Coupons, revisted

OK, the question was made in one of the comments of my blog is loosely this, "Isn't it only smart to use coupons to purchase items I normally already use?"

My answer is yes and no.

My practice of couponing was revalutionalized when I read the book, Shop, Save, & Share by Ellie Kay. In the book, she talks about clipping EVERY coupon and saving them for when that item might go on clearance or a good sale. Even though it might not be an item your family uses, someone else might need that item. If you are in the habit of "sharing" by donating to worthy organizations, you can take all those tubes of toothpaste you bought for a quarter apiece, and donate them to the battered women's shelter or wherever. We donate personal hygiene items to our church's mission all the time. We don't necessarily use Colgate toothpaste, but poor women and men coming to the mission will. I can donate all of the things I pick up for pennies (using sales and coupons) and donate them at the fair market value and deduct that donation on my Schedule A on my Federal Income Tax return. It is just as good as making a cash donation to the mission.

You'd have to get the book and read it for yourself. But, in putting the principles in the book into practice, we have been able to make tremendous donations to organizations this way. Not to mention how using coupons has benefited my own family in stocking our pantry and medicine closet.