The Cheapskate Mom

As I'm preparing to teach a coupon class at my church this Saturday, I sat down to type some notes and think about what God's put on my heart about it. I want to share a little bit of those thoughts here.

One of the most popular excuses not to coupon is that it takes too much time and saves too little money. As Christians, my husband and I have had the conversation many times wondering why people won't accept free money. If I had asked most people with this excuse if I could show them how to save $50 this week on their groceries with 1-2 hours of clipping and planning, they'd be impressed, want to do it, but ultimately wouldn't. Now if I handed them $50 to spend on the groceries I bet they'd use it, wouldn't they?

Even if you can "afford" not to coupon, the main thing God's putting on my heart is that the money belongs to HIM. I realize that no one can be perfect with their money, but, I still want to encourage others to really pray about what God wants them to do with their budgets, specifically with a variable expense like groceries. We DO have control over how much we choose to spend and what we buy. And often, we can find coupons to use towards the very same things we already purchase, which usually doesn't take but a few minutes of time, and time belongs to God, too.

By saving money with coupons--and using strategy--it enables us to tithe more, to donate items that were free to us, to help others, to save for the future or apply our savings to other areas of the budget. For me, it has provided an opportunity to build relationships with others in the grocery store, to show love and kindess towards cashiers and also make a huge impact on those standing behind me in line. Using coupons helps us to learn patience, perseverance, instense focus and humility in realizing we are probably on the nerves of either the cashier or those held up waiting for your massive wad of coupons to be scanned in. I can't say I have always had this attitude, but it helps with the learning process, and I believe it's a huge reason why God has led me to use coupons the way that I do.

Realizing we are dealing with God's money had as much of an effect on me as I hope it has for you. I don't think the extent of your couponing matters as much as your willingness to do it at all, and realizing the big picture is about honoring God with your finances. God has given us the income we have and He can take it away at any moment. So please don't behave as though it is not going anywhere, you have no way of knowing or controlling this. But what you can control is your behavior with the money you have right now, and I believe couponing is one of the best ways you can do that.