Eight Reasons Why You Shouldn't Use Coupons... and my arguments against them.

This article has stirred up the she-bear in a lot of my coupon-savvy blogging friends. Just for kicks, I thought I'd go ahead an post my $.02 worth.

The article says... "You have to buy a newspaper."
I say... Yep. I subscribe and have 2 delivered every Sunday. But I get a LOT more coupons for free, because my MIL gets her neighbors inserts. Each week, the savings I get using coupons is FAR greater than the expense of the papers.

The article says... "Clipping coupons takes time."
I say... and what doesn't take time? I could stop nursing Susannah because that takes time. Or I could stop folding the laundry (*ahem*) because that takes time. I spend maybe an hour on average each week clipping my coupons.

The article says... "Getting the newspaper invites lots of additional advertising into your home."
I say... that's what the trash can and self control is for. We don't browse through the ads, or even read the newspaper (because we don't want to). I open the the papers, pull out the coupon inserts and maybe the grocery store fliers, and the rest goes straight to the trash. I know I can't afford all the pretties that are advertised, so I don't even look.

The article says... "Many coupons are for things you neither need nor want."
I say... I sure do need or want: Toilet paper! And toothpaste! And Miracle Whip (or Mayonnaise if you're Daniel)! And Nestle's Chocolate Chips! And cheese! And eggs! And bodywash (you use some type of bodywash, right??)! Not to mention other baking goods, meats, canned fruits and vegetables, toiletries and I could go on and on!

The article says... "Coupons can tempt you to spend your grocery dollars on things you shouldn't."
I say... Yes, I admit there are times where I will splurge on something because I have a coupon for it when I normally wouldn't buy that item... but again it's about self control. Just because there's a coupon for Oreos or Ice Cream, I don't buy those items. Would I like to? You bet! Those are yummy, yummy things!! That's where self control comes in again.

The article says... "The same coupons tend to be offered over and over again" with the idea that you might want to try different things or experiment other items.
I say... Ummm....yup, we still use toilet paper here daily! And Daniel still gets his egg & cheese sandwich every morning... and his lunch sandwich every day... and we still take baths :) Oh, and I don't always buy the same brand of toilet paper every time. It depends on what's cheapest when combining the sale and current available coupon. Same with Mayonnaise... sometimes it's Kraft, sometimes it's Dukes, sometimes it's Hellmans. I think we experience variety while using coupons!

The article says... "You might become a slave to coupons" mentioning that you might not buy something if you don't have a coupon for it.
I say... I do not starve or inconvenience my family because there is not a coupon. If it is a splurge item (say... bacon) or a convenience item (like... paper towels), I will probably not buy it if I don't have a good coupon and a sale. And really, it's not often that I have to buy something without a coupon (that I would normally buy w/ a coupon) because I stockpile.

And last but not least:
The article says... "Shopping takes longer."
I say... Eh, not really. Yes, the first couple times I went with coupons it did take me longer... but everything takes longer the first time you do it.

The article's bottom line is that if you don't clip coupons, don't bother with starting.

My bottom line is I have no doubt that I have saved us piles and piles of money by clipping coupons. For instance, this week's shopping trip, in just the paper coupons alone, I saved $25.06, not counting the coupon doubles, store promotions or sales. I'd say $25 savings in one week because I spent $3 on newspapers and maybe 45 min. clipping? Yup... if you haven't started yet, what are you waiting for? Besides, the "couponing high" you get when the numbers drop like flies at the register? Worth it :)

Big Grocery Shopping Trip 7-22-10

Well, this was a very big grocery shopping week. A couple things were so very low-low priced that it only made sense to stock up. I haven't totalled everything up yet, so we'll see how I did!

(and because it's kinda hard to see, I'll just subtly point out that the bottom layer of Gatorade is 3 wide, and the Mayo is stacked 2 deep :P )

Food:
(25) 32oz. Gatorade - $.49 ea.
(14) 22oz. Mayonnaise - $.94 ea.
(6) 22oz. Miracle Whip - $.94 ea. (1 not pictured)
(3) Ghiradelli Brownie Mixes - $1.49 ea.
(5) Cream Cheese - $.49 ea.
(5) Shredded Mozzarella Cheese - $.49 ea.
Large Rolled Oats - $2.50
(4) lg. Baby Cereal - $2.95 ea.
(4) 2pk. Baby Food - $.78 ea.
4lb. Sugar - $1.99
1lb. Raisins - $1.99
Tombstone Pizza - $2.49
Orange Juice - $2.99
Applesauce - $2.69 (Baby Food :) )
(2) lb. Turkey Sausage - $1.79 ea. - Manager's Special
B/S Chicken Breasts - $3.52 ($1.99/lb.)
Beef Shoulder Roast - $9.90 ($2.99/lb.)


Non-Food:
(2) Large Roasting Pans - $.50 ea. (NYD 2011 :) )
(2) 2pk "Lasagna" Pans - $.50 ea.
12pk. double roll TP - $3.99
(6) Shaving Gel - $.94 ea.
Softsoap Hand Soap - FREE
(4) Crest Toothpaste - FREE

Totals:
(Since everything pictured plus a couple other items are all on one receipt, these are roughly what the totals are.)

Food: $88.20
Non-Food - $14.48
Total OOP(ish) - $102.68

Total Savings for Food & Non-Food: $146.70 / 59%
Plus I got $7 back in coupons for my next purchase!

A couple things didn't go quite as planned with this trip. The Kraft cheeses that I bought are supposed to be part of a Kraft promotion where I should've gotten (2) $5 catalinas (coupons for $ off your next order) and I only got one. I may or may not research that one. The other $2 in Cats were nice surprises from Gerber. Speaking of Gerber and baby food... yes, I plan to make most of Susannah's baby food (unless I can get it free!), but I had coupons and these will be good for the trips we make. The pizza would've been $.49 but the local Kroger stores no longer take IPQ's over $1.00 b/c of high fraud activity :( Since it was part of the 40 items I was getting for the Mega Event sale, I left it in as opposed to trekking back through the store to get another Mega Event item.

How'd'ya like the Mayo stockpile?? After stock-piling last summer and running out, I didn't want to pay full price again! I acquired coupons from e-bay (that coupon wasn't in our paper) and stocked up! We'll see if we run out till next summer ;) Daniel figures this Gatorade supply should last for most of the remaining hot season.

I did talk to Daniel before spending so much on groceries. Because we are now stocked up on Gatorade I should be able to lower our weekly grocery budget back down to $30-$35, and I know there will be weeks that I won't go at all, or will only get a couple items. In the end, I think it'll all even out. I'm realy happy with how it all turned out :)

Yay for Me Wednesday!

Courtney over at Living Peacefully Less Stressed (my latest gem-of-a-blog find!) is hosting a "Yay for Me Wednesday!" carnival.

Thank you, Courtney, for reminding me to celebrate the "Yay!" things and not just dwell on the "but I didn'ts." I have so many "but I didn'ts" at the front of my head that I had to think a bit to come up with some "yay's!" but I did!!

~ I scored a reclining, strap-on high-chair for FREE! Susannah's not strong enough to sit up in a regular one yet, and I was not looking forwards to feeding her her solid food kneeling on the floor in front of her swing. Yay for me!!!

~ Speaking of Susannah and solid food... every time I feed her she is liking it better and better, and last night and today she's starting to open her mouth for the spoon. Yay for me! (for persevering) and Yay for Susannah!!

~ I folded the couch full of laundry. Yay for me!!

~ Last week I scored a Spiral Cut Brown Sugared Ham off the Manager's Special. Yuummmmm! Yay for me!!!

~ I've stayed on top of the dishes and counters every day this week. Yay for me!!!

~ I went to bed before midnight last night. Yay for me!!!

~ I've started making and taking time to play the piano again. I really enjoy it and I want Susannah to grow up hearing me play, like I remember my mom playing when I was little. Yay for me!!

~ I exercised Monday night. Yay for me!!

Go check out Courtney's post and cheer her on!!

While the Cat's Away...

The mice play. Or not.

Every year Daniel's dad and several of his dad's brothers and a nephew or two go on a "man-vacation" to a lake house owned by one of their buddies. This year Daniel really wanted to go and it suited for him to, so he took 2 days of vacation and went :)

While he was gone I decided to zoom in and focus on doing some much needed cleaning. I didn't get the whole house done like I would've liked to, but I knew that wasn't realistic thinking. Susannah had her 4 month checkup one morning, and after that we did our grocery run. That took a big chunk out of the day. Between that afternoon and the next morning I did give the kitchen a thorough cleaning - wiping down the cabinet fronts, the ceiling fan, and decluttering the major catch-all area of counterspace that had been too-long just shoved to the side. That evening I unearthed the dining room table. And instead of "piling it" I actually "filed it."

That was last weekend. This weekend he is at a men's retreat hosted by good friends of ours. He left late yesterday afternoon and I didn't get gobs done... kinda took a mini vacation myself (an excuse to be, uh, lazy :) ). The kitchen and dining room table need a quick clean-up, then we'll resume the deep cleaning, moving on to the china hutch (dude, you can pile a bunch of stuff on that flat surface!), the floor (don't look), and then the living room. And the bed is a growing Mt. Washmore of clean laundry that needs FAPA'd (folded and put away).

I hope to get the main gist of the house back to a state of orderliness so I can do maintenance cleaning instead of tripping over piles of baby stuff (not toy-stuff, other stuff that just needs a place to be stored).