Money Wise Mom

Coupons are awesome.

I’m not talking about the coupons you clip. I don’t actually care much about retail coupons that come by way of flyers or your inbox. I’m talking about a family tradition that we’ve embraced for the almost 30 years.

In my family, it’s incredibly common for us to give each other IOU coupons as gifts.

Coupons have been on my mind thanks to my husband, who has been cashing in a string of IOUs that he’s been hoarding for years.

Why Coupons?

In my family, we celebrate Christmas.

Christmas is a highly commercialized holiday that is heaped in excess. Nestled in between the quant holiday traditions and the family gatherings is pressure to give store bought gifts, entertain, and dress up in fancy clothes. All the festivities are fun, but also lead to overspending, holiday debt hangovers, and over eating.

Enter the humble coupon.

Coupons help us keep it real. They cost time and effort rather than money. They require thoughtfulness and planning. A good coupon is tailored to the recipient. The coupon giver should put intention into their gift.

As a coupon receiver, you get the joy of cashing in the coupon, and you get the gift of anticipation! Part of the joy is planning the perfect time to cash in a coupon. It’s like a gift before the actual gift.

Experiences Over Things

In our early years, even though we didn’t have money to blow, we spent money we didn’t have on gifts.

There is so much social pressure to give stuff to each other. As parents, we definitely felt the pressure to give our kids stuff, some of which was pretty expensive. Most of it ended up broken at the bottom of a toy box. I can remember surveying an entire basement full of toys when my kids were little, wondering where it all came from and being overcome by how much work it was to clean up after.

In our culture, we normalize stuff as love to our kids. As parents, is up to us to show our kids a different path.

The sad truth is that most people cannot remember what you gave them last Christmas. Most people cannot remember what they gave last Christmas. It seems to me that we are all participating in an endless cycle of mindless purchases.

So why do we tie ourselves into pretzels trying to impress each other with purchases?

Commercialization. The entire retail industry wants you to equate buying stuff with love.

If you think about, who really needs more stuff in their life? Most of us have way more stuff than we need and a lot of the time we don’t even want the stuff we are given!

Doing something for and with someone is way more memorable, personal, and enjoyable.

I cherish the memory of going on a hike with my kids (given to me as a mother’s Day coupon) or breakfast in bed (given to me as a birthday coupon) or an afternoon of games with my daughter (given to me as a Christmas coupon).

Be Creative

Some of our families best coupon ideas from over the years

• A hike together
• Doing the dishes without complaining
• A board game of the receivers choice
• A batch of homemade pierogies
• Money towards a tattoo
• Breakfast in bed
• A game of crib
• Money towards a video game
• A massage
• A day of video games together

Perhaps you notice a trend? Many of them are no cost and allow us to spend time on or with each other.

Some Advice

Speaking from experience, here are some things to keep in mind:

• Give your coupons an expiry date. This will help people who like to hoard things actually use them
• The issue can mark up a coupon as “used” once it’s been redeemed. This lets the recipient hang on to it for memories, if they want, and is very satisfying as the issuer.. it’s just feels like a job well done after the promise has been fulfilled
• Get artistic. You can design your own coupon or find printable ones online for free. Have fun decorating them or put them on fancy paper or write them into a handmade card.

The best part of giving coupons is that you can tailor them to the recipient in really personal and meaningful ways.

I hope this holiday season, you go forth and coupon!