The Sunday Paper

Every Sunday, the paper comes, and inside are the inevitable coupons. I’m not sure if these are a blessing, or a curse. I always feel obligated to look through the coupons, and cut out the ones I might use. However, being able to actually use them is the question. If I cut out a coupon, I put it in the coupon drawer in the kitchen. This is the drawer we are supposed to look in before we go grocery shopping. On a good day, we will, a.) know in advance that we are going grocery shopping, b.) have our menu all planned out for the week, and c.) remember to check the coupons before we leave, and d.) find the exact item on the coupon in the store, and have it be the brand on sale this week, qualifying the coupon as a good deal.

On this day of course, we will also remember to bring our reusable grocery bags into the car, and remember to bring them into the store when we get there.

Then there are the coupons that make it into the envelope in my purse. These are the ones for something I would be the one to buy. If I’m lucky, and the planets are in alignment next time I go to buy lotion, I will remember to check the envelope and will find a coupon that is valid for what I am actually purchasing, that has not expired. This is becoming increasingly hard these days though, because most of the coupons expire within a few weeks, and by the time I am ready to use them, they are no good. Then there are the coupons that require you to buy 3 of the item, to save a total of 50 cents. Is that really cost effective? I don’t need three bottles of bathroom cleaner at a time, and do I really want to doll out $12 now when I can just go back in a couple months to buy another bottle?

I like the diaper coupons, where I can save $5 at BJ’s on a box of Luvs, something I actually use, and don’t want to run out to the store every week to buy. This is a good, fair coupon. But as for saving $1.00 on three boxes of cereal when I only need one, well, that’s questionable.

Still, I will continue to check the coupons, and on a good day, I will have enough time to read the meat of the newspaper as well. As for now, we glance at it and most of it is recycled, or used as kindling, or under painting paper. And sometimes, after routing through the coupons, we might read an article or two.