Coupons Part 2: Why We Do It

Many people tell us that they don't have time to cut coupons, and it is "too much of a hassle." So why exactly do we bother doing it?

The main reason, and probably the obvious reason, is that we want to save money. As some of you may know, we have a pretty hefty student loan to pay off from grad school. We made a big commitment to pay off that loan in a little over a year {and it is almost gone!}. We knew that in order to put so much money towards the loan, we would have to save a great deal of money in as many other areas as possible. And well, couponing and shopping sales is a great way to save money {if you don't believe it yet, hopefully you will by the end of our series...or at least consider trying it a couple times yourself}.

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On another note, coupons allow us to get the name brands we want at a bargain price. Most of the time, when on sale and with a coupon, the name brand is cheaper than the store brand. Often, you can get an item for free. Right now, we have about 45 boxes of a variety of Ronzoni whole wheat pasta. Since pasta lasts for almost two years, we are well stocked for whenever we want to make lasagna, spaghetti, or any other Italian dish. We also donated another 20 boxes of Ronzoni spaghetti to a church food pantry. Saving allows us to give more to church-related ministries, something we feel called to do.

Lastly, Cary views couponing as a game. It is him vs. the grocery store. He enjoys trying to make the end balance of that grocery bill "zero" and the percent saving as high as possible. I think it is kind of like taking a test. You can go in and "wing it" or you can study up and rock it. Once Cary gets home with all of his purchases {and I try to hide/store them throughout our tiny condo}, I like coming up with meals and then reminding him how little it all cost. Just last night we had a pasta dish with tomato sauce and sauteed veggies for less than about $2.

So hopefully that explains why we are so coupon crazy. I have to admit, I never thought I would be cutting out coupons and filing them alphabetically in a baseball card holder, but it is something that grows on you. Especially, when your grocery bill is in the double digits for the month!