ask dsm readers

It’s been a long time since I’ve done an “Ask DSM Readers” post. I know I’ve always found these posts valuable because I love hearing your tips, tricks, and perspectives, so this will become a regular Thursday post. If you have a question that you’d like me to share, I’d love to hear from you!

Onto the question for this week — I’d love to hear your favorite ways to save on printer ink and paper. Obviously printable coupons are a fantastic way to save on your grocery bill, but do you ever wonder if the cost of printing them is worth the savings? Printer ink and paper can get downright expensive, especially if you have kids like mine that are always walking off with paper for their “art projects”.

So how do you save on printer ink and paper? Have you tried refilling printer ink cartridges? Has anyone tried some of the downloadable software that claims to reduce the amount of ink used? Do you have any tips for recycling printer paper?

Ginger from Attention Target Shoppers wrote me the other day to share that Michelle from Lipstick to Crayons was contributing a guest post to her site sharing how she got started saving money.

In it she names Deal Seeking Mom and Money Saving Mom as two of the blogs that got her started on her journey of learning to be frugal. I thought this would be kind of a fun topic to throw out to you all.

I’ve always been a deal seeker, combing forums for the best freebies, coupons and bargains, but I’m pretty sure that Money Saving Mom was the first blog that I read on the topic.

So I’m just curious where you got your money-saving start? Was it a blog or elsewhere? And feel free to share what motivated or inspired you as well.

Reader Candy recently emailed me with a very valid question:

Been reading your blog for a while, thank you for all the tips & advice. But can you tell me how to SAVE all those savings?

If you walk out of the grocery store having saved 60% off your total purchase, have you really saved 60%? If you use fuzzy logic you may be able to trick yourself into believing these virtual savings are concrete savinsg, but in reality they’re not unless you’re translating those savings into a tangible format.

I realize that some of us seek out these savings out of necessity. There just isn’t any wiggle room in the budget without couponing — and believe me, I get that.

But what about those of us that are living comfortably but still love a good deal? Are the savings that we enjoy from hunting down bargains and clipping coupons concrete or just an excuse to spend more? Or perhaps you fall somewhere in the middle, placing some money in savings but enjoying a few luxuries that you might not splurge on otherwise.

Either way, do you have a system in place to ensure that you’re making at least a portion of your virtual savings each week into a tangible savings, and if so, what methods do you use?

Of course there’s no right or wrong here, but perhaps we can share some tips with each other on how to instill some accountability for actually SAVING some of our savings each week!

I’ve had a number of readers write to me lately asking how I organize my coupons. To be quite honest, I don’t think I’ve found my perfect coupon organization method.

I currently use the insert method where I label each insert with the date and only clip as I need. However, I worry about missing out on extra savings when I’m at the store and find a great unadvertised sale or clearance deals. I also still have a large quantity of loose coupons that I receive in the mail and print online, so it’s difficult to keep track of those. I’ve often thought about switching to a binder method, but I’m just not sure where to start.

So I thought I’d put the question to my dear readers!

How do you organize your coupons? Do you use the binder method? Are there any drawbacks to it?

Do you have a better way of utilizing the insert method? How do you ensure that you don’t miss out on unadvertised/clearance deals?

If you have links to posts you’ve written, feel free to include them in your comments.

If you have a question you’d like to ask fellow Deal Seeking Mom readers, please feel free to email me! I think having a variety of perspectives is really valuable, and I thank you all for your input.

I’m often asked what my opinion of The Grocery Game program is, and frankly, I haven’t used it personally in about seven years. There are so many free resources for this information these days that I’m left wondering if there is a real value proposition in paying $10 or more ($10 for the first store and $5 for each additional store) every two months for access to coupon match-ups.

But maybe there’s something I’m missing since it’s been so long, so I’m putting the question out to all of my wonderful readers.

Do you use The Grocery Game currently? Do you feel it’s a valuable resource in addition to blogs?

Or did you stop using The Grocery Game when you started reading blogs? Do you feel that you can get all of the information you need for free?

Of course there’s no right or wrong answer, but I’m really looking forward to hearing your opinions, and I know there are many of you out there wondering this same thing.