I love this efficient system for couponing. It lets me save when I want to without it becoming a full-time job.
There are some great reasons to save with couponing but traditional couponing takes tons of time and is boooooorriinng. That’s why I love Speed Couponing. Once you learn the method, it only adds on a little bit of time your usual shopping chore and has a big return on investment.
Other great stuff about Speed Couponing:
- Easy to set up.
- Minimal filing.
- Clip only the coupons you’ll use that week. You file the entire UNCLIPPED coupon booklet by week–so no deciding ahead of time which coupons you may or may not use. No filing zillions of little pieces of paper. No searches for little pieces of paper. No constant updating.
- You can walk away from couponing for a length of time and come back anytime with minor hassles. You’ll get your best return on investment after one to three months of accumulating coupon booklets, but you can start saving with only one week of coupons (or using none).
The biggest reason to speed-coupon is that anytime you spend a dollar, you have to earn almost TWO dollars. Think about it:
For every dollar that you earn, before you can even use it, all of these are removed:
- Federal tax (10-39.6%)–most of the middle-class fall within the 15-28% range
- State and local tax varies from Alaska’s low average of 1.76% to Tennessee’s high average of 9.45% (per the Tax Foundation, April 2015)
- Social Security 6.22% and Medicare 1.45% (employee amount; employer contributes matching amount)
- Any benefits deduction (healthcare insurance, flexible spending accounts, etc) – varies
- Tithe (if you do so) = 10%
So let’s use an average of the above: Federal tax for middle-class ranges = 21.5%; State and local (average Alaska and Tennessee) = 5.6%; SSN & Medicare = 7.67%; Tithe – 10%
Total used before deducting benefits or hitting your bank account: 44.77%. Yikes! Now go ahead and deduct benefits, transportation and work clothing amounts and you find how hard you work to SPEND a dollar.
By contrast, every dollar you do NOT spend or every dollar that you save is like saving the dollar and the above percentage, which is getting pretty close to double, isn’t it? That’s why we can sort of think that
Not spending a dollar is like saving two.
Wealthier households, including millionaire households, are among those most likely to use coupons. Say what?! Yep. Millionaire researchers, Stanley and Danko, authors of The Millionaire Next Door (which is on our home school high school reading list) discuss this in their book.
Little bits–of money and time–add up. They can add up in your favor or against you.
Finally, it’s fun to get a super great deal. Here are some I’ve found: 1 lb gift-quality mixed nuts for .99 (bought about 20!), 30+ boxes of free pasta used for family meals and to cater a wedding, 18+ boxes free Finish dish-washing pods, 15+ free bottles shampoo (that works for my skin-sensitive family). . .and the list goes on.
Being able to stretch your resources allows you to share more with others. Being able to save without spending a ton of extra time is smart time use.
Efficiently using your time and resources = total win! 🙂
Other posts in this series:
- Speed Couponing – The How: The Set-up
- Speed Couponing – (2) The How: The Shopping List
- Speed Couponing – (3) The How: Scissor Time
This is an awesome resource – thank you!
Thank you, Trudy!