Coupons

Coupons, I don't get coupons.
We just got back from the grocery store and got to talking about coupons. For the standard "Save $0.33 on a box of..." coupon, I don't get it. Why not just put the item on sale?
Why make your customer go through ads and newspapers to cut out a coupon? Why make it so your customer has to remember to give the checker a coupon, or a pile of coupons for you hard core shoppers out there, and make everyone else in line wait for the process to complete?
Why not just put the stupid thing on sale?
I understand the need for "Buy two and get one for half price" coupons. But for the others, you've already got your customer looking through the sales flyer, newspaper ad, magazine ad, etc. to see what is on sale. So you already have the customer's attention and interest in your store. I just don't understand the need to make them jump through hoops to take advantage of a special price.
Is it a way for the customer to be engaged in the process, a way for them to feel as if they're actually doing something to get the special price and thus more rewarding for them?
Beats me. I just don't get coupons.

 

Photo copyright JOE HERMITT, The Patriot-News/file, used without permission

And in a related rant...
We've all seen people who are extreme couponers. They seem to usually be in front of us in the grocery store checkout line and they've got handfuls of clipped coupons. The good ones have special little files with all their coupons arranged alphabetically.
I've got to admit, I don't get this either.
I've looked at the coupons in the newspaper, magazines, and flyers. Some of them are pretty good deals: $1.00 off on some item or "buy one get one free." But when I really pay attention I see these items are usually:
a. Something I don't normally buy.
b. A name brand item that is considerably more costly than the store brand (which is my usual choice).
Given those two parameters, I'm not really sure how much I'd save if I used the coupons. Hell, I may end up spending more than I normally would!

Ok, that's it for today. I'm going to get off the soapbox and break it up for the firepit.
Thanks for reading, and...

Happy Shopping!

You Should Get This Book

Fayme recently got a book at the library that I found really interesting.
Forking Fantastic!, by Zora O’Neill and Tamara Reynolds (ISBN: 978-592-40505-3), is labeled to Put the Party back in Dinner Party, with more than 50 recipes for Plate-Licking, Crowd-Pleasing Home Cooking.

Essentially, this book is about the dinner parties the two authors put on in their New York homes and how you too, can put on fantastic dinner parties of your own.

Kinda sounds a little goofy, doesn’t it?

Actually, it’s cool as hell.

While the book has great recipes and wonderful advice on how to cook for a number of people and put on a great little event, the best advice they have is to cheerfully have at it, git ‘er done, Just Do It! Have a glass of wine, turn up the music, and start cooking.

The authors celebrate locally grown, seasonal vegetables but they aren’t so stuck up that they don’t have recipes with boxed cornbread mix or frozen peas. Ham with Bourbon-Brown Sugar Glaze is for those inexpensive holiday hams everyone puts on sale but there is also Leg of Lamb with Pomegranate Molasses if you want to get fancy. Really, folks, there are some great recipes in this book and they run from basic comfort food that just about anyone will like to fancier,  more advanced recipes that just about anyone will like.

If you know me you know that I always cook too much. You also know that I love to cook for people but rarely get the chance to do it.

I’m hoping that our new home in Lucerne Valley will make it easier for us to put on some dinner parties or lunch parties. All we need to do is get the place a little more straightened out from the chaos of moving, figure out who will come all the way out here to eat with us, and Just Do It!

FYI, the authors of the book also have a website, Forking Fantastic. It’s pretty good, take a look. You can even order their book directly from them, thus bypassing the evil empire that is Amazon.com.

And if you start putting on dinner parties of your own… why, yes… I am free that night. Thank you very much.


Thanks for reading!