In the beginning of my couponing career, I was terrified to check out.  After all, if a deal is not going to work, you find out at the register when it is time to pay.  It is not as easy as it looks.  I still make mistakes and I am still learning new ways to coupon all of the time.

Now that I am experienced in couponing, I am proud to pay with coupons.  Even if I’ve made a mistake, I know I’m still saving a lot of money.  I try to teach my couponing class to start treating your coupons like cash money.  After all, if you use them to take ‘real’ money off the total of your bills then coupons work exactly like cash money.  For example, if your bill totals $200 and you pay $100 with coupons, you have just saved $100 in cash money.

Your coupons are an investment.  You pay one dollar for your newspaper and immediately get back hundreds of dollars in coupons.  No other investment you make pays off that quickly.  To top it all off you get to do that on a Sunday when all the banks are closed.  To me, the newspaper with coupons is the best investment I make.  I am now going to make my investment work for me at the store.

Before I go shopping, I make sure I have all of my coupons.  The store’s sales ad cannot possibly list every item the store has on sale.  I always bring all of my coupons with me so I do not have to miss a deal that may not be in the sales ad.  I use a binder to file all of my coupons and that makes it easier for me.  As I shop, I always help other shoppers out if they need a coupon, too.  I have met many people by saving them money.  It is a wonderful way to meet someone and to help at the same time. 

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