While at Blissdom, I ran into the author of  I Heart The Mart, which is a great resource for getting deals at Walmart.  We had a lively discussion on whether or not it’s ethical for people to heavily coupon for food pantries and other charitable causes. Apparently it’s a hot topic for debate in the coupon world.

Now as you know, I’m an advocate for supporting local food banks and I will purposely shop a sale, even if I don’t need the product, in order to donate goods. Last year alone I was able to donate over 900 pounds of food which I never could’ve accomplished without coupons.

I’ve always been very careful to do two things when I shop for food banks….

First of all, if it’s a large amount of product, I order it ahead of time so that the shelves are untouched. I can only think of a couple of instances where I did this in the past year, but I feel strongly that pre-ordering is the way to go. It’s just considerate.

If pre-ordering is not possible, I drive to multiple locations to purchase the sale items to once again not empty the shelves. With fuel prices skyrocketing, it has to be a stellar deal to make this worthwhile. Also, I have the luxury of having many stores within driving distance. I know that I’m lucky that way.

Now for the opposing view…

Some people feel that couponing for charitable causes takes away from the folks who are trying to get the same deals for their own households. And that the right thing to do is to wait until the last day of the sale to make those types of purchases in order for the “typical consumer” (whatever that is these days) to have the time they need to get the deals they desire.

An interesting debate for sure. Is it ethical for a couponer to purchase products solely for donating? Or do you agree that people who donate should only be able to shop the last few days of a sale to scoop up what’s left?

In order to participate in this debate, leave your first name, last initial, the state you are from, and your thoughts. All participants will be entered into a drawing for 8 free product coupons. Entries must be received by Tuesday, March 6th 11:59pm ET.

As usual, let’s keep this debate friendly and considerate. I’m keenly interested in your thoughts on this subject!

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I have the funniest story to share with you. Well, maybe funny isn’t the right word. Ironic. Yes, ironic might be the better word choice. I was shopping at a local store that doubles coupons this past week. I’m no stranger to this particular store and know most of the cashiers.

On this particular day I visited a cashier who doesn’t know me very well. Which is fine, but I’m sure she really wishes she never met me after what happened……

I’m standing behind a young lady with a large order. In her hand is a stack of coupons. “Cool”, I thought. “A kindred spirit!” I watched her place her groceries up on the belt, and patiently waited to say something to her when the opportunity presented itself. I delight in meeting other couponers.

She never made eye contact with me, and proceeded to hand over her coupons. I watched as they were scanned and knew something was off. I wasn’t recognizing the coupons as current. Upon further scrutiny, I noticed that some of the expiration dates were cut off of the higher value coupons. Then my blood started to heat up a bit.

Knowing that I was witnessing coupon fraud, I tried to slyly get the cashier’s attention…..

“Hmmmmm”, I said to the gal in front of me. “That $3.00/1 Snuggle coupon is awesome! Where did you find it??” (I knew damn well that it came out in 2010)

She avoided all eye contact and said “I dunno, a friend dropped the coupons off to me this morning”.

“Well, when does that coupon expire? Maybe I missed it. That sure is a good coupon.” I exclaimed, hoping the clueless cashier would get the clue that I was not so subtly throwing her way.

And at that point I asked the cashier to fish it out and let me look at it. I know that sounds absurd, but it was frying my butt that the cashier wasn’t even checking the expiration dates. All the while the gal in front of me is looking like she wants to throw darts at my forehead. It’s not my fault that fate put her in front of me.

The cashier finally locates the coupon and couldn’t find an expiration date. Why? Because it was cut off. Nice.

The cashier went on to tell me that if a coupon is expired, the register won’t accept it. Baloney, I replied. Not true.

Even though the fraud was pointed out, the customer left with her fraudulent purchase. I was not impressed.

So here’s the question up for debate…..

What would you have done in this situation? Would you have said something if you saw blatant coupon fraud? What exactly would you say? Do you think this is an issue or do you think I’m being too legalistic? Should I have minded my own business?

If you would like to participate in this debate, leave your first name, last initial, the state you are from, and your comment. One participant will be chosen at random and will receive a mystery box filled with products from my famous stockpile. Beauty products, candles, lotions, and maybe even some chocolate and other surprises will be heading to your home if you are the winner. Entries must be received by Thursday, January 5th 11:59pm ET.

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In order to participate in this reader debate, you need to go here and read this article. It’s a very thought provoking piece on whether or not Amazon has crossed the line with its new mobile app that allows people to check prices in brick and mortar stores and then purchase the same item at a lesser price on Amazon.

As a blogger, I get pitches from companies asking me to promote their latest news. This new app from Amazon came into my inbox recently, and I have to admit I was conflicted when I read about it. Amazon wants you to go check out the product in your local stores, but wants you to purchase it through them. They are even offering an incentive $5.00 discount for some of the purchases. I can see why this would make the retailers angry. It basically makes them a product showroom as the article states.

To be honest, I’m already guilty of checking stuff out at the stores and then buying it on Amazon because it’s cheaper. I think many of us do this. It just makes sense to shop where the price is the lowest. But after reading the article, I feel kind of guilty. Is it unfair to local merchants? Certainly offering the $5.00 bonus for going to the store but buying the product through Amazon seems a little slimy.

The article also made me think about Americans losing their jobs. If everyone shopped through Amazon, surely many stores would close. We’ve already seen evidence of this with Borders Books. Boy was I sad when all of my local Borders Book Stores closed.

I can see positives and negatives to the app. Sure, getting the lowest price is good, but taking advantage of local retailers doesn’t seem right to me either. What do you think? Should Amazon eliminate the app? Or is it survival of the fittest?

Those of you who participate in this reader debate will be entered into a giveaway for an envelope of high value and free product coupons. To enter, leave your first name, last initial, the state you are from and your thoughts on this subject in the comment section of this post. Entries must be received by Tuesday, December 19th 11:59pm ET.

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Today on Yahoo Finance there’s an interesting article about how some stores are moving their black Friday sales to midnight on Thanksgiving day. When I first heard this news, I bristled a bit. I’ve already shared with you my unhappiness over stores setting up holiday displays in October. And can I tell you I heard Frosty The Snowman on the radio the day of Halloween? But I draw the line with stores trying to push me out the door to get in line to shop while the pumpkin pie is still waiting to be cut. Even us deal hunters have our limits.

Every year I enjoy Thanksgiving dinner with my family. We eat, chat, enjoy each other’s company and just relax. Much later that night, I drive to the store with the best deals (usually Walmart) and I get in line around midnight for a 6:00am opening. This is already a nutty proposition. I mean, I live in New England after all. It’s pretty dang cold standing outside over night, but I do this because I want to get the most bang for my holiday buck. However, I’m not leaving my holiday dinner to save a few dollars on a television set. You know what I mean?

And now that they are opening many stores at midnight on Thanksgiving, that means people will have to leave their houses by 6:00pm in order to line up to get the deals. We usually start eating dinner around that time! What person is going to slave away on a lavish meal all day long, throw dinner on the table, and grab her  purse and head out the door? Is that what they want us to do?

Let’s not forget about the workers that have to give up their own holiday meals. Sure, there’s the extra pay, but I bet most of them would rather enjoy the holidays with their own families. When the corporate types stand at that press conference microphone in their shirt and tie, telling us that the employees appreciate the extra holiday pay, I want to puke.

Here’s some guy making $300,000+ a year telling me that he’s actually doing the employee a favor by opening the store on a holiday? Baloney. I don’t buy it. I bet that same guy will spend the whole Thanksgiving day and evening with his own family chomping on a turkey leg while his hourly workers head to the store to deal with the holiday masses. Some favor, right?

I think the thing that gets to me the most is the underlying problem. Christmas has become so commercial that it’s the only message anymore. I know it sounds cliche to “remember the reason for the season”, but it’s so much more than that. We’ve become a society of stuff. We spend so much time focusing on shopping and getting more stuff that we are losing perspective on the simpler things. And before you think I’m getting preachy on you, I’m just as guilty.

I also think that the retailers are playing us. The early displays, the piped in holiday music, the push for earlier holiday sales… it’s all a manipulation. I think they are creating a frenzy for the sake of making a buck at the expense of our holiday traditions. And this quite frankly makes me not want to shop in their stores.

So, for me and my family, we just say no to shopping on the holiday. No standing outside with a throng of people. No clutching my Dunkie’s coffee cup trying to stay warm. And most importantly, not spending money at stores whose executives think that it’s a good “opportunity” for their employees to work on a holiday.

What say you? Are you for or against shopping on Thanksgiving day? Those of you who participate in this reader debate by commenting on this post will be entered into a drawing for an envelope of free product coupons (ARV $30). To enter, leave your first name, last initial, the state you are from and your comment. Entries must be received by Friday, November 18th 11:59pm ET.

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An interesting article went up on Yahoo Finance today about a potential hiring boom in store for 2011. The article is very thought provoking and worthwhile to read. At the end of the article is this statement:

“Once things get moving, they feed on themselves,” he said. “There is so much pent-up demand. People have been frugal for three years. There will be a lot of new cars, a lot of new furniture, a lot of people moving out of their parents’ basement.”


and then this:


“Jobs feed income and income feeds more consumer spending. Consumer spending hasn’t come back in a meaningful way compared to other recoveries,” said Brett Ryan, economist with Deutsche Bank.


Now those statements are kind of interesting, don’t you think? I’m not so sure I agree with the experts. The past few years have totally changed the way I shop. Keep in mind that I was careful before the economy went to hell in a blazing high speed train wreck…. but I can assure you that now I’m even more reserved with my spending.

I believe that living this economic nightmare has permanently changed my shopping habits. Every single purchase I make gets second guessed. Do I need this? Will I use it? If it’s free, can someone else use it? I actually think about every purchase I make and whether or not it will benefit myself or my family in the future. I used to not think twice about spending small amounts of money. $5.00 for the kids to order books from Scholastic, $6.00 for movie theater popcorn, $8.00 for a new paperback book that caught my eye, $4.50 for a Starbucks peppermint mocha as a holiday treat. Etc. etc. etc. Those days are long gone.

The me of today now labors over those “luxury” purchases and I definitely fall into the middle income bracket of society. If I’m laboring over a cup of coffee, do you think I’m going to jet off to the furniture store and splurge on a new leather couch set? Am I going to buy a shiny new car because I’ve been deprived of a new car for the past four years? Am I going to say “poor me, I’ve been scrimping and saving during this bad economy and it’s time to throw some cash around”? NO! I’ve been scarred for life.

So I say that consumer spending is not going to rebound as they predict or hope. I just don’t see it happening. Too many of us took some serious hits to our bank accounts over the past few years. My grandmother lived through the depression. Many, many years later even when she no longer had to be careful with money she was. She learned the value or a dollar, a quarter, a dime. She recycled tin foil before it was fashionable. She swapped books with girlfriends and created her own reading club. She took joy in playing board games with her friends instead of going to the movies. If she needed to buy something she researched her purchase and made sure she got the very best price available. (quite possibly she influenced me at an early age) Her experiences changed her spending habits for life.

So here’s the debate….. Do you feel that your spending will increase if you have a sudden influx of cash or do you feel that you will never spend money the same way you did pre-recession? Have you too been changed for life? To participate, leave your thoughts in the comment section of this post along with your first name, last initial, and the state you are from. One winner will receive an envelope of high value coupons and a few free product coupons as well. Entries must be received by Friday, January 7th 11:59pm EST.

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Once every six years or so I’ll splurge on Chanel cosmetics. And when I say splurge, I mean a single shadow or lipstick. Not a quad or the beauty you see above. $70.00. $70.00!!! But these are my colors. Aren’t they pretty? Sadly I cannot justify the expense since I get Cover Girl and Revlon for free after coupons at the drug stores. A girl can drool though, can’t she?

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