The Lazy Couponer Book Review

I was searching in the library database to find some new books that they had coming in and this one popped up.  The Lazy Couponer: How to Save $25,000 Per Year in Just 45 Minutes Per Week with No Stockpiling, No Item Tracking, and No Sales Chasing! by Jamie Chase so I put it on hold awhile ago.  It just came in the other day.  I broke the cardinal rule of library books and started reading it in the driveway because my son fell asleep in the car on the way home.  I couldn't stop reading when I started so I finished in a day or so.

I think that it is a great book for people looking to start couponing and who want to learn quickly and easily.  There are a lot of good points in the book to make saving money easy for everyone.  I have been couponing for 3 years so most of the topics were about things that I already knew... not that a refresher course isn't good for everyone.  It gives detailed chapters in logical order:

Chapter 1: Couponing A to Z- learning the couponing language
Chapter 2: Getting to know Coupons- store coupons versus manufacturer coupons
Chapter 3: Finding coupons- all the different sources to get coupons
Chapter 4: Using Coupons- making scenarios and stacking store coupons with manufacturers
Chapter 5: Understanding Catalinas- coupon machine at stores that prints out directed coupons
Chapter 6: Shopping for Groceries- different coupon policies and how to use them
Chapter 7: Redefining Drugstores- getting great deals on items people don't normally by at the drugstore
Chapter 8: Navigating Supercenters & More- Gift cards at Target, Overage at Walmart, and other stores
Chapter 9:  Making Time Work for You- don't spend too much on time to save little money
Chapter 10:  Keeping Organized- different methods of storing coupons

I have a few things that I disagreed with on Jamie's couponing methods.  First, she doesn't cut her coupons so in order to get ready for a shopping trip, she cuts them.  I prefer to cut and file my coupons ahead of time so that I can pull a coupon as needed when shopping.  I know my coupon basket is really heavy and a little mess (hopefully posting before and after cleaning it soon).  The good news is that the coupons aren't ever at home :)

Second, I prefer to have very little out of pocket (OOP) at the drugstores and make sure that I do multiple transactions in order to save the most money.  She prefers to save time and does her drugstore transactions as one or maybe two.  I find that more the rule than the exception to be able to maintain my budget.  It also helps to not have $20 or more ECBs that are expiring at the same time.  There is nothing worse then loosing money you worked so hard to make because the ECBs expired.  She also subtracts the ECB that she receives back from a transaction from her total so that most of her transactions are money makers.  When my mother-in-law started couponing, I warned her not to double count the ECBs.  If you buy something with the ECBs, you can't count them when you get them back.  Here is an example from last weekend:

Always Pads    $3.99
2 Hershey Bars $2.00
-$1 Always Man coupon from P&G 4/1
-$1 Always CVS coupon
-$1 CVS coupon
-(2) $0.50 Hershey's CVS Coupon
-$2 ECB from previous purchase

Total OOP $0.03 tax only
Get back $2 ($1 for Always and $1 for Green Bag Tag)

In my math, I don't count this as a money maker because I spent $0.03 and got back $2.  I refer to it as rolling ECBs to use for the next purchase.  Using $2 ECBs and getting $2 ECBs back just make it easier to save money next time I go in to CVS. 

Lastly, she disagrees with stockpiling stating that "stockpiling is like a gateway drug to hoarding."  I believe that stockpiling has saved my family money and will continue to do so.  I believe that Extreme Couponing has shown people the most extreme stockpiling.  I don't have a garage filled with shelves of things that I don't use or so much food that it is going to go bad before the expiration date.  I have enough on hand to last my family a month most of the time.  I did get too many "deals" when I started so I have tons of personal care products to last a much longer time but that has allowed me to maintain a lower monthly budget by only getting things when they are close to free.  I have also given lots of great deals for birthdays and Christmas so that I don't have a big out of pocket cost because I set aside some all year in the monthly budget.  I think that stockpiling works... I would even say that someone who didn't want to coupon could stockpile to save money.

Even though I was critical of the items that I didn't agree with, I think that this book was great and I would highly recommend it for anyone starting out.  Remember that there are tons of different ways to do anything but this book gives the basics so that you can learn your own way through the process.  I hope that you pick it up at your local library or bookstore and enjoy it.  Look forward to hearing how you liked it!!!