by Bill Whitney

Created on: July 29, 2007   Last Updated: November 19, 2008

The savings from coupons are very definitely worth the effort which it takes to cut them out. First of all how much effort does it take to cut them out and catalog them as to what they are for. If cutting out coupons that will save you half of your total grocery bill in a lot of cases is too much of a problem, you either have too much money or are just plain lazy. I would lean toward that it is the latter.

We use coupons for anything we can. Groceries, haircuts, over the counter medicines, car repairs and service, restaurants, anything we can find a coupon for. If you are going to save big, don't buy something you don't need just because you have a coupon.

My wife is the coupon queen. She saves me more money buy clipping coupons and using them wisely than she would make if she worked out side of the house. She doesn't have to drive to work, eat lunch out, have here hair and nails fixed every week or two, and buy all those fancy clothes and shoes. She really enjoys shopping and using the coupons and the comments she gets from the checkout clerks when she has saved 50-60 percent on her purchases. She gets told all the time about what a good shopper she is. I have seen her actually get paid for buying something when the item is on sale for less than a dollar and she has a coupon for say 60 cents off and they double it up to a dollar, she will actually gain a few pennies. Those extra pennies go in the grandkids savings accounts.

When we go out to eat, and we do quite frequently, we almost always have a coupon for 10-20 percent off or a buy one get one free deal of some kind. We keep track of how much we save and then every once in a while we go to a really nice place where the food isn't really any better but it is fancy and has all that ambiance. I never found ambiance and atmosphere very filling but is fun to go once in a while. Get on line and go to the restaurant websites and sign up for their email club and their birthday club. A lot of them send you a coupon in the month of your birthday for everything from a free appetizer to a free meal.

My wife and son always use coupons for haircuts. I would too If I had any hair. I use a set of clippers and cut my own. Those clippers cost $19 dollars and I'll bet they have saved me over a thousand dollars in the last 15-20 years. I haven't found a barber shop that give you a discount for less hair.

We use coupons for oil changes on our cars. We buy a book of 12 oil changes for about 60 bucks and when I get my oil changed it usually costs between two and three dollars. When you drive 3-400 miles a month, that adds up to a lot of oil changes in a hurry.

Yes coupon savings are definitely worth the effort of cutting them out. If you don't want them send them to me. I'll either use them or give them to somebody who will. When you are retired and on a fixed income, every penny counts and coupons and sales are worth using.

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