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Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Coupons & Deals: You Don't Have to Do It All

Has there ever been a time when you've felt overwhelmed by the whole frugal, bargain-hunting, coupon-clipping way of shopping. Have you ever wanted to throw up your hands and just quit? Have you ever felt like you just can't keep up with all the deals? I know that I've kicked myself more than once when I've missed out on one spectacular deal or another! Why didn't I just muster up the energy and motivation to get to Rite Aid last week? How could I possibly have missed that sweet deal at CVS?

Then I remind myself that I don't have to do it all. Not only do I not HAVE to do it all, I simply can't do it all!

I have a sneaking suspicion that some of you think I shop more than I actually do. I'm a big CVS and Kroger shopper. Most weeks, those are the only stores I make it to. On my site, you'll find the deals for many other stores. I just don't want to give you the impression that I actually shop at all of them. The mere thought of it makes me feel a bit faint.

And the deals... Oh, there are some fabulous deals to be had! I like to post the ones that I think you'll be interested in. I just don't want you to think that I take advantage of all of them. If I did, we'd be broke! But I want to post the deals in case one of my readers is looking for a deal on a particular item or for a gift idea. Please don't think that I'm encouraging you to grab each and every one of these deals!

While bargain shopping can be fun - an adventuresome game to some! - it can draw you in and cause you to end up spending more than you would if you were just paying full price. I just wanted to take a minute to offer a bit of encouragement to those of you who are trying to do more frugal shopping in order to save your families money. I am doing the same thing. Let's agree together to just buy what we need and will realistically use (or what we can get free or almost-free for others) and not get drawn in by all of the deals at all of the stores. Let's promise each other that we're not going to try to do every single deal - at every single store - every single week. We're all going to be worn out if we try that! And where's the fun in shopping then?

Do you have any tips for keeping yourself in check when it comes to bargain shopping? How do you set a limit money-wise and time-wise? How do you stick to it?

For more ideas that work, stop by Works for Me Wednesday hosted by We Are THAT Family.

3 comments:

Best Deals said...

thanks for your informatic post!! whenever i go for shopping i don't forgot to use coupon because it reduce the price of products and save my money,I have learned so much. I get most of my groceries, personal hygene stuff for free. It truley is amazing. I never thought couponing could really save me the money that it has.With the economy being so bad this could not have come to me at a better time.

Greg and Donna said...

The best way to keep yourself in check and not overspend is to budget and only spend cash. Leave the debit/credit cards at home and only take cash. You can't overspend that way!

Meghan said...

I agree with Greg and Donna. If you can't afford it, it's not a good deal. Set a budget and stick to it.