It is amazing how many of us find it easier to spend money than to save it. We all know hard times will come down the road. We all know that there will be better things we’ll want later. Yet many of us continue to spend most of our money.
Some surveys have put the percentage of us who don’t save as little as 10% of income at 80% of the population. More striking is that there seems to be little relationship between income level and savings. This is despite the fact that most of these people cite having more expenses than income as the reason they don’t save.
What this shows is that saving money is more about having a plan and being willing to stick with it than it has to do with your income or needs. Many people have spent too much of their money simply because they do not take the time to learn how to shop wisely. The real reason they don’t save is a lack of patience and discipline.
For example, taking the time to cut coupons out of the newspaper for items you buy anyway can save you as much as 20% to 30% on your visits to the grocery store. You can save even more time if you search the Internet for coupons. How much more money would you have if you had put 20% to 30% of your grocery bills into certificates of deposit over the last 5 years?
So how do you go about finding these coupons? You grab the Sunday edition of your local newspaper. You don’t have to buy one either. Pay attention around the neighborhood and see where people leave newspapers. Also, many coffee shops and such throw away several newspapers at the end of each day. Nowadays many areas also have local advertising papers that are free. Some of these solicit coupons.
If you’re Internet savvy, by far the easiest and quickest way to find the greatest variety of coupons is to get online. In fact, for many items you can grab a coupon code on the Web and then go online shopping in order to save on shopping time and gas money. A search engine is a quick way to find these coupons. Many manufacturers have email lists you can join where they announce new products and promotions. These will often be supplemented by coupons and even vouchers for free products in order to keep you reading their emails.
If you take advantage of all of the coupon avenues available to you, don’t be surprised if you cut your grocery bills by as much as 50%. Many people are shocked at these savings when they first take the time to coupon shop.
