the bottom line

couponing.

i've been seeing things all over recently about the joys of massive savings from massive couponing.

i don't buy it
i don't coupon.
i kind of refuse to.

here are the reasons i won't coupon:

1. it takes a lot of time and effort to cut coupons and match them with the sales that are going on at the grocery store. (don't tell me otherwise, i have other hobbies that take my free time)

2. the coupons are generally for crap processed foods that do your body more harm than good and you'll end up paying more in doctor's bills if you eat that stuff,
or else are for non-food items. (which perhaps i would buy, but which leads me to #3)

3. you have to buy INSANE amounts of these products to really feel the massive savings. which apart from what you need, and food storage and that bit, seems a bit hoarder-ish to me.

4. THE SAVINGS DON'T JUST COME OUT OF THIN AIR. SOMEONE'S BOTTOM LINE IS BEING HURT SOMEWHERE.

having been in and around retail since my conception i know about the bottom line.
i know about margins and how much a company can depend on the fragility of their margins.
i know that the sales every month that we do are planned carefully so that we can still meet the bottom line, and the hits we take on some products are compensated by the full price value of others.

now i know what you're thinking. "don't the manufacturers pay the stores back for the coupons?"
yes they do.
but what i wonder about, and don't know fully, is where is the manufacturer cutting those costs?

i am positively certain that every major manufacturing firm has a team of highly skilled individuals sitting around a table and a giant calculator figuring out the exact cost to produce their good and the exact profit they will make from selling it. i guarantee they assume not every individual in America is using coupons and so by printing them they take the risk that if some of their product is bought at the reduced the margins will be made up by those of us who are willing to pay full price.

and if they don't figure that into the equation, or if we all start purchasing at coupon price, then what? do they start making smaller products at the same price, cutting out a few kernels of corn from the creamed corn can?

bottom line: when it's on sale in the store flyer the store is taking a hit to it's margin. they will have to make up those margins in other areas of the store so that they can keep the lights on and their employees paid.
when it's on sale via coupon, the manufacturer has taken that risk, also banking on paid in full items to keep the lights on and the employees paid. when it's a smaller corporation that risk can be riskier.

All of this doesn't sound so bad does it? They're still making money right? i guess so.

but here's my last and final reason for not couponing:
5. it adds to the already rampant entitlement syndrome Americans have
we believe that we DESERVE to buy things on sale.
we believe that a groupon is the only way to get the things that are out of our reach.
we believe that we must feed ourselves with coupons so that we can buy other things

as with the housing bubble we believed we could get amazing houses for cheap because the banks were offering amazing rates,
(the banks taking the risk that some would pay full price and feed their bottom line)
i wonder if we're going to run into a grocery bubble from all the couponing?

i want to raise my kids to know that everything worth anything was made by hard work and hard work should be valued highly.

that being said i also believe very firmly in what my grandma taught me:
if they're giving it away for free, by all means take it!


Now as a disclaimer i know there are families that struggle to buy food. Despite tightening belts and going without "luxury" items like cable tv, new clothes, dinners out, and cell phones, you still might be in the red. if you need to coupon to survive, by all means do it. i'm not condemning anyone. i'm just telling you why i don't do it myself.