Clipping Coupons

Do you get the Sunday paper to read or for the coupons?

Several years ago I used to spend an hour every Sunday morning reading the paper and drinking coffee.  It was the favorite part of my week.

About two years ago I canceled my Sunday paper subscription.  I did so in part to protest the local newspaper publishing my salary and in part to escape from my morning ritual which had become more of a burden.  I started to feel trapped by the paper because I was locking myself into a pattern that I felt I couldn’t interrupt.  After all I did pay for the Sunday paper so I better read it, right?  That was also about the time I started waking up to the fact that my lifestyle wasn’t working out for me.

I originally subscribed to the Sunday edition for the coupons, but ended up spending more time reading the sales flyers for things I wanted but didn’t really need.  So when I abandoned the Sunday paper I also abandoned coupon clipping.  I was spending $1.50 a week on the off-chance that the paper would have coupons of things I actually buy, it seemed most of them were for processed food that I try to avoid.  Most of the time I’d never get around to purchasing the items before the expiration date of the coupon or I would forget to bring the coupon to the store.

This week I discovered a new way to “clipping coupons” via the internet.  Its called “the coupon clippers“, and I am preparing to order my first set of coupons this week for items I know I’ll use and that won’t expire soon.

It seems easy enough, just order the coupons you want and pay the website a certain amount for each one you order.  It seems counter-intuitive to pay for coupons but I was paying $1.50 a paper for possibly getting one coupon I’d use.  This is much more practical for me, so I am going to try it out and see how it goes.

There is a minimum purchase of $3.94 and some items are a minimum number of coupons.   This requires quite a bit of planning and some stocking of items, but it will still be cheaper than a Sunday paper!