Adventures In Couponing

Much like hotel room bibles and fire extinguishers, coupons are the type of thing I’ve always been aware of, but never really needed or used.  As long as I can recall getting a newspaper, either Long Island ’s Newsday that my parents got when I was a kid or the Los Angeles Times I get now, coupons have always been part of it.  

And lately it seems like every other day, as part of some subscription that I never signed up for, I get mailed a stack of offers from every supermarket and generic restaurant in a 5 mile radius.  And without fail, the coupons go straight into the trash.  It’s kind of depressing, actually. 

I figure that in my life thus far, 3 trees have had to die so I can get “2 for $1.99!” offers from my local grocery store. When you consider the collective effort that’s gone into printing and delivering coupons just so they can be thrown out, it’s enough wasted energy to make even the most hardened Exxon executive wince.

Efficiency aside, coupons have always been a mystery to me.  As a concept, I admit it makes total sense, but I’ve just never assumed that I was the type of person to use them.   They must be there for someone else, right? I mean, none of my friends do it, and the only times I’ve seen them in use - it’s typically a very older woman in front of me on line at the supermarket.  And then, the only thing I take away from it is a sense of annoyance that it slowed me down.

Last week, however, during my ritual walk from the mailbox to the garbage, all this suddenly changed.  With the sense of clarity that must have struck Newton the moment he discovered gravity, it occurred to me that I may be missing the point.

In other areas of shopping I go out of my way to save a buck.  I’ll drive across town to save $.08 on a gallon of gas. Shopping online, you’d think I was a depression era mother of 5 the way I price compare and make sure I was getting the best possible deal.  It seems I’d even fly out of the airport 2 cities away to save $20 bucks on a flight.  As aggressive as I am when there’s a sense of anonymity, I cast all that aside when I shop locally. 

Every week, and often every day, stores go out of their way to make it cheaper for me to get the same products.  Not taking them up on their offers runs completely counter to my instinct to save money in every other aspect of my life.  A confused sense of pride has kept me from saving even more money… so I can buy more stuff.  How very un-American of me.  I was suddenly armed with the firm belief that I had to cross over into the world of coupons.

Deciding I should test the waters by starting small - as opposed to couponing a Thanksgiving dinner meal - I decided to start with a coupon for a fast food/take-out kind place in my area.

The object of my affection was Big Mamma and Pappa’s Pizza (36pizza.com), a local franchise whose claim to fame, if you could call it that, is their 36” pie.  The offer: $7.99 for a 13” pizza with 2 toppings.  Located in the East Hollywood section of Los Angeles , it’s the sort of place that I would ordinarily keep driving past when in the mood for pizza.

“Coupons are about saving, not enjoyment,” I told myself as I cut it out of the mailed circular.  To my surprise, however, a quick search on Yelp produced a bunch of very positive reviews.  With a sense of relief that I wouldn’t be having the worst pizza in my life for the sake of saving 4 bucks, I placed my order and headed over.

Stepping up to the counter, I felt nervous about handing in the coupon.  I thought all my fears would be validated and the whole staff would come out to get a look at the guy under 60 who’s using the coupon.  Very quietly, I explained that I had the coupon and handed it over.

To my surprise, however, it wasn’t a big deal.  No scarlet “C’, no second glances. It was completely… normal.   I handed over the coupon, the cashier handed me my pizza and we both said thanks and went our separate ways.

And the pizza was really good! Sauce, cheese, toppings… everything added up and it was quite tasty.  Bottom line was that I got a pizza I would have paid full price for, but saved $4.  Enough savings to get me a free PBR at any respectable dive bar.  I call that a win.

I hope to go back again… never paying full price, of course.  I’m feeling inspired about this. Like when you go to the gym for a few weeks and start to feel like its working, I’ve been thinking about all the meals I have and how much I can save.  

$3-$5 bucks, here and there, actually starts to add up.  If the economic crisis is the result of living beyond our collective means, then I’m going to do my part and be a little smarter about how I spend.  If only to buy me more free drinks. Stay tuned!

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