DINKS Reality: Extreme Couponing for our Troops

Good Morning DINKS.  Today we are discussing the TLC Television phenomenon known as Extreme Couponing and how we can use coupons to support our troops.  This post is not in favour of war, nor is it unsupportive of our brave troops.  This post is simply about the generosity of people giving to others who are less fortunate and those in need.

Not so long ago we received a comment from a reader about the impact of Extreme Couponing on our economy.  If people are receiving mass amounts of products for free then who is making money? That is a really great question! Not to mention the fact that no one needs to stockpile 35 deodorants, don’t deodorants have an expiry date?

If we receive something for free and we don’t really need it then we should be kind enough to share it with someone else who is in need or who is less fortunate than us. We have to remember that not everyone has the luxury of “buying” 150 bottles of Coca-Cola. The next time you use a coupon to buy something ask yourself do you really need it, or are you just buying it because it is on sale?

I recently watched a few episodes of Extreme Couponing on TLC which focused on donating goods to our Troops overseas.  These Extreme Couponers were not selfish, nor were they hoarders; these Extreme Couponers were generous people who went out of their way to collect coupons and send care packages overseas to our troops.  Not everyone can afford to donate money or volunteer their time; but we can all use coupons to help donate items that we can’t afford to buy. We can give back in so many other ways that don’t involve making a financial donation.

I watched an episode of Extreme Couponing with a woman sponsored troops overseas.  She is the mother of a military family and she goes shopping specifically for items that the troops have requested.  The woman sends care packages overseas full of the troop’s favourite toothpastes and deodorants.

On the second episode of TLC’s Extreme Couponing a young DINK couple purchased 700 items in one day for their local charity mission as well as our troops overseas. This couple “purchased” $1000 worth of groceries for absolutely $0. As the couple are DINKS they felt the need to use their resources to help others. This young DINK couple often shops with coupons and they give away 80%-90% of what they “buy”. The couple uses store loyalty programs, in store sales, company rewards programs, and manufacturer coupons to “buy” items and donate them to our troops.

Here are some other Organizations that use Coupons to help our Troops:

Operation Troop Aid  has been collecting donations for our troop for more than 6 years.  They accept donations of the small things that we may take for granted like Toothpaste and Oreo Cookies. Operation Troop Aid is getting ready to send $35,000 worth of Girl Guide Cookies to our troop in Afghanistan and Iraq.

We Use Coupons recently sent 1000 care packages to our troops overseas in Operation Feed The Troops.  The We Use Coupons website allows us to sign up for daily deal alerts and join their facebook page to get the latest deals. We can find coupons, search through coupon resources, and print coupons directly from their website.  There is even a couponing forum 101 for beginners.

Photo by Cool Mike

Kristina Tahnyak

Tahnya is a Certified Financial Planner and former Investment Advisor turned marketing and communications professional She holds a degree from Concordia University, is debt free and currently works in the field of digital marketing.