The Coupon Phenomena

When I was a child, growing up in the fifties, I remember my mom waiting patiently each afternoon for the paper boy to bring the newspaper to our home. She was not an avid reader, but a coupon clipper, and boy were there some good coupons awaiting her discovery. She would give each of us kids a pair of scissors and we would start cutting coupons (that’s how I got my nickname in Kindergarten as “The Scissor Wizard”). Back then it didn’t really matter what the coupon was, as long as the store you went to carried the product the coupon was good and you got the savings, even though you may not have bought that particular item. It was a great way to reduce the grocery bill or save on the price you had to pay for socks; coupons were the way to even the playing field when cash was always short.

As I grew up and had a family of my own, coupons didn’t seem to be as big of a part of life as it had been. Still we always looked for the good buy or the discount sale, or the close out; it was the same thing only packaged in a different way.

Now I am a grandfather (not sure how that happened so fast) and “WOW” coupons are back and as big as ever. The first time I noticed this new coupon phenomena, my wife and I were on vacation with our “rich” friends (they take pity on us occasionally). We were about to stop for lunch when our friends, at the same time said, “stop there, we have a coupon for them” (okay but their food makes me ill). We stopped and enjoyed a “cheaper than normal” meal; of course my stomach didn’t enjoy it and let me know for hours after. Everything we did on that vacation, for a full long week, we did using coupons; if we didn’t have a coupon for some event, we didn’t do or see that. Bread has always been known as the staff of life, but it has been replaced by the coupon, because if you don’t have a coupon for bread you don’t get any. I love our friends; don’t get me wrong, they taught me a great lesson that week: to be rich, you need to look out for your money! That is probably why they are rich and I am not.

In this economic time we live in, coupons can really be the staff of life. We need to look for every opportunity to cut cost at ever corner. Be it an advertising gimmick or not, we all need to save wherever we can, on whatever we can, and use the best products we can, for the least amount of money.

Now as I sit in my easy chair reading the newspaper, or looking through the many ads that come, I have my scissors sitting next to me; prepared to find that next cheap product that I can get with a coupon, clipped with riches in mind.

Stay “happy” whatever you do!