Saturday, March 5, 2011

Your coupons are about to expire - now what?

When it comes to the end of the month, it is a little sad when I see all of these coupons about to expire.  So, towards the end of the month, I go thru my coupons again and see what items we need for our family for little to no cost OOP. I try my best to use the ones I need, and not just use the coupon only because it is about to expire. If I did that then I would not be really saving me and my family any money. I would just be buying just to buy - right?

My friend and I were talking about this idea of wanting to use all your coupons before they expire, but I shared with her, something I have learned along the way. There will always be more coupons and there will always be more deals, but I really do not want to be buying items just for the sake of buying.

If I use a coupon that is about to expire I ask myself three questions:
  1. Do I really NEED this item?
  2. Will our family use this item right away or am I getting it for later?
  3. How much does this item cost OOP (out of pocket) with using the coupon?
If I don't really NEED this item, then I just put the item and the coupon back, I need to have self-control, just like I tell my kids to. I want to use our money wisely and not spend just to spend. I have a small stockpile of non-grocery items, so if I want to get more if those items, then I usually only get them if they end up being FREE with the coupons.

Now here is a great idea from stockpilingmoms.com about what to do with your expired coupons. Since we all hate throwing our old coupons away, you can donate you expired coupons to our military abroad. They are allowed to use Manufacturer Coupons up to a year after the date - YEAH!!!! For more information you can visit http://www.ocpnet.org/.

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