If you are new to couponing, it can be very overwhelming!  If you’ve ever seen that show Extreme Couponing, you might have visions in your head of walking out of Food City with a dozen carts loaded to the brim, with a cash register receipt as long as Santa’s List…..and they actually paid you to take it out of the store.

That’s not what I do.

Personally, I don’t have a desire to stockpile enough to get me through the apocalypse.  Here’s my philosophy on it.  My house is cluttered enough without finding a place for 63 bottles of mustard.  My family’s basic needs are met through God’s provision and with our careful budgeting.  We enjoy lots of luxuries (cell phone, eating out, day trips) because we save on the essentials (toothpaste, shampoo, razors, and more.)  And yes, sometimes I do get “paid” to buy items!!   I also like to use the Internet to earn a little extra to cover special things like Christmas and birthdays.  Basically on Savings in Seconds I post the deals that save me time and money on something I would buy anyway.  I typically save $300 or so per month by using coupons, cashback sites, combining sales with coupons, etc.  My goal for the site is to post these deals and help local businesses at the same time.  I am happy to share those secrets with you.  How much you save is up to how much time/effort you decide it’s worth.

I don’t want to re-invent the wheel here. There are lots of popular coupon sites out there for hard-core savers.  I like to use them when I know what I’m looking for.  Here are a few of my favorites, and they do a great job of covering the basics of couponing:
1)  Southern Savers — I use her weekly ads to plan my grocery trips each week. She has a printable list that lets you click on the products you want to buy.  If you have a big variety of coupons, it’s helpful because Jenny even tells you which coupons are available.

2)  Hip2Save— Collin posts several times a day with hot deals that are quickly sold out.  This is my fun site to visit on days off or when I have a bit of free time.

3) Couponing to Disney — Kristin has a great assortment of money-saving tips and ideas.  She also keeps a record of money saved toward Disney. This makes me smile!!

There are also lots of websites that are geared toward specific stores, such as A Full Cup (for Target), Totally Target (for Target), iheartcvs, and others.  I also enjoy looking at these sites for giveaways and contests.  Things like that just make saving fun.

So there you have it, my take on couponing.  My kids aren’t deprived of their favorite Goldfish crackers because they’re not on sale or I don’t have a coupon.  They get to enjoy treats because I have saved on other things. And that works for me!

(I received no compensation for this post. The opinions shared here are 100% mine.)