Clipping coupons has been around for a long time, but has astronomically risen in popularity lately due to saving money coming back into style. It has become so popular that the coupon clipping community can support a TV show or two dedicated to wanting to save a buck or two. There are many websites (I’m not going to name any because a lot of them ruin my shopping) that are also dedicated to the cause of helping people find the best deals that they can and using coupons to get near free, if not free items from various stores. These websites and the couponeer’s comments and patterns is what this post is going to address.
One site that I frequently visit has lists of local grocery and big box stores, and tells you where to find corresponding coupons to get the best deal on sale item. Most of these coupons are either part of the original (paper based) spam mail that shows up at your house weekly, bought through Sunday papers, or printed off the internet. With many grocery stores having coupons that are able to be doubled on certain days which leads to items being really good deals when adding in current sales, which is where my problem begins with the habits of others. More and more I find that coupon items are completely sold out for roughly a week after a deal appears on these items, which shows how much the system is being abused. Many of these “Super Couponers” will actually check out several times in a row, then donate what they can’t use to a food shelf (like 20 boxes of cereal, 20 cans of soup or whatever). With this habit they are essentially causing a run on all of the discounted items that denies other people of getting good deals (or that type of item at all) because they feel that having a giant “YOU SAVED $XXX” gives them bonus points or something, but it actually hurts many of the people who are clipping coupons because they have too, not for fun. Many of these Super Couponers are so shameless I’ve had to watch an adult argue with a cashier about the validity of a coupon at the checkout or that they shouldn’t have to go to the end of the line to check out multiple more times due to coupon doubling limits “per transaction”.
Anyone else bothered by the reemergence of coupon clipping? Are you a fan? A hater? Or just don’t shop stores that have them, Aldi anyone?
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