Have you ever been embarrassed when someone finds out that you use coupons? I used to be very proud of the fact that I put in the effort to save money. I would, ahem, brag about my savings, or at least show them to others in my enthusiastic efforts to get them to convert to couponing. Now lately, though, I tend to be a little embarrassed.
For one, there has been a lot of bad press about couponers, thanks to the extreme couponing show. There has been a lot of lumping every couponer into “crazy.” Not all of use have 25 bottles of mustard on our shelves or stockpile a fort of toilet paper, but the images associated with couponing have now been brought to use by TLC. Just try bringing a coupon binder in your local grocery store and see what I mean. You’ll get some interesting looks for sure.
Many people think that couponers are not only crazy and obsessed but also of little morals. Cashiers are constantly on the hunt now for fraudulent coupons, and any use of a “free” coupon that doesn’t come notarized will earn you a list of twenty questions if not a downright refusal of the coupon.
The other thing I get sometimes if I mention couponing is the comment “Oh I don’t have time for that!” That can be embarrassing, but then I remember that most of the time, I can “earn” more in grocery savings than I can doing anything else. Now, once I become a famous movie star, that might change, but until then couponing makes sense for me and my family.
Still, I am a little gun shy these days to get too enthusiastic about coupons with others. I’ve lost my evangelical slant, but I hope to still set a good example by proving that most people who use coupons are not obsessed or crazy or have too much time on their hands.
Related Articles:
How to Use Coupons at a Warehouse Grocery Store
How to Save on Groceries without Coupons