TOS Review: Christi the Coupon Coach

Have you ever heard those stories about people who use coupons at the store and saved hundreds of dollars and wondered how they did it? Christi the Coupon Coach explains how in her book Couponing Made Simple. I have to admit, I am one of those people who does clip coupons, but does not have the time or energy to go to extremes to do so. Fortunately, Christi’s book has lots of suggestions that you can implement as you choose.

The book itself has short chapters and is very easy to read. I took it with me and read it by the pool during my vacation. Christi includes lots of details about how she finds deals, and pictures of what she buys and how she sets things up. I found these very helpful because I am a visual person. She begins by talking about success stories and then goes into the basics of coupons. Did you know that those little coupons you collect out of the machines at the store are called blinkies? I didn’t!

The part of the book I found most helpful was the section on organization. If you have read my blog before you know that this is not an area of strength for me. I cut coupons from the paper and shove them in an envelope. I take this envelope to the store and then sort through it as I shop hoping to find something I can use. With Christi’s approach, you actually plan your shopping around the coupons, instead of hoping for a random connection.

In the book she details an extensive filing system for her coupon booklets, and also how to find internet coupons and link them to sales. Okay, so I did not apply the filing system exactly. What I did do is get myself a small file where I could organize my coupons by category, making them easy to sort through in the store. Actually, my oldest son (who frequently shops with me) had suggested I do something like this a while ago, and even said he would help, so I took him up on it. I had him read the sections of Couponing Made Simple where the author describes how she organizes and he took the reins and set up my coupon file for me. The file holder I got is small enough to fit in my purse, which makes it convenient to carry to the store.

I also appreciated the section of the book where Christi talks about using the internet to find sales and match coupons to them. Did you know that there are a lot of websites that link coupons to the sales flyers put out by local grocery stores? Christi has links to blogs where the authors sort through the flyers for well-known stores and provide links to printable coupons so you can print them and get the most for your money. You can find Christi’s link here: http://christithecouponcoach.com/Christis_favorites.html.

Now, I have not gone as far as to adopt every suggestion in the book. Like I said, time is my big challenge here, and this method of couponing does take time. However, just using a few of Christi’s suggestions saved me $60 on my last trip to Publix! When I came home and showed my hubby he told me I needed to do the rest of the stuff in the book! I plan to continue to work the rest of Christi’s suggestions into my routine over time.

Saving money is a big concern for everyone these days, and groceries are a major part of the budget. Couponing Made Simple is available on Amazon for $18.00, and I think it is definitely worth it. This book can teach you techniques that can potentially save you hundreds of dollars. If you are interested in trying to trim some money off your weekly trip to the store, check this book out.

To see what other members of the crew had to say about this book, click here:

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