Ways to Save: Coupons

I thought I would start off by posting about some things that we have done that help us save money. I am definitely still learning about living frugally, but have picked up lots of ideas from blogs, books, and friends.

Coupons have been one of the biggest ways we have saved money. Every week I use coupons to get items either free or almost free. For instance, right now I have enough toothpaste, shampoo and conditioner, and body wash to last us probably about 6 months. I got all of them free with coupons. Recently I also used coupons from Kraft to get BBQ sauce free at Wal-mart and salad dressing for 9 cents at Target.

Some people think that using coupons is a waste of time and money since you have to take the time to cut them out and since you can get store brand products for less money than brand products. However, I have found that it does not take that long to snip out a few coupons each week. And as for the brand versus store brand issue? Well, I am not a brand snob and generally use store brand products. But hey, if i can get a brand product for cheaper than the store brand, why not?!

I estimate that coupons save us at least $300 a year. Maybe more. So I feel that it is VERY worthwhile to take the time to snip those little guys out of the coupons inserts each week.

Check back tomorrow for more tips about couponing.