by Danelle Karth

Created on: April 04, 2008

Coupons come in many different places and many people take the time to clip them from the papers and to save them so that they can save a few cents here and there. Some feel that these few cents add up and sooner or later, they will be saving a lot. However, this just isn't the case, and for many reasons.

Impulse Buying.
Often we buy things we don't need because it is on sale. Coupons increase the amount of items we buy. We become impulsive, after all we are saving money doing it. This type of reasoning often has us adding lots of extras to our weekly shopping trip. Sure we enjoy the things we buy, but we don't really need them. We instead think, "Well, I saved 50 cents!" But if you wouldn't have purchased an item you didn't really need then you would have saved four dollars!

Your Time.
Few people understand that their time is worth something as well. If it takes a lot of extra time to track down the coupons, clip them, and use them then you are wasting your time. Time is valuable and in this world doesn't come easy. We often find ourselves without enough hours in the day to get everything done. This is a sign that we need to be careful and choose those things that are most important to us. Clipping coupons should come way below family, personal time, relaxation time, work, cleaning the house, shopping, and a million other things. This makes it something that isn't really worth it.

Coupon Theories.
There is a reason that stores and manufacturers make coupons. After all, a coupon takes ink and paper and that costs money. Distribution costs money. Not to mention if you save money on a product then they are loosing money. This is a sure sign that coupons are better for them then it is for you. They are making money from it because people then buy things that they wouldn't normally buy or that they only buy once in a blue moon.

Coupons are not worth the time it takes to clip them. You just don't save a lot off of them. Sure you might find a coupon every now and again on something you are really going to buy. But usually, it just encourages you to buy things you don't really need. After all, there is a reason that the companies choose to print them out and share them with you!

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