Couponing seems to be in its heyday right now. We’ve got books galore and reality television telling us over and over that smart people coupon. And it’s partially true: some of them do. I know two different people who coupon for hours each week and shop so skillfully that they have bounties to give away to local food cupboards and homeless shelters. This is wonderful. But I’m starting to think that it’s not for me.
It’s not that I haven’t tried. I work at least 40 hours a week, have two kids, and am active in church, so I just don’t have a lot of extra time to give. Still, I’ve tried to give it. Clipping and downloading and printing and clipping some more.
And I found that my grocery bill just wasn’t changing all that much. We try to keep our grocery costs under $200 per week. And despite the coupons, that number just wasn’t shrinking for us. And I think I’ve figured out why: without couponing, I’m still a fairly frugal shopper. I buy basic “scratch” ingredients, in bulk when I can, and very little processed or pre-prepared foods. The coupons I was getting were for more exciting items for sure, but also more expensive. I had $1.00 off two frozen pizzas, but this wasn’t cheaper than making the dough, the sauce, buying the block of cheese and shredding it myself. I had 75 cents off frozen cookie dough, and for a minute I got excited; then I realized that the dough only made 18 very small cookies. Using basic ingredients, I can make a batch three times that size for less money (and it only takes me about 10 more minutes).
So, I’ve decided to take a stand. I’m not saying I’ll never use a coupon, but I think my time will be better invested in continuing to find the cheapest, basic ingredients I can, and making things the old-fashioned way. If you want to be an extreme couponer, all the power to you, but if you don’t, don’t let social pressure make you think couponing is the only way to save money. It’s just not.
Posted by Robin
