Is Couponing Killing Us?

[Lynn49]

hmm maybe the companies are trying to preserve us for future experiments. haha

Honey, I'll bet you dollars to donuts that the families of the CEOs and owners of those gigantic conglomerates do NOT eat the trash that their companies spew out for the unwashed masses.
I don't want to get political here, but I'm sure we all know what side of the fence they're on.....do fat people organize demonstrations? Do they march against corporations? Oil companies? Nope. They're at home attempting to digest the swill that they find in the grocery stores, manufactured by other big businesses, and are kept nice and fat and complacent in a chemically induced fog.
JMHO.......{{{once again gingerly hopping off my soap-box}}}

[MrsSunshine]

oh i know.. i was just teasing..

[Abby5]

I personally like to buy items with no labels. Lol Like celery and watermelon. But sometimes I wish they would have a label stating the chemicals used on them

To the op ...I was the same way,so much so I quit couponing for over a year! I bought nothing with an ingredient list and bought things on sale and pm'ed or bought at Costco when on sale.

[sweet sparrow]

When I first started couponing, I was wondering if I was doing it all wrong, not being able to save enough as others. And then, some people were great enough to share what they had bought. There are things that I'll never be able to save on, like pet food (animal allergies) or at a different stage of life (diapers, tena pads). I buy vegetables at stores that don't accept coupons, but sell at a lower price point than the stores that do. When I look at my bottom line, I might have used one coupon on toilet paper, but had no coupons on anything else. Someone else might have saved $20 off their bill, but I saved $1.

Manufacturers offer coupons for "new" products (or reformulated old ones) to gain our attention and our dollars with new scents, new packaging, new colours, etc. Now they have consumers challenging them with the idea that if the product is actually new, it should feel different than the old one. If it's more drying, the product cleans better (because it strips the old, "dirty" oils off your skin). Just to comment on the link in OP's first post, Dove contains ingredients that dry your skin and ones that strip natural oils. Isn't it interesting that Dove is owned by Unilever, who also makes Vaseline? A little while ago, there were Dove coupons out at the same time as Vaseline coupons. Hmmm....

Some of the high fat, high sugar products on the market today are like cash advance stores, or those buy-now-pay-later stores. I view them in terms of how long I'm going to wear it on my hips (forever) and the actual cost is the time it's going to take my body to get back to normal (a million years). Most effectively, I pick something that I hate to do, like jogging (and most of the time, it feels like it hates me more) and consider how far I'll have to jog to burn off that product (to the next city and back). If that item is worth jogging to the next town (or five blocks or whatever), I'll pick it up.

Needless to say, few items make the cut if it were just me. That said, DH is a junk food addict. He was raised on hot dogs and boiled potatoes. If he didn't want boiled potatoes, he'd ask for a hot dog - and get it every time. Growing up like that his entire life, I can't just cut out the junk cold turkey. I have had complaints that there wasn't enough "snacks" in the house. My definition of snacks (apples, grapes, etc.) will not cut it. Either I pick up the high fat/sugar products, or he'll spend more at Tim Hortons on the way home. Now there are two buy-now-pay-later plans simultaneously. I can buy it now, or pay it later out of our money at Tim Hortons (which doesn't seem to stop or slow down anyways) or metabolically buy-now-pay-later out of his/our health.

On the bright side, he tells me this is the healthiest he's ever eaten in his entire life, but he's also at the least healthiest weight he's ever been in his entire life. My DH thinks he has the metabolism of a 16-year-old.

[GeorgiaK]

Even though the coupons are out there and the sales may make the products free or near free, who is holding a gun to your head to buy them? Freedom of will and of choice is always in the hands of the consumer. It is up to us to make smart choice based on the individual needs of our families.

I can honestly say that, by saving money on H&B, cleaning and laundry supplies, we now eat better because I have more money in my budget to buy fruit and veggies, meat, eggs, bread and milk (and sometimes these with coupons). Do we have boxed convenience foods in the house? Sure, only if I can get them free or really really cheap, because life gets crazy sometimes and I would rather have hamburger helper with lean meat and add some frozen veggies and have a halfway decent meal once in a while, rather than go and order a pizza.

I think OP that you did what you thought is best for your family, but this is not always the case for everyone.

[Natalka]

Honey, I'll bet you dollars to donuts that the families of the CEOs and owners of those gigantic conglomerates do NOT eat the trash that their companies spew out for the unwashed masses.
I don't want to get political here, but I'm sure we all know what side of the fence they're on.....do fat people organize demonstrations? Do they march against corporations? Oil companies? Nope. They're at home attempting to digest the swill that they find in the grocery stores, manufactured by other big businesses, and are kept nice and fat and complacent in a chemically induced fog.
JMHO.......{{{once again gingerly hopping off my soap-box}}}

Well, I think you would be amazed how many thin or 'regular' sized people eat very poorly, as well. It's not just fat folk.

[barginbin-barbie]

If you are looking for some more info on this subject. Watch Hungry for Change. It is on this very subject of how we are positioning ourselves and others are getting rich off of it.

Anyhow funny this came up I to have made some life changes this year . Although I love a good coupon there is some I will no longer needing.

One more thought. Be careful with the frozen fruit. Especially Europe's best. Some if it is packaged in China and it made a lot of people sick. ( googled this) I think we should be leery of any food items or otherwise that come from China. For many reason's.

[Shwa Girl]

Answer = No.
Not for me. Not last night - 7 hours on the 401. Car had water + emergency supplies bought through couponing.

401 rest stop jammed packed so I kept going -- I was stocked with stuff.
Plus couponing helped me to save for winter tires -- really came in handy last night.

http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/01...icles-reports/

[SassyAshley]

I am overweight, always have been. I know many people who are thinner than me and eat way worse than I do. I stand behind the fact a lot of it is genetics. Almost everyone in my family is overweight to some degree. But I know people who are "healthy" because they are are a size 4 or 6 (oh how I wish) but live off doughnuts and fries and eating out. I know a few of them do not know how to cook everything in there house is boxed frozen food.

Well, I think you would be amazed how many thin or 'regular' sized people eat very poorly, as well. It's not just fat folk.

[natynat]

If you are looking for some more info on this subject. Watch Hungry for Change. It is on this very subject of how we are positioning ourselves and others are getting rich off of it.

That's one amazing documentary. Really had me thinking. There's also "Food Matters" and "Food Inc." that are also very good.

[natynat]

On the bright side, he tells me this is the healthiest he's ever eaten in his entire life, but he's also at the least healthiest weight he's ever been in his entire life. My DH thinks he has the metabolism of a 16-year-old.

I'm in the same boat as you. My bf can eat hotdogs and fries everyday and his excuse is "but I'm not fat!". He even gets mad at me if I don't buy him Pringles or Ruffles or Pepsi. I'm trying to change our habits of eating but it's really hard. It makes it even more hard when he says to me: "But you've got coupons for those Rice Krispies." Yes...he's 31...and loves Rice Krispies.

I think that sadly, his mentality is like the mentality of many shoppers out there: if you have a coupon, it doesn't really cost you much, so you're saving money. The fact is that if you didn't have a coupon for that product, you would probably not buy it in the first place, hence save even more money.

I think that at this point, we're pointing fingers at these conglomerate companies that provide us with coupons and say "you're making us sick", but they're not actually forcing us to use those coupons to buy their products. It's like the documentary that I watched last night (Fat Head) which clearly pointed out the fact that even if you stand in front of McDonald's for the whole day, no one will actually force you to go in there and eat. It's the same with coupons...companies are just doing their job in enticing people to buy their products, and we should look at the bright side of their actions: they're actually helping us save money but we have to decide if it's worth it. That being said, I really wish that there were more coupons for veggies and fruits that did NOT require us buying Snack Pack's or cereal or other junk food.

On the topic of donating...the way I see it...if it's not healthy for me, it is not healthy for other people. You can say that they've got nothing to eat so it's better than nothing at all, but I think that's not a good way of looking at it. In fact, my mother and I had to rely on food banks at one point of our lives, but the fact remains that it was all junk food that just made us sick and had us spending even more money on medication. I will probably be hated for saying this...and it's your right to do so...but I don't think that the point of donations is to just give people stuff that we wouldn't dare eating ourselves. Of course, there are many exceptions such as boxed pasta, sauces, canned tomatoes and such that have helped my mom and I immensly, but I'm talking about Hamburger Helper, cookies, sugar-infested cereals, etc. that we can't just "throw out" to the shelters/food banks "because they've got nothing to eat either way". Anyway, I realize that I'm rambling right now so I should wrap it up lol.

[nicolthepickle]

If you're couponing because of money there can be a flip side to this too. I simply can't afford to eat salmon and brie every day.
So I use coupons on what I can when I can, but I think it's made us eat healthier food.
I almost never buy boxed pasta anymore. I always make my own. The same with bread, cookies, bagels, tortillas.

[Shwa Girl]

OP, did some Saturday morning coupon clean up and found a FPC for Liberte Greek yogurt. The one with the high calcium amount and high bacteria content (good stomach bacteria).
Gonna get more blood orange yogurt.
Num num num.

[MTLcouponer]

This is a great thread, it really gives you something to think about. I read all five pages of posts and now I'm going to walk over to my stockpile and assess it.

[walkonby]

OP, couponing did not kill me today, only raised my blood pressure a bit when Iwas told I could not use any more of a perfectly valid coupon that got me $4.00 overage for every $5.00 spent. I did so well till they lowered the boom, lol
( Got $149.82 in absolutely FREE food )