Christi the Coupon Coach–Couponing Made Simple–A Molly Crew Review

 

Christi the Coupon Coach - Couponing Made Simple: Simple Steps to Successful Couponing has been a fun and challenging read for me.  Years ago, I couponed regularly. Life got busy and I stopped.  Bad idea!  With a family of 8, saving money is typically a way of life.  With recent issues occurring that will affect our family profoundly in the financial area, I found a renewed interest in couponing and saving thanks to this little book. With only 133 pages, and available in both paperback and Kindle formats, this book, by Christi Bassford, is full of tried and true principles which can be used to help any family realize savings when shopping. It retails through Amazon.com for $18 for the paperback and $4.99 for the Kindle version. I received the paperback version, and was extremely pleased.  I love to be able to highlight and underline when reading this type of book, so the paperback version was fabulous for me.

     Christi is not the “extreme couponer” like you can see on some of the sensationalized t.v. shows.  She is a realistic couponer.  She relates her experiences in using coupons and taking advantage of sales in a down to earth fashion.  Her two biggest principles to follow are shop on sale and stack coupons.  Honestly, I had totally forgotten about the technique of stacking coupons until I read this book.  Some stores will allow you to use both a manufacturer’s coupon as well as a store coupon on an item.  When you couple that with a sale price on an item, it is a recipe for some massive money saving!

     One part of her book that I have not been able to implement yet is the suggestion to buy one Sunday paper for every member of your family.  As my savings continue to accumulate, I will be doing this, however.  Right now, we are getting 3-4 papers a week.  I love her idea for how to organize coupons.  I think one of the reasons I stopped using coupons was that I was trying to cut out every single coupon in every coupon flyer every week.  Tedious? You bet!  Christi recommends a file system that involves clipping the coupons you are going to use, as you are going to use them.

     It does take a little more time to plan a grocery trip and menus for the week when couponing; however, it is time well spent.  Take a look at my savings over the past six major shopping trips:

Normally, in this number of shopping trips, I would have spent over $1,300.  By using Christi’s suggestions, I spent $578 – a savings of 56%!!! I know that over five hundred dollars sounds like a ton of money spent on groceries; but, remember, I have a family of 8.  This breaks down into less than $100 per week for the past six weeks.  Most of my expense was on meat and produce.  Needless to say, I am sold on using Christi’s tips!  My goal is to get to the point where I can save around 80% each week.  That is cash in my pocket!

     As with any ‘self-help’ type book, all of the suggestions may not be feasible for you; but, that’s the beauty of this type of book: use what works for you, don’t use what does not work. I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in learning how to become a better steward of their finances.

     Other members of the Schoolhouse Review Crew/Molly Crew have been using both the paperback and Kindle version of Couponing Made Simple.  To read their reviews, click on the banner below.