The Coupon Queen

by Ellie DeLano | Comments

I'm no good with coupons. They seem really easy in theory, and I even used to cut them out whenever I saw a good one somewhere. Then I'd tack it to my refrigerator door with a magnet and it would hang there till I pulled it off, realized it was horribly out of date, and threw it away. Sometimes I'll find them at the bottom of my purse and I'd think "What the heck did I keep that for? I almost never buy that" or I'd see it was a coupon for Christmas cookie dough or something and I'd find it in May.

Lately, though, with my new, scaled down budget, I'm discovering the fine art of coupon clipping. There are numerous sites on the internet offering coupons, and you can usually find coupons right on the product's website as well. happens to have a pretty impressive coupon section: and I've learned to really scour and scrimp and I'm saving myself money in ways I never realized I wasted it before.

I think the trick is to ask yourself if this is something you use regularly. If not, is it something you need to stock up with (like buying paper plates and napkins ahead when you're planning a barbeque for next month)? Then you have to determine if it's really a bargain. Fifty cents off when I have to buy two of something that I won't go through two of anytime soon is hardly what I'd call a bargain. I've also checked around to find grocery stores that have double coupon days.

I know, I sound like a frugal little old lady. I'm actually considering (gasp!) buying a little cardboard coupon file. Part of me would love to go back to the days when I could just swipe that debit card at the checkout and not worry about whether I had the money in the account to cover it. But then again, I now have a healthy appreciation for where my money goes and why. Not a bad thing, really.

What are your coupon tricks? Do you have any great coupon site recommendations for me?