Many people think that using coupons takes hours of work, and really I'd be surprised if it's taking 10 minutes out of my day. Once you have an organized system for your coupons and you keep up with it, it's really not time consuming.
I have started tracking the money I've saved by using coupons. With coupons only (not counting the store specials), I save about $200 or more per month, which is $2,400 per year. Something that is definitely worth a few minutes spent per day.
I think the mindset that people have against coupons is that they remember their mother or grandmother using them, and at that time, coupons were worth only .15 to .25 cents each. If that was their face value now, it wouldn't be worth it. But now, coupons are worth $1, $2, $3 each and more.
It's also how you use them that matters. Use them on top of a 'buy one get one free' deal or sale price....and when you use them for BOGO deals, you use a coupon for EACH item, not just the first item. A big way to save is to have more than one coupon, so you have enough coupons for each package, especially in the 'buy one get one free' (BOGO) deals, as I have just mentioned.
It can be worth paying a coupon clipping service, to save time on cutting, and to get just the specific coupons you need.
If you use start a small stockpile of the things you normally buy, you will be able to stock up on the really great bargains, and never have to pay full retail price for that item again. That is something I haven't completely tracked, but I have tracked a few things, and you can see the results of my stockpiling on this page.
Starting to use coupons when you're not used to working with them does take some time in the beginning. I would advise someone to give it at least 3 months before they decide one way or another.
