Busy mom of 5 - is couponing worth the time?

[joemarcie]

My sister is learning about couponing on this site and is wondering if it is worth her time and efforts to get into couponing. I do it for my husband and I and do find it worth it. But, I'm not busy with kids so I don't know what to tell her about her time invested v. value to her family. What do you all think?

[born2boop]

Depends on what she thinks her time is worth and finances that they have available.

If she can cut the grocery bill 50% a week (not hard to do even just starting out) just doing one store with coupons I would say totally worth the time.

Maybe she can spend time hunting online deals after the kids are asleep.

Hard to make a quick judgement since I don't know their situation. But surely any family can benefit by using coupons.

[kaylaledford]

In my experience the time invested decreases significantly after you get it all figured out. Besides the actual shopping I probably spend less than 1hr a week getting my Qs & deals in line now.

[cintinative]

I started this in November. One thing I am learning is that you can pace yourself--you don't have to go to CVS every day, or even follow more than a couple stores. Even if you friend focused only on Krogers for example, she could save money that way, without a ton of time invested (relatively speaking). It is hard for me because I do spend a lot of time on this, but I also trade and follow three stores regularly. But I guess you could look at this like any hobby--you can throw a lot or a little time into it, and the rewards will vary depending on time invested.

If she has five children, this could be an excellent way to teach them about money management. The older kids could help clip and sort coupons, and look at the circulars with her to match coupons with sales and she could teach them about the math aspect (like how much per roll of tp etc.). That is, assuming that the younger ones wouldn't be crawling all over her as they did this! =)

[Ggbwg]

It can be done, yes it is time consuming. Matter of fact this is the #1 Answer when i talk to people of why they do not use coupons. They say they are too busy, and then i say your too busy to save your $ ? I'll find a way to save mine.

Here's what i recomend people when first starting....
1). Don't chase every deal, your not saving $ if your spending too much
2). Start Small
3). Match coupons to sale items- it takes me 20 min to go through every ad i price match for. I price match 6-7 stores.

I make this a full time job for me, life is hectic but you just got to do only what you can do. Not everyone has to make it there full time job either.

To give an example of how much i saved so far, i have saved aover $3,000 this year. Last year probably around $1,800

[TonyBreandthe4]

As a mom to four- my oldest just turning five.. I say its totally worth it.

My kids love to help me sort my inserts and pick out the pictures of dogs, and different foods, and things they recognize.

I think its totally worth it--- but Im a SAHM so it also makes me feel like what I can save off my grocery/hbc bills is a contribution to my family's bottom line :)

[momof4inmi]

As a busy mom of 4 I say it's totally worth it. I also am on the board over at OGD but I find time for everything else. My kids actually look for coupons at the store now..lol. It has made the kids a little bit more aware of the cost of items which is good.
But she would have to make the decision for their family.

[tmsmalley]

Speaking for myself, I have a more than full time job and 2 kids plus dh. I only shop at one store with a very occassional trip to a drug store for a super deal like free Equal. I shop once a week or once every two weeks. I have saved thousands of dollars, so, yes, I find it to be very worth my time.

Since she has 5 kids, odds are good at least some of her kids are big enough to help her clip coupons and sort and organize too. Mine are 6 (as of yesterday) and 3 so we're still a little young to not cut off bar codes and expiration dates. If her's are a bit bigger however, they can help. I spend maybe an hour a week. There's a bit of up front time in setting up your binder and I do spend about 2 hours when I go and shop. Of course part of the reason I spend 2 hours shopping is that I go up and down each aisle and it is (delightful) kid free time for me while they're home with dh.

Tess

[joemarcie]

Great advice. Thanks for taking the time to share for my sister.

[momto8kiddos]

It depends on her situation - how many hours does she have available, how important is it to her to save money, is she willing to stockpile.

I have ten children and homeschool. And for me, it is incredibly worth it. I cut my grocery bill by 55%. It could easily be more if i could devote more time to it.