I don’t know anyone “in real life” who coupons the way I do, hunting for the best deals and stockpiling the same way. My friends who know how I shop haven’t really expressed any interest in learning to coupon, and I think that’s totally cool. While I love helping others save money, it’s more important to be true to yourself.

So if clipping coupons, shopping at multiple stores, and hunting down deals is too stressful for you, don’t do it.

I don’t mean you should pay full price for everything, but I do mean you should find a store like Trader Joe’s or Target, which have low-ish every prices, and shop there. Clip coupons for those things you normally buy and when you see them on sale, use your coupons to get a great deal. Shop from a list and avoid impulse purchases.

The key to saving big on shopping is to buy when prices are low, and to not buy more than you need.

You don’t need to buy at the lowest price – you might spend more than a hardcore couponer would, but you’ll still spend less than you would without any strategic planning at all.

It’s easy to get overwhelmed by couponing, especially when you’re just starting out. There are so many good deals, and since you don’t know if it’ll come along again, you often feel like you have to get it. You may also fear over-spending now that you know you’ve been wasting money for years.

But I’m here to tell you that it’s possible to coupon and build a stockpile while still maintaining your sanity. Here are some tips:

1. Accept that couponing takes time. Trying to fight reality is futile, so just accept that it takes time to coupon. The only thing you can control is how much time you’re willing and able to put into it.

2. Establish priorities. It’s easiest to establish a stockpile of free and cheap health and beauty products, but maybe what you need most is cheap food. Decide where you want to focus your energy for now. You can always rearrange your priorities later.

3. Focus on 2 or 3 stores. If food is your priority, then pick the nearest grocery stores and focus on getting the best deals there. Or, if you don’t have any particular need, pick one grocery store and one drugstore. Let the deals at other stores pass you by, because they’ll likely come around to the stores you’re focusing on too.

4. Limit your number of shopping trips. It always blows my mind that many forum posters seem to hit the stores every day. For most people, that’s pretty unrealistic. If you’re really pressed for time and/or stressed out, try to stick with one shopping trip per store per week. And don’t hesitate to do more than one transaction in a visit. (My strategy is to make one purchase, then collect the items for my next purchase from the shelves, and get back in line. Since I’m not holding up the line, I’ve never had a cashier or fellow customer complain about my multiple transactions.)

5. Let some deals go. You’ll inevitably forget to pick something up during your weekly trip, but most times it’s best to just let it go. I do this almost weekly (I forgot to check out the John Frieda during my trip to Walgreens). Unless it’s a mind-blowingly good deal or something you desperately need, it’s probably not worth the cost of gas to head back.

6. Try to shop early in the week if you can. Since you’re only going to the store once during the sales period, the store is more likely to have the items you want in stock if you go at the beginning rather than the end of the sale. Alternatively, try to find out when the store gets its truck deliveries and try to go late that day or the next day (so they have time to unload the truck and get items out on the shelves).

7. Limit your coupon clipping time by using the insert method of filing coupons. I Heart CVS has a good description of how this works. I use this method personally but without the stapling, and rather than filing by week, I have 24 folders that are labeled Jan. 1-15, Jan. 16-31, Feb. 1-15, and so on.

8. Give yourself a break. Remember that even if you’re not saving the maximum possible amount of money, you are still saving. Most deals will come around again. And every little bit counts toward achieving your financial goals.

The monthly Nabisco Cookies Facebook printable hit its print limit so quickly this month that I couldn’t help but wonder if the new TLC show, Extreme Couponing, has resulted in more people using coupons.

That in itself would be a great thing – while it might eventually cause prices to rise because stores can’t afford to lose too much money on loss leaders, I think everyone should have a price book and pay rock bottom prices whenever possible. It would do wonders for our collective financial consciousness if everyone paid more attention to how much money they spend. Maybe it would even get people thinking about living within their means!

I’ve only watched one segment of Extreme Couponing, and I have to admit that it made me uncomfortable to see carts full of the same item. If the store is okay with a customer buying 100 of the same item for free after coupon, I guess it’s fine. I personally would be uncomfortable and reluctant to do that, especially in one transaction.

I’ve read some things that indicate some of the couponers portrayed are actually committing coupon fraud by using coupons for items other than those stated on the coupon. That is obviously detrimental to all coupon users, especially those of us who follow the rules stringently. I hope that rather than glorify coupon fraud, the show will actually condemn it and maybe even help to stop it.

I’m also hoping that the show will result in less animosity toward coupon users. There are so many stories in the coupon forums about cashiers and other shoppers getting annoyed or even rude when the coupons come out. I’ve experienced this a couple of times myself, always at Target, and I now shop there a lot less than I used to. Maybe Extreme Couponing can make cashiers and other customers supportive or at least curious when someone uses a bunch of coupons. I’ve gotten “wow”s on occasion and that’s always fun.

One thing about couponing that I’m not sure is accurately portrayed on the show is how much time and effort “extreme” couponing takes. I don’t consider myself “extreme” and yet I’m maxed out on time and effort. It takes time to plan my shopping trips and transactions, clip my coupons, go to the different stores, make adjustments depending on the store’s stock, and pay for my purchases. It’s a part-time job in and of itself – which is fine for me, because I consider it fun. But I certainly couldn’t do more.

What do you think about Extreme Couponing?