I have to agree with cheapgamer on this one. I usually look for and clip coupons on Sunday mornings while I'm having coffee. If you consider it a chore and a waste of time, then getting $.05 or $.10 off an item may not mean much to you. However, there are coupons worth much more, particularly off expensive items like diapers, coffee, or laundry detergent that can save you $.50 or $1.00.

Here's a little experiment that you can do to prove to yourself whether it's worth it or not. Clip and use coupons for a month. Every time you go shopping and use a coupon/coupons, put the amount saved in a bank, or in a jug, or something at home. At the end of the month, count the money, multiply by twelve, and you'll have a good idea how much you would save in a year. Don't count it until the end of the month. You may surprise yourself. Those nickles and dimes can add up. Throw in a few $1.00 off coupons, and you may have save enough to turn you into a coupon addict.

Yes - it's worth it. Clipping a coupon and putting it in your wallet to hand to the cashier takes maybe 10-15 seconds. Why wouldn't you spend 15 seconds to save even $0.25, doubling coupons or not. Just for reference as to what seemingly little savings can add up to - I'm using my grocery spending:

I buy almost entirely vegetables, fruit, and bulk foods when I grocery shop. I am usually only able to make use of coupons worth about $2.50/week, but this saves me about 4% off my grocery bill and $130 a year. Being a member of the co-op where I shop saves me another 8% a year in member discounts, bring your own bag discounts, and annual rebates for another $250 a year in savings. Buying items that are on sale and buying bulk foods and spices (they sell insane items in bulk - including organic peanut butter and every kind of spice known to man and skin care products like jojoba oil and even cleaning products in bulk) saves me $20/week compared to what I was paying for groceries from another store that's slightly closer to home (but I'm forced to drive past the new store weekly anyway) for another $1040/year in savings. That's a sum total of $1420/year off my grocery bill for all of those little things.

While the majority of what I save on groceries now compared to previously is due to changing stores, it's totally worth the couple of minutes it takes every month to flip through the coupon flyer and to request coupons from companies I frequently buy from (like Eden organics - where I can either order online using a coupon code from my gym or use physical coupons at the co-op) and even to buy a specialty coupon book that is primarily green/natural products.

I am in agreement with you. I really don't think it is worth the time for just a few cents off here and a few cents off there. In addition, I have never been very successful at finding coupons for my favorite brands and I am usually not willing to change the brand for a few cents savings. I prefer to find a grocery store that has the lowest prices overall on the brands that I chose. Not only is this more time efficient; I have also found this approach to be much more satisfactory because I do not have to change brands. The time it takes to find a coupon for a product I want, cut it out, store it in an organized manner and then actually have the right coupon with me when I go shopping is generally not worth it to me, but I know that others may be delighted by the savings they get from using coupons.

You must look within yourself and ask these two questions.

1) Do you have fun clipping sorting and using coupons?
If so it really doesn't matter how much or how little you save if your coupon time is valuable you time that reduces stress.

2) How much is your time worth?
Measure for a few trips how long it took you to cut the coupons and how much you saved. If your time to savings ratio is poor perhaps traditional coupons aren't the way to go.

Now even though I am a cheapgamer I watch sales more than I clip coupons, but there is ONE coupon site I use mypoints http://www.mypoints.com this site is like having a point based credit card without the card. So in addition to savings you get rewards points. It is fast and easy to pick the coupons that you want.

I think it depends on how much each coupon is worth as to whether or not it's worth my time to cut them out if a store is not going to double them. If the coupon is for $0.05 like you mentioned, then it's not worth the trouble. I figure I can cut a coupon out in a minute or less, but let's say a minute for the sake of argument. That's 60 coupons in an hour, at 5 cents a coupon, that's only $3 per hour savings. Would one work for $3 per hour? Probably not unless they absolutely had no other choice. If the coupon is worth 25 cents of 50 cents, then absolutely it's worth the time to cut out and use. If you cut out 30 coupons in an hour, that's still $7.50 per hour savings on 25 cent coupons and $15 per hour, that's a bit more worth the trouble and even more so if you can cut the coupons out at the minute per coupon rate I mentioned earlier.

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Hi @shewolfsilver, I can understand what you mean and I have a lot of friends that feel that way too, but it is worth it if you check how much you could save in one year.

I think it is easier for me because I leave the clipping and compiling to my nieces who enjoy doing it. So all I have to do is print out the big discount coupons I find online and retrieve the envelopes that my nieces have arranged accordingly.

I am a big coupon user and with my extended family always visiting and staying for a long time, I do a lot of shopping and use lots of coupons. My nieces make the couponing job easy for me, maybe if you get someone else to do the clippings and compiling, it would save you a lot of time and effort.
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