Coupons: To Use Or Not To Use, An Easy Question
Posted on Mar 04, 2008 under Advertising and Marketing, Saving |I’ve read a few articles recently that have to do with coupons, and I’ve also had a couple of conversations with various individuals about them as well. It’s interesting to me how people can have so many different views about something as simple as a coupon. So, I figured I would share my viewpoint as well and let you take it from there.
Who Doesn’t Want To Save Money?
As far as I’m concerned, when I can trade a piece of paper that didn’t cost me anything for a discount on something that I was going to buy anyway, that’s a good deal any day of the week. Sure there are some coupons that you have to pay for such as the Entertainment book or those guys that go around selling coupons for Papa John’s Pizza (anyone know what I’m talking about?), but you know what I’m getting at. It may also cost you a little time to look through them and cut out the ones you want, but honestly, who couldn’t do this while watching television?
I’ve heard some people express the concern that they would be too embarrassed to hand over a coupon in front of friends, family members, acquaintances, or even complete strangers. To be blunt, you’re just going to need to get over this one. If you think the people you’re with are going to ostracize you because of the use of a coupon, then you might want to rethink the people you’re hanging out with. You also shouldn’t worry about what others think of you anyway, but that’s a topic for another day.
My Coupon Disclaimer
If you’ll notice in the above bold statement, I make the point that it’s something that I was going to buy anyway. It’s important to remember that companies don’t give out coupons out of the goodness of their hearts. They’re marketing and advertising tools. If you go out and buy a name brand product that costs $2 more than the generic because you have a coupon for 50 cents, that’s not necessarily a good deal. Look for coupons for things that you already buy and you’ll end up saving quite a bit.
One special situation is coupons for restaurants. It’s not too often that you had planned on going to a specific place and then a coupon for that place just turns up (although it has happened). More often you’ll decide to go out somewhere for a special occasion such as the recent valentine’s day and you can then pick a place based on what you have a coupon for. That’s how I’ve done things in the past and have saved quite a bit on restaurants. I’m also a huge fan of Restaurant.com (affiliate link) for this very reason. I can always find a great deal on some new place or an old favorite.
So that’s my piece on coupons. Pretty short and succinct; maybe I could think of more to say about it, but it’s not that complicated of a topic. What are your thoughts on the subject? Do you have another viewpoint? I’d love to hear it…
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by RacerX, on March 4 2008 @ 8:32 pm
Great oft missed point that a deal doesn’t always mean a value!
People will often spend $5 to save $1, When then could have spent $3!
by No Debt Plan, on March 4 2008 @ 9:03 pm
I love coupons. Seriously. As you said, who doesn’t want free money?
We only use them on products we would buy anyways — in fact, that’s how I go searching for them. None of the “ooo, a discount!” on something we don’t need.
Coupons. Mmm. Everyone should use them. (Unless quality generic products are less than original minus coupon, of course.)
by The Bald Monkey, on March 5 2008 @ 9:46 am
My wife loves to cut coupons. The problem for us tends to be that it costs us more money to buy the newspaper than we generally save with the coupon. So we tend to just wait for the random coupon mailer junk mail to hit the box. And my mom sends us her papers coupons since she gets to shop on a military base tax free, and they don’t take coupons. So that’s a bonus.