Coupon Burnout: Overcoming the Guilt of NOT Couponing

In addition to people who hate couponers, there’s a segment of shoppers who feel guilty that they don’t coupon. What to do if you have a bad case of Coupon Burnout.

I’m part of a lovely book group, and many of the women were in my January coupon workshops. Last night was a get-together and when a couple of the women who I haven’t seen in a while saw me, they told me they fell off the coupon bandwagon, or that they just can’t do it, or that they just can’t shop like I do. The guilt was palpable and it made me uncomfortable.

If you hop from store to store and feel your heart racing when you find products for free with coupon, you are heading for Coupon Burnout. Then, you’ll quit couponing and the guilt will set in. Stop the silly cycle of burnout and guilt. Take it slow! (Photo credit: Hotcouponworld.com)

I am not sure if they still think I’m an extreme couponer (I’m so not). When I told them that I don’t use coupons every time I shop, they were shocked! I only use coupons when I see a great deal that’s on sale that matches my coupons (i.e.: free containers of Wet Ones wipes at ShopRite this week–we use them all summer on our boat and at the beach so of course I’ll grab four to eight of them!). But folks…there’s no need to feel guilty if you DON’T use coupons, for heaven’s sake! If not couponing works for you, then that’s completely okay!

The guilt is going to set in soon since a new season of TLC’s “Extreme Couponing” show begins end of May. Inevitably, more people will ask me how to coupon, more people will go nuts with coupons, and then they stop couponing. Just like the women who went to my workshops. They have a case of Coupon Burnout. The trick is not to use every coupon you see in every store you shop. It’s a matter of what you need, what you want, what’s on sale, and if you have the coupons to stock a few of the same product (so you don’t have to go out and get one full price).

A bit of guilt is normal after going gangbusters on couponing. But that phase should last a short time. Just enjoy coupons, enjoy what you buy, and stop feeling guilty every time you see me :–)

~Marilyn, TFF

Related articles

• Extreme Couponing Myths (savings.com)

Another Grocery Store Associate Criticizes Couponers

Here we go again…people who use coupons criticized.

A Dear Abby article in the papers today shines a critical light on couponers once again. In brief, the letter, from a grocery store associate, says that coupons are a necessary evil, and coupons left on shelves for others shoppers to use pose a hazard because they clog up drains in dairy shelves, potentially cause shoppers to fall, and are generally a nuisance all the way around. And of course the writer points out the abuse, fraud, and the amount of work coupons pose for store workers.

I am just stunned. How can a basic act like couponing, which our grandmothers used to do, get everyone so riled up? Do couponers constantly complain about how grocery stores treat us? Should I discuss how many people I know who tell me that they absolutely hate shopping at any grocery store because the workers are rude, the produce is awful, the marketing is ridiculous (ie: the famous “Manager’s Special”), and the prices are outrageous? Is there any wonder WHY so many people now have to coupon to be able to fill a fridge and pantry?

This growing rift between grocery store associates and people who coupon has to stop. Not every couponer is an extreme couponer! (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Listen, I’m the first one to say that the TLC show, Extreme Couponing, has ruined it for many of us. The show portrays crazy couponers, not run-of-the-mill couponers like myself. So now, it seems like there are two camps: us (couponers) and them (grocery stores and people who hate couponers). This rift is ridiculous because we are all in this together: trying to save money on our grocery bills so we can feed our families.

Can’t we all just get along?

~Marilyn, TFF

Study Says Manufacturers Stingy on Coupons While Consumer Demand at All-Time High

It’s not your imagination. There are less consumer packaged goods coupons, shorter expiration dates, and at times, less face value on coupons distributed today. In addition, blinkies are rare and so are tearpads, and stores seem to be changing policies. All when consumer demand for coupons is at its highest. 

Last week a friend of mine said that the new coupon inserts had few coupons and they were all expiring in about four weeks. A few, we found, had a six week expiration date. What we really noticed was the lack of coupons in the inserts, as well as a sneaky trend of making consumers access a QR code (quick response codes) with a smart phone to go on a coupon manhunt that’s anything but a quick response.

Where did all the coupons go? (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

According to an article today in Supermarket News, a study by NCH Marketing Services (leading coupon processing and redemption company) indicates we are not crazy. The article says the grocery segment distributed 13.1% fewer coupons in 2011 than it did in 2010, however health and beauty care coupon distribution held steady. Despite the drop in overall coupons distribution, the article says that customer redemption has increased. The article did not say why there was an increase in redemption, but we think, at least in anecdotal terms, that higher prices, smaller packaging, the Extreme Couponing craze, and oh, yes, the economy, has something to do with the increasing interest in couponing.

Hopefully coupon distribution will rise again mid-2012, but as of now, we seem to be seeing fewer and fewer coupons in inserts since January.

~Marilyn, TFF

Criticizing Couponers: C’mon, Leave Us Alone!

 

Couponers don't care about the dirty looks we get at check out. We still love to get our coupons (especially those P&G newspaper inserts!) To find out when your next P&G newspaper insert is coming your way, click on this photo. Photo: Courtesy of P&G/PRNewswire

Never did I think that couponers would be criticized for their actions. There are certainly more extreme problems in the world than extreme couponers. After reading way too many long and scathing articles about how awful couponers act, you’d think we were a bunch of Bernie Madoffs. C’mon, folks, we’re just trying to cut our grocery bills, not swindle people out of peanut butter.

Now, I’m not an extreme couponer, but I do coupon, and I see the benefits of saving 50 to 60 percent off my groceries at check out, and I will continue to coupon to feed my hungry crew.

I have seen some strange reactions to my coupons, though—from positive to downright rude. I’ve had a handful of people at check out comment that I know how to shop right, to a handful of people at check out give me the once over, tell me they think TLC’s EC show is dumb (I am a fan of the show because I learn a lot from it), then ask me if my family really needs ten boxes of typically expensive cereal and thirteen boxes of juice packs (uh…yes!).

The benefits of couponing became crystal clear the day before school started when I was running ragged through Target, picking up groceries willy-nilly without thinking about cost or coupons. My thought process went something like this: paying this much for single packet Pringles is crazy, but I will get back to couponing once the kids are back in school… I wonder why other people are willing to pay these prices without coupons…how is it that the woman down the aisle can just throw groceries in her cart without coupons or looking at the price?

After the sticker shock of that little shopping spree, I vowed to get back to couponing asap. Happily, I used my Catalina coupons at Stop & Shop yesterday and walked away with my free toothpaste, $1.00 boxes of Keebler fudge granola bars, and paid pennies for Pantene shampoo and conditioner.

Ahhh, it’s good to be back in the couponing business. I can’t wait for the second season of EC to start. And, I couldn’t care less who gives me the evil eye at check out. ~TFF

Adventures in Couponing

Grab coupons wherever you can, even at the town dump's recycling bin--I do! Photo: Courtesy of free images at Dreamstime/Matthew Richardson

Anyone out and about last Saturday night in Fairfield would have found two women dressed in black and wearing heels wandering around CVS, Walgreens, and Stop & Shop hunting down coupons and discussing Extra Care Bucks and how to get free cosmetics. After a mutual birthday dinner celebration (thanks to Groupon), my friend and I wanted to give our husbands and kids more time to themselves (well, we really just wanted to hang out together longer without spending any money!). We both admit–though it’s not for everyone, we had fun walking out of stores with coupons.

That’s just one of my shenanigans when it comes to couponing. TFF went to the town dump yesterday and yours truly asked the kind gentleman who oversees the paper recycling area if I could search for coupons. It felt weird to literally garbage pick my way to a bag full of coupons. I don’t regret doing it, or getting the strange comments from residents throwing in their bags of papers over my head. I still have to get over the feeling of worrying about what others think as I rifle through papers.

But, the bottom line is this: couponing can work. It’s not just saving a buck on shampoo. It’s getting lots of free things for family, friends, and charity. And, as groceries go up and up in price (did you hear the reports yesterday about the rising costs of coffee, in addition to everything else?), I don’t see anything wrong with taking advantage of a tool that the manufacturers and stores want you to use. In the words of one featured woman on the Extreme Couponing show: I think it’s a shame if you’re NOT saving money.

Excuse me now while I go empty out some shelves in my basement so I can stash some stockpiles.

~TFF’s Four Frequented and Favorite Couponing Sites:

Coupon Mom (great tutorials and forums)

Hot Coupon World (great tutorials and forums)

Coupons.com (printable coupons)

Simply CVS (all about CVS and Extra Bucks)

Fairfield’s Not-So-Extreme Couponer

 

An extreme haul from extreme couponing. In spite of the show's critics, there are invaluable things to learn from the TLC hit of the season. Photo: Courtesy TLC

Of course I’m hooked on the new TLC show, Extreme Couponing. Buy $1,000 worth of groceries for a penny. I’m just glad I can save $3 on a $25 order! But, I’m willing to try to coupon again. Yes, I’m inspired by the show, but there’s something that has caught my attention: Shell gas stations now accept Stop & Shop gas points! When I learned about that last week, it literally made me feel like I was floating on air. Amazing how gas points can make my day. It’s now worth my time to leave PriceRite to go back to shopping at Stop & Shop now that I don’t have to lose my gas points because I don’t make it to Milford very often.

There’s something else I learned from that show, by the way. Something called e-coupons that can be loaded onto your store loyalty card. Wow. Amazing. But Stop & Shop doesn’t really participate in that. ShopRite does, however. There’s an e-coupon site, called Cellfire that lets you load up some coupons to your card so you don’t have to print or cut them out. But…a big but…there aren’t that many coupons available for this amazing service. I believe Proctor & Gamble has a similar service, but I have not had luck on the site as of today. I do think this will be the wave of couponing, though–paperless couponing.

So, I’m gonna dive in to couponing again. I know it can work (not to the extent of those crazy couponers, though) because I, too, have somehow managed to “stack” coupons and bought some item or two for a cent or less. I amazed myself when I actually did it, but I do see the strategy. However, it won’t happen until I build up my anemic coupon collection. (I noticed I was hanging on to coupons that expired back in February!)

I will report back in between coupon cutting.