The World's Least Extreme Couponer

"Do you have any coupons today?"
When most people hear this question, they take out their coupons, save some money, and call it a day.  Me?  No way.  I suck at couponing.  I know you probably didn't think that was possible, but you just need to come grocery shopping with me to find out the sad truth.
When someone asks me if I have coupons, you'll hear one of the following responses:

• "@#*(!*!" 
  Translation: I actually remembered to cut coupons, but they are currently sitting on my kitchen table, which clearly does me no good while checking out at the grocery store.
• "Yeah, I do... oh wait, what's today's date? Never mind."
  Translation: I finally remembered to use the coupon that's been floating around at the bottom of my purse, but it's now expired.
• "Uhhh...."
  Translation: Oh shoot, I forgot to buy a paper on Sunday, didn't I?

I don't know what it is, but something about me and coupons just doesn't jive.  Since one of our goals in 2012 is to focus on our finances, I think it's finally time that I tackle my inability to use coupons.

So, to help myself (and any of you other coupon-challenged housewives out there!) get started, I did a little bit of research and found some really helpful resources.

Rosetta Pink Coupon Cubby from CardCubby.com

First up - I need to get organized.  There's no way I'm carrying around a giant binder of coupons when I can't even remember to clip them in the first place.  I need something like this "coupon cubby" - it's cute, small enough to keep in my car, and will help me stay organized.  If I get one, I'm going to try to clean it out every Sunday, so if I have any expired coupons I won't keep carrying them around with me.

Next, I need to remember to clip coupons.  I'm going to get a subscription to the Sunday paper so that I don't have to remember to go to the store and buy one - that's half the battle right there.  I know there are a lot of coupons on-line, but I never know where to start looking, so here's a list of some of the great sites I came across.

•  Cellfire.com - This site is great!  You just sign-up, look for a local grocery store, and then "clip" coupons by clickingon them, and they are added directly to your frequent shopping card!  It eliminates having to cut them out, organize them, and remember to hand them to the cashier at the end of your shopping trip. 
• Coupon Mom - I found this site hard to use at first, but once you get used to it there are a lot of great coupons and couponing tips on it. You have to sign up, but it is free.  You can then find printable coupons, and she provides lists for couponing at certain stores.  There are also a lot of tips for beginning couponers!
• Deal Seeking Mom - This site has a list of links to websites and companies that offer printable coupons, and other sites that offer ecoupons.  I've found that it's much easier to bookmark this one page then having to bookmark fifteen separate ones!

Finally, I need to remember to USE the coupons that I have.  A big way to ensure that is actually shopping with a list, which is something I'm so bad at doing.  However, that's a story for a different post - Brian and I need to start planning out our weekly menus ahead of time, so that I can cut down on the number of trips to the grocery store and start using coupons!

Although I don't think I'll ever be an extreme couponer or have a stockpile offood in my basement, but it would be nice to save a few bucks here and there.  I'd love to hear from you - what other coupon strategies do you use?