Couponing is one of the most effective ways by which we could save money. By merely collecting and clipping coupons found in the Sunday papers as well as printing online coupons, we greatly reduce our grocery expenses so we could allocate more budget for other things.

The use of coupons has increased in the last few years due mainly to the recession in the US. But a spike in the use of coupons occurred when TLC channel started the show “Extreme Couponing“. The show featured extreme couponers on their way to their favorite grocery store, taking carts and carts of products, proceeding to the cashier and paying only around $50 for $500+ worth of products.

These people also showed their HUGE stockpile and we see that they probably wouldn’t need to buy toothbrush or toothpaste or deodorant for the rest of their life. That’s how much they have on stock!

I, for one, was inspired because of this show. You see, I’m a stay-at-home mom and we try to live within our means. When I saw the show, I realized that it’s possible to save a lot more money if we use coupons. The following weekend, I started collecting coupons and soaked my brain in all coupon-related articles and blogs I could find on the internet.

I have been couponing for 2 months now and if you’re new to this, I’m telling you COUPONING IS NOT A WASTE OF TIME as evidenced by the amount of money I saved in the short time I have been doing this. As long as you’re able to manage your time and resources well, couponing will work well for you.

So for the next few posts, I will give you a rundown of all things coupon-related that helped me in my goal of saving money.