The End of an Era

OK, so it’s a little dramatic. But I do kind of feel like I’m at the end of an era in coupon shopping! A couple of weeks ago, I downsized my coupon box from this:

Original, big coupon box!

To this:

New, smaller coupon box

That’s a big change for me! There were several reasons I downsized my coupon box:

• I wanted to be able to take it in the store with me, and it’s gotten difficult to take my big coupon box with me when I have all my kids with me. The new one fits in my purse!
• I’m not using nearly as many coupons as I used to. We’re eating more foods made from scratch because they are healthier and more filling, and I haven’t had as much time to go around to all the stores to get the best deals.
• I wanted all my grocery and retail/restaurant coupons all in one place, so that I’d always have them with me. Even though I’ve been couponing for years, I’ve never had a good system for organizing retail and restaurant coupons. I kept them in an envelope in my purse for awhile, but it got beat up. Since I didn’t always have my big grocery coupon box with me, I didn’t want to put them in there or I’d never have them when I needed them. Now they are all in one box, and that box is always in my pure.

I’m still using coupons, for sure – just not as much as I used to, which you can read about in this link. I used to be able to get things like cereal for cheap so consistently that I clipped every single coupon for cereal.

Now, the deals are fewer and farther between, and my family needs something more filling than even a “non-sugary” cereal. So, we’re eating lots of oatmeal, bagels with cream cheese, and yogurt with granola for breakfast. I clip coupons for those items when they’re available (I’ve gotten some Cascadian Farm granola cheap that way recently!) but often I’m just buying things on sale but not necessarily at the lowest price.

I’ll still buy the deals on granola bars and cereal and crackers, but I’m couponing more strategically and saving the items I buy for traveling or weeks. So, I just didn’t need all that space in my coupon box!

I’ve been thinking about downsizing my coupon box for awhile, and I’m glad I finally did. It’s less overwhelming to me to have a small box at this point, and I think I’ve probably been using coupons more, now that it’s a little less to organize and I’m able to carry it into the store with me every time.