I LOVE couponing! It's a new way of life for me. I've been doing this for about 2 years and there's no turning back. But with a little time comes a little wisdom. Couponing is not always profitable especially if you find yourself buying things you don't need just because they're a good deal. One of the things I've had to take into consideration is the hidden costs of couponing.
- The newspapers you have to buy to get the coupons
- Extra gas you spend going to the store more frequently
- Ink cartridges for your printer
- Printer paper
- And probably a few others I haven't thought of
So how do you handle some of these hidden costs? Have you thought about them and taken them into consideration? I really want people to leave comments on this post so we can share ideas and help each other think creatively on some of these hidden costs.
Here are just a few things I do to help keep things as cheap as possible!
- I always buy my newspapers at CVS because you earn 2% back on every purchase with your Extra Care Card, so it helps a little bit. Many times I'm able to actually pay for my news papers with ECBs.
- I joined the Staples Rewards program. You earn $3.00 in Staples Rewards for every used ink cartridge you turn back in to them to be recycled. You'll get a Staples Rewards voucher in the mail every quarter and I usually get about $12.00 in rewards to use towards purchasing new ink cartridges. I'd love to hear what some of you have to say about refilling your own cartridges.
- I have to buy all my own newspapers. I usually buy four papers each week (sometimes more depending upon what coupons are in there) and I buy the Saturday Waynesboro Paper (Which is still available on Sunday)..The Record Herald. It's only 75 cents which is a great deal!
- I try to do my shopping in as few trips as possible. My son goes to preschool, so I usually go shopping during preschool hours when I'm already out and already driving somewhere and when I have one less child :)
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Alright, time to leave a comment with your thoughts on the subject!
~J~
3 comments:
I save money by getting extra coupons from my Dad/Grandma/Stepmoms papers, and also at the library - so I very rarely buy extra papers. I combine my trips to stores or wait until I'll be closer to the store so I waste less gas! And I'm going to try refilling the ink cartriges rather than buying new ones - we'll see how that works out! Walmart has pretty cheap paper, but every once in a while, CVS will have a deal with ECB's on paper! My biggest waste is my time looking up deals and figuring them out! But your site will fix that!!!
I usually buy 2 of our local paper on Saturday or Sunday, but will probably start getting one Washington Post since i'm finding it has different and better coupons.
Ask friends, family, neighbors, co-workers to save coupons for you.
Find other couponers who don't use Q's that you do, and make trades.
I have 2 really sources that I happened to come by with luck, so get creative!
Also, often you'll see offers for free or cheap magazine subscriptions--usually these mags have coupons in them.
When I know i'm going to a store, I check the blogs and see what is hot and make sure I get as much as I can out of each trip. I only get to target 2 times a month if that, so when I do go I want to find the goodies!
And i'm with Jana--my biggest waste of time is finding the deals. But I like doing it :)
i have to buy more black ink ASAP - that's a real bummer!! i've tried refilling a cartridge once, but the quality was terrible. i have walgreen's $ to spend, so i'm going to try and have it refilled there and see...it's a money back guarantee, so if it doesn't work, i'll get my money back i suppose!
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