The Next Step. I'm Already Proud Of You.

Did you clip the coupons from Sunday's paper? Did you make a pretty envelope for them, like every crafty person in the world would most likely do? I knew you would. Let's prepare ourselves for the next step: reviewing the ads.

This should be a leisurely activity for you... at least, at first. Sit down with a cup of coffee and peruse the Sunday ads. Anything that you need, circle with a marker... the stuff you don't need but you really want, you should leave on your husband's dresser as a not-so-subtle hint. For the full effect, circle it in red and write "YOU HAVEN'T BOUGHT ME ANYTHING SINCE 1984." That should do the trick.

As you're looking at the ads, you might find yourself saying 'oh, I saw a coupon for that, jackpot.' Unless you don't use words like 'jackpot'. But you might see opportunities for your hard clipping work to come in handy... and that's the goal: spotting the sale with coupon. If you're feeling particularly brave, you can try to plan your weekly meals as you're doing this, but that is a big step. There is no shame in taking coupons a day at a time, my friend.

If you want to take the guesswork out of the coupon match-ups, there are about eleventy billion websites that take all the work out for you. Try afullcup.com, iheartwags.com, and iheartcvs.com to see what I mean. A Full Cup has a forum for almost any store you shop at and they update constantly. I fully recommend signing up for the free membership. (I'm not getting any sort of compensation for telling you about them... they are just that awesome.)

Make your list as you go, grabbing the coupons on the way. Paper clip them to your list and head to the store. Use them like cash at the register. We'll talk again soon.

"Wait, wait!", I can hear my couponing friends saying... "you haven't told them about SO MUCH ELSE about couponing!" It's OK, my dear coupees... I just want them to use a coupon. Even one coupon... they need to get bit by the coupon bug before they learn everything there is to know... I know too many people who've given up on couponing because all the information is too overwhelming. Baby steps, my friends, baby steps.

Use a coupon this week. Make me proud.