Shocking news: Coupon Blogger hasn’t coupon shopped for a year!

The Shame of  IT ALL

It’s 2009 – A young mom of 4 small children learns to coupon shop. She begins saving so much money and her stockpile begins to grow and grow. She is on FIRE! Saving money is so addicting!

It’s 2010 – Same mom begins a coupon blog for fun and shares the deals she posts. She coupons so much she has at one point 56 boxes of cereal and still wants to buy more. Her coupon drawers are full of toothpaste, shampoo, feminine hygiene products, razors and more.  When her family comes to visit she is so happy to share her stockpile with them.

It’s 2011 – She continues to coupon shop. Her life is getting super busy with 4 kids in sports, working with cub scouts, running the blog which has turned into a full-time job while still trying to maintain her home and coupon shop. Busy busy busy!

Summer of 2011 – She decides to take the summer time off from coupon shopping to have fun with her family. This was a wonderful time and priceless memories are made. When fall comes, she is still so busy and it just becomes easier to NOT coupon. However she is able to use up her stockpile and just spend a little more money on groceries.

Now it’s 2012 – Month after month she is using up her stockpile and not coupon shopping. She feels guilty quite often but the idea of getting back into couponing by organizing her coupon box and spending time going from store to store keeps her from going. She notices that her once full coupon drawers are nearly out of toothpaste, deodorant, soap, shampoo and other items. This is SO SAD! When her family comes to visit they ask for free stuff like razors, toothbrush or toothpaste, and she doesn’t have any. She stops teaching coupon classes (mainly because of the guilt of her not coupon shopping herself). Her monthly spending has increased and she realizes she probably SHOULD coupon shop. *sigh* .

Excuses Excuses…

Some of you might think I am a hypocrite for running this blog everyday and for not couponing myself. My excuses for not doing it are endless – it’s amazing how many guilt induced excuses I can come up with:

• It’s SO much time (cry, whine, pout).
• Now that I make money blogging, I justify not couponing because of that.
• I don’t want to spend a day starting my coupon box all over.
• There are so many coupon shoppers in my city and I don’t like feeling the competition of it. Rush here and rush there..quick!
• I can’t coupon shop on Sunday’s because it’s the Sabbath Day – and many other coupon shoppers beat me to all the RiteAid, Walgreens and Fred Meyer deals. Its frustrating getting all my coupons ready Monday morning, get to the store and there is only 1-2 items left on my list. So frustrating.
• Every night I am running around 4 kids to different sports practices and games. I have no time at night.
• Church callings – I work with the youth at my church and spend a lot of time with them planning and doing activities.
• I want to focus on spending my time doing things that mean something..spending more time with my family – being kinder and more thoughtful of others. Time to give up something else that takes a lot of time – so unfortunately couponing was what I chose.
• It’s hard work. Yes, it can be hard work.

Is it Okay Not to Coupon Shop?

I have run into MANY people who USED to coupon shop and it surprises me just how many of us there are.  Over half of the coupon shoppers I have talked to quit couponing. People who used to be extreme couponers who now just have lost the passion, or didnt want to do the work or quit for whatever reason. We all KNOW that we can save a ton of money doing couponing, but just have other priorities or have lost the bug. Or have our own excuses. It is okay though? Well I guess it depends on your circumstances. I know it can save a lot of money and who doesn’t like that?

So What Now? Why are you Telling me this?

I want you to know that I do believe coupon shopping can save a ton of money. If I didn’t believe that I wouldn’t continue to run my blog Happymoneysaver.com. I want those of you out there that USED to coupon shop to know you are not alone at all.  And for those of you who are into couponing to know that it is okay to have moments where you don’t feel the coupon love anymore or get super busy and can’t do it all. I just don’t think you should beat yourself up over not couponing. And if you do go back to it celebrate it because saving money is awesome!

Ex-Couponers – How do we get back into Couponing?

First off if you loved it before (as I did) I just know once I actually get in there and do the couponing work I just know I will love it.  Baby steps folks, baby steps are the key I think to being successful.

Baby step 1: Give myself 1-2 hours a week – preferable the same set hours so I am on a schedule. That is all I am planning on starting with. For the first few times I am going to organize my coupon box the best I can. If it takes two weeks to do that than so be it. The next week I will take that two hours to plan and do a shopping trip.

Baby step 2: Focus on just one store once a week.  I will pick just a few items that are on sale at that store instead of trying to do all the sale items.  Maybe I will do price matching at Walmart or do some toiletries at Walgreens.  For those of you who are working, do your coupon shopping on your lunch break perhaps. It might make for more small trips but might help you get back into things slowly.

Baby step 3: I plan on tracking  my spending using this My Coupon Savings Tracker free excel spreadsheet download. When I see how much I am saving it always gives me that little pat on the back to keep me going.

Baby step 4:  Allow myself to feel the excitement of couponing. I have felt it before and I just know I will feel it again. That feeling that makes me want to do my happy dance for the money I saved. This feeling might just keep that momentum going.

Baby step 5: Eventually get a shopping buddy to keep me going. There is something about having someone call me up and say “lets go!” that keeps me going.

My goal is to start those baby steps and give myself that 2 hours a week. I may not be the extreme coupon shopper I once was right away, but I will be happy with small successful shopping trips. I plan on tracking my spending using my Coupon Savings Tracker and even sharing some of my shopping trips again with you dear readers.

Thoughts? Are any of you feeling the same way with couponing? Any tips or ideas you have found to get your coupon mojo back?