Financial Advice

Conquering the Couponing Mentality

In an effort to stretch the weekly household budget, homemakers turn to newspaper coupons hoping to save a few pennies from purchases. However, couponing isn’t always the best resort – in fact, it could even turn out to be wasteful. Conquer the couponing mentality by understanding what makes the practice not so practical. People get coupons in two ways – in newspapers and in products’ packages. And in order to get coupons either way, you will need to make a purchase for a newspaper, or a product which has a coupon.

Ask yourself if you really need either. Some households never read the newspaper, and end up using a coupon but not the product from where the coupon was clipped. Speaking of newspapers, these are actually a bad way to encourage more expenditure. Here’s what happens: You flip through the paper’s pages in search of coupons, and end up finding advertisements here and there, for stuff that you want to buy but don’t really need. And it’s all because you started scouring the pages for coupons. Coupon collectors take too much time clipping and organizing coupons. These aren’t stamps or butterflies. These are merely paper pieces you use to get a discount or a free item. Instead of wasting precious time clipping coupons, you’d really rather be doing worthwhile household chores or bonding with family. A coupon means either – a discount or a freebie. Ask yourself if all these freebies and discounted items are things you really need or want.

The coupon mentality is, “But I might need it someday, and it’s on sale / free now!” Then, the item simply gets stashed along with other un-usables in your home, creating more clutter and waste. Finally, coupons are addictive. They enslave you to the coupon mentality so much, that you feel bad about actually making a frank purchase. For instance, if your coupon gets you milk 50% off the regular price, you wouldn’t purchase milk if it were in its regular price. These are crippling effects of coupons. They are not entirely a bad thing, especially when they are paired with purchases, and get you exactly what you need, but always do things in moderation.