Is Couponing Killing Us?

[tccl21]

I've been couponing hard core for about 3 years now. While I can't deny the absolutely incredible deals we get, I also can't deny that I have never felt so poorly health-wise in my life. My health and weight took a turn for the worse shortly after I started building my stockpile and it's just been not great ever since. Extra weight, lethargic, various ailments, being sick all the time. My whole family, not just me. So I take a close look at my stockpile and it's all food in packages (hence, being able to stockpile it, it won't rot). Taco kits, Hamburger Helper, KD, Cookies, etc. The list goes on and on. You don't even want to know what I've been packing in my family's lunch kits, all packaged stuff. I've bought a lot of stuff just because it's free or almost free. How about that new App I've been using "Checkout 51"? Great coupons, right? Wrong. All packaged foods, chemical drink mixes. Aside from the milk, there is nothing healthy. Why can't we have more coupons for natural, healthy products, produce, meats, etc?

Now I am making a big effort to pull away from couponing. Already I am noticing a huge difference. Eating well, feeling well. I look at the new coupons being offered on Save.ca or Websaver and I honestly can't even think about feeding that stuff to my family (aside from eggs!). Now instead of looking for coupon matches, I look for produce deals and deals on fish and lean meats (thanks, FallenPixels!). I don't open boxed foods any more, I get in the kitchen and cook. It really has opened my eyes to what I have been doing to us these past few years.

It's not just food either, it's everything. I used to make my own cleaning products with vinegar. I used to wash my clothes with vinegar in the wash instead of detergent. I never used fabric softener sheets, I used the dryer balls - and my laundry was always fresh. Now I pound in the chemicals - Tide Pods, Downy Unstoppables, fabric sheets, etc. Now our clothes are fresh, but it hurts my throat to smell them. Totally toxic. Why did I switch? Because it was ridiculously cheap with coupons. My stockpile shelves are loaded down with Windex, Resolve, Pledge, Scrubbing Bubbles, and at least a dozen other chemicals. Why? Because they were free.

I honestly can't believe I sold out my family. For cheap products. I am sad about this. Every time I use up something on my shelf and see another empty space, I feel tremendous relief. I am not going to waste these things, I will use them or donate them. But I fully intend to go back to my old, healthier way of keeping my house. Today I came across this blog post and it really made me realize that I am doing the right thing by pulling away from all of these companies that are basically killing us by throwing a coupon at us. http://www.jenandjoeygogreen.com/201...enwashing.html I urge you read this article right to the end. Can you really let your family wash themselves with this stuff? I know I can't. What are your thoughts on it?

I love SC and all of the people on it. I will still be coming on to contribute and look for deals on HEALTHY, NATURAL items that I can feel good about buying for my family. But I will not be picking up things just because they are free or almost free anymore. I can't afford to.

Sorry for the rant or if I have offended anyone, I apologize. I just want you to take a minute to think about these things.

[Lynn49]

LOLOLOL!!! Sorry, I'm not laughing at you, I'm laughing because THOSE are the reasons I'm VERY selective in my couponing!!
We never buy packaged cookies, hamburger helper (never in my life did I ever buy that!), smellies (gah! What are we smelling anyway?!), lunchmates (really? I couldn't cut up cheese and meat with crackers?!!), etc, etc. I use them for eggs, dishwasher detergent, toothpaste, clothing detergents, and bread (if it's not white only)....maybe that's why, in our mid 60s, aside from the aches and pains that come from living this long, we're really in good health with regards to our blood tests and others.
And people are wondering why kids are so obese these days? Why they're not expected to live as long as their previous generation? Just look into the grocery carts of some of those families and the crap in them! Then tell me there's no reason for it! Gads, I just posted about Girl Scouts peddling (okay, their parents peddle) a disgusting concoction of sugar and artery-clogging gunk...horrible!

Sorry for the speech, but I feel so strongly about it all....{{{hopping gingerly off my platform now}}....

[tccl21]

Ugh! Lunchmates are (WERE) a favourite around here. Why? Because of the stupid little candy in them! Same with the McD's toy. I could put one little fuzzy peach candy in their healthy lunch and they'd be just as happy!

I just feel like I've been played a fool. I fell for it though, so I'm to blame. Do you think these companies know that their product is inferior or extremely unhealthy and that's why they have to "bribe" us to buy it? I got so caught up in getting all I could for free and I so regret it.

[Natalka]

Well, so you have learned! That's a good thing!
Now you will do better.

[SassyAshley]

I have to admit I disagree. Do I have packaged foods in my house YES, do we eat them YES, why do we eat them simply it is this or take out some nights. During our busy season at work I have been known to put in long hours (7 am to 7pm, 8pm, 9pm, heck even 6pm sucks when you started at 7am). So I have a choice use a can of store bought pasta sauce or a frozen pizza add some healthy alternatives and have a home cooked meal or pick up take out on my way home.

Yes I buy all of the packaged foods and we eat them but through saving money on these items I am able to buy more fresh products we normally would not. No matter what each week we have a set budget on what we can spend on groceries, there are items I need to buy most weeks I can regularly get coupons for. There for by using coupons to buy butter, milk, cheese, cereal, oats, yogurt I am saving money I can put towards buying fruits and vegetables, heck there are tons of coupons for frozen vegetables which we always keep on hand. I can honestly say we have never had as many fruits and vegetables in our house as we do now and the best part is, I am spending less money on groceries.

For us it is finding the balance yes we eat store bought pasta sauce but we add things to it, carrots, mushrooms whatever other veggies we have so for me I look as it in the opposite way, I am now able to bring more into our house using coupons than I ever did before. Do I pick up everything we have a coupon for no, but there are alot of items in my stockpile (so many I am now working on my stockpile room as we out grew our pantry) but it does not have to be all bad processed foods. For us coupons have done the exact opposite.

Sorry if this offends anyone but I do feel there are two sides to this.

[Patty Smyth]

Couponing is the reason we went vegan . Now I only use coupons for H&B, cleaning products , tp, etc. It is still a huge savings because these products are so expensive.

Everyone has to decide for themselves what is best.

[tccl21]

I have no intentions of making my own pasta sauce! I'll still use some stuff like that. I'm mostly talking about the "chemicals in a box" type stuff - I'm sure you know what I mean.

I find that I'm saving more money now than ever. Not as much on gas going to all the stores on a daily basis, not as much on taxes on "free" stuff, not as much on taxes on "junk food", not buying lunch because I was out at the store, not buying little stuff that I saw on clearance racks that match with a coupon, not buying restaurant or take out food because I was out at the stores all day and not at home cooking. All of the healthy food I buy now doesn't have tax! It's like Tax Free Day at RCSS every day! LOL!

I have respect for the other side of the couponing coin too. It's just that I feel my eyes have just been opened and I wanted to share

[tearlessnights]

Chemicals are not just in your food or detergent. Its in your soap, your hair, and makeup.

Good post.

[glowworm2k]

tccl21, I agree with you. Coupons can be good for some things, sometimes (I use 'em for toilet paper, cottage cheese and brick cheese, Bulk Barn stuff, ground coffee for DH, eggs, etc.). That said, I don't do couponing in a big way because I found that:
a) most coupons are for stuff I don't use (we make our own laundry detergent out of borax, laundry soda and plain soap; we do home canning; we don't use smellies, etc.);
b) many coupons are for things that I don't want in my house (we eat a low-sodium, low sugar, meat minimalist and whole foods diet);
c) couponing takes a lot of time (especially when you think that I would never use more than 75% of the coupons available);
d) with a brand new baby in the coldest part of winter, going to multiple stores each week can't happen just now, so I just go to the store with the best produce deals and leave it at that; and,
e) there are lots of other ways besides coupons to save money on my grocery bill (eating food that's in season, breastfeeding my baby, freezing and canning produce, freezing meats, buying no-name or non-major-label products for some of our regular purchases - plain yogurt, frozen fish filets, no-name cereals for DH when they're on sale, etc.).

I respect everyone's right to purchase what they want and their responsibility to buy products and make choices based on their personal ethics and family situations, but that said, I sometimes wonder when I see people at the store buying only the "treat" and packaged foods. It's their choice, for sure, but one that - as you mention - may have health consequences for some of these folks now and down the road. My personal choices and ethics tell me that I need to set a good example for my son and live the kind of life that makes me physically, mentally and emotionally feel good, which means making food choices that aren't always the cheapest, but that are good for us. ('Cause, hey, I can buy a $1 head of cabbage, a $2 bag of carrots, onions or potatoes, some winter squash and dried beans and have more food than I can carry home on my back for next to nothing! )

[tccl21]

I'm in the midst of sorting out my beauty/personal care items as well, that's how I stumbled on that blog post about the Dove body wash. Um, have you seen what happens to the Nexxus shampoo after it's been sitting on your stockpile shelf for awhile? Gross. I won't waste what I have (which is a LOT), but I will make better choices next time.

[blueeyetea]

Besides being a strategy for saving money, we seem to forget that it's a marketing to for manufacturers to entice a consumer to buy their products and get them hooked The less necessary to one's life a product is, the more likely there's a coupon for it. Case in point, automatic soap dispensers wouldn't come free if they couldn't be replaced by a 50 cents bar of soap.

[ellis123]

This is a great conversation to have for all of us about our choices -free is never free-lol,there will always be consequences- positive and negative and whatever the consequence is - is up to us. I went into couponing knowing there were products on the shelf that were bad for my health. So no matter if they were free, I did not order the coupon or make the purchase. I use coupons to try new healthy products that are sometimes very expensive, and to buy more of those products that I really love. No matter how free 'pop' is I have never bought a bottle or a case and I am still amazed how much pop (sugar water) coupons I see. Again good conversation about being aware of the choices we make.

[roseofblack25]

This is why I find it hard to coupon! I rarely ever use them because they are never for things that I actually use...Sometimes I will if there is something I want to try (like the philly cooking creme), or if it's entirely free then I will try something boxed because well it's free and I'm either not spending money on it, or am just paying the taxes which is definitely cheaper than paying the full price for junk. I just try to balance it out by eating healthy the majority of the time. I do wish they would have coupons more often for things like eggs, cheese, produce etc...Things that I actually buy regularly. A huge plus would be regular cheese coupons. It's so expensive but I love my cheese. I'm pretty sure I spend half my grocery budget on cheese alone each month!

[redhdlois]

Can't say as I would "blame" couponing for bad health....it's the choice you make on what to buy.
I try to buy organic as much as possible. I don't use the FPC's I get for Lean Cuisine, or other similar prepared foods, I get them to trade.
And I try to trade for G/C's, then I can buy what I want with them.
Couponing has not changed the way I eat whatsoever.

[Shwa Girl]

Couponing is the reason we went vegan . Now I only use coupons for H&B, cleaning products , tp, etc. It is still a huge savings because these products are so expensive.

Everyone has to decide for themselves what is best.

I agree.
I wrote in another thread that my friend had a fire over Christmas. As soon as I found out, I was able to supply her with what she needs, from my stockpile. It cost me nothing.

Previous to that, a coworker was leaving us. The gift set for her was already bought (reg. $15.99, sale $5.00, after coupon $3.00, after auto cash $2.25 - I think).