This is Part 4 in a series.
Click here to read Part 1
Click here to read Part 2
Click here to read Part 3

Today’s Argument: Many of the coupons will be for things you neither need nor want.

My Opinion: Well, yes, when clipping coupons from the newspaper or from magazines, you will come across coupons for items you don’t need or want. You don’t have to use them. You don’t even have to cut them out!

The author’s real argument is that we are going to actually purchase things we “neither need nor want” just because we have a coupon.

Do we purchase things we don’t need? I am pretty sure we could all live on beans & rice and water so I am almost positive that we all purchase things we don’t need. So, of course I purchase things I don’t need! I don’t need Dove Chocolate (Current Coupon: Dove Chocolate, any 8.5 oz. – 9.5 oz. bag $1/1 (6-12-11)). But I love it and so I buy it! I’m pretty sure that even people who do not coupon, purchase things they don’t need.

Do we purchase things we don’t want? Well, that’s kind of a weird thing to suggest. If I purchase it, then obviously I wanted it. The question is – Do we purchase things we would not otherwise purchase because we have a coupon. And, if so, is that a bad thing?

I do purchase things I would not otherwise purchase because I have a coupon. I like to try new items when there is a coupon available if it looks like something I may want. I tried new products before I used coupons, though, in a compulsive fashion and spent far more without my coupons – so I don’t see that this is a bad thing. Variety is a good thing, in my opinion. I am sure that this practice varies among couponers.

Bottom Line: I have been able to lower my food budget substantially since I have been couponing and have been able to simultaneously increase the amount of food I purchase (I practice food storage).

Sometimes I try new products. Sometimes I stick to my tried-and-true. But either way I am getting great deals on items I both need and want.