Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Couponing Burnout

After a year of not quite "extreme" couponing, but definitely a form of religious couponing, I have to confess... I'm getting tired...

I've been collecting coupons from people at church, driving around to area Starbucks grabbing discarded inserts, and (confession) even grabbing Sunday coupons from recycle bins around the block, because one set of inserts just isn't enough! Most deals need at least 2 like coupons, and some of the BEST deals need 5 or more. So I gotta get them. I hate missing a deal. Like it literally gives me a sick feeling in my stomach.

Then there's the check out counter. Besides arranging my schedule to avoid a long line of impatient customers behind me, there's always the annoyed and unbelieving cashier who I swear is out to reject my coupons. So there's the conversation that has to happen about how my coupon-deal combination is valid, showing their store's coupon policy, and even maybe a manager that has to come key in some code in the evil register that doesn't want to make my deal.

Of course it's no fun when you walk into the store with a whole long scenario in mind, and to your dismay it's only day 3 of the sale and your deals are sold out... This happens about 50% of the time.

Let's not forget the time it takes to read the coupon blogs, print, find the necessary coupons from your large file box, organize and plan your trips. This takes longer than you'd think...

So with all this... I'm getting tired...

Of course, it's definitely fun to come home with 10 boxes of Gain dryer sheets, 12 sticks of Right Guard deodorant, 7 bottles of Nivea body wash, 5 tubes of Crest toothpaste, 6 Reach toothbrushes, and 4 bottles of Garnier shampoo for free, or even earning $4 of store-specific bucks. Or spending .33 on boxes of Loreal hair color, .50 on Quaker Granola cereal, .13 on Bertolli pasta sauce, and $2.50 for a pack of 40 Huggies diapers. (All these deals I actually got, just look at my pantry... it's a mess.) These scenarios are what makes me sick to pay full price for anything.

But I just don't know if I can keep up with it anymore. It's a little exhausting. I guess if it was easy, everyone would do it. But at the same time, I don't know if I can let go of all these deals! Sigh... We'll see how I feel in the next few months...

Do any other new "couponers" feel this way?

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