I get it. You save money with coupons. You buy products for less than you would normally pay for them if you have the right coupons. Where I run into problems is getting the right coupons.
Maybe it's a guy thing. I don't know. The only coupons that ever come my way are the kinds I don't want to use. You know, for fast food I never eat, or for canned and bagged groceries I never cook, and for drinks I never drink.
When I hear about how people save a lot of money with coupons I always ask where they get the coupons that help them save money. I don't know.
When I wanted to know why retailers use coupons I found a pretty good article that explained things. They are trying to move product off the shelves and they don't care if they take a loss because otherwise they may have to ditch the stuff altogether.
Personally, I think you would be better off looking for free stuff you can online. This article about free things you can get online got me to thinking that maybe the real deal is in these freebie promotions. I know that the Amazon Kindle program encourages authors to give away copies of their books. I have read a few free Kindle books too.
But I am more inclined to agree with this blogger who says that playing with coupons is a lot like gambling. You never really know what you are going to get or what it will be worth.
It's frustrating to see other people saving lots of money and not know how they do it. And by the time you figure out where the savings came from it's too late. You cannot get the coupons or the store is out of the merchandise.
I have better luck just browsing the clearance tables. My wife likes to do that every time we go to the store and she has picked up some pretty nice deals too.
So, yes, I agree with everyone who asks if saving money with coupons is worth the time and trouble. You have to have a knack for this thing. And I think you have to live close to stores that allow you to do that. We sign up for coupon offers at our local grocery stores and sometimes they tell us we saved 50% on our groceries, but honestly, I still walk out with less money than I hoped I would.
