Thanks to couponing, people are usually excited about the money they can save. Shoppers could be addicted in their earliest days of couponing when thinking about how much money they are saving every day.
It is so satisfying to see your coupon printing and clipping efforts create huge differences in your bank account by the end of the month. While it’s completely normal to be moved by the savings you are gleaning, are you ensuring that you are using your money and time efficiently?
Couponupto.com will list here some of the mistakes that new couponers often make so you can avoid.
1. Buying useless items just because they are a good deal
Every time you tend to buy something that is no so important and you won’t use, ask yourself the following questions: “Do I want to store this item?” and “Do I want to pay sales tax on this item?”
If you answer is no to even one of these, the item goes back on the shelf. The only exception is when the item can prove to be lucrative. If the monetary benefit that you would gain by purchasing the product pays for the sales tax, ask yourself if you can donate or gift this item. If you find yourself nodding in the affirmative, the product pays for itself and then you can give it away.
2. Thinking you have to get your hands on every deal
In fact, if you get great deals and coupons, most of the time you win. However, at other times you might lag behind. And accepting that helps you keep a good balance in life.
3. Failing to sufficiently stock up on items that you use a lot
Try to list the things you need to use frequently and buy them beforehand when there are the right deals. If you don't grab the chance, you might end up running out of them and buying them when the price is ridiculously high. So saving beforehand always pays off in the long run.
4. Buying unhealthy items because they are money-makers or free
These days, every time you see an item that doesn’t seem healthy, ask yourself, “Is this worth my health?” If the answer is Yes, it ends up in your cart. However, it doesn’t mean that all deals can wreak havoc on your health. You can still stock up on candies a month or two before Halloween when the deals are hot and save yourself a fortune. To prevent the inevitable, stash away the candies in your garage!
5. Having a dishevelled coupon folder
You might be surprised at the number of coupons that you have lost or can't find when you need them the most! After months of staying disorderly, now it's time to stay organized, which will definitely save you quite a bit of time and money.
Extreme couponers advise that you should find a system that works for you, be it sorting out the coupons according to their genres, the stores they are applicable at, how soon you would need them, or putting the coupons that are for the same product together in your folder.
6. Buying items that are highly-priced or not on your list
Sometimes you can’t resist pulling items off the shelves because they look too attractive and they seem to be useful yet in reality, you won’t use them just one time. The solution is to start learning to stick to your list, and if you suddenly remember something that you need but forget to add to your list, grab the best deal for it there. It saves money and gas to remember what you need at the store when you are there, rather than going home and making a special trip back for it.
7. Being oblivious to the coupon policies of the stores you are shopping at
When you apply a coupon code at the checkout page, there are times that the coupon is invalid, which makes you disappointed and it wastes your time. It’s likely that you didn’t read the information about the coupon policy of the store carefully and ended up wasting time. So spend some time to read the policies to make your shopping more effectively.
8. Being an inefficient couponer
When you start couponing, you might feel like you have to spend more time and money than needed. But you should be patient as it takes time and effort to practice and master couponing skills.
After a few months using coupons, try to calculate the money and time you spend on couponing. Don't become a couponer who lives a highly unbalanced life, fretting over the next deals and couponing to the extremes. Though couponing can be addictive, if you want to be an efficient couponer, you can still practice this skill while living a healthy balanced lifestyle.
