Cut Your Grocery Bill In Half! with Stephanie Nelson, The Coupon Mom

By Stephanie Nelson, www.couponmom.com

Because so many people have sent me a link to the recent online article called  “8 Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Use Coupons”  by Amy Fontinelle,  I finally decided to throw in my 2 cents. Hey, make that free because we use coupons!

I agreed with every point in this article–that is, if you are an independently wealthy multimillionaire. But if you’re not, you might want to keep an open mind about using coupons. I’ve saved thousands of dollars in the past 20 years by using coupons and I doubt anyone could talk me out of the value of this free money. I agree, you need to be strategic and discriminating when using coupons, but that’s not hard. If you are interested, these are my “coupon user” response to these points.

Reasons not to use coupons from Amy Fontinelle’s article:

Reason #1: You have to buy a newspaper.

Coupon Mom view: OK, if you can save $20 buying a $1 or $2 paper, that’s a better return than the stock market. Check the Coupon Mom Grocery Coupon Database as early as Friday to see if it’s worth it to you to buy that Sunday’s paper. You may find it’s smart to buy more than one.

Reason #2:  Clipping coupons takes time.

Coupon Mom view:  Not as much time as going to a part-time job and it’s a lot easier to use coupons, no performance review either.

Reason #3:  Many of the coupons will be for things you neither need nor want.

Coupon Mom view:  OK, then don’t use those.  That’s easy.

Reason #4:  Coupons can tempt you to spend your grocery dollars on things you shouldn’t.

Coupon Mom view:  Walking into a grocery store can do the same thing, the key in both situations is to make a plan of what you need and stick to it.

Reason #5:  The same coupons tend to be offered over and over again.

Coupon Mom view:  Isn’t that a good thing if they are for items you like?  And if not, don’t use the ones you don’t like.

Reason #6:  You might become a slave to coupons. (such as not buying an item you want because you didn’t have the coupon)

Coupon Mom view:  If using coupons means you might pass up buying a full-priced item you don’t need, that’s not terrible.  When I’ve found myself in that situation, I go ahead and buy a different brand that is on sale rather than skip the purchase entirely. 

Reason #7 :  Shopping takes longer.

Coupon Mom view:  Actually, shoppers who prepare a detailed shopping list with coupons before they go to the store  get their shopping done faster because they are prepared.  Less time spent in the store means less money spent, too.  Use free sites like CouponMom.com to help you plan your list before you go to the store.

Reason #8:  Getting a newspaper invites lots of additional advertising into your home.

Coupon Mom view:  Advertising surrounds us everywhere in the media: TV, radio, the web, magazines, etc.  You may find even more useful coupons in that “advertising” for local stores and restaurants you like. 

Coupon Mom’s  Bottom Line:  Go ahead and try coupons, take the chance that you might save so much you can do more fun things with your money than pay more than you need to for groceries!