Couponing seems to be primarily a female hobby, and around here, that is certainly true. While Hungry Bear enjoys eating/using all of the cheapies and freebies I find every week, he absolutely hates going to a store with me!
I think it’s a combination of too much time, too much effort, and the occasional embarrassment. None of this bothers me anymore, but men are different, especially when it comes to shopping habits. I love to clip coupons, skim store flyers, cobble deals together, befriend cashiers, and, most of all, shop! Hungry Bear, on the other hand, avoids the above whenever possible.
When we first started dating, I tried to involve him, thinking my hobby should become his hobby. (Dumb, huh?) After a lot of tension and one really bad fight in the Walgreens parking lot, it clearly wasn’t a good date night activity. (FYI: His suggestion, which always involved watching a Sylvester Stallone movie together, was equally bad!)
My solution? I coupon alone! It’s truly not worth fighting over. Sometimes, he will drive me and wait in the car while I shop, but that’s about it. Would I prefer to have a coupon buddy? Of course, but nobody ever said love was perfect…
Does your hubby also hate coupons?
I used to have a huge collection of coupons. Most were expired, but that was ok because Jewel-Osco used to accept them. I used to love to match up my coupons with the weekly ad!! Once they stopped, I threw them all away. I was so sad/mad/all of the above! As for my husband, he will use coupons up to a certain point. That is, as long as there aren’t too many, he will take the list & coupons I give him & use them. He has seen the receipts where I showed him how much we saved. But if I give him too many, he wants nothing to do with it because he becomes concerned with the embarrassment of making people wait behind him in line. So… he is a light to moderate coupon user, I guess. You are so right, it’s not worth fighting over!
Isn’t it frustrating when stores change their policies?! I get good at their system and then it’s starting over again.
Not a single store in my area takes expired anymore either, which is such a shame. I donate my expired coupons to a military group. They can use them overseas, up to 6 months after expiration.
I’d be your coupon buddy if we lived close together, hahaha. I used to have a (female) coupon buddy. For a while we’d go out after dinner once a week and have a great time shopping the deals at Walgreens and CVS and helping each other out. Then she moved away several years ago 🙁
I think it’s a patience thing with men. They’re not gatherers, they’re hunters, for the most part. But that doesn’t include hunting deals all that much! I think some of them find it a little emasculating. I know my husband often says “I make good money, I don’t need to bother with this!” as if using a coupon or looking for a better deal (by ordering something online via a portal that earns rewards and picking up the item for free in-store later, for instance) is a demerit or something.
My husband doesn’t hate coupons but he won’t look for them or use them if he shops on his own (like when I’m on vacation). This summer, while I was abroad, I asked him to input our home phone number at the register at Publix so any digital coupons that I had preclipped would be deduced and he didn’t want to bother with it so he didn’t do it. Arrgh.
However, he is proud of my shopping skills and will use a coupon for the hardware store or home improvement store if I give one to him, so go figure.
A couple of times, for Mother’s Day and my birthday, I asked him to clean out my coupon organizer for me (i.e. throw away all the expired coupons) and he actually did it!
Nathalie, I’d love to coupon with you! When I see some of your deals, I’m just amazed. Publix does a lot of great BOGO deals that I don’t see here in New England.
My guy is also the same way; he think if people see him using a coupon, they’ll think he’s broke. Funny how men are. I WISH he’d help me organize coupons, but he doesn’t understand my system. He will buy a newspaper or a coupon organizer for me if I ask, but that’s about it.
As for digital coupons, I have a love/hate relationship with them. Many, many times I’ve had them not work correctly and it’s frustrating to battle with customer service afterwards. I like paper best because it’s easier to keep track of.
I think it’s definitely a patience thing.. mine can’t even step into a grocery/any store in general if he knows it’s going to take more than five minutes! Trying to get him to coupon with me would be… just a riot!