Why I don't use coupons
So now that being broke is hip, there's been lots of news stories about "super coupon clippers." These people (all women) spend hours scouring the web and buying 12 papers a week to get coupons which they then use at multiple different stores to get things super cheap or for free.
Now, as a newly minted work from home lady who dedicates (on average) 2 or more hours a day to housework and money saving, AND as a notoriously thrifty person, you would think (apparently, considering the number of times I get asked this) that I was a happy sailor on the good ship coupon. Now I certainly do appreciate a good coupon, especially the blanket storewide "get $X off your next purchase of $Y or more." Those babies are free money, especially if it's for a store I shop at anyway. But manufacturer coupons? The kind you get in news papers or on the interwebs or in those little mailers we use as fire starters for our fireplace? Yeah, I don't use those, which is sad, because that's what makes up 99% of the coupons websites I've looked at.
I don't like manufacturer's coupons for a simple reason, the type of products that get coupons are often for highly processed foodstuffs or new spiffy cleaning products. In other words, over priced, over marketed shit I don't buy. Sure, I can get it for 75% off, but if I wasn't going to buy it in the first place, that's 25% of the purchase price I just spent needlessly. I look at these news stories showing pictures of happy, middle aged women with shopping carts piled high with Fruit Loops and Charmin double-stuffed toilet paper, and I'm thinking sure, you just spent $5 on $100 worth of goods, but there is nothing in your cart that I would buy. Where are the vegetables? Where's the unprocessed meat? Do you feed your family nothing but frozen dinners? And let's not forget these super coupon people spend around 10 hours a week prepping for this shopping bonanza. If I had 10 hours a week to waste, I'd spend it earning extra money so I didn't have to eat frozen crap I got for cheap.
How do I save money on food? Easy. I buy store brands, cheap veggies (kale is cheeeeap, and awesome), I bake my own bread (SO EASY, NEVER BUY BREAD!) (I use a bowl, not a bucket, and it works great. I also buy jars of bread machine yeast for $2, way better value than package yeast) and I stay away from the middle aisles. Rather than pouring over coupons, I spend that 10 hours per week cooking. Nothing saves more money than cooking.
Also (and this won't work for everyone, but it's awesome for us), we have a chest freezer. About once a month I drive down to Atlanta and go to the Gwinett International Farmer's Market where the meat is 50-75% cheaper than any chain grocery store and super fresh (they do their own butchering in the back of the store). We buy a cooler full of meat, then bring it home and freeze it. There are veggies too, all fresh, cheap, mostly local, and all varieties. We freeze these as well when we can. We'll spend $100 on a cart that would have cost us $250 or more at Kroger's, and every bit of it is stuff I want. Now that's a saving.
There is only one real rule in frugality as I see it: To pay money is to be defeated. Even if something is 90$ off, if I don't need it and wouldn't use it, I don't buy it. Buying unprocessed, normal stuff saves me money, saves my cabinet space, and saves my waistline (and probably my health in the long run). Maybe having kids will change my perspective on coupons, but I doubt it. Kid shouldn't be eating Fruit Loops anyway.
Now, as a newly minted work from home lady who dedicates (on average) 2 or more hours a day to housework and money saving, AND as a notoriously thrifty person, you would think (apparently, considering the number of times I get asked this) that I was a happy sailor on the good ship coupon. Now I certainly do appreciate a good coupon, especially the blanket storewide "get $X off your next purchase of $Y or more." Those babies are free money, especially if it's for a store I shop at anyway. But manufacturer coupons? The kind you get in news papers or on the interwebs or in those little mailers we use as fire starters for our fireplace? Yeah, I don't use those, which is sad, because that's what makes up 99% of the coupons websites I've looked at.
I don't like manufacturer's coupons for a simple reason, the type of products that get coupons are often for highly processed foodstuffs or new spiffy cleaning products. In other words, over priced, over marketed shit I don't buy. Sure, I can get it for 75% off, but if I wasn't going to buy it in the first place, that's 25% of the purchase price I just spent needlessly. I look at these news stories showing pictures of happy, middle aged women with shopping carts piled high with Fruit Loops and Charmin double-stuffed toilet paper, and I'm thinking sure, you just spent $5 on $100 worth of goods, but there is nothing in your cart that I would buy. Where are the vegetables? Where's the unprocessed meat? Do you feed your family nothing but frozen dinners? And let's not forget these super coupon people spend around 10 hours a week prepping for this shopping bonanza. If I had 10 hours a week to waste, I'd spend it earning extra money so I didn't have to eat frozen crap I got for cheap.
How do I save money on food? Easy. I buy store brands, cheap veggies (kale is cheeeeap, and awesome), I bake my own bread (SO EASY, NEVER BUY BREAD!) (I use a bowl, not a bucket, and it works great. I also buy jars of bread machine yeast for $2, way better value than package yeast) and I stay away from the middle aisles. Rather than pouring over coupons, I spend that 10 hours per week cooking. Nothing saves more money than cooking.
Also (and this won't work for everyone, but it's awesome for us), we have a chest freezer. About once a month I drive down to Atlanta and go to the Gwinett International Farmer's Market where the meat is 50-75% cheaper than any chain grocery store and super fresh (they do their own butchering in the back of the store). We buy a cooler full of meat, then bring it home and freeze it. There are veggies too, all fresh, cheap, mostly local, and all varieties. We freeze these as well when we can. We'll spend $100 on a cart that would have cost us $250 or more at Kroger's, and every bit of it is stuff I want. Now that's a saving.
There is only one real rule in frugality as I see it: To pay money is to be defeated. Even if something is 90$ off, if I don't need it and wouldn't use it, I don't buy it. Buying unprocessed, normal stuff saves me money, saves my cabinet space, and saves my waistline (and probably my health in the long run). Maybe having kids will change my perspective on coupons, but I doubt it. Kid shouldn't be eating Fruit Loops anyway.