Why Using Coupons Won't Save You Money and Might Just Make You Fat

I've tried being a coupon clipper. I get my Sunday paper, cut out all of the coupons I can possibly use, tuck them away into a little envelope, tote them around with me every time I go shopping. I almost never end up using them; I can find the same item cheaper as a store brand even after the coupon, the item listed on the coupon isn't on the shelf, or I just find that I really don't need the item even if it is $.50 off.

When I read through frugal living forums I feel ashamed at my lack of coupon skills. There are some folks who get paid to shop by taking advantage of triple coupon days and store discounts. They have intricate systems set up to catch the sales, and they often shop at many different stores to get just the right price. Why is it that I can't manage to even use the coupons, much less get paid to use them?

So once more I grabbed a Sunday paper. I flipped through the ads, through the coupons, and I took the time to break it all down. In doing so, I discovered that I am not some frugal living coupon idiot. In fact, I'd venture to wage that I spend less money for more nutrition than those folks I previously envied. After comparing my grocery receipts to the ads and coupons I found, I'm happy to give up the coupon obsession for good.

In my local Sunday paper, there were 2 grocery store flyers. Out of the 84 food items advertised, only 9 of these were fresh fruit or produce. That means fruits and vegetables made up under 11% of the advertised foods. There were of course no coupons for produce, either. On the other hand, looking back at my grocery receipts this month, 32 out of 67 food purchases were fresh produce. That's just under 48% of my food purchases.

The coupons were even worse. Here's the breakdown of the 63 coupons:
-20 Fast food
-11 Processed meals
-17 Junk food
-13 Processed ingredients (such as oils, peanut butter, etc.)
-2 Dairy products

That means that as far as I am concerned, 76% of the coupon items were out of the question immediately. Every one of the ingredient and dairy items is available cheaper at my local store if I buy a store brand or another discount brand.

Now armed with this data, I will not longer waste time clipping and organizing coupons. Cooking from with fresh ingredients might not allow me to use coupons, but it does help me make healthy, delicious, cheap meals. And that certainly beats eating frozen dinners (even if they're free after triple coupon day). Learning to cook well takes a little time, but it's an investment worth making. I can't say the same about clipping coupons.