As I’ve said before, I’ve always been a bit of a cheap skate
with an affinity for the finer things in life. That is, I enjoy stretching my
dollars and getting the very best I can. This requires creativity and coupons
when shopping for name brand clothing and groceries, traveling, going to
restaurants and just plain enjoying life.
Recently, I discovered a show Extreme Cheap Skates on TLC. I
watched the show since I’m really not into the scary Halloween shows that were
on other channels and okay, I’ll admit it, with a name like Extreme Cheapskates,
I was curious how I stack up with those who are considered “extreme”. Last week’s episodes featured people saving
money by doing crazy things like only using electricity after midnight, using a
bakery’s display cake for a wedding and even renting out a retirement community
for a ten year old child’s birthday party.
Nope. I’m certainly not that extreme.
With shows like this, I worry that these extreme cheapskates
or extreme couponers ruin it for the rest of us. Those who haven’t felt the thrill of
routinely saving fifty percent off groceries or claiming a name brand sweater
for just a few dollars may see these shows and form stereotypes about savers
and clippers. They have visions of sold out shelves, caravans of carts filled
with 100 boxes of macaroni and cheese and transactions that take 20 minutes to
complete.
These “extreme” people are characterized as rude, pushy,
sloppy, irresponsible and generally obsessed with not spending money at any
cost. As a shopper, I am friendly, courteous and don’t even come close to
having a stockpile that could last me ten years. Yet, I’ve felt the stares and
have seen the eye rolls when I pull out my coupon binder at the store. What’s worse is that many times the eye rolls
come from the store employees.
Generally, I tend to have a thick skin about what others
think. I dismiss the stares and tell myself they are just jealous of my
successful savings, which may or may not be reality. I’m proud of being a
saver. Couponing in moderation and saving money should be nothing to be
embarrassed or guilty about.
Businesses provide coupons and offer sales as an advertising
ploy to get you to purchase a product you weren’t intending on buying or going
to a store or restaurant you hadn’t tried before. This works often enough that
coupons can be found in multiple media- newspapers, magazines, product web
sites, social media outlets and even on the products themselves. Retailers get a kick-back of about 8 cents per
coupon on top of the value of the coupon so it’s a win-win for manufacturer,
consumer and stores.
The trick is to use this advertising ploy to your best
advantage by matching manufacturer’s coupons with store coupons and/or sales;
keeping track of retailer’s sales cycles; and being a smart, creative, and
responsible consumer.
I wish this would be the type of consumer featured on TLC’s
programming. But then again, I guess a half hour show called Everyday Cheap
Skates wouldn’t pique viewers’ interest or get very high ratings.
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