E-Coupon Clipping

Brace yourself: I'm going to give you a peek inside Carolyn's purse. Among the critical items such as wallet and six shades of lip gloss are: one pair of boys' Thomas the Tank sunglasses, one broken bracelet, 37 hair clips, three "emergency" lollipops, a battery, and about a pound of coupons. The great irony is that I am much more likely to use Jack's sunglasses and eat his lollipop way before I'd use one of those coupons.

And why? Because I NEVER EVER EVER remember that I have them when I'm making that purchase that I'm making because I went to some store specifically because I had a coupon.

Enter a new iPhone application that I can really get behind: the Coupon Sherpa. Just scan the list of stores and find the offer that suits your purchase. You can email it to yourself and print it out or merely show the clerk your iPhone so she can scan it or get the number. The reviews are somewhat mixed on the results of handing over your phone to the person taking your cash, but the technology will catch up with them before long, I'm sure of it.

And in honor of Earth Day and all the paper saving you can do (and so we can all clean out our purses!), you can get the app for free through Friday, April 25. After that, it's $1.99.