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I have to admit that when I thought about coupons I cringed! I thought clipping coupons was a waste of time and I would {gasp!} never want to be seen using coupons. What would people think ?! Would they think I was cheap, stingy, poor ? I had all these assumptions about coupons. You know what they say about those who assume… Then I started talking to friends who were using coupons. I liked these people, they were my friends, so I slowly started to think “couponing couldn’t be that bad if my friends are doing it”. I saw how much fun they had saving money.
My ideals had always been that spending money was fun. But now that I was a new wife and mom I started realizing how important saving money was and that if I saved money in some areas I had more money to spend in others, now that was exciting. I could actually spend money on things I wanted, because I was saving money on items that were necessary. At first it was time consuming, learning about how to use the coupons, where to get coupons from, how stores take coupons, but there was a wealth of free information online. People really love couponing (and they want to share it with you)! This made me feel like I was not alone.
Couponing has become an phenomenon, that is spreading like wildfire. It is like a game of who can save the most money, a game that I want to win at. When I saw my first few receipts and how I had not only saved money, but received items for free, or even sometimes made money back – that was it, I was hooked. Stepping out of my comfort zone has saved my family a major amount of money. My daughter now asked me “Do we have a coupon for that?”. I use coupons for everything from eating out, buying clothes to grocery shopping. Just trying something new has made a huge impact in my life and my family’s life. My husband will pick up extra news papers for me, and he actually gets excited when I coupon because it = more money in the bank! The few hours I spend a week getting ready to shop with coupons = saving of 100s of dollars. Basically, I am paying myself to shop. Yes, I still use name brand stuff. Yes, my closet is full of designer brands. But that doesn’t mean that I can’t save with coupons.
I will never go back to not using coupons or worrying about what people think. If people get behind me in line, I say “You might want to choose another lane, this could take awhile” and I don’t worry about what they think. Most of the time people want to know how they can save money too. In an economy like ours it is just smart to save money, whether you have a lot or don’t. Do you know the secret of most wealthy people ? They are penny-pinching savers! So grab your Sunday paper and clip some coupons, you’ll never regret it.
