Couponing...Just A Way to Get Free Things?

Couponing is an old concept that is getting a fresh new look these days. Your mom probably used coupons, your grandmother--shoot, your great-grandmother used coupons. They saved a nickel here and a few pennies there on everything from laundry supplies to canned veggies.

In 2011, a series called Extreme Couponing began airing on cable TV. It demonstrated to millions of viewers just how possible it is to buy household goods worth hundreds of dollars for less than $20, and in some cases, absolutely FREE! Several episodes even showed savvy shoppers getting money back from the store! How cool is that?

Cable channel TLC shows reruns of all the seasons of Extreme Couponing, but I became fascinated with watching them on YouTube. When I say fascinated, I mean, to the point of going out and buying the Sunday paper JUST for the coupons! Sure, I'm a newbie--but I've already scored my first FREEBIE! Yes! And it felt so good.

With smartphone apps like Ibotta, Checkout 51, and Mobisave (just to mention a few), and websites like KrazyCouponLady.com and CouponMom.com (just to mention a couple of "free" sites)--and don't forget the store loyalty cards!--it is now even more possible to get free, or low-cost household goods, and save your money for more important things--like the electric bill.

With couponing made easier, you don't have to spend hours hunting down the free deals. It's all done for you on the web. It just takes a little persistence. There are so many side benefits with couponing, too. Not only do you save money, but you don't have to work as hard to make extra money for those items that you get for free or pennies on the dollar. If you have children, and they see how easy it is to save money with coupons, they grow up to be more careful with their own money, and to be budget-conscious (even if they don't need to be).

One smart couponer paid $ 30.85 for $966.25 worth of groceries. Another paid $35.38 for $1176.67 worth of groceries. Still another paid $16.90 for $1364.90 in groceries, and one last customer paid $0 for over $1700 in grocery store items! Wow!
I may never score an entire grocery basket of goodies for free, but that's not going to keep me from trying.