One common problem beginning couponers face is resistance from family members who see it as a time consuming process which seems to result only in piles of "stuff" in bags around the house and less time spent with the family. Often the complaining family member is the spouse, who doesn't quite get the whole process and only sees the couponer less and less - time is spent either planning to shop, shopping, sorting and clipping coupons, and time logged on WUC reading about deals. Here are some common issues, addressed individually, with a few key "smart moves" to help your family acclimate to this new focus on savings.

For purposes of this article, the spouse is referred to as "him"

1. "You waste too much time couponing."

This is an often heard complaint. One of the key elements to bringing your spouse around to seeing that couponing is a worthwhile endeavor is to keep a savings spreadsheet of your shopping trips. Ideally, the one you use will calculate percentage saved, and total the real dollars at the bottom of the sheet. Enter the date, the name of the store, total cost of your shopping trip ( out of pocket, or OOP ), and the amount the receipt calculates as your savings for that trip. After a few weeks, show him your running total, and impress upon him something he can relate to - as in "In the last 3 weeks, we've saved $248 in groceries...that's a whole car payment!" Men can relate to this more when they can visualize the savings in this manner. Continue to refer to your savings spreadsheet once or twice a month by giving your spouse an update as to how much money your family has saved on groceries.

Here are some links to various savings spreadsheets:
https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?...elxw9Yeg#gid=0
Download Grocery Savings Pricebook Spreadsheet - Freeware Software - Tucows

Play "How much did I spend?" when you get back from the store. Sometimes, to reinforce that the trip I just made to Walgreens wasn't just "me out shopping...again...", I will arrange the items I just bought on the dining room table, and invite my husband and son to guess "How much did Mom spend on all this stuff?" My family enjoys doing this occasionally ( but not every time, please! ) and it just includes them in the savings frame of mind.


2. "Why on Earth do we need 25 things of shampoo / hot sauce / dish detergent ?"

This comment is a little tougher to explain to family members, but once you involve them in the process ( especially spouses! ), they will begin to appreciate it more. Explain to your spouse that stockpiling when the price is at its lowest, or is a moneymaker, is much preferable to being forced to buy something when it is regular priced out of necessity. He only has to run out of a product, ask you "Do we have any more??" and you pull another off the shelf for him to quickly get the idea that having some in reserve is a good thing.

Another way to bring your spouse to accept stockpiling is to give your stockpile away through him. Once your stockpile on certain things reaches an acceptable level, prepare a bag of items for him to bring to his office with a "Free to a Good Home" sign for his co-workers. Make sure to reinforce the "We paid next to nothing or made money on all this stuff..." Receiving appreciative thanks from his co-workers for a table full of freebie condiments and cleaning items will go a long way to having him accept stockpiling as a productive endeavor. Also, involving your family in donating bags of goods to a local food bank will reinforce the very charitable aspects involved in stockpiling.

Sometimes beginning couponers start buying in earnest without any mechanism in place to sort and store the burgeoning stockpile. This could also be an underlining issue with the questioning spouse. Make sure to invest in a bookcase or rack, or devote an unused closet to your stockpile. Unpack stockpile items quickly, and make sure they are put away so as not create that "bags of stuff" your spouse is objecting to.

3. "You spend too much time online"

As anyone who has logged multiple thousand posts at WUC can tell you - this one can be the toughest comment to hear and to deal with. Explaining that the way you find out about these great deals is to read and participate in the WUC forums sometimes isn't enough. I had to have my husband sit down beside me and watch as I reviewed and took notes on coupon matchups threads, GDA ( Good Deal Alert ) threads, and threads announcing coupon book finds. ( Yes - I did avoid the "fun" threads while he was watching... ) Once he saw that this was a group effort, he began to tolerate my being online more often. However, I had to carve out times when I specifically do not get online and I focus on family time that has nothing to do with couponing. It's important for your family to understand that couponing is not all consuming - but it does and will demand some time in order to reap rewards.

4. "Mom, can I have this?"

This question, bar none, brought my 9 year old around to seeing that couponing is a worthwhile thing to do. Why? He gets something tangible from it. Several times in the last few years, he has requested something special, like video games, toys, etc - and I specifically bought it for him imparting the understanding that we could afford the luxury of buying things like that when he really wants them because I use coupons carefully and save our money. He sees a direct correlation between receiving things he wants and couponing. I’ve also involved him in the monthly chore of binder clean out – he gets chore money for removing expired coupons from my binder. He is involved in the effort, understands how it works, sees the savings at the register – and has commented more than once “Wow, we saved as much as a whole Nintendo DSi costs!”



If you have a "smart move" that worked for you in to help your family understand your couponing and be supportive - please share it here! Our new members would love to hear what worked for you!

The one thing that helped my husband get on board was showing him that I spent as much as normal or less, but got more/name brand items. Where before we were only buying store brands and only enough for the week. For example, my grocery budget is $150/week and I rarely spend that anymore and we have a stock of things that we normally wouldn't be able to afford and we eat and use name brands instead of store brands. This was a big motivating factor for my family.

mom to DD 9, DS 8, DD 3, DD 9mth, and our horse of a dog !

I am relatively new at this. But what convinced my husband was. He say my last reciept and he ask how I had over 1000 fuel points already since Nov. 1. So he told me to add up what I have spent since Nov.1 and what I have saved. Well I added it all up.
I have spent: $329.55
I have saved: $946.63
That is a 74% savings.
And that is with me spending $65 on smoking wood chips for his side business they were on clearance. Or my savings would of been higher. Because they were 50% off. Oh well I am happy.
And I need to go one more time before Tuesday for 1 more Mega Trip for some coupons I just got in.

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Great article! Love it

Thanks mav for the well written article!

What we learn to do,we learn by doing. -Arisototle-

Thank you, may I share on my blog?

http://www.couponsavingsinthesouth.com/

Please, feel free and thanks for asking!

When I first started Qing, Kroger had free toilet paper (Cottenel) and I bought a bunch with no plans on quitting then Dh said enough was enough. Im thinking I got 30 pks all together. I said fine I will never buy tp again. Then one day too soon after that he had no tp. He said honey I am sorry and you were right. too bad Kroger had quit selling the free tp by then.

Great article!
I am 18 and got into couponing because of my gf, and since then I have been doing basic grocery shopping for the family.
Since I am still a couponing n00b, I don't spend that much time clipping coupon. Most of the coupon I used I ordered from eBay (like the 40 $1 Mentos coupon which I used on CVS this week).
My parents always say "how did you do that?" when I brought home $40 worth of stuff for only $2.
I tried explaining it to them but it sure takes a while lol.
The only store I have been couponing at is CVS, and sometimes Walgreens.
After I learn more coupon-fu from you guys, I shall invade bigger stores like Schnucks, Wal-Mart, and Krogers.