When I started collecting coupons a year and a half ago, I was out of work. It was easily 20 - 30 hours a week at that point. I used to go to the mall my husband worked at 2 hours early many days to wander and look for deals at stores nearby. Not to mention the 2 hours a day I was online looking for coupons and reading blogs and forums.

I also did surveys and websites like Swagbucks at that time, slowly collecting those Amazon giftcards to use. That was another hour a day too.

Fast forward to now. I've been working 2 jobs for the past 4 months. Just quit one this week after I completed my probation at a full time job. I'm trying to get back into coupons, but I have to balance better. I don't have time to wander the stores certainly, so I've moved my focus to price matching and stocking up on key items, which is something I wasn't good at when I started. The key for me is to prepare before I go to the stores, because "wandering time" doesn't exist.

I don't go out to look for the mysterious "clearance" deals. They will usually disappoint you. Focus on the flyers and savings apps like checkout 51 which are at your fingertips quickly. Then if a clearance deal arrives while you're out, then awesome.

I wish I knew about Facebook groups in my area. That is a great idea. I'm going to go look and see if there is one in my town, and if not, then maybe I'll start one! I don't have a lot of time for coupon trading, but locally, it would be easy to meet up with someone in town.