My take on coupons...and humanity

First I want to say that I understand not everyone who uses coupons is this way (I even use them from time to time), and that I don't mean to step on any toes but this is how I see the couponing craze, and how it makes me CRAZY.

If you have seen Extreme Couponing then I am sure it seems glamorous and exciting to think you can get things for free! I won't lie, I bought into it at first.  I mean the thought of being able to get things for free, and lots of them, was amazing! I will be honest and say that I have never seen the show, but I don't have to, I get to live it every single day I go to work. I used to think it was fun and interesting.  I wanted to be on the specialist lines and see what the deals were so I could go later and pick up the same things for little or nothing.

I had 5 newspapers delivered to my door every Sunday so I could get a bunch of coupons, I printed them off the internet and grabbed the high value ones I saw stuck to packages.  I spent hours, clipping and sorting and organizing my binder, looking online for the latest deals, seeing when the next "double coupon day" was.  I was never as extreme as some, but I had begun to develop a nice little stockpile in the garage of sauces and cereals, shampoo and deodorant.

As the show became popular, and more people learned the "tricks", coupon classes popped up all over and people would organize shopping groups, I began to feel much differently about coupon usage.  I think the first time I began to question my feelings about it was when I was working and there was a phenomenal deal on cereal.  Cereal for 98 cents! After coupons and doubling, they were 100% free. People were beating down our doors, price matching and doubling and buying literally hundreds of boxes of cereal at a time.

As I was working, I had 5 couponers in my line each with a cart full of cereal.  Management began to question what to do, they were emptying our shelves, buying boxes that were different sizes that our competitor carried because exact sizes weren't stated.  Regular shoppers were upset because there was no product available for them to purchase, they were all being hoarded by couponers.  It was when they began yelling at me, belittling me when I didn't provide them with the deal they thought they were entitled to, that I began wondering how people can stoop so low, get so worked up over cereal.  They were rude, mean, and felt they were entitled to the great deals.

This was when I quit extreme couponing.  As a retailer, we provided a service to the customers, to make it convenient to shop at only one place by allowing price matching and coupon doubling.  These people treated us like trash, bringing cashiers to tears, calling management and demanding they get what they deserve.  We were taken advantage of, stolen from, lied to.  It saddened me that people would be so gluttonous as to belittle people.

I understand that some people will say that the retailer got what they deserved.  They opened their doors to it and shouldn't expect people to be different.  Policies have been revised, programs put in place, yet it still is an issue and probably always will be.  What I can't understand is how can people use so much stuff? I STILL have cereal in my garage from 6 months ago that my kids can't seem to go through.  I have shampoo stocked up that will probably last another 4-5 months and toothbrushes to last a year.  And this is with very mild couponing.  I can only imagine that these people who have bought cases of things will be hoarding them for months and even years to come.

Aside from all the ethical reasons of why I quit there are other personal issues.  A lot of the items that can be bought for cheap or free, are convenience foods and things that aren't really healthy.  I try really hard to not buy pre-packaged foods and make most things fresh.  I just had no use for much of it.  My kids aren't huge cereal eaters so it takes them a long time to go through it.  The time I was spending going through coupons was unreal!! I was going to school at the time, caring for my 5 kids, working and keeping house.  I just honestly didn't have time to do it anymore.  At that point, my time was much more precious than the money I was "saving".  And really, I wasn't saving that much.  I would spend $50-60 on coupon items and then still have to do my regular shopping so it worked out to where I wasn't really saving any money.

I understand that times are tough and people are trying to save money.  Not everyone has the same beliefs as I do and that is fine also.  I just wish people could look at it from other perspectives.  By taking advantage of the retailer and realizing they are losing money by providing them this service, it will cause prices to increase.  We have already seen bonuses disappear since this began.  Understand that your cashiers are just doing their job, there is no need to yell at them when they are following policy and just doing what they are required to do, they are people too.  Understand that there are people who don't coupon that might want the same product you want.  There is no need to clean off a shelf just because you can.  Its gluttonous and hoarding and selfish.  Realize that maybe you aren't saving so much money.  Healthy foods and making a meal plan and sticking to a grocery list will oftentimes save you a lot more money than couponing will.  And lastly.. many of the things you see on TV are not realistic.  Those people spend a majority of their day looking for deals, it is their job!  Many of the tricks they use are not legal and are cheating the system.