Super Couponers: Do Some People Go Too Far?

People who do extreme couponing (and believe me I am in a unique postition to know a lot of people like that) do one of a few things: 1) they help out family members and friends by serving as a central pantry from which their elected group can freely take what they need. 2) They resell the items at flea markets or online and other similar events 3) they take pride in supporting church pantries, food banks, shelters and similar organizations.

In fact I do not know of one person (and I know literally thousands of couponers) who routinely tosses out anything they bought because it has spoiled. People talk about donating and rotating stock to make sure there is no waste constantly. Only once did I hear a lady lament that she had to throw out a few boxes of something because she had misread the date and it had gone bad despite her best efforts to make use of it.

Super Coupners see themselves as stewards of their family's finances and are committed to making their budgets stretch as far as they can go. Not unlike a professional athlete who tries to run a bit faster, score more points, or throw a bit further the next time he plays. They are also equally committed to helping people who do not have the time or knowledge that they do about smart shopping do the same by donating items and freely sharing sale information and shopping tips.

As far as it being an addiction - anything can become an addiction. But what better addiction to have? If the whole country suddenly became obsessed with helping out as many people as possible and spending very little money in the process how bad a world would this really be? Instead people compete to see who can get the most charge cards maxed out and who can die with the most debt. It is destroying our country.

New couponers can get caught up in the excitement and feel like every time a deal is offered it is the last time they will see it and they need several hundred of them. Seasoned couponers know that they don't need more than a 6 weeks supply of something as sales go on cycles and they will always get a shot at another sale to stock up with in a few months. As soon as the honeymoon phase of their new found hobby wears off many people become more realistic in their shopping habits.

Finally, I am not naïve enough to believe that there are not a few individuals out there who do not have a genuine hoarding problem. Illnesses like this do exist. But when a person has an addictive personality and begins to hoard things - is the object of his hoarding to blame or is it his addictive personality?

Coupons are not to blame if people use them to buy food that they then hoard and waste. Coupons are a valuable tool and not unlike a good hammer can be used to build something or destroy it. The actions are the responsibility of the one swinging the hammer not the hammer itself.

Couponers, even super couponers, all have unique situations and individual motivations driving them when they shop and store there purchases. No newspaper article, no matter how detailed it has been written, can fully speak to the heart, soul, and motives of the person they are interviewing. It s best not to judge what someone "needs" or "doesn't need" as their particular situation is never fully revealed.

Be very careful when you start judging people and assigning what is a need and a want. God forbid the next time an article is written about someone it may be YOU and we may have to take a look at YOUR life - and decide whether you NEEDED to spend money on that large screen TV, the Hummer, the Fishing boat, or another pack of smokes.