about reducing your grocery bill.

4.    Potential to find a good product that you might not otherwise have used since you are more likely to buy it with a good coupon!  Oh the places you’ll see…

I think I’ll add to the list that food always tastes yummier when you get it with a discount!  Movies are better with a discount!  Excursions are more fun with a discount!  You just feel smarter and more in control of your money when you can pay less for something than the average consumer.

Bulk coupon buying is now all the rage with web sites like Groupon and Living Social.  I’ve saved quite a bit of money on local deals, but please heed the warning that you need to use the bulk deal before they expire.  Thankfully, as usage and complaints have risen, these companies are now changing their policies on strict expiration deadlines.

Sprunk.com lets consumers sell unwanted daily-deal offers online. CityPockets.com charges $1 plus 8% of proceeds; DealsGoRound.com takes 10% of proceeds. Both sites feature a digital wallet to help you organize daily-deal coupons.  There are even several sites that allow you to create your own daily deal web site as your own business.  Couprecoup.com is a listing service where you can find local steals and deals online for free.   I love free.  It’s even better than a coupon!  I’ll tell you more about how to get tons of stuff for free later in another article!

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