Pete C. wrote:
> Julie Bove wrote:
>>
>> What is wrong with these people?
>
> They are not particularly intelligent and get caught up in the "it was
> on sale" mentality. They do not think realistically about their actual
> needs and they also don't think about their diet since most coupons
> are for pre-fab high fat/sugar/salt junk foods. In their minds it's
> only the "I got $500 of stuff for $50" and the fact that their
> medical cause will increase by more than the savings as a result of
> the poor diet is no a consideration, nor is the fact that most of the
> products have very inflated prices to begin with and they could buy
> better food for less than their "extreme coupon" savings.

Ah... That could be! I used to think like that when I got my first
apartment. I used to buy things just because they were a good deal.
Sometimes they were things I would never use. So I would give them away.
Sometimes the people I gave them to didn't even want them. When I found
baby clothes on sale, I bought enough to fill half of my closet, thinking I
would give them as gifts. And then for two years, nobody I knew had a baby.
I knew I was in trouble when I had to buy a shelving unit for my closet to
hold all this stuff.

I gave the baby clothes to a friend whose church was sending clothes
overseas to some needy people. And then of course after they were gone I
got the baby announcement in the mail from my cousin.

Last night I realized I have been doing a stupid thing. I have difficulty
getting to my two closets because each one has a large container of wrapping
paper in front of it. One is Christmas wrap which I did buy after Christmas
at a greatly reduced price. The other is birthday and other occasion paper.

The problem? I don't use the paper! The last time I used any was for
cushioning some Christmas ornaments before putting them away. I have some
boxes with dividers meant for ornaments but I have a lot of smaller
ornaments. Two or three would fit in each compartment but they needed
additional cushioning.

Mostly I use gift bags or better still, reusable shopping bags or lunch
totes to put the presents in. So today I am going to get rid of all the
paper! Then if I do need some in the future, I will buy a roll and recycle
the remains.

I guess I got into the habit of doing this because my parents did it. They
also saved bows. I don't save them but I was buying them, again at a
reduced price and after Christmas. I still have some. Thankfully not too
many now. My stock has dwindled. I actually had to buy a container to put
them in as well!