Coupons

I give up!
{Raising my hand} I admit it, I am not a coupon queen (anymore).

When I was in college, I paid my own way -- clothes, food, books, parking tag, toiletries, tuition, housing, the whole shebang. I used student loans for the tuition, but I paid for everything else myself. In the summer, when school was out, I moved back home and worked at a local bank. I saved all my money so I could buy books, food, clothes, shoes, toiletries, etc while at UT.

Also, my wonderful dad, continued to give me the child support money that he had previously paid to my mom. Legally, he was done with child support when I reached the age of 18, but he continued to give the money to me throughout my college years. It was a wonderful thing for him to do, but it wasn't a lot of money - $140 a month. I also paid for my own gas, car insurance, and car maintenance. I was living lean, but that's how I grew up so it didn't stress me out. I lived within a budget.

To make my dollars stretch, I clipped coupons from the Sunday paper while I attended UT. The local Kroger always doubled coupons so that was a bonus. I had my coupons cataloged, and I was somewhat OCD about my coupon collection.

When I graduated college and lived in my first apartment, I believe I still clipped coupons on Sunday. However, back then, I don't remember there being a lot of coupons for other things. There certainly weren't any grocery store plastic things you had to scan to get an extra discount. I do remember that stores had sales, but I don't remember there being a lot of coupons you had to cut from the paper or that got mailed to you. Maybe there were, but I don't remember that.

Fast forward to now - coupons are mailed to me all the time - from Gymboree, Gap, American Eagle, Limited Too, Michael's, Belk, Talbots, Toys R Us, Chico's, etc. I can't keep up with them anymore. Sometimes, I get a coupon and think "oh, I'll use this one" and I put it in my purse. Then I get tired of all the crap in my purse so I clean out the excess, frayed, dog-earred papers/coupons. Other times, I forget I have the coupon in my purse. Other times, the coupon is at home on the kitchen counter when I need it. Or it's sitting in my car parked at level 2 of The Mall while I'm on level 1 at The Mall.

Last week, I was buying some craft items at Michael's and did not have the Sunday coupon with me. Some people, would put the item down and come back when they had the coupon. That's a great idea, but that doesn't work for me. I don't love running errands or making lots of stops. I do as much one-stop-shopping as possible.

Today, I returned a Land's End item to Sears and a sweater to Gap. While at The Mall, I thought, "oh, I'll buy some Christmas gifts at Aerie and use that coupon I have." Then I remembered that the coupon was at home holding my place in the Jane Eyre book that I'm reading.

I've decided to give up. I will just throw all coupons in the trash, not worry about keeping them, not have them cluttering my purse, car, or desk and accept the fact that I can't handle the coupons (say that in a Jack Nicholson voice).