Image by Hotcouponworld.com via FlickrBowling Green, OH—Cutting out all of the little pieces of paper may just be too time consuming or it could be a little embarrassing to pull out a lot of
coupons at the grocery store. But when knowing how much money coupons can keep in your pocket, why aren’t more people taking the time to collect these “miracle money savers?”
I spoke to a few college students about saving money with coupons. Tara Weis,
Bowling Green State University student, is very money conscious. As she is always looking for more tips on how to save money, especially in the grocery store, she admits that she still isn’t an ad vet coupon user. “Most of the time when I go to the grocery store, I just usually buy the off brand products, I rarely think to collect coupons,” said Weis.
Collecting coupons is not just about saving money, it takes a lot of time, patience and organization to collect coupons. Sometimes it is more simple to find the best store deals.
“Collecting coupons is a little time consuming, but to be honest…I just never really think to collect them. I always think to just get some of the least expensive food items in the store,” said Weis.
A few other college students from the community commented on why they are not using coupons, the reasons include:
-There are coupons on the internet, but you have to print them…and ink cartridges are not cheap.
-Coupons are not cool.
-It’s too time consuming to cut out coupons.
-Can save very little to no money with coupons.
-Do not always think to use them.
-Coupons are unnecessary
Tony Hunter, marketing and promotions assistant director for Bowling Green State University, was not surprised to hear the reasons of why college students do not use coupons. When Hunter was in college he rarely used coupons, however he strongly advises students to use them whenever possible.
“Looking back, I would have used coupons a lot more frequently while in college. We have a free coupon book here on campus. I would advise students to take full advantage of it,” said Hunter.
The coupon books are available throughout
BGSU’s campus, filled with coupons for restaurants, local stores and even tattoo parlors. There is at least $150 dollars worth of savings in each book. However not every student uses the book. BGSU student, Autumn Dettmann picks up at least two of the free coupon books at the beginning of every semester but doesn’t utilize them very much.
“Sometimes I’ll use four to five coupons then I forget to use the book for the rest of the semester. A lot of times I accidentally leave it at home. Carrying around a book of coupons is not always convenient” said Dettmann.
As its not always easy to remember a coupon book when running out the door, technology has made it a little bit easier for people to use coupons. Due to a report from
NPR, some companies are sending out text-message coupons that arrive to your cell phone. And sites like AOL's shortcuts.com make it possible to load coupons on customer loyalty cards, which means going paperless.
Dettmann said she would use coupons a lot more frequently if they were sent to her via text message: “it would be like ‘icoupons’ just for you, sent directly to your phone. Wow…that would be really cool.”
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