Who uses coupons?

I found...okay, really my husband found, an article today on Who Is Most Likely To Use Coupons.  I found it very interesting and thought I'd share it with you all.  Couponers get such a bad rap much of the time and coupons are misunderstood by so many people. 

I had an instance last week with a checker that I could tell was not too happy about all my coupons.  I wanted to tell her "I'm not ripping off the store...the store will get every penny back, plus 8 more for every single coupon I use".  I wanted to tell her I was not some low life that has to use coupons, that my husband works hard to provide for our family and I'm working hard to make every dollar he earns go further.  But, instead I just sucked it up and smiled and walked away being happy that I saved a ton of money.  If she wants to go pay full price for her groceries she can go right ahead. 

It seems so silly to me now looking back and realizing how much money we threw away before coupons.  My husband and I would walk in to Sam's once a week and feel pretty good if we walked out spending less than $200 for the week...I can't even (or don't want to) imagine doing that ever again.  And we rarely use store brand products.  Don't get me wrong, if the price is right I will...but, with all the coupons out there it's usually cheaper to buy the name brand.

So, who is using coupons?  Here is some of what I found in the article.

• College-Educated are 78% more likely to use coupons
• Women are 67% more likely to use coupons
• Northeasterners are 66% more likely to use coupons
• Affluent Mothers are 55% more likely to use coupons
• Households with incomes over $100,000 are 200% more likely to use coupons

Does that surprise you as much as it did me?  I read a similar article when I first started couponing and it helped me "come to terms" with my couponing.  I used to feel just a tad bit of shame using my coupons...like people would think I needed to use coupons, when in reality it was like a game to me.  Let's see how much I can save on each shopping trip or can I really walk out of the store with a full cart of groceries and pay less than $20.  Yes, you really can!  I get such a thrill now after getting through the checkout and comparing how much I saved to how much I actually spent and seeing that most of the time my savings is WAY more than my out of pocket.

So, go on and save that money and feel good about it.  You are a smart and educated shopper!

You can read the entire article HERE.

Michelle