by Dudley Samson

Created on: March 19, 2010

Coupons prompt you to buy things you wouldn't otherwise purchase. And perhaps shouldn't purchase.

Coupons are offered to make you develop a habit of buying a particular item. The manufacturers hope that you will continue to buy the item even when it is no longer on sale.

But even if you only buy an item when it has an applicable coupon, you will buy items you would not otherwise buy. When you take a broader look at your shopping list, you may start to see patterns of products. Maybe this month you got a good deal on chili, whereas last month you got a good deal on soup. Both items are made by the same company and you are developing a habit of buying their products.

Over time, you will put items on your shopping list to reflect the type of coupons you tend to receive. So, although it may seem that the coupons uncanningly match your shopping needs, in fact you have adjusted your shopping habits to match the coupons.

If you do use coupons, you can try to reduce this effect by writing your shopping list before looking at your coupons. But, even if you do that, you will buy items you would not otherwise buy.   

That is because coupons are usually for processed food. Processed food is often convenient-just open the can or package, microwave, and eat. But processed food is often not the most nutritious. There is often too much fat and sodium in processed foods. Not to mention the unpronouncable compounds-if you can't pronounce it, be afraid, very afraid.

If you consider nutrition important, you will not buy very much processed food, and you will not use many coupons. Crack open a cookbook and buy ingredients for specific recipes to make real food from scratch. Based on the recipes, you will be buying different ingredients each time you shop. You might suddenly find you less time in the frozen and canned food aisles and more time in the produce and fresh meat aisles. 

Yes, cooking from scratch takes more time and work, but you will eat more interesting food, you will know what you're eating, and the food you eat will be better for you. By forgetting about coupons and only buying what your body needs, you will stop wasting money on junk food and Procter & Gambling with your health.

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