One of the challenges of living a frugal lifestyle is finding the time to do things that save you money, such as clipping coupons.
It doesn’t take long for a well-intentioned bargain hunter to get overwhelmed by their own coupon binder.
Here are some ways that you can save money with coupons without having them take over your life:
Print your own coupons. You can print coupons from SmartSource, RedPlum and Coupons.com. I highly recommend visiting the searchable coupon database at A Full Cup for more internet coupons. You can print the coupons you want, and you’ll save time sorting through ones you don’t need.
You can purchase coupons. You can find coupons in large lots for sale on eBay, but I’ve had much better experiences purchasing coupons from both The Coupon Clippers and The Coupon Master. These sites charge a small “handling” fee for procuring and clipping the coupons for you. You need to do the math before you buy to make sure it is worthwhile. I tend to buy high value coupons for products I always use but can’t find coupons for in my area. Unlike eBay, where you get stuck buying a whole bunch of coupons, The Coupon Clippers and The Coupon Master let you order only the coupons you want and in the quantities you need.
Join a coupon trading group. Sites like A Full Cup and Hot Coupon World have hundreds of people who are looking to trade coupons. If you don’t have any coupons to trade, some folks will trade coupons for things like postage stamps.
Save with your cell phone. Depending on what stores are available in your area, you can download electronic coupons to your cell phone via a free service called Cellfire.
Have your kids clip coupons. If they’re old enough to clip coupons and willing, have them do it. You can always give them a portion of the savings.
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