Yes, you do have time to use coupons.

The number one complaint I hear from people on why they don't use coupons is that they just don't have time. I have wanted to do this math for a while to prove that it takes almost NO time to save money. Since my husband was off today, I was able to go to the grocery without kids but finding the coupons, looking at ads, and figuring out what I was going to buy was done while they were asleep.

1:30pm - 2:30pm: Quick check of what we have already, look at store ads online (Walgreens, Target, CVS, and Publix), go to Coupon Cravings, Fiddledeedee!, and Southern Savers to check coupon match ups for coupons I may already have or be able to get online. I don't make an actual list but I do jot down notes for each store of what I want to look at or things that are on sale that I might not have a coupon to match.

2:30pm - 4:00pm: CVS - spent $6.13, saved $14.78, got $2 Extra Care Bucks to use on my next trip. Target - spent $30.83, saved $35.60, got $15 in gift cards back to use on my next trip. Publix - spent $63.64, saved $42.59.

Total Spent: $100.60

Total Saved: $93.57

Total in "cash back:" $17.00

4:00pm - 4:30pm:  Put $200 worth of groceries away, play "Guess How Much I Paid" with husband (I hold up an item and say, "Guess how much I paid for this?") 

Bottom Line: From start to finish, I spent 3 hours to plan out my grocery trip for this week. (It usually lasts about a week and a half.) I saved almost $95 and made $17 to spend next week so I think of that in an hourly rate since this is basically my contribution to the family budget. In the sense that this is my job, I made about $37 per hour of work I put in.

As a stay at home mom, I absolutely can't justify NOT doing this for my family! It's so simple and I am guaranteed a great return. Garage sales, consignment stores, Ebay, and Craig's List can't do that! I see numbers like that EVERY WEEK if I put forth a little bit of effort.