Mommies 2 Cents

I have jumped in head first to this couponing thing and it has really made a difference in our finances and our security. Besides being fun and giving me time to myself every weekend, I have noticed some big changes in my family since I started couponing.

First, my kids have boarded the coupon train and they are loving it. My 2 year old reminds me to use my coupons at the check out and brings me my coupon folders. My 3 year old is learning to be conscience of price. My kids have become more patient and willing to wait for a sale and a coupon before buying something they want. Instead of asking “Can we get these?” they ask “Do we have a coupon for these?” or “Are these on sale?”

At first I was just amused, as any parent is when their kiddos do something out of the ordinary that strikes you as cute.  Then I started thinking about all of the educational benefits couponing was having on my kids. They were actually learning about money and responsibility. I’m not sure this is a lesson that I would have thought to teach my kids. I certainly didn’t learn these lessons from my parents. My parents always gave us everything we wanted, the whole time yelling about how broke they were. All of those mixed signals landed me in deep debt in my early 20′s. I didn’t want my kids to walk down the same tough road and it looks like couponing may have set us all on the right path.

Here are my tips for getting little ones involved in couponing and saving:

• Let the kids pick out a few items they want to buy and put them on a list. When new coupons come in, let your kiddos look through them to see if they can find one for their product.
• While shopping, have your kids look for sale signs. For younger kids, see if they can pick out the numbers on the sale signs.
• Buy kid scissors and let your kids practice cutting out coupons for their products.
• Once you have made your purchases, get your kiddos involved with creating recipes with the ingredients you have.

Nobody wants their kids to grow up too fast but getting them involved and teaching them valuable life skills can never start too early.