In response to Abby's blog (The overspent American)

"What are your views on consumers "over spending"


I feel as though my views are mixed in regards to Americans' "overspending. While reading Abby's blog and watching a portion of the film in class i feel as though many aspects can be justified as to why, we as Americans spend so much money on things that we will later for get about and become obsolete in our lives within a few months. The film offered a few explanations as to why we as a society do this, however it seemed as though the film was based on the theory of buyers remorse. This to me does not justify the aspect of spending. In my opinion I feel as though we are all raised in a capitalist society, that was once derived from, "The American Dream". People worked for what they had and climbed their way up the socioeconomic latter withing life. The film touched upon this for a few moments and then connected this justification back to buyers remorse. Which i don't full agree with.
I believe that these aspects are two separate entities. By living and growing in capitalist society, it was the way that we were brought up. I like how the film brought up the fact of emulating those that have what we want and i find that to be a valid point and which is why we as Americans growing up in this type of society would see that strong correlation between the two aspects of life without realizing it.
I must say however that I am not giving the"green light" to spending more money or consuming more product. I am only trying to provide an alternative justification to  why we spend more money than we may actually have to live outside of our means.

Coupons, Coupons, Coupons!

I know that this may sound like a broad topic to some; and in many ways it can be. However in recent years many more people have been using coupons. This can be caused by our recent economic downturn, while many families have to cut cost anyway that they can. Although I must pause to consider how many people use coupons based on what they need. For example, your house has just run out of paper towels, you remember skimming through the Sundays' news and seeing a coupon. You proceed to cut it out and use it in your purchase.For some this is the case. However, it is not the case for all, many people will use coupons just because they have them and think that it is a good deal. In this case you are wasting money. When using a coupon just to use it, means that you are purchasing a product that you didn't necessarily need until you had the coupon.  
Do you think that marketers know this? The obvious answer, of course they do! They use it in many ways as a marketing technique to promote new products that have just hit the market to gain a following.
For those that use only four to five coupons a week for things that they actually need they can save up to
$100 dollars a year.
While listening to the radio I found that many people cover this same topic, those as common as John Tesh.
"In a Washington University study, shoppers spent an extra $8 on impulse buys and luxury items for every dollar’s worth of coupons they used.The researchers think this happens because we like to reward ourselves for being thrifty. It also means that saving two dollars with a double-coupon on laundry detergent might get you to splurge on $16 worth of candy and hand-cream. The fix? Shop from a list and only use coupons for items you were going to buy anyway." How often do you use coupons for things that you actually need?
There are many more stories that pertian to this; I encourage you to check it out
http://www.tesh.com/ittrium/visit/A1x97x1y1xa5x1x76y1x2431x1x9by1x2436x1y5x1fc29x5x1