8 reasons why you SHOULD use coupons

Some of you might have seen an article that was posted on Yahoo - “8 reasons why you shouldn’t use coupons”

I am not sure if the person who wrote it has ever used coupons or not, but some of her information was just plain false!  So I thought I would share her arguments against couponing and my arguments for couponing! :)  (Her reasons are in the boxes – mine are posted directly below.)

 

You have to buy a newspaper.

Actually, no you don’t! 

You see my pictures from my shopping trips and know that I use more than 1 of each coupon.  (Example: Pampers wipes -  I have bought over 20 packages of Pampers wipes and counting and had 20+ coupons for them.)  But I have only EVER bought 1 paper each week.  I subscribe to my local paper (which is actually cheaper than buying it at the store AND it gets delivered to my door!)

I get my other coupons out of FREE newspapers in my area, dumpster diving in recycle bins, and from friends and family.

Even if you did buy a newspaper each week (we have them for sale for $1.00 on street corners) you can easily make that $1.00 back by using just ONE $0.50 COUPON that doubles.  Then every other coupon that you use is OVERAGE! :)

Not to mention the fact that there are printable coupons, peelies, store dispensers, store coupon books, etc. that never require you to buy a newspaper.

 

Clipping coupons takes time.

So does cooking, doing laundry, cleaning the house, taking care of your children, etc.  But we all do these things don’t we?  But who gets to pay themselves $40 (or MORE!) an hour to clean your house, do laundry, etc.?  I can spend an hour (or less!) researching printing my shopping lists online, then cutting the coupons to save $40 or more at the store.  Basically paying myself $40 or more for that hour of work!  In fact, not many people can work a job that will pay them $40 an hour!

Also, I DON’T CLIP COUPONS until and IF I need them!  I use the whole insert method and only cut coupons when I need them.  And I clip coupons on our long drives to church, and while resting in the evening, times when there is not much else I could do.

 

Getting a newspaper invites lots of additional advertising into your home.

So does watching TV, viewing billboards/store signs while driving down the road!  Coupons are a form of advertising, but we all have the right to resist and say, “No” too.  Honestly, I have gotten many deals just by perusing the store flyers (advertisements!) and buying something we needed when it was on a really good sale.

 

Many of the coupons will be for things you neither need nor want.

So don’t use them!  Or if the item comes around for pennies or even FREE, buy it and then donate it or give it to someone who can use it.  If a store is going to give you overage to buy an item (even if you don’t need it), it only makes sense to buy it to save money off of your meat or produce and then just donate the item!

I don’t need all the wipes I have been buying at Kroger at this time in my life, but they have helped me get my total up so I could use $5/$60 purchase coupons I got from Kroger.  That allowed to me to get $5.00 off of the things that I DID NEED!  And I had a friend that DID NEED the wipes and was able to pass some on to her to use!  We both benefit – I get $5.00 off my bill, she gets free wipes, and we both are happy!

Even if you eat totally organic, do you use toothpaste, shampoo, deodorant, razors, toilet paper, laundry detergent, etc.?  Because there are coupons for those products offered again and again! :)

 

Coupons can tempt you to spend your grocery dollars on things you shouldn't.

Once again, we have the right to say “no!”  You don’t have to use every coupon!  And honestly, I have never seen a coupon for twinkies or moon pies!  But I do see coupons for organic and whole grain items all the time. :)

Plus, we all have to and need to practice self control in all areas of our life.  Do you buy everything you see at the mall just because you are tempted?  No, because you practice self control and wisdom!  A child in the store with you can most certainly “tempt” you to buy things, doesn’t mean you have to or will!

She says, “Plus, if you have a monthly grocery budget that you stick to no matter what, coupons will only get you more food or different food - they won't truly save you any money.” 

Getting MORE FOOD for the SAME amount money by using coupons isn’t saving money?  Hmmm…in my book it is!  Then maybe next week you won’t have to buy as much and don’t even have to spend your whole budget!

 

The same coupons tend to be offered over and over again.

And this is a bad thing, why??  I guess we are only supposed to eat a type/brand of food once and then never eat it again? 

If I can get great deals on products that I use by combining coupons and sales, I will want the coupons to be offered again and again!  Plus, if you only buy 1-2 papers, you will want the coupons you need to come out again so you can have more (even if the older coupons haven’t expired yet!)

She says, “After a few months of coupon clipping, you'll realize that you're repeatedly clipping the same coupons. This might work for you if you use the same products repeatedly, but it's not so great if you prefer variety and experimentation.” 

Once again, has she ever played the drugstore game?  You will get to experiment and try many varieties of things that you never tried before just because they were FREE or you “made” ECB’s to buy them! :)  My husband loves when I come home with a new product and most of the time we end up liking it (sometimes even better than our old brand.)  One of the biggest ways a company promotes a new product is to offer a coupon for it – so we get to try all the newest items to hit the market!

 

You might become a slave to coupons.

Once again, do you not have self control?  Are you not able to make decisions for yourself and do you allow a piece of paper to do that for you?  I don’t think so!

She says, “It can be very difficult to buy something without a coupon once you get used to using coupons. Knowing that you can get ice cream for $2.50 might make it difficult for you to spend $4 on it even though many times, it would be worth it to spend the extra $1.50 rather than pine for ice cream and cast longing glances at your freezer every night for three weeks until your next coupon arrives.”

Ummmm… it would be difficult for me to EVER spend $4.00 on ice cream!  Plus you don’t HAVE to have ice cream.  I am sure there is no coupon shopper out there that is letting her family starve or go without just because she doesn’t have a coupon for it!  Maybe she could take the time she is spending “pining and casting longing glances at the freezer” and CUT COME COUPONS or research some of the great blogs out there that do all the work for you except the shopping! :)

 

Shopping takes longer.

Not necessarily!  Maybe when you are first starting to learn to use coupons it make take a little longer (as does anything - learning to drive or ride a bike, etc.)  But I actually find that using coupons causes me to do all of my preparation at home and be ready when I get to the store.  I have a stockpile of things at home that I am basing my menu off, so each week I am only buying the super sale items that week allowing me to be in and out of the store in less than 30 minutes.

 

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I could go on and on but I know that many of you already know why you use coupons – you save your family A LOT OF MONEY! 

But I would love to hear what you think!   Do you agree with her?