Saving Face

I have a sick fascination with human nature...we've established that, so there's no need to spend a lot of time rehashing that point.  Why we do what we do just AMAZES me; at times leaving me totally slack-jawed!  Case in point:  the new show on TLC "Extreme Couponing."  Now, I love a good bargain as much as the next girl and have been known to do a little dance at the cash register when I get a really good deal.  These "coupon queens", however, put my bargain hunting to SHAME!  I admit, it's really cool watching a grossery bill of $500+ dwindle down to $5 but some of the behaviors and views of these folks give me pause.  At what point, does it become an obsession?  At what point does it become avaricious?   Here's just a sample of what I've seen on this show:

  • A woman in Florida with a stockpile that's so impressive, she can help her family, friends and neighbors by giving them various things. She's so dedicated to couponing that she buys four or five newspapers each week and has had to knock down a wall in her house to make room for her coupon library.  She supplies her son's family with baby food, shampoo and laundry soap.  She  clips coupons for cat food and buys it when it goes on sale, using said coupons....BUT SHE DOESN'T HAVE A CAT!  She bought every bottle of pain reliever (that was on sale...for which she had 100+ coupons)that was in a basket display...did you get that...EVERY BOTTLE!  The most astounding thing came out of her own mouth..."I'm a person who needs to be needed.  I need my family to need me.  It makes me happy to know that they need me."  (Hmmm...ok...maybe with the money she's saving on grosseries, she could employ the services of a good therapist!  Can you say "co-dependant?"  OOOPS...sorry...there goes Julia!) 
  • A woman in Missouri cleared the shelf of 50+ bags of salad croutons.  Between the sale price and her coupons for each bag, she broke even and got the croutons (every last bag)for free.  That's really cool...but was it necessary to take EVERY bag?  I don't know that I buy 50 bags of croutons in a year. 
  • The self proclaimed "Coupon Diva."  Her package showed her primping before she left the house...saying that it is so important to always leave the house looking expensive, even if you're not.  It showed her adjusting her make up before getting out of the car.  Several make up checks as she roamed through the store and of course, before she left the parking lot.  Her husband's job loss spurred her toward couponing...nothing wrong with that.  This has been the catalyst for many to start clipping coupons.  What she said next is what I found disturbing....couponing wasn't just about saving money or tightening up her family's budget, it was about maintaining a certain lifestyle...the lifestyle that they had before her husband's job loss.
  • Another of these Clipping Queens refers, REPEATEDLY, to her seven children as "my litter."  WHAT!?  She has so much stockpiled in their home they have shelves in the master bedroom, the living room, the children's litter's bedrooms!  Under her toddler's bed are over 1000 rolls of toilet paper.  She has 40 boxes of a dishwasher rinse aid at home, but standing in the store, with coupons in hand, she wonders if 40 is enough?
  • A woman DUMPSTER DIVES for coupons.  That was a teaser for next week's episode.  DUMPSTER DIVES for PAPER!!!!  And not in coveralls or work boots...in clothes that look like nice clothes. 
I'm all for saving a buck and these days, it's becoming even more crucial to do so.  Harder to do so, as well.  The boyos are growing out of britches (translation=pants, but not do be confused with draw's...britches are outerwear...draw's are NOT) and shoes every time I turn around....eating like plow horses.  The price of gas...Lawdy, Miz Daisy!  So, I understand the need to save a penny where you can and how you have to be vigilant.  But when does it cross the line?  I think I can tell you....when you use saving money to fulfill your need to be needed...to supply yourself with an identity...to maintain a lifestyle that is materialistic and phony...when you start emptying baskets and shelves without consideration for anyone but yourself...when what you've stored up begins to take over your house...when you're willing to dig through the garbage for $.50 off!!!!

Interesting thought...these ladies are so intent on saving money, I'll bet they never considered the price of being on a cable show such as this.  Bet they never thought about saving a little face.  And you'll just EXXXCCCCUUUUUSSSEEEEE ME....having my dignity at the end of the day is often more valuable than any 50+ bags of croutons that I could get for free!

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