Jane4girls in the Wall Street Journal

[loaslaen]

article, and unless you live around here and shop at the stores you wouldnt understand. lets just say, all the pudding he is talking about wasnt a kosher "buy" we had a HUGE problem here last Kroger Mega event over that stupid pudding

Looking up the info, he was talking about Jello gelatin at Meijer and you're talking about Jello pudding at Kroger. His purchase was in 2008, and I don't know when your scenario was, but it sounds more recent. Guess I really don't understand.

[Mothernature]

I read Julie's response and viewed the aforementioned video.

It appears Simon Constable attempted to attack all coupon users in the first part of the video. He specifically went after the jello tower builder (3:53).

Mr. Constable addressed over stockpiling with the comment "five years of cleaning fluid...it starts to become counterproductive you think?". Mr. Martin addressed the jello tower owner but stated that most is donated before expiration.

Can I blame Mr. Constable for his opinion of the jello tower and five years of cleaner fluid? No. The tower and five years of cleaner gives the impression that coupon users can be addicted and have little time on their hand. I think many of the pictures included in the video were a poor representation of the vast coupon community.

Julie's article addressed:

"...Interestingly, Hotcouponworld has a disproportionate amount of members and site visitors that are in high-income earning household compared to other sites on the net. The bulk of our members are either working towards or have achieved some level of post-secondary education. That tells me that many “extreme couponers” do so because they have a grasp on what it takes to achieve wealth, and for those who have amassed some level of security, why pay full price and deplete those resources faster than necessary?..."

Social Security is cashing in $2.5 trillion of IOU's from the debt ridden government. Many states are broke. Another recent article discussed the second wave of mass foreclosures due in 2010. Unemployment rose slightly. Many citizens are debt ridden. We (the younger generations) have no promise of any retirement outside of 401k's, 403(b), and IRA's. We have no idea how much our taxes will increase due to the financial mismanagement of the government. Health insurance has become a beast that has many people concerned; one health crisis can destroy the best of savings plans.

There were a serious of well written articles released regarding the financial concerns of those with million plus net worth. The article highlighted that many do not feel financially secure; they use coupons and shop at Wal-Mart.

It is a bit alarming when this bracket is worried about their long term viability. Based on this information, moderate stockpiling is not necessarily a means of amassing wealth. It appears a vehicle to retain wealth.

There is a lesson. The is not a balanced medium. Be aware when dealing with the media.

[scentcrazy]

People won't get the essence of couponing, if news reports only focus on extremes which is what I HATE about these types of stories. As evidenced by the comments and said in this posting many times, people just don't get it.

I am always amused at the processed foods arguement. When I look at people's stock piles I see lots of HBA, vegetables, dairy products and other nutritious things. But let there be one packet of Hamburger Helper or Kraft Mac and Cheese and that's all people will talk about. Its a case of people seeing only what they want to see I guess. Frustrating nonetheless.

One of the posters that was most off kilter said that if people were so concerned about saving money, why not just buy all generic instead? Um hello? If you can get an item for a severly reduced price or free with a coupon wouldn't your savings be greater?

[KRP1981]

PP's have made a lot of good points...

My husband has a PhD and is a college professor. I have a bachelor degree and I'm currently working on my MBA while being a SAHM to my three kids. Hubby makes over $80,000/year.

And...

we barely buy anything without a coupon.

When I first started out couponing, I'll admit, I thought people would look at me weird, or wonder why I was using coupons when they knew my husband had a good career? (I live in a very small town where everybody knows everybody.)

We use coupons for a lot of the same reasons why everyone else on HCW does---we're smart, we want to stretch that hard-earned money, and we also recognize that in today's economy, jobs are fragile. Plus, I think I help a lot of people when I'm out shopping and they ask me how I buy things so inexpensively and I share some tips with them on how to get started.

We buy things to donate. We help people out who are going through a rough patch. We are much closer to becoming debt-free than we were because we have been able to cut our living expenses so much.

Discovering coupons was such a blessing to me, my family, and others that it allows us to help as well.