Confessions of a Coupon Queen

I was couponing when couponing wasn't cool. For the last couple of decades, I've carried tattered coupon holders in my purse or simply stuffed the coupons in envelopes. The holders and envelopes all tatter after awhile, but my penchant for getting a bargain doesn't.

Not all are happy about my couponing. Almost no one wants to be in line behind me because waiting an extra 30 seconds for the cashier to scan them is unbearable. And at times, my handful of coupons have been met with looks of dismay from cashiers, but I've never had one hand them back as happened to Maggie Moran in Anne Tyler's Breathing Lessons.

In the novel, Maggie had bought shampoo and chicken thighs and legs at the Mighty Value store. She presented a coupon to the male cashier with a "Here, this is for you." The guy took the coupon, turned it over and looked at it and then handed it back with "Well, uh thanks." Maggie was confused at first, and then embarrassed after she realized her friend Durwood Clegg had used the coupon as scratch paper when trying to recall the words to a song. On it, he'd written "Hold me close, hold me tight, make me thrill with delight."

For people who coupon, though, the thrill comes from the savings, especially if sliding that debit card one more time will be akin to violating it. On a recent shopping trip I saved $21.15 with coupons, not counting the discounts that came from using the ubiquitous store card.

Many stores double or triple coupons valued at less than a dollar, but there are other ways to save. Say a store offers ten bottles of a name-brand ketchup for ten bucks. If you like to stock up a dollar a bottle is already a good deal. But use a few coupons at 20 or 25 cents off , and it's even better. You don't even have to buy ten bottles--buy one for a dollar and use a .25 coupon and you get the ketchup for 75 cents.

Coupons can also be used on buy one get one free items. One of my better deals occurred when I had two coupons for dishwashing gel tablets, each valued at $2.25. When the dishwashing tablets were buy one get one free I used both coupons and got the items for nearly nothing. Drug stores also accept coupons, and I relish the memory of clipping a five dollar coupon for mascara and getting it for three dollars.

It takes time to clip coupons or print them from the internet, which can be a turn-off. But my interest is more avid than ever since I began transferring the amount saved from each shopping trip from my checking account to my savings account. Since late last year I've saved enough for a weekend at Myrtle Beach or several good trips to the grocery store. But most importantly, it's money I can hold in my hand.