There are some people born for deal hunting. In the days of yore, these folks would’ve been outfitted with a binder full of paper coupons, carefully clipped and categorized for maximal savings. You or someone you know may still hunt for savings this way, but most people of this ilk have found a way to scratch the couponing itch through online methods.
Couponing can become a passion, a lifestyle. People certainly get very good at it. Extreme examples of coupon mastery have become the stuff of reality show fodder, images of suburban laundry rooms filled with pallets of toilet paper and laundry soap have become familiar. Couponing of this sort tends to be just as much about the thrill of the hunt as it is about savings. I’m as excited as anybody about the prospect of 10 years’ worth of peanut butter at only 20% of the cost, but these sort of savings exploits beg the question “Is couponing worth the time and effort?” As with many things in personal finance, the answer is Yes and No.
When Coupons and Discounts Are Worth It. There are many scenarios where the average consumer would be making a mistake to skip out on discount hunting. For instance, people who trade stocks on the internet could save a bundle on their everyday spending behaviors by using this Trade King promo code. Stock trading is an example of an expenditure for which people don’t always seek discounts. However, these are just the kinds of savings opportunities that should be sought. Online trading is a great example because the savings happen over and over (depending on which discount you select), because some can be implemented each time you make a trade. If you make hundreds or thousands of trades every year, the savings opportunities are obvious. Other similar discounts should be sought after especially when they are for expenditures which will happen routinely, like insurance payments.
When Coupons and Discounts Aren’t Worth it. Time is money, and if you are spending too much time organizing the pages of your coupon book, chances are that your efforts are not worth it, comparing money saved and hours spent. Luckily for you, there are many couponing ways that have become entirely digitized. Lots of new apps can bring the savings you need, for items you buy all the time, right to your phone without you having to do much of any work. Lots of these coupons can be flashed right at the grocery store checkout stand, right off of your smartphone. It’s the most convenient development in couponing since the coupon itself, and you’ll definitely want to familiarize yourself with these new methods if you want to coupon like it’s 2015.
As you can see, there is a place for discount and coupon hunting in the modern digital age. But to make it truly worth it, you’ve got to do it fast and on things that pay off over the long term. If you can pull of those feats, then hunt away, happy couponer.
I always try to seek out a coupon or shop around before making an online or in-store purchase. I find that it usually works 70% of the time. Sometimes, I just end up with dud sites that really offer me nothing. Sometimes, I find the product I want for a fraction of the cost on an unexpected site. I am with you, the answer is yes and no 🙂