Who couldn't use a few extra dollars?

My mother cut grocery coupons when I was younger. I learned the basics from watching her. I've always couponed to an extent, but I really kicked it up a notch when Dan started getting sick and we needed to dedicate dollars to doctor visits.

Occassionally I have posted a few of my amazing grocery trips. See here and here for two. I wouldn't be able to do that good without some help from some of the great coupon bloggers in my area.

One of my favorite bloggers, and someone I would also consider a friend, has published an e-book on how to coupon. Lauren Gruetman (from I am THAT Lady) has published her first e-book, How to Coupon Effectively. At $8.97, it is a great deal if you want to learn couponing basics.

Everything she talks about in her book she has done. She slashed her grocery budget from $1000 a month to $200 a month to help her and her husband get out of debt and allow her to be a stay-at-home mom.

In the book she talks about 7 important things:
1. How to avoid the #1 mistake most people make when using coupons.
2. Why Coupon? The hourly wage way of thinking about couponing.
3. Where to find Coupons. Learn how to get coupons for free!
4. The best digital coupons. Discover the best 6 money saving apps.
5. How to organize your coupons. The best 4 ways to organize your coupons to save more money.
6. How to Create a Successful Grocery Budget. Simple tips to set a grocery budget that you can actually stick to.
7. Meal Planning Strategy. How to meal plan around sales and coupons to help you save 50% or more off your grocery budget.

A few quotes from the book:

"Almost everyone who starts couponing does so with the goal to save money, but many don’t know where to start or how to do it effectively. Couponing is a learned skill, and it takes time to master it. It takes practice to establish an effective routine that works for you
and your family."

"One common misconception about couponing is that you have to have a lot of free time in order to save a lot of money. This simply isn’t true. You decide how much time you want to devote to it. You can spend 45 minutes per week or 10 hours per week – it’s all about developing a system that works around your schedule. In this book, I aim to teach you how to do this in two hours or less and I know that by following my simple tips you will see success no matter how much time to put into it."

The book is about 40 pages and easy to read and understand. Lauren provides some great practical tips and plenty of space to make notes. She also gives you lots of options to contact her to ask questions. She doesn't get into the deep details of couponing, but how to start to make the most of your time.

You don't need any special gadgets or anything to read the book. You can download the book immediately or wait for the email link. I saved my copy to my computer so I can look back at it at any time. Even for me, someone who isn't an "extreme" couponer, but does fairly well, found something new in her book.