COUPON CUTTING

So how much are you REALLY saving?

It has become a Sunday ritual at our house. While I feed the baby, Mark ventures out to get his beloved Mobil Gas Station coffee (Green Mountain). While he is there, he grabs the Sunday paper for me. Not that we really read the Herald. You can really see why newspapers are going out of business after reading the Herald a couple times. We buy the Sunday paper because I am a coupon cutter.

On the front page of the paper, in the upper corner is a colorful tag exclaiming that there are over $200 worth of savings inside! I'm gonna call bullshit on that one. But even in the realistic sense, I have seen the GMA shows that show families saving $50 to $100 a week easily with coupons easily. To that I say, EATING WHAT?

There are no coupons for fresh vegetables or meat. The coupons are for packaged and processed things. Mark and I eat healthy. We eat fabulously, actually. We both love to cook and have FOOD NETWORK saved as one of our favorites on the computer. I TIVO Alton Brown & Sandra Lee. I have 4 Rachel Ray cook books that I use ALL THE TIME. So just because there is a coupon for Hamburger Helper, I'm not buying it. Mark and I eat fresh everything and about 1/2 of that is organic.

The only coupons I really use are for baby stuff, toiletries and cleaning products. Even then, only to a point. We still are committed to buying environmentally friendly cleaning products, organic body products and, of course, only organic for the baby.
I think we average close to $40 a week savings, but that is not just coupons. That includes advantage buys. What cut of meat is on sale this week? What is BOGO? 2 for ___?

I was just wondering if the people who think they are saving so much money by eating that cheap, processed food with their coupons understand that they are just going to pay more much more in medical bills. Because you know they are going to be overweight or diabetic or have high blood pressure or ... (you get the point.)

And I know that I'm saving more money then the receipt says because we actually like the food we are cooking. Which means we eat all the leftovers and don't waste food and stretch the meals out longer. And, in the end, though I may be saving less money, I'm also saving my family's health. Put a price tag on that.