A sensless rant involving a printer and a child...
By dismalgrin
@dismalgrin (2604)
United States
April 24, 2013 10:53pm CST
I have been getting my feet wet in the world of couponing because out of the blue my grocery budget went from $200 a month to $35. It is slow going, I read blogs and buy 2 Sunday papers and carefully match for savings, but it is slow going. Two weeks ago I was commenting to my boyfriend about it and he suggested I use his printer to print up extra coupons, which is really sweet of him, but since I'm so new to this I'm afraid that if I did I'd end up wasting ink on some coupons that never get used so I told him thanks for the offer, but I'm going to wait till I get better at this. Last week he brought it up again, but his 13 year old son was sitting next to him, I was on the brink of accepting but his son piped in with "Yeah! You buy the ink and you can print all the coupons you want!" My boyfriend then agreed with his son and the offer has changed. Now there is no way on earth I would accept such a deal. I can imagine many of you are reading this and thinking fair is fair, why not pay for the ink if I'm printing coupons on the printer? Well, my boyfriend has one of those souped up fancy printers that if you buy ink for it you must purchase all the cartrages for it. Even though I would only use black ink I'd end up paying for the blue, yellow, and pink as well! Not only that the price of these cartrages is $60 per cartrage! If that wasn't enough the bulk of the printing done on this printer is family photos by my boyfriends mother and full page artwork printed out by said son to glue to the front of his notebooks for school. The ink I would be using would be worth maybe $).20 a week so I would be paying out the wazzo and not saving a stinking dime! I just wish that my boyfriend could think logically somethimes. He is such a smart guy, but it seems that certain things he just doesn't think through. I offered two weeks ago that if I did end up using the printer I would give him some of the stuff I got good deals on. That would be fair compensation for printing up a few measly coupons. Not only that I fix his stuff all the time and ask for no compensation in return. His computer was out of commision all winter and he was ready to dump it. I got on there fiddled around a bit and his computer is fixed now. I didn't ask for pay for that. We have been together for 3 1/2 years, we are talking about getting married and maybe having aa kid together. I think we are a little past the point of screwing me out of. $240 a month. Really I do!
1 person likes this
5 responses
@wilsongoddard (7291)
• United States
25 Apr 13
Your boyfriend lives with his mother? Or she lives with him? Or is she just over all of the time printing out stuff? I bring this up, because--depending on the answer--it could be a red flag as to what your future is going to be like if you do end up marrying him.
As for couponing... If what you are buying due to the coupons is unhealthy, you will end up ill--and most coupons are for unhealthy items. If you are ill, you will: a) be less productive. and b) have increased healthcare costs. Therefore, all of your "savings" are simply transferred to other costs and loss of earnings.
I'm certain that you can gather up a few extra dollars for your grocery budget--either by cutting expenses elsewhere or finding a way to increase your income by an extra $20-30 per month.
@dismalgrin (2604)
• United States
26 Apr 13
The living situation of my boyfriend and his mother is a tricky thing. Almost had me creeped, then I realized what was going on and I think my boyfriend is doing a wonderful thing lots of sons wouldn't do. His mom was almost too old to have children when she had him. He is the last of 3 children all born 10 years apart. They have lived happy adult lives had children and grandchildren and all that was left at home when his mom started to get sick was him. He was 15 at the time. So he committed to stay home and take care of both of his parents at the time. His dad dad about 7 years ago and his mom is hanging on the brink of doing so as well. Yes, he lives with his mom... but it might as well be her living with him because he takes care of everything for her. She just is one cranky old lady that has this idea that she can jerk him around to do whatever she wants. In her mind she is taking care of him... but he cleans, cooks, gives her her meds, helps her shower, pays the bills, takes her to the dr and the store, everything else inbetween. The house is actually titled to both of them so I guess it is a little murky whom lives with whom.
As to coupons only offering junk food that will make you sick, either that is all that is available where you live and I'm sorry for that or you haven't paid close attention to your coupons. I don't pull home big hauls and just get a few good deals here and there as I can afford them. I also know ways to make some food better for you. If I have a coupon for fruit packed in syrup I will get it and rinse them in water very well before I eat them. Today I got a coupon for a mexican food brand. At first I was looking at the picture and thought "this is all junk! Then I looked online and saw that brand carries black beans and it would be a really good deal. Just have to look around and find the deals. I could find more deals with the printer but that is not to be at this time. It takes time and attention to do it right but if I keep at it I may find it pays off.
@danishcanadian (28953)
• Canada
16 Oct 18
Ok this is an old one, and I bet the issue has resolved itself by now, but it made me think. Also I’m here because...well you know. Responses are good! Thing is, no self-respecting parent should let their child talk that way, and make grownup decisions. I’d i tried that crapola, Mom & Dad would’ve slapped me senseless!!!!
@Shellyann36 (11385)
• United States
26 Apr 13
Wow sounds like the son is trying to work on your relationship in a bad way. I would say just overlook it and be forewarned. I would not waste my energies worrying about it. I mught rethink the whole getting married and having a kid though.
@jdawg011 (498)
• Canada
27 Apr 13
Printer ink is far overpriced! I would not bother printing off coupons to save 50 cents on something you might not even want just to buy the ink. Sometimes it feels cheaper to buy a new printer that comes with ink than to buy an ink cartridge. So, I agree with you, don't bother printing the coupons out, just stick with the ones in papers, magazines, and in the stores.
@dionysianspirit (161)
• Canada
25 Apr 13
Yeah this is completely wrong and seems like he a bizarre agreement over some food coupons. You are going to save far more money just shopping smart and avoiding this unnecessary expense. Sometimes we have to make cutbacks on snacks or treats we enjoy because of a lack of funds. In this case, just spend the $240 you'll waste on his printing cartridges that his mother is using up on groceries and tell him if he wants to eat some of the groceries he can. Remind him that he doesn't make his mother pay for printing cartridges and it isn't your responsibility. Maybe this will teach him a lesson and he'll change his attitude about the printing cartridges and your relationship.
