THE DOLLAR VALUE OF COUPONING

O.K., so I've been on this extreme couponing kick of late and I haven't managed to get a cart load of groceries for $5 or less, but I've easily averaged a savings of 25% on my shopping trips.  I do not subscribe to multiple newspapers (in fact I get the Sunday coupon section free from a neighbor who subscribes to the local paper) yet I've still managed to build a substantial coupon collection.  I do not stockpile large amounts of grocery and household or personal care items, although I do have a couple of months worth of laundry soap and toilet paper due to recent coupon and buy one get one free deals.

The real value for me comes in the form of extra cash I'm able to divert from grocery and household items to purchasing more shares of dividend paying stocks for my investment portfolio.  Say you have a small family who spends $400 a month on grocery, personal care and household items.  If they managed to save 25% a month or $100 by using coupons and invested that money in dividend paying stocks earning an overall return of 8% a year, within 10 years they could easily have over $15,000! 

So while 25 or 50 cents off may not seem worth the trouble, would $15,000 be worth a little more effort?  I certainly think so.  While I may never get to the point of extreme couponing, the money I save through casual couponing is adding significantly to my growing retirement account.  There truly is a real big dollar value from using coupons.