Do I Need It? My Simple Approach To Using the Coupon and Deal Blogs

 One of the ways I'm able to save money on groceries and household items is by following a few money saving/coupon blogs.

There are so many good blogs in this genre to choose from. The two I follow regularly are Money Saving Mom and Southern Savers. Occasionally I may check out some others but these are my two favorites and are more than sufficient for meeting my coupon and money saving needs. :-)

Southern Savers posts grocery store match-ups each week for stores in the Southeast. Since this is where I live, this site covers the stores that I shop at.

I've followed Money Saving Mom since the beginning and find her blog so helpful with many frugal tips, money-saving articles and of course, coupons and daily deals.

If you follow any of the coupon blogs, you'll quickly notice the sheer amount of posts added to these blogs daily. This is one reason I only follow two-- there are a lot of posts to sift through on a daily basis, which quickly can become overwhelming especially if I go a day or more without reading. The other reason I keep these blogs to a minimum is the amount of "good deals" that pop up. After a while, too much is just too much.

It's tempting to want to run out for or order the latest deals when I see them. But that takes a lot of money and time and isn't really necessary.

I've started asking, "Do I need this?" and "Do I have the money for this?" as I quickly scroll through the posts and see something that would really be a great deal.

Store deals come and go. I could easily run myself ragged with running to the store every time a special deal pops up. Instead I ask myself the above questions. If the answer to one or both is 'yes' then I'll see if I can pick it up during my weekly errands or if we'll be near that store at some other time during the week. Otherwise, I just skip it.


I always check the store match-ups before going grocery shopping and try to print coupons for items I know I'll buy or those that I know will make for a very good deal combined with a sale. I love reading all the articles on frugal and simple living. We occasionally use the free movie codes. And sometimes I'll purchase a Groupon or something else online that is either needed or in the budget.

So maybe I've missed some great deals over the years by taking this laid-back approach to couponing and deals. I will note, though, that I've lived to tell about  it and we haven't suffered one bit!

And I'm pretty sure we've saved a good bit of money this way!


**This post is a part of Life As Mom's Frugal Friday.