I’m at the cab company, going through old emails and catching up on my reading. This article from the New York Times caught my eye – with America’s economy still in the crapper, more people are turning towards clipping coupons – spurring a new renaissance of frugal shopping.
This was a pretty interesting article, talking about trends analysts are seeing (coupon clipping was basically dormant last year – the current spike is similar to the last spike in 1992 when America was getting out of a recession). It was also interesting to hear what people are using coupons for (electronics! cell phones!).
I go through phases with coupons. I do like scouring through the (meager) ads in our weekend paper, but to be honest – I usually buy store brands. Retail coupons are nice, but they usually just prompt me to go shopping and I would save more money by just staying home.
What about the rest of you – have you joined the coupon clipping revolution?
I was couponing when couponing wasn’t cool!
I haven’t really figured out the secret to couponing. I buy mostly generics and have found that even at Walmart, using coupons on name brands does not trump the prices of generics usually. I know other people are successful at getting great deals but I haven’t figured out how to do it. Maybe it’s because I cook mostly from scratch and am vegetarian? Who knows.