Priorities in Couponing

Jess made a comment that I thought was worth it's own post:

I LOOOOOOVE the rush of a good deal, but in this season of life, my goals with couponing are: 1. To save enough money to get the things we need while staying within budget.
2. To never let my love of this "hobby" to replace my love of Jesus and service to him.
3. To never let the time spent on this hobby replace time that should be spent being a wife, mom, and friend.

Excellent goals. Being good stewards of what God has given us by saving money with coupons is important, but we have to check ourselves and make sure we aren't letting it consume us. We need to keep our priorities in order.

When I got started with couponing, it was overwhelming and I did spend too much time looking for deals, printing and clipping coupons, and then making multiple trips to several stores a week. It was a rush, but I had to get myself in check. Now I have become content with limiting my trips to 2 hours a week, total. This means I have to skip some stores each week. I shop at CVS and Walmart once a month or less. I shop at Walgreens about twice a month. Yes, there are deals to be had every week, but in this season of my life (which is very busy!), I pick and choose which deals are most worth my time and effort. I appreciated Crystal's post on Making CVS Work for You, where she talks about shopping for what you need and sticking to a budget, both in your money AND time. Remember, time is money!

Thanks for the reminder, Jess!