If you are a one-income family, couponing can be like pulling in a second income with the money you’re saving.   When I first starting using coupons I felt like I had a part time job.  It took me about an hour – two hours a week to plan my shopping trips and then about another hour – two hours to go shopping (depending on how many stores I went to each time).  When I looked at my savings, I thought of it as an income.  Because after all my time is worth money, isn’t it?

If I put 3 hours into my planning and shopping and saved $40 between sales and coupons, then I made about $13 an hour!   And I probably used the equivalent of gas that I would use if I was driving to work each day.

All the while I was home with my children.  That’s a pretty good part time job, don’t you think?

Look at the last receipt from the food store and see what you saved in sales and coupons.  Then divide it by the time you spent planning and shopping.  How much did you make an hour??   I’d love to hear!