Dear Crazy Coupon People,
I felt the need to get this off my chest. If you use coupons…I have talked bad about you, misunderstood you, unfairly judged you and I am sorry.
You see, I don’t use coupons, or rather I didn’t used to use coupons, and I can’t say it was because I didn’t need to save money, I just didn’t know how it all worked and it looked like just that, WORK! So, like many people I watched the Extreme Couponing on TLC and figured-THAT-was what couponing looked like and that those people were crazy.
Couponers are those people who clear shelves so that when you actually want something on sale, it’s totally gone.
Couponers hold up the grocery store line and take forever to check out. They scrutinize the cashiers every move, all for a 50 cents, and buy a bunch of stuff they don’t really need just because it’s cheap or free.
Couponers have WAY too much time on their hands and are addicted to getting stuff for free. Get a life!
My conclusion, couponing to the extreme seen on tv, seemed greedy and kind of creepy. To spend 40+ hours a week and shopping at multiple stores in order to leave with tons and tons of free product, much of which they can’t use themselves…I just didn’t get it.
Now I’m un-stuffing my foot from my mouth to say…
I use coupons! I am not very good at it, still learning, and I finally get it. Well, I’m about 80% there in terms of understanding it.
With my twin sons eating everything in sight, our family going through at least two gallons of milk per week and all three of my kids becoming old enough to have friends over ALL THE TIME, I began to realize we need more groceries and I need it to cost us less.
I can’t recall how it happened but I joined a local coupon clipping facebook group. I sort of stalk them, keep an eye on what they buy, the deals they’re getting, the coupons they use and then I copy them. I realized that I can save money on food we actually eat and that using coupons doesn’t mean I have to come home with Fruit Loops when we’re a plain Cheerios sort of family.
I also discovered that these local Coupon Queens are very kind and generous. They donate to strangers in need, give food away to shelters, support struggling friends and family members and are super eager to help others learn to save money by using coupons.
I now spend about an hour before each grocery trip stalking my local facebook group, looking at the various coupon match-up sites, printing coupons, looking at my local store’s weekly flyer and then I go shopping. I don’t yet leave the store with a van full of food and an OOP (out of pocket) cost of $1.01, lol, but I’m saving money and every little bit helps!
I felt the need to shed a little light on how I used to feel about people who use a lot of coupons vs. how I now feel and I’d like to encourage you all to be more accepting and forgiving of people who hold up the grocery line or clear the shelf of your favorite granola bars.
Don’t knock it til you try it!
Much love,
Julie
I’m Julie, a former cloth diaper retailer who discovered a passion for the industry. Now, instead of selling cloth diapers, I advocate them and promote small businesses I love who sell and manufacture them.
I’m the wife of a fireman and mother of three. I have a daughter and identical twin sons.
