Coupons Aren't Always Part of a Smart Shopper's Savings Plan
BY BARBARA MILLER
Lycoming Co. Correspondent
MONTOURSVILLE - To use or
not to use coupons was the question
112 homemakers came to answer
during Spring Interest Day held
recently at Faith United Methodist
Church, Montoursville.
Clyde Mosteller, owner/-
manager of Portion Pack, a
Williamsport wholesale and food
distribution firm, discussed not
using coupons and comparison
shopping. Carol Ernst, consumer
specialist for Weis Markets,
Sunbury, addressed the pros of
using coupons effectively and
supermarketing techniques. The
day-long event was sponsored by
the Lycoming County Extension
Service.
Although Mosteller and Ernst
took opposing views on coupon
using, both encouraged com
parison shopping, buying store
brands, and experimenting with
different brands.
“You can save in many in
stances by not using coupons
rather than by using them,”
Mosteller maintained.
To decide whether a coupon will
mean savings, Mosteller said, a
shopper should first determine if
the products being compared are
of equal value. This is done by
reading the ingredient labels.
Carol Ernst, consumer specialist for
Sunbury, talks about using coupons effectively
3°
Ingredients, he noted, are listed in
the order of predominance starting
with the most predominate item
and ending with the least
predominate.
Next, a consumer should com
pare the active ingredients (the
ones that get the job done) con
tained in the two products. For
example, when comparing a
national brand of bleach to a house
brand, Mosteller found the active
ingredient in each, sodium
hypochlorite, to be a little more
than 5 percent in either case. This
made them of equal value.
The final step mentioned by
Mosteller was to compare the unit
price of each product and subtract
the cost of the coupon from the one
brand to arrive at the cost of the
items to the consumer. Many
times, he said, even with the
doubled value of a coupon
deducted from a national brand, a
house brand will be less expensive.
“Generally speaking,” Mosteller
observed, “the store brand is of
similar quality to the national
brand because the store brand
reflects back on the store.”
“But generics,” he added, “are a
different animal. You have no idea
who is behind them; consistent
quality is not there with generics.”
Mosteller advised listeners not to
do such comparative shopping all
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at once, but a little at a time.
Ernst encouraged
shopping and using coupons to buy
the things shoppers would nor
mally purchase anyway.
“Successful supermarket
shopping is like going on a suc
cessful diet - you need to count
pennies like you need to count
calories,” she observed.
Ernst urged consumers to
purchase products and evaluate
them for themselves. House
brands are manufactured for
supermarkets, she explained, by a
company who already manufac
tures that item.
“Even Green Giant and
Del Monte have house brands. They
can only sell so much Green Giant
com and then they put it in another
can and label it something else,”
she stated.
The name brand manufacturers
may have a bumper crop, ac
cording to Ernst, and approach
companies such as Weis Markets
and ask if they want to purchase
the excess at a good price.
Sometimes, Ernst said, house
brand companies may even run out
of Grade B produce and substitute
Grade A produce in the can. The
customer then will be purchasing a
Grade A product at a Grade B
price.
“If you are a house brand
shopper, you should be able to save
15 to 20 percent in a store,” Ernst
added.
House brands seldom offer
coupons, Ernst noted, because
their prices are already rock
bottom and there is no leeway for
coupons. If there were no more
coupons prices would not change,
Ernst observed, because the cost
of the coupon is figured in the
manufacturer’s advertising
budget.
Concerning convenience foods,
Ernst said, the cost of convenience
is still there, But items such as
cake mixes and frostings are likely
to be less costly than scratch
recipes because they are mixed in
such large quantities.
“You can eat out at home
cheaper than you eat out,” Erast
said.
She noted that $1 out of every $3
in a food budget is spent on eating
out. One way to save money in a
supermarket is to buy the same
frozen items you would purchase
from a restaurant such as quarter
pounders, pizzas, fried chicken,
etc., and prepare them at home.
Additionally, she observed,
“Physical fitness is not a fad, it’s
here to stay.”
Ernst said that with 50 percent of
the population watching their diets
and six of the leading causes of
death related to diet, food
manufacturers are taking the hint
and adding less salt and sugar to
their products.
She concluded by noting that just
17 percent of the average
American’s income is spent on
food. “Food is a bargain,” she
noted. .
L
Clyde Mosteller, owner/manager of Portion Pack Food
Service, Inc. of Williamsport, demonstrates how to compare
brands of toothpaste. Portion Pack is a wholesale food
distribution company.
“Dog’on Discipline”
Well, our Christmas puppy is
growing up...or growing big might
be a better way to put jt. She has
outgrown two beds and two collars
and has warmed her way into full
membership in our family. In
relating our puppy’s age to human
age she is just about a toddler. She
certainly has all the charac
teristics of a toddler in the terrible
twos! To deal with this situation we
are enrolled in puppy obedience
school.
After two weeks of obedience
school, I realize it’s not just the
puppy getting trained- it’s the
dog’s master that is learning. Dog
obedience school really means
discipline for both the trainer and
the dog.
Disciplining children has many
similarities to the skills learned in
dog obedience school. After all,
discipline is not punishment. Ef
fective discipline helps the child
(or dog) leam to control his own
behavior so that he acts according
to his ideas of what is right and
wrong, not because he fears
punishment. For example, a child
is honest because he thinks it is
wrong to be dishonest, not because
he is afraid of getting caught.
A part of discipline includes the
rules that are made. Parents are
great at making rub's. “Don’t run
in the house.” “You can’t watch
anymore T.V.” “Use your
napkin.” “No singing at the table.”
Right now the most popular rule at
our house is “No Barking!”
Sometimes we make so many rules
that we need a rule book to
remember all of them.
Children do need rules. They feel
secure when they know what is
expected of them. Rules need to be
carefully thought out, however, not
made up on the spur of the moment
when mother or father has run out
of patience or has a headache.
Reasons for rules should be ex
plained to your child. A ddld will
be more likely to obey the rules if
he understands the reasons for
them. Make it clear that rules are
HOME
By Michelle S. Rodgers
Berks Extension
Home Economist
for the child’s own welfare and not
the results of parents’ bad temper.
Another important charac
teristic of rules is that they should
be consistently enforced. If
slamming the door is ignored on
Monday, but the child is sent to her
room for slamming the door on
Tuesday, she doesn’t know what to
expect. The result is confusion and
frustration. It has been my ex
perience that consistency is very
difficult. However, the times when
I have failed to be consistent have
brought consequences. Just one
evening of allowing the dog into the
living room to watch T.V. with me
has resulted in a constant battle to
keep her out of there.
Consistency allows a child to
predict your' behavior. A child
knows what is expected and the
consequences of their behavior.
Although rules should be con
sistently enforced, there are times
when parents need to be flexible.
For example, if grandmother is
visiting, a grandchild may be
allowed to stay up past her regular
bedtime for this special occasion.
Also, rules need to change as the
child grows. As children grow,
they may be included in setting the
rules and in deciding on con
sequences for breaking the rules.
If the child has a part in deciding
what the consequences are for
breaking the rule, he will be more
likely to view the consequences as
the result of his own behavior and
not as undeserved punishment.
Effective discipline helps a child
learn self-control, builds self
esteem, and sets good examples of
ways to solve problems. As you can
see, discipline not only involves the
child but takes an equal in
volvement of the adult to make it
work. Discipline is an everyday
occurance, fitting in with the
routine of the day >
It’s easy for me to see how the
rules of family discipline also
apply to the family dog. So, it’s
back to obedience school this
week... it’s as much to improve my
skills as it is for her!