Are Fundraising Coupon Books Worth the Cost?

As a teenager I remember selling the Entertainment coupon books to my family, friends, and neighbors. Now as an adult I now have high school athletes knocking on my door to buy fundraising coupon cards, some are even trying to sell me books that come with a coupon app for my phone.  These apps make it easy so I don’t have to use the physical coupon and I am always a sucker for a good deal!  Over time I have come to realize that these books are not a good or bad investment, but more of a charitable donation than anything.

When you buy these books the hardest part is remembering you have them and all the coupons they have to offer!  Thankfully most of them come with an app that you can easily scroll through and search for your specific type of savings.  There is usually something for everyone but the coupons may not be in your personal taste.  Currently there are sections for fine dining, fast food, activities, attractions, retail, services, movie tickets, hotels, car rentals and airlines.  If you live alone or are single buying one of these fundraising coupons books probably isn’t worth the money, but if you have a family it is well worth it.  A great tip is to give your older children the book to look at.  Ask them to pick a place for dinner once a month that has a coupon.  If you’re already a family that goes out this is perfect!  Make it fun and the family gets to try a new place.

Something else that is tough about these fundraising coupons is to want to actually eat or order food from the places the coupons are available for.  Sure you eat are your local diner a few times a month, but is that restaurant in this book?  When presented with the option to purchase one of these books give yourself a few minutes to search for your top two favorite restaurants, if they are in the book then buy it, if they aren’t you might want to rethink buying it.  Changing your eating habits based on a coupon is annoying, so just skip the book.

I think donating $20 to your local high school soccer team is worth the one $2 off oil change, $5 off dine in only at your local diner, and maybe a few other savings available in the book along the way.

The savings are small and incremental, but just like anything else they can add up to large sums over time. This is precisely why you need to focus on saving more anyway possible. Do yourself a favor and invest those savings with a company like Banc De Binary so you can take advantage of investments like binary options and compounding growth over the years!

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