@oneandone: Damn! Both of you have gone and outted me!

;)

"the modern consumer tends to prize status and luxury over thrift."

Tomorrow I will purchase food and shoes...both with a discount.
suck it haters.

What is interesting is when I am in a shopping aisle comparing items against coupons I have. The same looks. BUT....when I offer coupons for other products I am not interested in, or just leave a coupon next to a product on a shelf, I get a big smile.

People just suck. Selfish, judgmental, xenophobic. And yes, hotness often overcomes these traits.

One tip: keep the buy one get one free coupons separate if you buying a lot of stuff and give them to us along with the item because we usually have to look up the price and write it in on the coupon.

Also, read the fine print on the coupons. Half of the coupons that dont scan are because people CANT READ!

I hate coupons :).

Oh and I love coupons. Saved 30 bucks one time at the grocery and no, I'm not one of those who decide to tear out the coupons in the last second to hold up the line.

I got $25 worth of stuff at CVS on Wedsnesday, after coupons and my Extra Care Bucks I paid $2.20 cash.

@dtmoore: I love people who get huffy and self-righteous over losing an extra 30 seconds to someone sorting coupons or disputing the bill. Anytime a stranger makes a comment like this to me, I suddenly feel compelled to write a check to cover my purchase. I keep checks in my purse strictly for this purpose.

This is why I use self-checkout whenever possible. Also, within the last few-several years, I made a habit of looking at every item on my receipt before leaving the store when I couldn't use self-checkout because the supermarkets I frequent kept "forgetting" to update the sale price in their systems. Well, the largest offender has since closed...

It's got 275 ft-lbs of torque on an otherwise light unibody (i.e., it's quick). It looks like a sleeper, but it's a fun ride. It's also, ahem, on Consumer Reports best 10 used cars to own list, and it was made right here in Michigan. The only non-consumable work done has been the front end, and in Michigan, you really should count ball joints, etc., at consumables.

My coupons are organized and I have them ready for the cashier and most people in my area are this way or they don't use coupons.

For some of us, that 8 cents IS a big deal. When you have to pinch and save everywhere you can because you're half a step away from the poor house, it matters.

@algal924: I like that I can send my expired coupons to my friends at Rammstein, Korea, etc and they get a second coupon life!

If the coupon-using-shopper is organized, has the right coupons ready to go at the right time, it doesn't take long to scan them in. It shouldn't be much of a problem to the people behind, any more than writing a CHECK or looking for EXACT CHANGE would be. (I find both those things highly annoying if I'm stuck behind them.

Or the dreaded PRICE CHECK....

"Hey baby, you know, if you used a coupon, I wouldn't think you're a cheapskate"

@ratnerstar: Captain Jack Sparrow was kinda hot...

@myabloodyvalentine: this could have been me posting, lol. i'm 25, use a purple accordian file, and organize them as i shop. it wasn't that way until i had to do my own grocery shopping. when i was little i used to joke on my mom and grandma for being coupon freaks. but coupons are easy money, i don't understand why everyone doesn't use them.

At least they are using coupons, and not food stamps.

- Coupons that expired last year.
- Coupons for a different (sometimes even unrelated) store.
- Coupons for a product entirely different than the one specified by the coupon.
- Spending 10 minutes rummaging around trying to find coupons. Looks through purse, pockets, wallet, bra, crotch, etc.
- Coupons they wrote themselves on a piece of paper.

When the coupons don't do through the person never says "oh no problem, I didn't realize that coupon expired in 1998." No they argue, then the manager is called in and it takes the manager a while to get there because he is usually busy doing something more important (such as almost anything else). Then the ranting continues about how they should be able to use a RadioShack coupon at a Kroger because they are just buying batteries. The people in line behind them are now waving around pitchforks and torches and finally the manager just gives in and gives them the discount because its easier than trying to explain for the 5th time why the person is an idiot.

To wrap up I'll just say kudos to those of you who save money buy using coupons while not being a douche who ruins the shopping experience for everyone else.

I LOVE using coupons...I feel vindicated when I am able to save money when I shop. The stores are out to make a profit off of me...heck, all the odds are stacked against the consumer. Coupons are one of the only perks a shopper has.

And frankly, if people don't like it that I'm saving money, that is their problem. Afterall, they've plenty fo money to burn, what is a few extra minutes? If it's that much of a hasssle for them, they can always give me the difference in my savings from their pocket. (And I have the accordion organizer too...and I have my coups all ready before I check out)

I am currently combining coupons with ECBs and getting stuff for FREE at CVS....so I will continue to use coupons!

I guess it didn't like my brackets...

"People think that (insert something that describes a group of people) are (insert negative opinion), unless you're hot."

"People think that are , unless you're hot."

haha ditto.

Really? Huh. Guess I hallucinated those coupons for fresh vegetables, cheese, flour, canned beans and a free pound of strawberries I used last week.

I don't know who they are, but they are more common than I would like. There is also a 75% chance that after rummaging through their gigantic portable coupon file they will proceed to whip out a checkbook and ask the clerk what the name of the store is so that they can fill out the check.

There is also a 20% chance that at least one of their coupons will produce some kind of a problem resulting in an argument and a store manager being called. Common problems include: The coupon being expired. Not last week expired, more like expired during the Clinton administration. Also utter shock and amazement is observed when they discover that their 10 cents off Tropicana OJ doesn't also apply to Minute Maid OJ.

I was going through one day (had only bought one item) and the cashier automatically glanced down at the receipt before handing it to me: "And by shopping at Vons today, you've saved... $0.01! Oh, dear. That IS embarrassing."

There are a lot of coupons out there for prepacked and processed foods however you can find coupons for other things too and for basic, healthy items and toiletries that you need. Most coupons that I use are over 1$ each.

Not being snarky, I'm just wondering why you've got all these assumptions that coupons are "only for expensive brand name processed foods" because there are plenty of coupons for items that people normally can't buy raw or make themselves (unless you don't eat any of the things I listed above or buy everything generic).

@dtmoore:

Corprate American loves you.

As a coupon user living within my means I rarely care what the shopper behind me thinks about my frugality.

Luckily I'm hot ... lol just kidding :-)

If anything, I'm still pissed that those crappy loyalty cards NEVER did away with coupons like they promised us in exchange for a detailed record of all our purchases.

@twiddling_my_thumbs: Most of the discounts aren't 10-25 cents anymore. I save about $1k per month (though I would never spend that much on food just for me). I end up donating a lot and selling some really cheaply to a neighbor.

If it's not worth it to you, that's fine. I'm using time I wouldn't be paid for anyway...such as just watching TV.

I do use coupons for non food things that we need, deodorant, scrub sponges, % off for clothing or hardware.

*off topic* but I was at Great Clips getting ready to pay for my $4.99 haircut ($4.99 vs. $11 because of a coupon) the lady in front of me in line was griping that she had already written out the check before they told her they don't accept checks. Her complaint was that she now HAD to use her debit card and wasted a perfectly good check. I couldn't help smiling at the sweet satisfaction.

I normally charge more per hour for my labor. Than I save (overall) with coupons.

Plus with a voyeuristic reading of Consumerist, knowing of the "shrink ray." How much are you really saving. Do you just break even?

IF.. It was easier to use coupons. I would print out one coupon gives all. And use it. Since it takes more effort and time. To scour paid media and look through JUNK! It is not worth it to me.

I could care less who stands behind me. They are jerks. Unless they prove otherwise. Most people are really nice in line in my about 40 years of shopping. (The older people who somehow get the speed to cut in line do not count.)

Another cool Gawker property? Coupondeals.com???? One stop coupon deals..

I used coupons for the first time yesterday, at Whole Foods of all places. You can really save quite a bit when you combine in store sales and manufacturers coupons. I saved nearly $20 off of a $78 bill and I purchased stuff I normally purchase every week plus a couple of things I have been wanting to try. I kept the coupons in an envelope, and as I grabbed items I transferred them to my coat pocket. It probably took the cashier no more than 20 seconds to quickly scan my coupons.

@Lin-Z: But, inevitably, there's a coupon that doesn't scan right or cashier has to get help because the item will end up being free with coupons or some other problem that still makes it difficult. The ladies behind me the other night were very impressed with my couponing, even though a manager had to come over to fix a problem with a coupon scanning.

@IHaveAFreezeRay: Also a good strategy: waiting till the name-brand item is on sale and THEN using the coupon to get more savings on top of that.

@rednrowdy: Have I shown you my coupon binder?

I'm cheap and proud of it!

Hey, who stole Consumerist? This thread would usually be packed full of gripes about couponing and 20 cents off coupons and high processed food. Did the commenters get laid off too?

@GothamGal: This is what I don't get. If I'm gonna buy some particular item with a coupon, I a)already know I have the coupon, b)seek out the item in question, and c)arrive at the register with the coupons I need already in my hand. Who are these idiots who buy random shit, wander up to the register and THEN start looking to see if maybe they have a coupon? Kind of defeats the purpose, no?

Moral of the story is only clip coupons for what you would buy anyway. It's better for your wallet and your mental state.

On the other hand people here are just as into status symbols it seems as anywhere. Just looking in my work parking lot at all the fairly new trucks and SUVs shows it.

Do i file a complaint with consumerist for the English language abuse witnessed in this post's title?

How does my hotness influence coupon use unless I happen to be the one using the coupons?

Howabout, "If you use coupons, people think you are a cheapskate unless you are hot".

@downwithmonstercable: And who should you shoot -- the customer who is trying to save money or the cashier who works for the company that hasn't made it easy to figure out a discount they offer?

@Tambar: I never worry what people think about me as I hand my coupons over to the cashier. I'm saving money, I'm a happy girl. In fact, at my neighborhood Safeway in DC, the cashier typically reviews the receipt before handing it to me, saying something like, "you saved 20% today." And I say, "awesome," and she congratulates me, and the people behind me do that mouth agape thing.

There's no shame in saving some money for the bar later. None at all.

after having spent way too much time with a guy who openly said "i'm bad with money" and had the horrific credit to prove it, i look at a guy who clips coupons as a dreamboat, regardless of what he looks like.

Gee...wonder how our sheep society learned THAT? Doesn't seem innate.

(Awww, shaddap grammaw - the Great Depression is over, we've learned the lessons and there's infinite prosperity!!! Deregulate!! Drill, Baby, Drill!!! "Trickle Down"!!!)

My tip: Always buy generics or what's on sale.

You can go broke saving money.

That's probably the best way to hide your coupon clipping, if you're inclined to do so. I look online for coupons as well as clip my own from the Sunday paper, but wholesale clubs have coupons online and so do grocery stores sometimes.

Everybody had best get over it because we're in a g/d recession/depression (repression?). Sadly, most of the stuff they offer coupons for is crap, but still, have patience with your fellow consumers, especially if they are elderly (which in coupon country is usually the case).

:)

As little as I want to, I'll probably be judging a few people living in their SUVs (the ones that weren't repossessed) soon.

Bushtown, USA

Here's the results of my own personal study:
- Coupon users are irrelevant if in any other line than mine or if located behind me in line as they have no effect on the speed of my exit from the store.
- All coupon users located far in front of me in the line are obnoxious as they are delaying my exit from the store.
- Coupon users directly in front of me in the line are obnoxious as they are delaying my exit from the store.
- Hot female coupon users directly front of me in the line are excluded from the previous statement as the opportunity to ogle eye candy is always welcome.

Now that I have published the preliminary results of my study I request a press release and $100,000 for a follow up study where I will conclusively demonstrate that as hot females waiting in line wear fewer and tighter clothes my overall mood improves.

Coupon users aren't bad as long as they get the right item, don't try to pass an expired coupon and have everything ready to go. When I used to work as a cashier at a grocery store back in high school, this didn't happen quite a bit. Double/Triple coupon days were notorious for bringing out all the bad coupon clippers from the woodwork.

The deals aren't that good anymore but I still get the Sunday paper mostly for the coupons. (Which are, mysteriously, delivered on Saturday.)

The main reason for these rules is so that whenever we stand there languishing behind some old crazy cat lady doing the coupon/wrong product shuffle, instead of saying "*GRUMBLE GRUMBLE* old people, coupons etc." we say "I broke THE RULE! And now I'm paying the price!"

Clearly they're forgetting about how annoying it is to be behind the person who has dozens of coupons, all of which must be scanned in one at a time.

Also, obsessive coupon collectors tend to be particularly rude about it, and demand that coupons be redeemed even if they are expired or pertain to other items. I know this is why my local grocery store has shifted away from coupons and now just pushes the loyalty card real hard and then mails you a flyer every few days detailing all the deals loyalty card users have access to.

It does demand smart shopping; there are plenty of coupons for nasty overprocessed expensive convenience food. But most of us don't clip coupons for crap we don't need!

First, if you have brand preferences in some product categories, brand coupons are great; you're not buying the generic anyway. (My husband is way particular about his syrup -- Hungry Jack microwaveable. I get coupons for that all the time, it's great.) Or if you buy organic, coupons on organic brands are very useful.

Second, there are plenty of coupons for staples. I bake and cook from scratch a lot; I get coupons for sugar, flour, baking soda, milk, etc. Coupons on spices are especially useful and tend to be generous.

Third, sometimes coupons do drop the price of the name brand below the price of the generic. (I don't buy a whole lot of name brands, but I'll often see this with chicken. Buying a name-brand raw whole chicken will be $1 cheaper with the coupon than buying the store-marked raw whole chicken.)

Fourth, even if coupons are on "luxury" products, maybe that's when you buy them as a treat. I like Pepperidge Farm cookies (mint milanos ... mmmm) but I only buy them when I have a coupon. I know they're more expensive than, oh, generic oreos, or than cookies I bake myself, but sometimes I want a mint milano!

Also depends on when you shop. I most often get groceries during the daytime on Tuesday when it's retired people, two stay-at-home-moms, and ME in the store. Going after work on Friday when the store is packed to the gills and lines are six people deep, getting a full cart, and using coupons is going to get you a lot more dirty looks than going when the store's 1/2 empty. 3 a.m. is also a great time for couponing if your store is 24-hours!

I don't use coupons as much as I used to, and I try to have them sorted before I get there. But I sometimes have cashiers who have no idea how to ring up coupons (especially for free items) as well as cashiers who don't know their own stores policies (especially with internet coupons).

There are a ton of times I've had to tell cashiers how to use their own POS systems or the price of an item.

I'm a pretty big couponer and there's one cashier I NEVER run my card in advance with because she NEVER remembers the coupons. Otherwise I rarely have a problem. I just let them know at the beginning of the transaction and give them the stack, and they usually remember.

I tend to have a problem with cashiers trying to find any reason to deny the coupon. This happens mostly at walmart. Walmart must HATE coupon users & teach their cashers to try & find any way to refuse a coupon.

I hate using coupons when I have people behind me because the cashier is usually the one that holds up the line scrutinizing my coupons like I am trying to pass off poorly counterfieted cash. I have my coupons out before my stuff is even scanned.

I, for one, find coupon users extremely hot--regardless of what they look like :)

I do everything I can to avoid holding people up, because I'm considerate that way and I understand that the earth does not rotate on my axis. If, after all my preparedness, they still want to think I'm cheap, then fuck 'em, what do I care. My attitude is further supported and justified as I drive off in my 10-year-old Hyundai.

Use a Debit Card!

Then, she'd check the weekly ad, pull out the coupons that matched, and buy those items with the coupon. It was a-freakin-mazing how much she would bring home for $50.

She too had the tiny accordion file to store them, and organized them by type (breakfast, desert, dinner, household).

I don't have the patience for such activity.

@surfsimply: And a triple whammy if you are a Mexican immigrant Star Trek fan using coupons.

Or the odd triple threat: Coupon using, Mexican immigrant- Trekkies :)

Coupons aren't bad if they are the kind that come in the mail from manufacturers, those you just scan and they come off. What I can't stand are the people that bring Safeway coupons to Albertson's or something like that, and the cashier has to manually figure out the difference between Safeway's 3 for $5 price and Albertson's 4.89 price for every single item, or something to that effect. That is when it's good that I do not own guns.

The problem with coupons is that most of the time they are for products that are the most expensive anyway. Meaning that if you picked a less known brand you would get it for cheaper than something even with double the coupon.

"Recent work in marketing has focused on consumer stigmatization related to cultural backgrounds (e.g., Mexican immigrants), age, literacy levels, and certain subculture affiliations (e.g., Star Trek fans)."

That's a double-whammy for coupon users who also happen to be Trekkies.

No, I think most coupon hating comes from the delay. It's the same thing with those morons, er, kind hearted souls, who spend several minutes to pay with exact change.

When the people behind me in the Publix line last night were watching my total quickly drop by $55 their mouths *were* slightly agape - sadly, I don't think it was because I'm also hot. I know my coupons save my family from the soup kitchens and I think that matters more than a stranger's fleeting opinion.

*Note - soup kitchens are awesome but their resources are best used on people who truly need it. That's not us, yet.

@ratnerstar: You forgot murder.

but yeah, my friends make fun of me for cutting them out until i hand them over in line and get like $10+ off my grocery bill. i'm the grandma... *sigh*

@nicemarmot617: And they will inevitably write a check.

I like to wait for the cashier to total the transaction before saying, "Oh, wait, I've got coupons!"

Those people behind me can kiss my ass. I'm finding that coupon!

Coupons themselves, I am too lazy to use, although if my BF loses his job that might change!