Saving Money 101: The Best Advice

The best advice I received when I was starting CVS'ing and couponing (yes, they are verbs!) was the following:

Commit to three months.

I found this advice to be invaluable because when I first started out everything seemed so overwhelming. The first few months will take a big time commitment because you are learning everything, building your coupon stash and stockpile, not necessarily saving huge sums of money up front, and inevitably will forget coupons at certain times, or in my case, forget to give them to the cashier altogether =)

However, because I knew I had committed to do it wholeheartedly for three months and because I knew that I would allow myself to quit it after three months if it just wasn't working or I hated it...I stuck with it.

And it got easier and easier.

And by the third month I was seeing the savings in our budget that made it all worth it!

I was having to spend less and less time on it and had developed a system that worked for our family.

So, the best advice I encourage you with if you are just starting this coupon thing...is...

Commit to three months. Give it your best for that three months and don't give up. Then give yourself permission to stop (guilt free) if it just isn't working for you.

All you other couponing friends out there, what was some advice that really helped you when you were first learning the ropes?

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