Are you a coupon clipper?

Every week I take the time to cut the coupons from the Sunday paper, hoping to save a few dollars here and there.  I used to think I was fairly good at saving money until I realized I was not maximizing my coupons.  This was brought to my attention by one of my good friends who is amazing when it comes to using coupons.  I don’t think she has paid for cereal for 3 months now.

There is a great website called Pocket Your Dollars. It gives you the weekly ads from Target, Cub and a few others and then tells you which coupons to use to get the best deal.  I have recently started to use this site and have noticed that I am saving more money than I have in the past.

I realize that cutting and sorting coupons takes time and organization.  However I have also realized that coupon clipping can be turned into a learning activity.  Saving money and teaching your children at the same time is a great combination.

Idea of the Day:

Include your children during coupon clipping.

Preschool coupon activities:

- Have  your child practice cutting on the lines.  I recommend giving preschoolers the pages with the coupons you don’t need.

- Ask your child to sort coupons for you.  Depending on their ability level, you can start as simple as sorting short versus long coupons.  For more advanced children you can have them sort by food groups.

Elementary coupon activities:

- Continued practice cutting on the lines.

- Advanced sorting of the coupons.  For example teach your child what a canned good is or food versus paper products.

- Ask your child to help write the grocery list.

- Have your child look for coupons corresponding to the items on the list.