Nothing is free. Even if it’s free for you that doesn’t mean
someone isn’t paying for it.
I am sure you have seen the show on TLC called Extreme
Couponing where shoppers spend many hours collecting coupons and matching them
with just the right supermarket and just the right sale to accomplish something
many of us only dream of….. to take home hundreds of dollars in groceries for
mere dollars, and in some cases only pennies. I had my interest sparked and so
I have been reading many articles from all over the US about what this all
means and how it affects everyone. (For the purpose of this blog "EC" = someone that practices Extreme Couponing).
Today’s economy has been a real strain on many of us, even
more of a strain than it would have 50 years ago for my family because they
didn’t depend on cash flow for everything. They raised most of their food,
something many folks today couldn’t do if their survival depended on it. That
is a thought I better save for another blog though. I have been keeping house for 30 years and
have often used coupons for various things, but it was a lot of work keeping it
all straight and finding the item available. Often times it was not any cheaper
to use the coupon than to simply purchase the store brand of the same thing.
Why do folks practice extreme couponing? Well, most have
stated financial reasons as the original motivation. I have heard it said on
more than one occasion by the shopper that they enjoy the challenge of it all.
Others say they literally get a high when they get something for virtually
nothing. But what about after you get all that stuff home? I truly believe that
many people who practice extreme couponing may also be suffering from a form of
clinical hoarding. Just because you have
it all neatly stacked on a labeled shelf doesn’t mean it isn’t OCD. (No, I am
not a psychologist; I am just expressing my personal opinion). What else would
you call it when someone finds it satisfying to spend 40 hours a week clipping /organizing
coupons and sales pages, then another 8 to 10 hours a week actually doing the
shopping, especially since you been doing it so long you probably only need
milk and fresh bread anyway! How much money do you spend on paper and ink for your printer?
When I was a child we spent nearly every summer canning jars
and jars of tomatoes, beans, pickles, peaches, beets, corn, etc. so that we
would have fruit and vegetables to get us through the winter. Usually we only
had a few jars left come spring.
However, that’s a far cry from stockpiling nearly $10 grand in groceries
in the garage or basement; and that’s after they donated the things they didn’t
want. That’s why I say if you have stocked 100 jars of spaghetti sauce, 65
sticks of deodorant, and 42 bottles of dish liquid then you clearly have some
type of issue. Being an EC is manipulating the coupon industry and taking way
more than you need to survive. That to me is selfish and greedy.
There are also a lot of problems deriving from extreme couponing
that can affect the economy negatively. One is the fact that retailers can lose
other customers when their shelves are emptied by an EC. Another is in relation
to how retailers react to extreme shoplifting; increase prices to protect the
profit margin. Many newspapers have reported an increase in thefts on the days
that coupon inserts are expected. A forth side effect is that many stores have
now had to adopt new coupon policies to protect themselves from EC’s, and
sometimes the average shopper can also suffer those consequences. And what about having a little pride? People
are dumpster diving for coupons for heaven’s sake!
Coupons were invented to help both the manufacturers and the
retailers to gain and keep customers. They are useful to help shoppers save a
few pennies and feel better about their grocery budget. If you would like to
stock up on green beans and buy 24 cans because you can get them at little to
nothing, I don’t consider that extreme. I like to take only what I need and
give what I can. I believe what goes around comes around and if you abuse
something it will not only come back to haunt you, but it will at some point
also haunt the innocent bystanders.
