If you love clipping coupons, you may not enjoy this post or agree with my premise. But I am convinced that coupons are a huge contributor to overspending.
In fact, let me ask you a question: When you spend time thumbing through the paper or surfing the net for great coupons…aren’t you really just thinking about spending money?
Of course you are.
Coupons are directly tied to spending.. You don’t collect them for those amazing graphics. Right?
In fact, for many people, browsing for coupons is part of an overspending ritual. This may not describe you, but I’ll guarantee that people who spend lots of time looking for coupons spend much more time thinking about spending than they spend time thinking about saving and investing.
Ever heard someone tell you they bought something just because it was on sale?
That’s almost as bad as someone saying they spend a ton of dough and tried to justify it because “it’s deductible”.
Coupons weren’t developed by Debtors Anonymous. Coupons were created by the Retailers Association of America probably. They did it to give you a reason to get into their store and spend money. That’s it. They know that once you’re there, you’ll keep spending. You might get a deal on toilet paper, but they’ll get you on the breakfast cereal.
Coupons were not created to save you money or help you save for your retirement.
And you know what…..it works.
If it didn’t, you wouldn’t find any coupons in the mailbox, newspaper or on the internet.
Of course, some people use coupons to stop spending money they don’t have — and I hope that describes you. But most people get sucked in. Coupons get you to buy stuff you really don’t need.
Don’t believe me?
Look at your trash can.
It’s full…right?
That means you are buying more than you need.
That’s why I don’t spend any time looking for coupons. I don’t want a “spending” mindset.
I want an investor mindset.
When I need something I go out and get it. I don’t clip coupons and then find a reason to need something. Maybe I pay more for the stuff I need than you do. But I don’t buy anything I don’t really need. At the end of the day, I spend less money as a result of not collecting coupons.
So if you’re looking for a good personal finance or a great small business idea, just say no to coupons from today on.
Am I wrong? Do you only buy stuff that you absolutely need or do coupons get you to bring home more than you intended to?
Note from Frugal Dad: When I read Neal’s title my immediate reaction was, “Are you nuts? You want me to run this post on Frugal Dad?” But after reading the guest post, I must say Neal makes a good point.
Looking back on my own experience with coupons, I remember making some impractical decisions in the name of “saving money” because I had a coupon. Honestly, how many squeezable mayonnaise bottles does one family really need? With the exception of stockpiling a few essentials using coupons, our family has found that we generally come out ahead by skipping the coupon and simply buying the store brand.
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I must say- I do agree that in many cases sales and coupons lead people to buy things they don’t need. However, like some people above, I have to completely disagree when it comes to the grocery store. Our family of 4 (with one still in diapers) used to spend $600-700 a month on food (and then we were only a family of 3). We now have our grocery bill down to $150-200 per month, diapers and toiletries included. A friend and I even work on stockpiling toiletries and sell them twice a year at a yard sale. We spend $0-$.25 per item and then sell them for $1 a piece. At the last yard sale we each made close to $200. So, for our famiy, coupons have meant good food on the table and more money in the bank!
Try this.. Ask for a coupon only when you are purchasing something that you need. This way, you don’t end up over spending and at the same time you can save time by not worrying about collecting the coupons.
myBantu.com gets you all the relevant coupons you need when you need. check it out.
when i say i 100% agree with you i hope that is not cliche. but i feel every post i read of your i am drawn to commenting because i totally agree.
coupons can be a great deal if you buy a certain product often and see a saving opportunity but to just buy something because it is on sale is silly.
then on the other hand you have those people who don’t buy items unless they are brand name and end up walking out of the store spending a 10 to 20% mark up because they have low self confidence.
I have a bargain site and I coupon and I save lots of money, but I still agree with you 95%. Coupons are designed to make you buy things you don’t want. Most things we get for little or FREE, but why the heck is it in my house now?
I go back and forth with couponing. I make sure it’s what I want and I make sure it’s a product I am willing to bring in my house for my family to eat, so no processed foods here.
I went to Trader Joe’s today and got a whole lot of great food and no coupons.
I subscribe to The Grocery Game, which provides a weekly list of the best items to stockpile on, combining coupons and store discounts. I’m picky about what I actually buy off the list. I’ll only buy items that I would normally buy and use. I save around 25% on an average grocery bill. Others have better results, but I’ll take it.
If you were really a frugal dad and really good with money, you would discipline yourself to clip coupons for only the items you need and then buy them only when they are on sale and combine the sale price with the coupon to get the item free or close to it. A truly disciplined person doesn’t get sucked into buying anything other than what they went to the store for. Go in, buy the sale items that match a coupon and leave. How hard is that ? Then you can spend the rest of the day thinking about your investments and saving. Coupons have saved me thousands and I am far better off for using them, because I use them to MY advantage, not the stores.
This is a rather interesting premise to base a negative approach on coupons with. Though I don’t call the coupons negative as much as I would consider them a neutral thing.
I tend to eat out roughly 2 or 3 times a month. Usually at a fast food joint or a pizza parlor, so I can get a fair price for something that’ll fill me up. Since I know of this particular spending habit, I usually either check local deals, or take advantage of the coupons.
But again, it’s easy to mention the accusation of the spending mindset rather than the investing (or as we dragons call it, hoarding) mindset, since it’s discussing just that. But given that we all want to treat ourselves now and again, it’s important to be pragmatic about it, methinks.
But this is certainly a big time point that left me thinking. Who would have caught themselves being manipulated by coupons? Funny when you think about it.
Common sense is needed, obviously. You can use coupons wisely and save a bunch of money or end up paying to play.
But the same is true for credit cards: I get rewards but I never, ever buy anything I can’t pay for when the bill comes due. Or for exercise: Some people spend a ton of money on a piece of equipment that becomes an expensive clothes valet.
A little discipline is key.
For years I’ve been using coupons to get free or *very* deeply discounted toiletries, laundry soap and food items. What I can’t use gets donated to an emergency pantry or a youth shelter. I wrote an article for MSN Money about this, “Free toothpaste for life!”
http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/SavingandDebt/FindDealsOnline/free-toothpaste-for-life.aspx
I’d never buy something with a coupon just because it’s on sale. It has to be free or nearly free. Coupons shored up my budget when I was really broke, and now they stretch my giving dollars — I can donate a lot of needed items without breaking the bank.
I agree in part. I did however find a really cool app yesterday that allows for savings but doesn’t lead to overspending. It’s called Qponomics. I live in Scottsdale and a lot of my local merchants are on the service. go to http://www.qponomics.com. It’s really cool. It just launched.
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