Note: This is a guest post I wrote for Freebies 4 Mom. I’m blog-sitting for Heather as she and her family brave the wrath of Hurricane Ike. Please send prayers & positive thoughts for everyone in the hurricane’s path!

September has always been one of my favorite months of the year. I love the fall air, the changing colors, and brand new crayons.

And now, there’s one more reason for me to love it: September is National Coupon Month.

I’m a coupon junkie, so I read the statistics from the Coupon Council’s website with great interest. What really struck me was that manufacturers pump out $360 BILLION worth of coupons each year. And shoppers only redeem $2.6 billion of those. That’s a lot of savings that people are missing!

The website also says that for 20 minutes of clipping, you can shave about 20 percent off your grocery bill, something I can personally testify is accurate.

I truly believe in the power of coupons. I started tracking my coupon use in April because I wanted to know if the time and effort of couponing was worth it. Well, since April I have saved $1,099.29 using coupons!

I’ve gotten hundreds of dollars worth of free food, personal care items, and paper goods using coupons. I’ve gotten steals on things like diapers, razors, and cough syrup. Because I only use coupons to buy things I know my family will use, the time invested is totally worth it.

To me, EVERY month is Coupon Month.

If you are just starting to clip coupons, please check out some of my past articles:


A Few Couponing Tips
A Few More Couponing Tips
Coupon Organization Revisited
How I Shop: A Tutorial for Saving on the Basics

And be sure to read Heather’s great coupon tips, too!

Happy Saving!