Couponing Doesn’t Make You Fat

One of my biggest pet peeves with non-couponers is that they will say things like “There are no coupons for items we eat.  All the coupons are for foods that are unhealthy.”  My response to them is that I certainly hope they use toilet paper, deodorant, toothpaste.  None of those products add to our waistlines and yet they are items we get free (or 75% off at least) routinely.

Couponing doesn’t make our waist lines bigger- there are many reasons that happens (and  I know many of them personally!) but it’s not because of couponing.  We see coupons for “healthy” foods all the time!  Cheese itself isn’t unhealthy it’s when we sit down and use an entire bag at one meal (dear Hubby- yes I am talking to you!).  Milk isn’t bad for us and I know many of us get it free during Super Doubles at Harris Teeter. And that is the low fat Smart Balance I am talking about.  Fresh fruit & veggies?  Yep we’ve seen pomegranates, avocados, and fresh pineapples have coupons come out.

Sure most of the meat coupons are for the not-so great varieties such as sausage and prepared meats but many times beer companies put out rebates on meats.  There are also ways to save on meat: buying during B1G1 free sales, looking for quick sale meats and buying in season.

It’s true that a lot of coupons distributed are for items that are prepared or packaged and that these are not the healthiest choices but just because we have a coupon doesn’t mean we HAVE to use it!   Save the money where you can on the items you will use and splurge on the healthy items- the fruits, veggies & meats.

I worked very hard in the last few years to drop much of the weight I gained over the years and I still couponed the same.  I changed how I ATE – instead of eating 3 cookies for a snack I had one cookie.  Instead of two helpings at dinner, I had one and then a sensible snack later on.   My family eats relatively balanced meals (I won’t lie & say EVERY NIGHT is a perfect food pyramid dinner- we have nights of pizza and coke and we have nights of fried chicken and french fries) each night.  Most of the time my meals are made mostly from scratch with a few convenience items tossed in.  I still have a LONG way to go to get where I want to be…but I’m NOT getting larger due to my couponing.  I can’t blame my weight issues on coupons- I have to blame it on the food I put into my mouth.

And simply because my cart has 10 boxes of pop tarts doesn’t mean I sit down and EAT all 10 boxes today.  Those boxes will be used by my entire family for weeks!  A couponer’s cart is not a good representation of what they (or how they) eat.  This week it may be pop tarts and taco seasoning and next week it may be granola and oatmeal.   So please don’t judge by what I (or any couponer) buys in this trip.

That said, you may know that I do a Coupon Corner video each week for the Winston-Salem Journal.  I wanted to explain why in the next few months you will see me getting larger, and larger, and larger and it’s not because of couponing.  We are expecting our 4th child in June and since it looks like I’ve been indulging in too many bags of cheap Doritos or Mrs. Smith’s Pies- I wanted to explain.  So please forgive my fuzzy brain and I promise to try and keep from becoming too emotional over a great coupon or missed deal!