Thinking Beyond the Coupon

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Let me start by saying that I don’t coupon – anymore. I used to, and I used to be fairly good at it (and also mildly obsessive). From a young age the idea of stretching a dollar has been instilled in me, and I am so grateful for those lessons, but one distinction I am learning is the difference between stretching a dollar and saving one. Coupons help you stretch a dollar – they can make a $1.50 item only $1.00, which is excellent. But that is getting more for less, not saving.

coupons1My monthly grocery budget is $400. If I use coupons, I can typically get $550 worth of groceries for $400, but I still spent $400. This is a good way to stretch a dollar, no doubt, but the only way coupons actually save you money is if you budget for the retail cost of your items and then keep what you “save”. (e.g. If your receipt says you paid $350 and you saved $50 that means you have $400 of groceries for $350 – awesome! If you really want to save money, then don’t spend the “extra” $50 – set it aside.) Make sense? It’s a totally different way of thinking about things, but an easy way to remember it is that saving money means NOT spending it, which is totally different than stretching it.

For me, saving money is all about the return on the investment. In the two hours a week (8 hours a month) I used to spend couponing I can save $100 a month ($1200 a year). Coupon rules are getting more restrictive, double coupons are non-existent anymore, there often aren’t coupons for the fresh and healthier items I like to purchase, and the time invested in the minimal savings is not enough for me to continue. Of course, I do a quick scan of the coupons on my grocery store apps when I have a trip planned, but that’s all (and it’s very infrequent). So, if not couponing, how do we save more money with less time and work?

Here are the five things that we do that save us the most money annually:

First, we have changed where we grocery shop. I get most of my basics (apples, bananas, peppers, onions, milk, butter, eggs, yogurt, dried beans, shredded cheese, etc.) at Aldi (more details about why Aldi is so awesome here). This move alone saves me $10/trip, which is $30/month = $360/year.

Second, we do things ourselves. For example, in the last twelve months we have replaced parts on both our washer and dryer totaling $235 in parts and 90 minutes of labor. Had we paid a repair person for those parts and that labor it would have cost well over $1200 (based on the estimates we received). That’s $1000 we did not spend, and it cost us 90 minutes (think of all the coupons I would have had to clip to save that much!). If you have to, pay the service call charge to confirm what’s wrong, then Google the part and YouTube how to replace/repair it. Even if you aren’t successful and you end up having to pay someone to replace the part you have at least saved the markup plus some labor in disassembly :).

Third, we shop around. If there is something we can’t (or choose not to) repair, we get multiple estimates. This winter our furnace went out while it was freezing cold. One company quoted $1600 and the other $900. We spent $90 for the service call for the first company, but we saved (meaning we didn’t spend) $610. When you are desperate this can be hard to do, but the extra few phone calls can be absolutely worth it. (In retrospect, I think we could have done this one ourselves, so next time we’ll be trying).

Fourth, we manage car repairs carefully. We purchase used vehicles (because we don’t like having a car payment). Used vehicles mean more repairs, so here’s how to save on those:

  • Do what you can yourself. Things like new tires, oil changes, lights, and brakes are things you can do yourself (and the hubs and I will be experts at this soon).
  • Find a mechanic you can trust. This person should be willing to explain in detail what is wrong, why it needs to be fixed, and help you make decisions about the necessary versus nice-to-have repairs. They should give you choices. Ours even shows or gives us the parts they replace so we can see the damage.
  • Ask for after-market parts. We drive a 1999 Honda Civic that has 3 working doors and almost 200,000 miles on it. Last summer it needed a new exhaust. We took it to a Honda dealer (because we were curious and it’s close to our house) and it would have cost $350 in labor and $1200 for the parts. At our non-branded mechanic they offered the choice of an after-market part (which lasts 6 years instead of the 8 promised by the branded part) for less than half the price. Now, this may not always be the way to go (especially if you lease or buy brand new cars that you intend to resell) but it makes perfect sense for us most of the time, and it cost me about 30 minutes on the phone to save $600 (again – think of all the coupons!!).

Fifth, we manage our basic medical expenses.

  • Over the counter medicine: Do your research on this one if you don’t believe me, but OTC Zyrtec is the same as name brand. I have researched every OTC medicine we take and I have only found one where there was a minor difference (and it was actually that the name brand med had an additional ingredient that suppressed cough as well as the promised congestion clearing). Annually, we save $85/year on allergy medicine, and all the others add up to around $300 additional dollars saved.
  • If your health insurance doesn’t already require generic prescriptions, ask the pharmacist for the generic substitution – this typically saves 40-70%.
  • If you have expensive prescription costs (or a high deductible plan), consider calling the manufacturer or third party negotiator and asking for a discount. We have a friend whose medication would have cost them over $3500 for the first three months, but after calling the manufacturer they were invited to enroll in a free plan that enabled them to pay $100/month and still hit their deductible!

Lest you think we are going to be the next DIY or money guru show hosts, please know there are plenty of things that we pay other people to do, and some things for which we pay regular price. For us it comes down to spending less on the everyday costs and on the unexpected ones.

My hope is that these ideas will encourage you to change how you think about saving money. Continue to stretch your dollars, but also work to spend less. Spending less today means saving more for tomorrow, and saving more enables giving more every day.

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