Extreme Couponing....

Ok, so I tried this Extreme Couponing thing everyone is getting gung ho about. My first initial thought was I don't think I can do this but I can try it and see how it works out. If it works, great, if not, no biggie… Well, with some guidance from a neighbor and from facebook friends I started collecting my coupons. I bought the Sunday papers to get the weekly coupons; I made sure I received all the local grocery store and drug store weekly ads. I ‘liked’ practcally everything on facebook. I bought a binder and organized it well. lol So, you see I did really invest time into this. If it worked out well and I saved some money it would be worth it to me. Well, was it really worth it? To me, well no.

Let me tell you why though. I am not one that has a lot of free time as it is. I hate to sit still for too long and if it is not really important to my family and I, I won't usually do it. Yes, the couponing would benefit my family and myself but the benefits did not outweight the inconvience it created. What were the benefits and what were the inconviences you might ask? Well, I will break it down to the best of my ability.

Pros: (Benefits) 

Saving money
Getting product we might not usually get
Many local stores take Internet coupons

Cons: (Inconviences)

Time consuming (for me this is a huge con!):
                  Searching for the coupons online
                  Looking through papers and ads, clipping coupons
                  Time used to travel to multiple stores

Costly to start, as you have to build your coupon base (as you have to buy some of the papers to get the coupons).

Boring, for me at least

Ok, so now you see the pros and the cons. Why are the cons such a problem for me? Well, to put it simply, I value my time. I value it more then just saving money. My time to me is time with my family, time praising and worship my God. Time reading and learning, time cleaning and making my home a stress free environment for my hubby to come home to and for my kids to live in. Bottom-lining it, my time is being sucked away by this extreme couponing and I hate that! My hubby is not to thrilled with it either. My oldest son even commented on how much time it takes and he hates that I am so wrapped up in it. In reality I’m sure it would take less time as I get used to doing it but I would rather not keep doing it.
Pretty soon my time will be even sparser due to searching for and then teaching my kids curriculum. I do homeschool them and that is one of my biggest responsibilities. I also have othe projects I want to work on. I wish to go through all my pics on the computer and organize them. I wish to scrapbook quite a bit as I have lots of ideas but little time and even less energy to do so. I wish to work on other things as well. I will also be babysitting come September and that is one thing I am looking forward to doing. I do not want couponing to cut into that time either.
Most of you know that I have fibromyalgia and this brings with it pain and fatigue. Now, with my medicines I am fairly ok most days but the fatigue is a hard thing to manage sometimes. The pain I have gotten used to out of necessity. The time and energy I have I want to use to the fullest to benefit my family and flourish our relationships with God and each other. I do not want to spend that time and energy clipping and searching for coupons. I do not want to spend that time running from store to store to get the sale items.

Ok, so the pros sound so good, right? Well, it really depends on your perspecitve I guess. Yes, saving money is a nice thing to do, but at what expense? In my house it seemed to be at the expense of family time. So not worth it in my book!!! Trying new things is also a nice thing. I am finding out though many generic items are of equal quality to the name brand, at least in our opinion, and can be cheaper then the name brand even with a coupon. Internet coupons are a huge plus but for us it is not that easy to get. You see, we have dial up and that makes the Internet slow. Why do we have dial up? For a number of reasons, price being first and foremost, but safety racks right up there too. I am picky about what my kids do, see, listen to and hang around. That means I know what they play with, toys wise and games wise. I know what music they listen to and I know what they read. I know all my kids’ friends and their families. Yes, my kids are teens and I may not "need" to because they are growing up. But that is exactly why I do it, why I am so watchful of my family. There are so many things out there that can tempt young minds away from God, our personal Saviour and the King of kings. The boys are still finding their place in the world and their relationship with Christ is still developing. I do not want things to lead them away from that growth. Keeping the interent at bay keeps the temptations at bay too. Having a fast Internet would be nice to play games and such but it's not worth risking our kids’ spiritual stability, at least in our (my hubby and mine) eyes.
Now, having the stores accept Internet coupons is wonderful also but not all our local stores take these Internet coupons due to fraudulent use of them. The stores actually can lose lots of money on accepting coupons that they may not be reimbursed for. They also lose on the money that was doubled (or in some cases tripled) on those same unreimbursed coupons. Therefore it is not as easy as some might think in using these great coupons that you can print out at home. 

When I shop I want to get in the store, get my stuff and get out. Yes, I do love window shipping and I do not mind and taking my time while shopping. My issue is I rarely have the time to take my time, if you know what I mean. I'm usually on a tight time schedule. I can't take the time to do multiple transactions at the same store just to use my coupons. I also cannot take the time to go to multiple stores. I alos tend to have one or more kids with me, which brings distractions causing me to forget certain items or using certain coupons. That defeats the purpose of couponing… lol
I don't want to hold up the other customers either, as I feel that is rude. I wouldn't want to wait for one person to have 5 - 10 (or Lord forbid 18) transactions before I even get a chance to have one, so why should I make others wait for me to do that?
I know some people make their weekly meal menus from the sales that they find that week. Well, that is not practical for us. We have one child with a soy allergy, which eliminates many products that are on the market, one child that is extremely picky and a husband who is very picky also. I have a sensitive stomach so I also have to be careful what I eat or I will pay for it for the next few days. Having two people in my house with Asperger’s (a high functioning form and autism) makes having different meals difficult. We tend to have the same stuff over and over. We do have some variety but not too much. It is the way my husband likes it and I like him to be happy. I do not usually plan my meals ahead of time either. I buy what foods we like and each day, depending on how tired I feel or how busy I have been, I chose the meal that is practical for that night.
So, you see, I have tried the Extremem Couponing and have decided it really isn't for my family and I. Will I stop using coupons entirely? No, I'll still use them here and there but only for things I will get even if I have no coupon. I will not plan my shopping around the coupons. I will not plan my meals around my coupons and around store sales.
I hope this opens your eyes to the possibilities of Extreme Couponing and the pros and cons that go along with it. Take what you will from this post and leave behind what you don’t like. I know what works for my family and the couponing thing wasn’t it. We, here, are okay with that too. We are cautious with what God has given us and try to be frugal and wise with our finances. God has always gone before us and therefore I am not worried for our finacial future. Keeping Him in the forefront of our hearts has kept us debt free so far. He has always provided and I know that He will continue to do so. :o)