CVS is my coupon mecca. Their Extra Bucks program is incredible. Then of course there are the double and triple coupon promotions at our local grocery store.

The time and effort I put into clipping and organizing coupons (maybe two hours a week) is more than worth the savings I get on products we need.

Last year, the cook for girls camp really outdid herself with coupons. She shopped nearly every day for weeks, working out one deal after another. Unfortunately, I get to do food this year and feel a bit freaked over the budget because I don’t do coupons. But so far, the total bill, buying nearly everything at Sam’s Club, is lower. And all I do is email my list to Sam’s and show up, since they’ll pull everything off the shelves and have it waiting for me. I do have a business membership there. Don’t know if they do this for non-business members. But that costs a whopping $5 more.

Seriously guys. There are ways to make coupons really pay. And it didn’t take much effort.

First, call around and find out the couponers specials for your local papers. Frequently they have deals where you can get JUST multiple Sunday papers for a reduced price.

I was able to find a place where I can buy Sunday papers on monday for a fraction of the price.

Watch sites such as http://www.coupons.com for coupons you can print, http://www.pinchingyourpennies, http://www.athriftymom.com . All of these sites are free and all offer tips on sales, and other couponers sharing what deals they found and where.

You can be picky and still coupon. It just means that while your friends are gushing over the Albertsons sale that starts tomorrow, you may find yourself bummed because there is nothing that you regularly buy that is part of the awesome sale.

Get store rewards cards. Albertsons has a gas rewards program (part of the store card) that gives you 5 cents off per gallon for every $50 you spend. My husband thought it was a joke, and we’d never use it, until I showed him a receipt that said we had earned $1.10 off per gallon. He was the one racing down there to fill up.

Fred Meyer has a rewards card that gives you a percentage back.

Get a credit card that pays you a percentage back. We will pay for Christmas with what we earned back this year. And we pay the bill in full every month, so we don’t even pay interest.

There are a lot of ways to save money and be frugal.

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Most coupons are for processed foods that I would really rather not feed my family, OR waste our money on.

Here is what works for me.

I found a place where I can buy multiple copies of the sunday paper on Monday for a MUCH reduced price. this means if there is a product for a coupon we use in the paper, we now have multiple copies. This also means that if there is a popular coupon for a product we don’t use, I can now trade it for a coupon we do use.

When I cut coupons I keep the question “if this were free, would I want it?” in mind. I use that to determine whether to cut the coupon or not.

And I am still very picky about what I buy. We like certain products. So I tend to stick with those. If we don’t have a preference on say, what brand of butter we like, I’ll cut all the butter coupons out.

I do cut some coupons that I’m iffy on. But that is purely to trade with others for the coupons I will use.

Yes, couponing does take a couple of hours every week in cutting. but can you argue with 5 boxes of Honey bunches of oats for $1.16 total (multiple times!) at the store around the corner?

I also print extra coupons off the internet for free. mostly from coupons.com but occasionally from the manufacturer website.

I follow websites such as pinchingyourpennies.com and athriftymom.com

Yes, you can be a picky couponer and still save money!

Nearly everything goes on sale at one point or another. That’s when we buy it. If we don’t save 50% when we check out, it’s because We’re buying milk, eggs or other perishables.

The receipt usually shows all this information. I used to shop sometimes at a grocery store in San Diego–I can’t recall the name now, but it was right across the freeway from the temple, and it’s not Trader Joes. They would advertise all the coupon and sales specials in the Saturday/Sunday paper along with all the coupons, and on a good week, I could save 75 percent on the total, assuming I wasn’t buying milk. At some point it became too much work and I mostly just shopped at Costco and Henry’s and signed up with a wonderful CSA.

*If* your store will double coupons.