Coupons and Frustration.

This has nothing to do with the economy, more with the fact that we have bad spending habits (and bad luck) in this house, but we've been trying to cut back on some things. 

Everyone has been raving about how much money they save at the grocery store using coupons, so I thought I'd give it a shot.

It's kind of time consuming because overseas here we don't get newspapers full of coupons, but we can go to the base and pick up neatly packed little baggies of precut coupons and sort through them to our hearts' content. And sort. And sort. And sort. And I did so, optimistically at first... It was all down hill from there.

So, I admit we've lived out of the loop of American consumerism for quite a long time and was very overwhelmed by all the products available.

I just have one question. WHO BUYS THIS CRAP!? On the long list of unbelievable products were:

- Liquid portion control 'shots' (I'm sorry, but if you need an artificial fluid to keep you from eating a second helping of pasta, you have bigger fish to fry than your appetite). And oh, look! I found it at Walmart. :-\ 

- Chef Michael's dog food. Really? REALLY?! Your dog is so special that you must pamper him with a mix of soy flours, factory farmed chickens and "poultry by-product meal, animal digest, [and] salt" SALT? Oh, but don't forget the fresh veggie garnish! Really, nothing is as it seams and shiny commercials and good graphic designers don't make something good for your beloved pet. 

- Every. Single. Beauty. Product known to man. And there are A LOT. There is a lotion, a cream, a serum, a color for everything. I buy makeup, and facial soap, ect., but I guess it just bugs me how almost all the coupons I found were from companies that test on animals. Please, please, PLEASE have a look at what you buy and see if it's affecting other living beings negatively. 

- Junk food, "juice", soda and candy. ANY overly processed food. Don't get me started. 

- Cleaning products. Over 300 coupons and not one natural cleaning product, or one for vinegar for that matter. Toxins in cleaners such as the ol' reliable 409 and those cute scrubbing bubbles can cause a fairly wide range of issues in your home and family members. P.s. Also have an issue with animal testing. 

No coupons for veggies. Very, very few for organic anything. Certainly none for plain old wheat flour, cold pressed olive oil, or, like I said, vinegar. We did get $1 off Marcel TP, yay! And some Newman's Own Spaghetti sauce. Did you know they make pizza as well? Crazy. 

I guess what I'm getting at is that they don't make coupons for the things we buy. So I'm not saving money in that aspect, but I am saving a hell of a lot by not buying into the crap that is shoved down the throats of Americans day after day in the paper and on T.v. All this stuff is out there and millions of people are buying it and it's really hard to fathom that our family, doing the hippy things we do (like preaching to you) can ever make a difference.

::Sigh::

So, coupon cutting is a bust...

But at least I'm saving trees :)

And look, my son is happy even without a pre-made, sugar-filled, frozen PB&J! 

* The Europeans have just as many (useless) products, although they are slightly more environmentally aware when it comes to cleaners, paper products and food.