Couponing 101... Part 8... Making it work

Just some tips:
1) Get organized and stay that way. Find the system that works for you. I use the basket/box system. Some people use binders. Some use accordion folders. It depends on what works for you. If it doesn't work for you, you will not do it. For me, I find that the basket the easiest because I can categorize and find my coupons quickly. You can tell from the picture some of the categories I use. Set yours with the categories you use.

2) Spend as much or as little time as you want couponing. The more time the more savings. With that said, I am a stay at home mom, so I have more time where as my sister works. So she cuts her coupons, and shops at Wal-Mart and does the CVS game. She IS saving. Is she saving as much? NO. Does it work for her? YES. Is she still doing it? YES, because that what works for her and her time. If you don't have time to check the blogs everyday, don't. If you want to check one everyday because that's what you have time for, then I recommend Mrs. Buys More and Mr. Saves a Lot. On the right hand side of her blog, she has a list of all the new printables, by name and value. You can look there and print what you want and probably get most of the best coupons out there.

3) If you don't have budget, make one. I have a budget of $270.00 per two weeks. Set what your budget is and do not go over it.

4) This is probably the second most beneficial tip besides getting organized and staying that way. Use CASH. Stop swiping that debit card. My budget was $300.00 per two weeks. I shopped at Wal-mart and Sam's because they were the cheapest places and I swiped my debit card. When I started couponing, I took stock of how much I was actually spending. (I knew I was going over my budget, but I did not know by how much.) Well, I was actually spending around $550.00 per two weeks. OUCH!!! So I decided to start using cash and cash only. If you don't have it to spend, you won't. You'll stop buying things you don't need. You begin to ask, do we need this, or do we want this? Yes, there is a big difference.

5) Turn it into a game and have fun.