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Couponing is all the rage these days. I tried it myself only to find out that I do not have the patience or the brains to keep it all straight AND stay sane at the same time. Keeping track of children at the store is challenging enough.
I used to feel guilty about this. Yep, because I needed one more thing to feel guilty about. I felt that since we are not rolling in cash, it was my responsibility to do everything in my power to make the best use of that hard-earned money (yes, hubs has a job again). But with time, I realized that it is up to me to decide how I would do that. Coupons are not the thing for me. Not now.
I decided that it is worth our money to have the simplicity and convenience of couponless shopping. So while I still use coupons for diapers, restaurants and some entertainment, I have given myself freedom to not chase after sales or buy diapers in one store, shampoo in another, and bread somewhere else. Ad matching you say? uuuh, thanks but no thanks. The freedom to cruise through checkout without juggling melting toddlers and a stack of coupons is priceless to me. I choose to pay for that convenience, thank you very much.
And so I am free, until I innocently stand in the checkout line behind someone who is concealing a 3-inch-high stack of coupons. Then it is all over. Convenience all gone. Of course I don't find out about it until all my stuff is on the conveyor belt.
Just a couple of weeks ago I went to the store (yes, it was Walmart) with the 5 and 2 year olds in tow. They were doing great and I was keeping the trip short so we could all make it back to the car still happy. Checkout time. Only one person ahead of me, already checking out so I started loading my things onto the conveyor belt. Swift is what I like. Then I noticed that the lady ahead of me is getting a lot of the same things. Cat food to feed an army (of cats), cream cheese to last a lifetime, and some other items I didn't have time to make out because next thing I see is this woman pulling out a pile of coupons so tall, I knew I was in for it. She could have told me. I would have appreciated the warning.
So one by one, the cashier goes through those blasted coupons. I tried to be all nice and friendly and made small talk with this lady. She proudly told me about her "technique". She pulls newspapers out of the big recycling containers and then finds the sales to match them. "It is amazing how people just throw away the coupons. The recycling containers are full, I don't even need to climb in". While I admired the dedication of this woman, I knew those people have good reasons to just throw their coupons away. Luckily there was a display of pillow pets by the checkout stand so the girls kept themselves entertained, but to be honest, after a few minutes of coupon-scanning, I wished that Jo would give them a taste of what she can pull at a store when she is in a bad mood. That way they would "feel" the inconvenience that was being imposed on me.
It turned out that the store actually owed the lady a whopping $60 for shopping with them. Wow! But money is money, so here comes the manager to go through the whole stack of coupons AGAIN!. I was done being patient. Really done. I told the manager about how careful the cashier had been the first time around and could you please just trust him because I have waited enough. No, she must check again, and then a third important person comes and grabs some of the coupons. AAAAGGGGHHHH! I paid for the convenience of waiting behind this person AND full price for my stuff!!!
I had no choice but to grab my things and move to the next checkout. Fuming, I told this other cashier that they should have lines just for couponers. She just shrugged and said "I wish we could". Didn't she see my frustration???!!!! Of course you can! and what you need to say is "You are so right we'll take care of it right away". "Your highness".
Why share this story? no reason other than to vent one of my many frustrations in life. But I truly believe that stores should have one checkout with a sign that says "WARNING, over 10 coupons accepted here".
If you are a couponer yourself and you are at a store with a total lack of warning signage, then please, kindly flash your coupons to those who dare stand behind you so we can choose a different fate.
I never knew if the lady got her $60. If she did, I should have gotten half.
And now a penny for your thoughts: What does couponing do for you?
