The Smart Mom Manual

How I Learned to Love Coupons [Infographic]

By: Winnie Yu

When I was single and carefree -- and certainly more flush with disposable funds -- I rarely used coupons. I thought they were tacky and time-consuming. But now that I’m a mom who manages a household, coupons have become a necessity for financial survival.

Every purchase is worth a quick check for coupons, from groceries to spa services. A shopping excursion with my daughters? Check on RetailMeNot.com for 20 percent off on clothing at Old Navy. Printing photos for a scrapbooking project? Enter the company name “Kodak Gallery” and the words “promo code” into a search engine and get 50 free prints if you’re a new member. Looking for a massage? Check Groupon and snag a $45 hour-long rubdown.

Of course, the coupons I use most are for groceries, cleaning products and toiletries. Every Sunday, I scour my newspaper (I get two editions just for the coupons!) and file them in an alphabetized packet. At any given time, I probably tote around $50 worth of coupons.

So when I recently dropped my packet of coupons at Target, I broke into a cold sweat, thinking of the money I’d tossed away. I retraced my steps through the paper products, where I’d last remembered seeing them. Luckily, another shopper returned them to me in the parking lot before I had a meltdown.

Funny, what brings me joy these days.

I hate to think I’m emotionally attached to my coupons. And I hate to think I’m miserly. I’d prefer to think I’m just being a smart consumer, someone who will pay less for the same product or service, by simply forking over a tiny piece of paper. The money saved allows me to make my coupon-free purchases sans guilt.

Apparently, I’m not the only one who has become a coupon aficionado, as you can see here:

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Truth is we live in tough economic times. And as a wise man once said, a penny saved is a penny earned. With inflation, it’s probably more accurate to say a dollar.

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