I was really excited to see this vendor pop up for the Molly Review Crew this year. I had heard great things of Christi the Coupon Coach through the years and was thrilled to find Couponing Made Simple available for review. Christi has a reputation for making couponing easy for Mom’s like me and I was looking forward to seeing if that was true for myself.
Couponing Made Simple teaches you how to be successful with couponing. Christi has made learning to coupon easy for readers to learn. In her book, she takes you through the process of couponing from beginning to end, showing you tips and tricks to make couponing work. This is not extreme couponing but instead using your smarts and small steps available to you to save money.
From the very beginning, Christi shows you that couponing can be done. The first chapter of this 132 page book shares success stories of both Christi and many others. These stories are written to help you understand couponing, as well as to inspire you to want to give it a try. It works!
In Chapter 2, you learn a new way to shop. Christi teaches you how to look for sales as well as where and how to begin to use your coupons. We aren’t talking about getting items for free, but getting them for the lowest cost you can manage, saving you up to 80% at times.
In Chapter 3, Christi teaches us where we can find coupons, the types available and how to make each of those different types work the best for us. It’s called the Language of Coupons and learning it will help you to best use your coupons to save you the most money.
Chapter 4 teaches us how to organize those coupons we’ve been learning so much about. A coupon organizer, a file box, an accordion file, or a shoe box with dividers can hold whatever coupons you may have so long as they can be sorted and managed best for you. Christi gives you suggestions and teaches you how to best make these work for you.
Chapter 5 brings it all together, taking you through the step-by-step process of couponing from gathering your coupons to using them in store. Christi walks you through all you need to know. Then in chapter 6, she gives additional tips and tricks to help you further your couponing experience, earning you even more savings.
Chapter 7 shows us the couponing ethics, teaching good couponing manners and how to not become couponing Godzilla. This chapter is a reminder of what couponing is not and what it should be.
Chapter 8 brings us to networking and how to use blogs, friends, family, and even the workers at the stores themselves to find better deals. Those we are close to tend to let us in on the best kept secrets which can be used to our advantage. Plus if you get a deal, why not pass the information on to someone who can use it too.
Chapter 9 is called the Bonus Section. In it, Christi discuses other places to receive great bargains such as yard sales and thrift stores. These places should not be discounted as places to find what you need at a good price. Sometimes the very thing you are looking for is the one thing someone else no longer needs and you could be helping out someone in need in the process of buying from them.
The last chapter is Chapter 10. Christi discuses the greatest savings in this chapter: The savings of the Lord through Salvation. Without it, couponing would be meaningless as would so many other things. We should all find blessing in this sweet deal.
Following the chapters through this book is a section to make notes. There are also pages to list important websites to keep them in one place for returning to later. And the final pages are for Rock Bottom Prices so you can keep track of the best deals and where to save.
All of these chapters work together to teach you how to best save money, which is something most of us desperately need to do these days. I found this book to be a lot of help. I already use so many of her suggestions from hearing about them even before reading her book.
One of my personal favorite ways to save is by Thrifting. I enjoy finding gently used items that I can give a new home. I recently bought Laycie an adorable glass cow to place in my kitchen that she can look at daily for .25 cent at a local thrift store. I purchased Jackson’s “new-to-us” walker for $8 from another friend and his Bumbo seat for another $8 from a local lady when I asked for one online. Many of our clothes are found second-hand at thrift stores and toys in the past have been too.
I also stock up at the grocery store when shopping. Here in town we only have a few stores to choose from but when I’m there and I see a good sale, I take advantage of it. The other week canned veggies were on sale and I stocked up with a 10 for $10 sale. I often buy our pasta on sale for Buy One, Get One Free.
I must admit, even after reading Christi’s book and attempting to utilize her couponing ideals, I am still terrible at using them. I often forget I even have coupons until I’ve already checked out. I do always use my store discount cards which helps tremendously. I have one for each store we shop in. Now if Walmart would only come out with one!!
Christi the Couponing Coach’s Couponing Made Simple is a must read book for any Mom or Dad. This book will show you how and where you can save money and it really does work if you put it to use, unlike me! Couponing Made Simple is available for $18.00 in paperback with free shipping for Amazon Prime members. It’s also available for $4.99 on Amazon Kindle.
To read more reviews of Couponing Made Simple from the Molly Crew, please click the link below!
