Where Have All The Coupons Gone?

This is one of the hardest posts I have ever had to write.

When I started my website it began as a little coupon blog to share with family and friends. The blog started to sprout and the next thing I knew I was teaching coupon classes and helping people coupon shop. I remember getting teary-eyed over emails sent to me by other readers who confessed to me that learning to coupon helped them in times of severe financial stress due to job losses and going to school. It made me feel really great to to be able to help folks financially through couponing.

You may have noticed a change lately in the coupon universe.

You may have seen articles lately talking about the decline in couponing. Manufacturers are making fewer coupons, offering smaller discounts, and the coupons are expiring quicker. Shows like Extreme Couponing also gave people and stores a false idea of what couponing is about. In the last few coupon classes I taught more and more people were only interested in becoming the next big extreme couponer.

I know this is not a representation of all couponers. Most of us just want to stretch our dollars a little further because we know how tough life can be. Most industry experts have reported that couponing has declined more than 20% alone this last year. The fact is that I don’t need an expert to tell me what I have seen from my readers and website visits.  Over the past year I have noticed a significant decline in people visiting my site just for the coupon deals. Maybe people are burned out or changing habits but some people are moving away from couponing.  I have always tried to give my readers what they want. Tried to give them relevant posts. I’m not always perfect but I love helping others and discovering new things myself.

Happy Money Saver hasn’t completely given up on couponing, I just want to diversify the way I save money.

Some of you may have already noticed I’ve shifted away from such a heavy emphasis on couponing.  I will still continue to bring the best coupon deals I can find to the blog. Plus you can always read through my guide on how to start couponing as well if you are new.   However, couponing posts such as grocery and drug store match ups will no longer be on my blog.

I will continue to show my readers how to save money in more diverse ways other than with just coupons.

This will be through Do-It-Yourself posts, self-reliance posts, freezer meal cooking, frugal recipes and thrifty tips.

Some Examples of this new direction I am taking are posts like my Homemade laundry detergent ( a great way to save money), my Burt’s Bees Chap Stick recipe and Best Deals on Toilet Paper research. I will also bring great Black Friday deals, and other amazing ways to save during the holidays. There still will be some coupon deals, but they will now show up in my daily Money Savin’ Deal posts.  The truth is I get more and more requests from readers to show ways to save with more methods than just couponing alone. So that is where my new focus will be.

Where can I get my grocery or drug store match-ups now?

Here are 5 quality blogs that do an amazing job on their grocery store and drug store matchups:

• ThriftyNWMom (from Washington state)
• The Coupon Project (from Washington State)
• QueenBeeCoupons (from Washington State)
• Frugal Living NW (from Portland, Oregon)
• All Things Target (from Washington state – rocks the target deals)
• Plus there are tons more. Do a google search for the store you shop at to see if there is a blog doing those match-ups.

How do I get started using coupons?

Here is my post: Couponing for Beginners with all the info you will need to get started. Couponing is still a great way to save a whole lot of money! And you will need to know the basics for the coupon deals I do post in my Money Savin’ daily deals.

I love my readers.

Like I said earlier this is one of the hardest things I’ve had to write because I don’t want my coupon friends to think I’ve totally abandoned them.  I’m grateful for all my readers and the support and advice you all have given me. I hope you’ll continue to follow me as I take this new course and together we can learn to live happily “lesser” after.