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So, How Do You Shop?
I know that sounds like a stupid question, but... really, how do you shop? There are a lot of different kinds of 'shoppers' in the world. Here are a few of the ones I can think of. Bet you can think of a few more if you try...
- The 'walk around and see what I can find' shopper
- The 'make a list and add to it as I go' shopper
- The 'make a list and get only what's on that list' shopper
- The 'cut out a gazillion coupons and go through the pile on shopping day' shopper
- The 'cut out the coupons and organize them by catagory, in a binder 5 inches thick' shopper
- The 'plan the shopping trip with coupons and an online service' shopper
Let's take a closer look at these different types of 'Shoppers' and see how effective (or not) that they actually are.
The 'walk around and see what I can find' shopper
I must confess, that I was once the extremely disorganized 'walk around and see what I can find' shopper. This person usually has no idea what they want, especially if searching for clothing. They start at the sales table and then wander through the rest of the clothing in their size, picking up garments as they go, before heading to a fitting room. Some do not even try on the items in the store, but purchase them, take them home to try them on, and end up returning most of it. This is a total waste of the shopper's time as well as the sales person who must process the returned items. Factoring in the lost time, the cost of the gas for the car, wear and tear on the shopper and her ride home, it costs more than the savings in the long run...
The 'make a list and add to it as I go' shopper
This kind of shopper is usually found in a grocery store. They start at home with a list of what they actually need, and once in the grocery store, they add items to the basket as they go, completely willy nilly. This is even more likely to happen if the shopper has not had something to eat before leaving for the store. If there is a child along on the shopping trip, the begging, whining and screaming for additional items also is a factor as to what ends up in the basket. Most haried moms will give in once or twice just to gain a temporary truce - until the next thing that appeals to the wee one...
The 'make a list and get only what's on that list' shopper
This 'strictly the list' shopper is usually a man, though I have seen a few women who are on a strict budget do the same. I see nothing wrong with this kind of shopper, but they may end up passing up some extremely good buys using this method. I totally understand this if they are on a tight budget though. I have been there before and it does take that kind of discipline to squeek by on a tiny bank balance.
The 'cut out a gazillion coupons and go through the pile on shopping day' shopper
This is the kind of shopper that gives me the same mental reaction as someone scratching a chalkboard with their fingernails. In short - it drives me NUTS! First of all, why bother to cut out the coupons if you leave them in a mixed-up heap somewhere? One can never be sure until examining each one if they have expired, or not. You also will be unable to know, before going through the entire pile, whether the coupon you need is indeed in that heap! Again, wasted time and energy...
The 'cut out the coupons and organize them by catagory, in a binder 5 inches thick' shopper
I first had an encounter with this kind of shopper about four years ago. Amazed at the huge binder stuffed full of well organized pockets of coupons, I asked her what she was doing with it. She obliged by patiently explaining that this was her method of saving a bunch of money every week. She cuts every coupon that comes in her Sunday newspaper and puts them in the binder by catagory. She uses collecter trading card or photo plastic sleeves to keep the coupons in inside the binder. She makes her list and goes shopping with the binder. It is a far better method to organize the coupons than the 'pile' method used above, but there are even better ways of doing this that saves time, and yes, money!
The 'plan the shopping trip with coupons and an online service' shopper
This shopper uses what I fondly refer to as 'The Ultimate Method' for grocery shopping. This wise person uses an online 'service' that coordinates the weekly ads in local grocery stores with recent coupons in each week's Sunday newspaper inserts. Yes, it does cost money, BUT...
I never would have started using a service if my youngest daughter had not excitedly told me how much she saved in one shopping trip. She had done what the service instructed her to do, made her 'need' list first, then went to the 'list' inside the service and checked the savings available. She bought over $325.00 worth of grocerys and paid only about $75.00 for the whole thing! Everything else was either a free item with the coupons (the store doubles and triples coupons), or a drastically reduced item. She seldom spends more than $ 0.25 for toothpaste, or more than $ 0.75 for a bottle of shampoo. What one can do using the correct method would absolutely blow your mind!
The 'Service' that I use does not require cutting out every coupon in the newspaper (or mail) inserts. In fact, it tells you to simply take the inserts and clip them together (or place them in a file folder) with the date of the newspaper they were in. The service actually will tell you which coupon, in which insert (there are several nationally), and which date of newspaper. to clip and take to the proper store to get the level of savings that they tell you is available. They will even list the 'regular' store price, the 'sale' price of the item, and the 'final price you will pay' for each item. It also tells you the exact percentage of savings you will enjoy for that item. The really nice item is the one with a final price of 'FREE' that you can find each week.
If you find that you would like to have several of each item and have only one or two coupons for it, it can be well worth your time and money to go out and purchase additional newspapers that contain the inserts each week. Depending on what part of the country you live in (and sometimes which neighborhood you live in within metropolitan areas), you may even get a second set of some of those same coupon flyers in the mail. | 
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