The Trouble With Coupons

Who doesn't want to be thrifty?

50 cents here, a dollar there, and when the stores double the coupons? Wooo Doggy!  Just think of all the fabulous things you could buy with all of that money you saved!

When I was a kid my mom used to pay me to cut out coupons for her.
Do you think maybe it's a genetic thing?  Our Family's Coupon Problem?

Anyway, she would leaf through the circular and mark the ones she wanted cut out. She would then hand me  a seemingly gigantic stack and I would plop down belly first in the living room with my scissors.

Dutifully I would cut out the ones she had marked and oft times ones that I felt were products we should have in the house.  You know, things like Fruity Pebbles. Which, I'll have you know, I never even tried until I was in my 20's!

I made 5 cents per coupon! Man, what a sweet deal.

Hey Mom? Any coupons you want me cut out?

Anyway my problem with these little savings gems is three fold:

• I do not have the patience or wherewithal to plop myself down anywhere to rifle through/cut out coupons.  (why? probably because I'm not getting paid to do it.)
• The vast majority of the coupons aren't for things that we buy.  Ever.
• The storage space.

There isn't much we can do about storage unless I give up my Knitting Room (which is also where the computer resides) or Mr. Wonderful gives up his, ugh-I hate calling it this, Man Cave we're at an impasse with the whole storage issue.

Maybe in our next house we'll have somewhere to store a six month supply of              (insert item here)    .

We get our weekly hometown newspaper, The Herald, and on our every two week grocery shopping expedition I grab a Sunday paper.  I conscientiously pile up the coupon circulars for my immediate attention on the end table near my end of the couch.  And promptly get distracted by 9000 other things.  Finally when they are close to toppling over I will leaf through them with an ever hopeful heart that the majority haven't expired.

Mr. Wonderful and I are going shopping this weekend so let's see what we have.

Here for instance is one circular:

Nothing

There are exactly ZERO things in this circular that I have ever bought or even plan on buying.

And with our every other week Sunday paper, we have two of the same circulars.

But then... there is the "off" week from The Herald:

Score!

That's right - $1.30.

Which, as my mother always says, is better than a swift kick in the ass.