Cutting coupons can actually be fun (especially if you're jewish) because when you see something you know you want for half price it's like finding a prize. That being said there is also something kind of depressing about it, which is why I have found the rich kid solution to shopping on a budget - charge cards!
Not credit cards...I would never sign up for a credit card without first consulting my money manager, but, for example, a Nordstroms card is super easy to sign up for and you get 20 bucks back for each 200 you spend as a gift certificate in the mail. Sometimes they will even send a few $5 incentives here and there, which doesn't sound like much but those things can seriously stock up. I actually - and this is crazy jewish of me - used to go to Nordys with friends and have them all buy their stuff with my card and then just pay me back in cash or check so that their parents wouldn't know they had been shopping and I would get a couple free $20 cards out of it...I call that being smart with money.
The card approach can literally work for EVERYTHING - gas stations, super markets, best buy etc. - and it doesn't cost anything to join them. With the gas cards, over time you get a free tank; it's like your 10th coffee free at coffee bean! At Ralphs (or whatever your local grocery store may be) there can be crazy good discounts with the cards, and at some chains all the coupons out for that week are automatically deducted when you use the card! So instead of cutting through newspapers and getting weird ink all over your hands, you can just do what comes natural and swipe away a good 10-30 bucks on big shops.
These cards are not something that always saves TONS of money, but over time it adds up to hundreds a year...and that's a new pair of Manolo's for summer (obvi not boots...it would take a few years of frugal spending to save up for this season's amazing fur-lined cream calf skin boots...and that's after they have gone on sale...twice)
Even at places like The Grove (or your local indoor mall) they have these cards. You sort of have to seek them out because they don't always advertise, but every time I go to the movies those points add up and over time I start getting free parking and holiday 'bonus' gifts from the different stores. What's so huge is that Nordys is in The Grove - so it's like a double whammie of savings! I get double points for spending during November with the Grove and $20 back from Nordys - automatic 2 times of free parking, a free lunch at Farm and a pair of Hanky Pankys - a $60 value all free! And it's stuff I actually would get anyways!
The whole concept is so fun, and after seeing your beloved black card cut up in front of your face at graduation, it will be nice to re-stock those empty slots in the wallet with a colorful array of savings.
My Gilt cravings are stirring...but I'm going to try and hold out for the whole week!
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