Lauren left a comment on Do you know my first name? asking:
I would love to know how your family views coupons. Do your kids participate in cutting them? How do they help out, does your husband help out too?
That is a great group of questions! Couponing is a major part of my family’s existence; I won’t lie. My sister was teasing me the other day that maybe I talk about it too much, since my 2 yr old daughter is slightly obsessed with “coupons” – every piece of paper is a “coop’n”! In fact, yesterday was recycling day here, so my husband emptied out the bag of paper recycling that sits next to my desk. When Bella woke up yesterday morning, she came over to my desk, picked up the empty bag and exclaimed, “HEY! Where’s all my coop’ns?!” It was hysterical!! That should tell you that couponing is a bit of a family production around here!
In all honesty, Chris (the husband) is great about helping out with the coupon adventures, but he does less clipping and more redeeming. I like to gather up all of the coupons to be clipped, and use my paper-cutter (bought it at a craft store a few years ago) to individual them, while I watch TV. I have reorganized my life a bit and made a weekly schedule for myself. I haven’t quite perfected it, we’re still in the “testing” phase, but once I have it done, I plan to reveal the whole schedule to you all. Right now, Monday is “Coupon Day”, which means that on Mondays, I clip the newest coupons, pull out old expired ones, and organize the new ones into my coupon folders. It is great to have one day a week set aside for this task, that way I won’t get too overwhelmed by all of the ones I receive, print, and find. Prior to this idea, I would let them stack up, too consumed by the idea of setting aside the HOURS needed to catch up on them, and so I was missing out on some great offers! This new system has been great so far, though I’m still playing catch up!
I hope to teach my children that coupons should be treated like money. They can be very valuable, but require a bit of work. If you’re willing to put forth the effort, you will be able to reap great rewards.
How does your family view coupons?
Is it a family activity? Do your children help out?
* Is there a burning question you’d love to ask me (about anything, not just coupons), then leave me a comment and I’ll be happy to answer it in a blog post!
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
my husband helps me cut my coupons Sunday afternoon while my kids are napping. My husband also helps me make a Best List Price for my blog on a spreadsheet since he is a spreadsheet pro. I give my 4 year old son coupons while grocery shopping for items that I plan on purchasing so that it is like a treasure hunt to him. I know that my kids know that they don't get fruit snacks unless I get them for really cheap. So when there are fruit snacks in the house they go wild and say "I didnt know you had a coupon for this!"
Ah yes, Vivian also has a coupon fixation. You know there are worse things a two year old could be obsessed with!
Now I'm just trying to teach her the difference between a receipt and a coupon. She plays chick-fil-a and publix cashier with me and always gives me back money and a "coupon" after I pay. I think she just thinks we do some kind of coupon switcheroo when we are shopping!
My 3 boys enjoy being "in charge" of coupons while we shop. We live on a military base and typically purchase most of our items from the commissary. Because I shop primarily at one store, I customized my coupon file using a small accordion file purchased at Staples. Each compartment is labeled by Aisle.
I shop from a grocery list created using the table format in Microsoft Word (since I'm not great with Excel). Each column or row is labeled by aisle and a heading of the general items found in each aisle. Every week, I type my list into the table or print a blank table and hand write the items I need. That way, when I go to the store, I know what I need from each aisle so I don't have to go back and forth. [This helps me cut down time-a must with 3 little ones!]
My almost 2 year old holds my coupon folder and when I get to each aisle, I give my 3 year old the stack of coupons for that aisle. Once we find the items with the coupon, my 3 year old "cashes them in" by giving them to my 6 year old. My 6 year old puts them in his pocket and hands them to the cashier during check out. Any coupons not used go back in the folder.
The boys get excited to hear how much their coupons amounted to and are also learning how to compare prices. They actually like deciding when a weekly sale item may be cheaper than an item with a coupon. And, as Lauren mentioned, they are always excited when they are able to buy a special treat item because we had a coupon for it.
My husband doesn't share our coupon craze, but he shares my boys' enthusiasm when he hears how much we save.