The Coupon "Rush"…
As I walk up to the register, my hands start to tremble and my heart starts to beat. My eyes are moving around quickly… I am trying to catch at least a glimpse of each cashier. The cashiers that look the most promising get yet another glance from me. Oh who should I choose… decisions, decisions. As I walk closer to the cash registers, my breathing picks up speed and the sweating starts to ensue. Yes, I am getting near the point of what I like to call “Coupon Chaos”.
I choose the cashier, the hardest decision of all, a guy in his early 20s who looks as though he just came from the beach. He smiles and I begin to nervously chat… I am not sure what exactly I’m saying, but things are definitely coming out of my mouth. With each item I put on the belt, my talking (if that’s what you want to call it) picks up pace. Soon enough, I have to completely stop as I’m running out of breath! Oh, I am so close to the finish line.
The “surfer dude” (the young cashier who appears to have come from the beach) lets me know my total… my very high total I might add! As my hand shakes, I smile nervously and pull out my coupons. The mountain of coupons I’m pulling out don’t all make it on the counter, so I bend down to pick up the ones that have taken the plunge to the ground. As I bend over, I am so thankful that I chose to wear a long shirt as I am wearing low-rise jeans and well, bending over and low-rise jeans don’t really go together. 😉
As I hand him the coupons, one by one, yes, I am that anal… I notice the person behind me. A lady in her mid 30s with a in-a-hurry look on her face. She glances at my large pile of coupons and has a very confused look on her face. As the coupons keep getting scanned, I can feel the tension build up behind me. Finally, I hear her high heels tapping the ground with force… she wants me to know that I have inconvenienced her day in a big way. I ignore her knowing that I’m almost there… I am at the home stretch.
As the “surfer dude” scans my last coupon, I let out a large exhale. Phew… I feel like I’ve just run a marathon! The ‘Surfer dude” states, “Wow! You saved $91.50 and your grand total is just $2.39.” I smile slowly trying to contain my excitement and pull out my money. I am able to give him the exact change. He hands me the receipt as my smile grows. I stand there with pride as I look up and down that magnificently long piece of paper. Life is good!
As I leave the store, I know beyond any reasonable doubt that every part of getting to the moment of victory is so worth it in the end. And now I can head home with my head held high and brag to anyone who will listen.
Wow, I can SO relate to everything you just said.
Thanks for the male cashier experience. I was wondering about how you did all the coupons in the end. Because it never fails, at the end when the cashier rings up (I usually give the coupon all in one big stack) they miss one or two of the coupons, and it is usually the high dollar ones.
That just happened to me today …. $2 coupon…
Ha ha! I know how you feel! So funny!
How true is this!?! I am the exact same way as is probably everyone! This is such a great picture of you! 🙂 Thanks for posting such a great story that we can all relate to!
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Great post! I’ve even experienced a cashier who shared her story of a good RR deal with me!
Glad I’m not the only one that gets so nervous when it’s time to check out! 🙂 I went yesterday and a lady pulled up behind me and I was so afraid she was going to be the toe tapping impatient one but lucky for me she was as thrilled as I was with her total! She said I inspired her to want to go home and try herself! Made my day! 😀 Oh I fogot to say I saved $221 I spent $10 oop but I got a $5 cat back! Not bad!
Last time i picked a young male cashier (around 20yrs) at Target and he turned out worst. He won’t accept coupon that is higher value than the product. It was 1cent over to be exact. I asked him to adjust coupon, he said he can’t…… Yippeee….we all had bad and good day.
Same here, guys at Target are the worst for me.
It’s good to know I’m not the only one that gets that nervous, pounding heart, almost passing out feeling when I have to use a lot of coupons! I think it is a mixture of fear and excitement. Fear of the deal not working out or coupon rejection and the excitement of getting something for nearly nothing.
I think you just repeated my same shopping experience this morning. A few things I do: I write down the price of “free item” or “BOGO” items on my Qs so the cashier doesn’t have to look it up. I always warn the people that get in line behind me that I have a lot of coupons so they might want to get in a different line. If they only have a few things I always let them in front of me. I have also been a coupon fairy and shared and given some of my Qs to folks in line when I can see they have the item already in their cart. One lady was so excited today becase I gave her a couple coupons to get free pasta today at Kroger. She had never seen printable coupons so I told her how to print them.
Love it!!! I too have been known to get in the line with the surfer cashier! They are often fast, energetic, and do not like to ask for help if a coupon beeps (typical man 😉 ) They fix the issue themselves. Great post!
Love this post! This is me to a t! I love the coupon rush & walking out of the store knowing I am spending my families money wisely!
My feelings exactly!! I always get jitters, but when my total is 3.47 and it was originally 58, I get the best feeling.
So funny to hear your story and the comments as so many of us can feel your anxiousness throughout the whole “ordeal”. Great OOP
I’m glad to hear that I’m not the only one with those kinds of feelings… :p what I always do is count how many coupons I’m giving and I spread them so the cashier can grab then easily putting the big ones on the bottom and the little ones on top these has always worked great and never missed a coupon however at the beginning there were a few cashiers that would put all my coupons back in a pile so now when I hand the coupons I tell them that I arranged the coupons that way to make the scanning process easier for them and they are always grateful for that.
I do the same thing =D
Glad to know that its not just me 🙂
If I have too many coupons, I try to do separate transactions so as not to hold up the people, if I have time… 🙂 Some people get impatient even if you are using only a couple of coupons(especially people like my husband who is always in a hurry).
Men…get in, grab it and get out.
“Thats what she said!!” 😉
LOL!
LOL.. That is how my husbands feels.. Grab and Pay..
I think the reason couponers get all the jitters, nervousness and the like is because we’ve been harrassed for so long that we have come to expect a hard time checking out. I think its the anticipation. It is so stressful trying to save money. It’s even more stressful for me because I don’t have anybody to help me so I have to take my chronically ill child with me that has seizures at the drop of a hat. She’s also developmentally delayed and doesn’t even understand what I’m doing when I am at the registers. If she gets bored she has a seizure. I’m fixing to have to give up shopping and trying to save money…the stress is killing me and I can’t ever seem to get a cashier at any store that doesn’t act like I’m a pain.
Hey Dee,
I am so sorry to hear that you are stressed, but please know there is help for you and your daughter. If you would like, please email me at latosha.jarman@nc.eastersealsucp.com and I will try my hardest to find agencies in your area that can help your daughter. I hope you have a bless day.
I am so sorry for what you are going for. It hardly seems fair, the stress we endure to save money.
I think that the “coupon rush” sometimes prevents us from looking at couponing in a more logical fashion. I took a long break from couponing when I was a couple months from moving (didn’t want to have to pay to move a stockpile too) and it was so liberating to not have to plan, to not have to fight, to only buy what I absolutely needed.
I’m not always convinced the savings are worth it, or are in fact savings at all, now that I am back into the coupon game. Especially now that I live in a big city and have the convenience and cheap goods available at Costco and Aldi’s. Now that I’m couponing, I find it easier to get stressed about stuff again. I get upset if I miss a deal. I went on a rampage through the house the other day because I accidentally threw away two inserts and the Visine printables (which I needed to buy anyway, grrr!). I was so upset my chest hurt for the rest of the night. My new apartment feels cluttered, I never feel that my stockpile is organized enough and things end up going bad before they are used. I’m a Type A person, easily prone to stress, and with an all-or-nothing mentality and to be honest I suck at planning and stockpiling. It doesn’t help that I was formally a spendaholic (several thousands dollars in debt that I’m now paying off), and I feel like couponing brings out my nasty consumerist ways – I want to buy, buy, buy! I may be spending less out of pocket than I used to, but I’m bringing all of this extra crap into my home and the more I buy, the easier it is to slip and lose ground on my progress to frugaldom.
I guess the whole point of this is to say, don’t feel bad. I think we forget that couponing is NOT a good thing for EVERYONE ALL THE TIME. Is it savings if it deterioriates your health and mental well-being? That’s too high of a “cost” to “save money”, in my opinion. It may not be a good time for you, as I think I’m beginning to find out for myself. It doesn’t mean that you can’t save money other ways, or that you can resume couponing later when life settles. Also remember that not everyone has the same coupon-playing field. Some areas double. Some stores are wary of coupons and train their cashiers to be ultra-critical of them. Some people are willing to buy just any old brand when it goes on sale, some have to buy specific brands. Just because someone saved $91 on their bill does not necessarily mean you can too if there are other geographical factors at play. I know that because of the area I live in (no doubles, low Q values), our state tax on pre-coupon totals, the fact that you can’t legally comb recycling dumpsters for free Qs, there’s no way I could save $91 and pay only $2 on a bill, once I factor in all of the costs. So don’t beat yourself up about that part either.
P.S. The thing above all else that has reduced my grocery budget is meal planning. It’s absolutely amazing to me! As for other items, like household cleaners, I’ve gone back to basics when I ran out (bleach, white vinegar, etc.) and haven’t really gone back, as I find those options to be even cheaper than coupon brand items.
Thank you for the laugh! It’s nice to know there are people out there who can relate to my couponing lifestyle!
I FEEL THE SAME WAY!! My last shopping trip was so cool though….My “sleepy college girl” cashier looked irritated to be at work…it looked as if she had just rolled out of bed. I was hesitant to choose her, but it was either her or the heavy smoking crabby lady that coughs all over me and my groceries. My choice was clear. Anyway, I handed her a stack of coupons and could not contain my excitement any further. i started rambling and explaining my new “extreme couponing” lifestyle and she laughed and listened. She spotted my binder and said OMG I have never seen such a thing. Then after my victorious score of $72.00 in coupon and sale savings with just 12.00 out of pocket combined with my little happy dance, the cashier told me how awesome that was. She said that “This was the most fun checkout ever!” I think i found my girl!! lol
lool, yesterday I had an older cashier at Target as my cashier, I’ve gone to her before. The first time I checked out she said ‘that was awesome!’, yesterday as I paid she asked me how I got these coupons, I told her to go to your blog lool. As for the people in line, if you don’t like waiting find another line, my money, my time and I owe you nothing 🙂
That was amazing! Thank you for the details and the laugh!
PERFECT! Thank you for sharing! It is so good to know that I am not alone! I thought this feeling would go away but I’ve been doing this for over a year and it has not. I get so nervous! and I am always dropping coupons… sale papers.. whatever I can drop! I turned my binder upside down in the Walmart parking lot last week. It was on a VERY breezy day. But I guess on this particular day God felt bad for me. Because He told the wind to be still until I finished picking up my coupons! I had a car stop and stare until I finished picking them up. I could not bare to look up at them! LOL!!! When I stood up a big whirl of wind blew by me and I said thank you GOD! 🙂
I’m sure the video camera people have a good time watching me go round and round in the stores.. looking at stuff over and over and over again. Dropping coupons along the way and then going back to find them! I can only imagine if someone was to follow me around all day. They would think surely I was insane! I get soooo nervous at checkout time that I still mess up and end having to return things. 🙁
It’s great to know I am not alone! So now I will just accept that this is just the way I am and it’s likely not going to get better. BUT thats OKAY! 🙂
THANKS AGAIN!
Wow Collin, you’re a great writer! and yes, you completely summed up exactly how we all feel on our shopping trips, Good Job, and thanks for all you do, XOXO!
Srsly? you saved $91, only spent $2???!!!!!???!!! I really need to get better at this couponing thing. I am not that good. Not even a teensy bit close.
Me either!! I think that’s because none of the stores up my way double! Here’s to hoping they will some day!
I know right! I don’t know what I am doing wrong!! I get happy when I spend $50 and save $10!! LOL
This post totally made me smile. Like others, I could have written it myself. I thought I was the ONLY one who cashier hunted (also love those young guys lmao) . Glad I’m not the only one. I always chat up the cashiers or have my cute, well-behaved, verbal toddlers do it. It works 99% of the time!
I love calling my husband after saving tons of dough. He used to make fun of me for using coupons, but now he gets just as excited as I do lol. I told him even if we won the lottery, I would still clip coupons and look for great deals :).
LOL! My toddler is very good at charming the lady cashiers. 🙂 His slick ways have gotten Mommy out of tight spots before! Which works for me, because I’m completely shy and probably come off as cold … not the greatest thing when you’re trying to convince a cashier that yes, you can use that coupon on this product! lol
I save money, around $50, but I have yet to be able to spend that little.
You Go Girl !!! That was awesome. Don’t worry about the woman behind you she could always go to another line… He He …
Darn, I was hoping that someday I would not get so nervous when I was ready to checkout. Well, it sounds like it will never happen. The high I get afterwords is worth every nervous second though.
I loved this post. I hold it together pretty well until I get into my van- then I giggle and laugh out loud- big old laughs- because I’m so pumped about how much money I just saved!! Thanks for all YOUR hard work getting us these deals- if I had to do it all myself, I probably wouldn’t be able to do it:-).
that’s the RUSH I love…
we call it the Holy $hit factor!
hahaha, I do the same thing because it almost feels like I’m stealing sometimes!
Love this post!! I know the feeling!
Well said!
well we all know what you are talking about it feels great when all goes well yippee
WOW so true! I also get nervous and sometimes sweaty! I’m not sure why but I find myself saying ” I’m sorry” when in fact I’m not sorry at all!
I just recently started teaching my sister to coupon and one of the first things she noticed is that I tend to keep the cashier talking! (I never realized It guess) but yes I bring up what ever I can to keep the mood up beat!………….
This is why I shop with my husband and make HIM go through the checkout with the mountain of coupons. I married VERY well….love him!! =) (I gladly take our four little kids to the car so it seems like I’m doing some work while he checks out! LOL)
My husband does the majority of or shopping at target and the grocery store, so he is the one who uses a lot of the coupons I clip. I find the coupons and tell him where the deals are, and he goes and gets them! My husband is awesome with the coupons 🙂
This is so funny. So true as well, none couponers just don’t understand!
Loved your story even if some of it is ficticious, I feel the same sweaty feeling almost every time I use coupons too. But, you are so cute, I think you should be a coupon expertise model!!!!
I SOOO.. relate to you’r story. I went to the grocery store yesterday and I chose a young Asian girl who looked relaxed.. =D I always use lot’s of coupons at this grocery store and cashiers have been very polite.. BUT yesterday this cashier started saying very frantic.. wow I’ve never seen this many coupons before, where did you get these coupons? I just said I’m sorry.. Then the cashier turns to another cahsier and says “look at all these coupons, this is going to take me forever.” I felt terrible.. I said I come her once a week and I have never had a problem using coupons I’m sorry if I slowed you down. It wasn’t even busy at the store.. NOBODY in line behind me.. I only had $25.00 worth of coupons…I left the store feeling like I did something wrong..=( but when I got in the car and looked over my reciept I felt better!! =D
I HATE THAT!
I already go into it feeling like I inconvenienced the person, dreading the moment I pull out my mound of Qs and they get that “dead-inside” look on their faces. I would probably have cried and ran out if someone was complaining that much about it lol.
if we didn’t take up their time,, someone else would… and at least I’m always nice about it…
WE ARE ONE OF THE REASONS THEY HAVE A JOB.. Quit apologizing!!!!! WE ARE AWESOME customers!!!!!! be proud,,,
and I thought you were gonna talk about the rush of adrenaline you get when you go over your receipt in the car………..
Absolutely hilarious. I think us coupon people experience this all of the time! This morning I dragged 4 young children with me! I little stressful but they were very good!
How funny. I shop several stores and have learned to go to certain cashiers. When I don’t see any I know, I try to pick the younger ones. I have had so many bad experiences that I know how it feels to be be treated like your robbing the store and holding up everyone behind you. So, I try to go as early as possible(usually 8am, my kids are teens), and know that the “good” cashiers will be working. I think everyone has had their share of people behind them tapping there feet, sighing and those wonderful gestures that make them look ridiculous, but when they pay MY BILLS and feed my family then that will be the day I will let it bother me.!!!
When I have those type let’s call it “impatient”people behind me who are giving me the looks over my load of coupons All i do is stand there with my head up and smile to myself and repeat in my head “they’re jeleous! they can’t stend the fact you save so much and they have to pay full price… don’t bother worrying…” makes me feel a bit better!
On my last TArget trip a shopper stopped me with WOW, how do you do this (my binder) how do you stay so organised, she had all her coupons in a Ziplock bag and needed some tips so I took her to the shelves with binders and find one for her needs she was so happy, and she alos found out she can print coupons from theT website -she didn’t know – Im so glad I could help someone.
I also like to leave coupons for others (like baby forumula) getting all happy that some mom will save money and cashiers will have more Q to scan LOL
Ha ha! This is so true! Add in my pink coupon binder that I take everywhere, and it’s perfect!
Way fun. Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Wonderful post! The only thing left out was the last ‘smile’ at the lady waiting in line next. Usually they are very surprised, though they may not admit it.
You need a “like” button for your posts. I don’t usually have a lot to say but I did “like” this post.
I cashier hunt too. LOL!
Excellent post! I have a question to throw out there… I consistently get the cashiers who initially are friendly and when I hand over my coupons, everything changes. If there are no other cashiers I’ll tell them they may need another cashier and they don’t ask for one, and the line starts to grow behind me with very irritated people. This happened at Target last week. Nobody is excited about my savings (except inside I am!), and I hear the sighs and groans of people waiting. I wish they had “coupon friendly” lines in stores! I tend to collect a lot of coupons and then do a big shopping trip and the look of dread on their faces says it all. How do you all handle the signs and groans, from the people waiting in line and the cashier!? I love the money I save but hate the check-out process, seems I always have bad experiences. I’m always organized, write down prices on the coupons and try to do as much as I can to make it easier… but I always leave feeling like I just did something wrong.
Kristie! YOU ARE AWESOME,, and we don’t have to apologize for saving money and using the coupons the way they are meant to be used..
I tell the people in line behind me that if they too want to save this much money, it’s a great part time job! and if they go to hip2Save it will make it EASY PEASY!
Thats a a great idea! I tend to not look “down the line” behind me. I just keep telling myself the money I’m saving is paying for our next vacation!
This might be what you want to hear, but just ignore it! Just remember that nobody wants you to save $, you have to want to save $ and do it for you and your family! I just make small talk with the cashiers and try to joke about it! Like Collin has said, “The young dudes are the ones to go to!” I find this very true! If a cashier has been great with me, I always tell them and then make sure I follow up with an email to the store and let them know what a great experience I’ve had and awesome cashier____________ was today!
Sorry for your frustration, I think we have all been there, you just got to get over it and move on! Save Save Save and do the happy dance when you do!!! That’s what counts! Good thing those grumpy people don’t have to go home with you!
Thank you for the comment. I actually have written to the store and gave kudos to the great cashier and thanked the store for being coupon friendly. I also try to shop at “non-peak” hours, especially if I have a lot of coupons. I just don’t have a ton of time to do smaller trips more frequently. Full time job, family, home, etc…time is precious!
I totally know how you feel. I’m a sensitive creature, so I take it way too personally when people get upset with me (thanks, Drill Sargeant Dad for making me socially incapable to deal with anger LOL).
It seems like ever since I’ve been making smaller trips, it hasn’t been as big of a deal with the nasty cashiers. I also try to bring my twenty-month old whenever I can. I may be a socially awkward mess, but he’s a charmer! 🙂
I do notice that many of the pictures on the blog of peoples shopping trips are much smaller than my shopping. I just don’t have time to make multiple trips to stores between work, family, house, etc. I do notice when its only a few items it goes so much easier. Its funny – I’m a nurse specializing in emergency medicine and I can deal with anything at work that comes my way ~ put me in front of a cashier with a handful of coupons and I feel intimidated! Crazy! I also started dragging my husband with occasionally because he loves to joke and make the check-out process fun and the cashiers have a harder time being cranky!
oh my goodness…….you are good!!!
DId you follow me shopping just now?? 😉
You are too cute for words Collin!
congratulations….
like everyone else. I thought I was the only one that got really nervous, get that hot all over sweaty feeling about going to the checkout line. I have actually scheduled my trips to go to the grocery store late Saturday nights. It’s usually teenagers and I always make small talk to “butter them up.”
Yay for surfer dudes!!!