Alot of people comment to me that they try to coupon but they never end up saving any money. All this tells me is that they haven't really committed to it.
When I decided to start couponing, I researched everything that I could. I signed up for all the websites, found every way to get coupons, bought the Sunday paper (sometimes multiple copies) religiously and never went shopping with a prepared list and matched up coupons.
Slowly but surely I have seen our weekly spending drop. I went from saving $20 in one Publix trip to now regularly saving well over $50 while spending $30 or less. I use to get excited to get a tube of toothpaste for $2.00, now I know that it should be free or at least .50 cents or less.
It took me awhile to learn the rock bottom prices for things and it took me over a month to learn to hang on to my coupons until there was a really good sale. These things are now habit.
I never go to the grocery store (or Target or Walmart) without a pre printed list with the current sale prices, sizes and all the possible coupon matches. We only go to Publix once a week or less and Target and Walmart only once every 2 weeks (unless there is an amazing sale on something).
Justin was skeptical of couponing at first. He did not think that the time and effort would result in enough savings. He is now totally convinced and even went on his first solo couponing trip last week. He ended up bring pretty proud of himself : )
If you feel like couponing isn't working for you or you feel like you don't save significant amounts of money, you should commit to it for one full month and see how you feel after that.
Feel free to comment if you have questions!