Extreme Couponing – Money Saver or Time Waster?

We have all seen those shows on TV that show the amazing moms who have turned coupon clipping into an art form. They scour the local papers, grocery store inserts and the web for the best deals. They utilize elaborate organization systems for making their shopping trips as productive as possible. It is enough to make my head spin. I am all about saving money and I have been known to clip a few coupons myself. I even take advantage of a good deal or two in my local grocery store. But savings is not just about dollars and cents.

Value Your Time:

I am a bookkeeper and business owner. One of the things I do when making my “sales pitch” is to ask the potential client what their time is worth to them. It is always surprising to me how little value we put on our time. I often close the deal after I have explained how something that is taking my potential client several weekends to accomplish (keeping their books up to date) could take me a few short hours. Suddenly my hourly rate doesn’t seem so high.

Couponing: Worth the Effort?

The same could be said about couponing. How much time are the extremists spending not only clipping the coupons but organizing them, planning the shopping trips, actually doing the shopping? And what about purchasing items that may have an expiration date? Time would have to be spent making sure that there are no items going to waste. What have you really saved if you end up throwing things away? We could put a number on the hours spent at this pursuit, but I am pretty certain it is equal to, if not, more than a regular work week. How much of that valuable time would be better spent with our families.

I am pretty busy in my business, especially this time of year. I often have to balance the time spent in my office with the time I spend with my family. I love a good deal if I don’t have to search too far for it. And I don’t mind spending a little more when it means I have more time with my family; time that I can never get back. The balance can be found in the budgeting that we have talked about. Make a distinction between a need and a want and then decide where the greater value is.