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September 07, 2006
Dangers in Coupon Clipping
Saving money by clipping coupons is a great way to save money but those same coupons that save you money can cost you big time!
The above statement may seem contradictory when you first read it but lets run through how the scenario pans out:
You rise from bed in the morning and venture off to the kitchen to make a pot of coffee. Next stop, the front door to grab today’s newspaper.
Your coffee has finished brewing, you rub your eyes, add your cream and sugar to your coffee then sit down to peruse the morning paper. You start your morning read by pulling the coupons and promotional stuffers to check out the deals of the day.
You notice that the local grocery store has 2 for 1 deals on your favorite breakfast cereal, bread is 20 cents off the regular price and you think “wow, look at all this great stuff they have on sale”. You begin by clipping the coupons on the items you regularly buy but you haven’t eaten your breakfast yet and you begin to salivate over the “homemade egg muffins” and other yummy treats. Next you are clipping those coupons too because why not treat yourself to these delectable treats you have never placed in your grocery cart before. Hey, why not? It’s only $4.00 for that egg muffin sandwich and wouldn’t that be convenient right now if only you could pop that in the microwave right now. The same egg muffin sandwich would cost you 75 cents to make yourself so why not buy the ready made breakfast, after all who would want to spend 5 minutes making your own?
You notice many great convenience foods like the egg muffin and clip those coupons and before you know it you have added an extra $100 to your grocery bill, sure you would have paid $120 for those same items without the coupon but you never would have bought those groceries had you not seen the coupons. You will still buy all the regular groceries but now you have added the extra expense.
Did you actually save money by clipping coupons in this story? No! You played into the promotional material from the store. Keep in mind the only reason stores send out promotional discounts is to increase their sales.
The lesson to take away from this is something you have been told for years but always need a friendly reminder, clip coupons for items you normally buy and ignore the rest. Your good intentions can cost you more. Remember this phrase that my grandmother always used, “The road to hell is paved with good intentions”.
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