Now that the Holiday Shopping is at its peak, it is a great time to start couponing to save on groceries and household items for the upcoming expenses, like holiday dinners, gifts, decorating, parties and just family fun.

If you are just starting out or have been sitting on the fence you should know that there are so many websites out there that basically do the work for you, like www.savingangel.com or www.couponsense.com (these are pay sites) that do a lot of the work for you. If you’re considering one of these types of service just make sure that they are matching up to stores in you local area. Services like these put together weekly sale prices with current coupons and give you a basic road map for major savings. Then there are the self-help sites like www.krazycouponlady.com or www.Iheartthemart.com that tell you what the current match ups are going to be. They also teach you how to maximize you shopping to help you save anywhere from 50% to 90% off your grocery and home needs. Now take the Coupon Myth Quiz, see how much you know about Couponing.

Coupon Myth Quiz

1. Buying in bulk is the only way to save.

2. To be effective I must put a lot of time into Couponing.

3. I have to move into a larger home with large rooms / garage / basement for stockpile storage.

4. The only way to save at the grocery store is to put in 30 hrs a week of just research just to save.

5. Only poor people use coupons. I don’t want people to think I’m poor.

6. Couponers only buy things like snack / junk foods

7. In order to save you must have hundreds of Coupons to save.

8. If I don’t save 80 % to 99% on every trip to the store I’m not successful at Couponing.

All of the above are FALSE

1. This could not be any further from the truth. It is much better for you to purchase the smallest possible item. You will get the highest savings.
2. Just start with what you have. If you don’t have a lot of time then you don’t have just do what you can. There is nothing set in stone saying how much time you need to spend. Just learn a few time management tools. Saving money doesn’t need to be time consuming. One big tip I could give you is plan your shopping trips out.
3. You will be surprised to see that a small space can hold enough for you and your family. Quite frankly two people don’t need a huge stockpile.
4. Depending on your needs and shopping habits, you might could get buy with just an hour or two per week. I would give you one word of caution “Couponing is Addicting.” There are so many websites out there that do the work for you. You can check in with these sites on Tuesday/Wednesday for grocery shopping deals and on Friday/Saturday for the drug store match-ups. Some of these sites will even let you create you;re shopping list and your on your way.
5.  I realize that since the inception of TLC’s new hit show “Extreme Couponing” things have begun to change for the Couponing Community. Overall couponers are not hated by the stores. What they don’t like are difficult people, people that will cheat the system and makes us all look bad. It is also important that when dealing with “Customer Service” about coupon error, that you be respectful and courteous. Stores will help you to save money because that will get you to come back often. You should really think of them as your “Partner in Savings”. My biggest advice to you here is that if you encounter a store that is not helpful coupons, it’s time to move on and find another favorite store.
6.  Lest you think Milk, Orange Juice, Cereal, Chicken, Bath and Body items are junk food. Sure there will be coupons available for chips and cookies and the like but, if you don’t purchase these items now then you should not be purchasing them just because you have a Coupon. Just choose the items you want to purchase that work best for your family’s needs.
7.  Sure if your addicted to Couponing you will have hundreds of coupons but you don’t need that many to save. It is recommended that you have one set of Sunday coupon inserts per family member.
8. Because products are on sale about every 12 weeks or so, you won’t, no you Don’t need to purchase 100 boxes of Cereal when your family only goes through one to two boxes a week. In fact depending on the number of stores in you area you might only have to keep 6 to 8 boxes on hand because stores don’t all have there sales at the same time.

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