As allergy season blossoms you may find more and more empty tissue boxes around your home.  This is one of those products where I prefer the name brand over the store brand, even though the name brand cost about twice as much.  A raw nose just isn’t worth the savings.  The good news is that in a penny-pinching world, you don’t have to choose between savings and soft facial tissues.  Tissues go on sale regularly.  I buy them when they are on sale for 99¢ a box (100 count or 48 count with lotion), which puts them at the same price as the store brand!  This is definitely a stock up item.  After all, the shelf life of tissues is pretty much forever.  When your inventory begins to dwindle, keep an eye on the weekly circulars for a 99¢ sale and make sure that you always have plenty of boxes on hand without having to break the bank.

In our first Get Clippin’ post we learned about 4 sources for acquiring coupons.  Today we are going to discuss an additional coupon source – friends and family.  Whether we are perusing the Sunday circular or flipping through magazines and newspapers, none of us have a need for all the coupons that we come across.  So why not share the ones that you are not using?

How to share coupons with others

• Closest friends and family:  My mom and I swap coupons on a regular basis.  Since I know what foods she buys, I clip coupons for her as I am clipping my own.  I just put hers in another pile and give them to her when I see her.

• Coupon Get-Togethers:  Coupon exchanging is a nice way to spend an hour or so with some friends once every week or two.  A pot of coffee or tea with a little something to nibble on, a pile of coupons and good friendship, lets you catch up with your pals while you stock up on coupons.

• Coupon Circle:  For those who can’t coordinate their schedules with their friends’ schedules, a coupon exchange is not out of the question.  In this case you will have to pass your extra coupons off to those in your circle.  This means that you will have to choose a coupon circle that includes people that you see on a regular basis – coworkers, family members, parents picking kids up from school, etc.  When I belonged to a coupon circle, we wrote the names of the members on each circular or envelope that was passed around.  As each member finished clipping what they wanted, they crossed their name off the list and passed it on to another.  The coupons just keep going round and round until every name is crossed off the list.

• Coupon Combo:  There is no reason why you can’t take advantage of all the above coupon-sharing ideas!

Coupon clipping is a team sport!  Gather your team members, get clippin’ and pinch those pennies!!