Sunday Coupon Class: You don’t have to be an extreme couponer to get the savings

Everyone can save and you don’t have to be an extreme couponer as this Guest Post from Jeanette Pavini will show you. This is pretty much how I coupon, too. I don’t buy 50 bottles of mustard just because or 100 packs of razors; I only buy what my family will use and need; A general rule in our house is 10 items per deal; If it’s a deodorant my boys like I buy a maximum of 10; the same with anything else. That way we have time to wait for another great sale and we don’t have to run to the store every week, but it will also be a “normal” amount for a family of 5 to use. I hardly ever buy more then 10 like items for anything and we are getting 90% savings most of the time.

The newest reality show craze to hit TV – Extreme Couponing – has gotten everyone excited lately about what they can do with coupons. But, is what they are portraying realistic? Do you really need 45 bags of chips or deodorant – even if they cost pennies?

Jeanette Pavini, household savings expert for Coupons.com, took to the grocery store to determine just how long it would take her to ‘real-world’ shop with coupons and how much she could save. She created a grocery list, which consisted of a 7-day meal plan for a family of four as well as typical household, personal care and pet items, scanned through the weekly circular and online coupons and went shopping. The savings are astounding – over 45%! And, you can complete your routine in under an hour each week. Proof that you can still get a bundle of savings without going to the extreme.

The results:

 Total cost                                             $261.30

 Amount paid                                      $146.42

 Total savings                                      $114.88

 Total savings w/Reward Card      $88.14

Total savings from digital

and newspaper coupons              $26.74

Coupon savings:

$26.74 savings x 52 weeks in a year = $1,390.48/year

By spending 20 minutes browsing through the newspaper, scanning online and organizing coupons into a wallet organizer, the average consumer can save about $1.33/minute OR $80.20/hour.

Total savings:

$114.88 x 52 weeks in a year = $5,973.76/year

This includes sale items and coupons ($114.88) and takes a total of 40 minutes (20 mins to meal plan by looking through circular plus 20 mins to coupon). Total savings works out to be $2.87/min OR $172.32/hour.

Thanks Jeanette for letting my readers know that you can save no matter how much or how little time you invest into couponing. This is totally realistic and can pretty much done by anyone… So no excuse, grab the Sunday paper today ( let’s grab 2, remember the Buy One Get One Free items always allow 2 coupons and this will give you maximum savings J ) and start saving. You can also check out my Sunday Coupon Preview post to see what is in your Sunday Paper and the Weekly Sales post to see what deals are around this week.