“Before the pandemic there were multiple coupon websites. Do you know if they are still in existence? If yes, what are your favorites?” -a reader
While it might surprise you, I rarely use printable coupons anymore. Not because I don’t think they are valuable, but I just find that I can get great enough deals with using digital coupons at Kroger that I don’t take the time and effort to also print digital coupons.
Does this mean that I am probably occasionally not getting the ultimate best deal? Yes. But it also saves me a lot of time. And right now, time is a valuable commodity in my life.
How Much is Your Time Worth?
As I’ve talked about many times in the past, it’s important that we always weigh the ROI (return on investment) costs of any money-saving activity. How much time does this take? How much money will this save? Is it worth the time you are investing for the money you will be saving?
I always think in terms of an hourly wage. If I’m spending around 20 minutes per week to find, print, and sort coupons each week and I’m saving around $3/week by doing that, that’s the equivalent of around a $9 /hour wage. Is my time worth more than that? If so, it might not be worth it for me to invest the energy into printable coupons.
In different seasons of life, my time has been worth varying amounts. In certain seasons, saving $9 for an hour’s worth of work would be amazing. At other seasons, it wouldn’t be worth it.
Why I Love Digital Coupons
As I mentioned earlier, I’m using digital coupons almost exclusively now. I know not everyone has a store that offers digital coupons (although they are becoming more and more common now with big box stores like Target and Walgreens offering them), but if you do, it’s definitely worth looking into.
