One might think the lowest income households would be among the heaviest users of store coupons. In fact, more affluent households dominate coupon usage: 38% of “super heavy” users and 41% of “enthusiasts” come from households with incomes greater than $70,000. Households with income of $100,000 and up were the primary driver of growth in 2009.
News link: here
I have disposable income, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to pay more for something when I could pay less.
When certain people would come to the emergency food pantry I had in my ministry office, I was amazed that they often would not take canned goods that weren’t name brands. I tried many times to point out that often the store brands were comparable to the better-known ones, but only rarely did it make a difference. I’ve lived off of store-brand products most of my life–you’d think those who are really badly off would care about the savings. Some were really adamant about not being able to eat that stuff. I even tried to break it down and show them how much further their food cards would go if they practiced economy at the store (my heaviest pantry raids were always in the the last week of the month), but it didn’t seem to matter. I think coupon-clipping comes into the same category.
I guess this isn’t surprising. From reading comments on various sites and from watching interviews about the weak economy, it seems many who are not well-off believe coupons are something to be used only on a temporary basis to save money in times of need. It seems they feel there is a stigma attached to it. The well-off, OTOH, are far more likely not to care if a cashier looks down on them for refusing to be shamed into wasting money.I don’t use coupons, but my wife does. I am frequently amused when the drugstore cashier gives us a funny look, then she sees us loading the back of our Corvette Z06 with our purchases while she drives off in something that may not get her home.
pssh, people dont get rich by being responsible, they get rich by being white and republican!/s
As much as some hate to admit it, some rich people make their money through honest hard work and fiscal responsibility, while some poor people arrive at poverty through irresponsibility.
Many years ago I was in line at one of those all-you-can-eat salad bar places in Bellevue, WA and when I get up to the cashier I see Bill Gates, his wife and one of their kids paying for their meal. When it was my turn to pay, I asked the cashier what’s it like to have the world’s richest man eating at your restaurant. He said it’s great and then laughed and told me that Gates had used a discount coupon.
That’s how the rich stay rich.
You don’t get rich by spending money you don’t have to.
Thank you! People who are well off, are not well off by accident. These are people who take care of their lives in many ways- being frugal is one.Some poor people are down on their luck, but many of them are simply not very resourceful.
I think it’s a certain mindset. There was a billionaire who mentioned recently in an interview that he still goes out of his way to collect cans and recycle them in exchange for a few cents. He realizes logically that there’s no point considering his wealth, but that it was his mindset to still save money wherever he can.
thats why I FN loooooove walmart.Same Cheerios as the Kroger, $1 cheaper!
well the rich dont get rich by SPENDING their money!!!
Well, I am certainly in that demographic. I use coupons just about every time I go to the store and I am not opposed to stopping at two different grocery stores if it makes sense. I frequent Ross, TJ Macks, Marshalls and Tuesday Morning for almost all of my other purchases though most of my clothes come from Macy’s (their clearance racks are usually as cheap as the closeout stores and you don’t have to worry about factory seconds) I shop at Newegg and Buy.com, take advantage of rebates and sales, in conjunction. I don’t gamble but do drink (not heavily mind you) and I pack my lunch. Some things just make sense and not throwing away money is one of them. If I have a dollar to waste on something I know I can get cheaper using any of the above rather than just buying it, I have a dollar I can put towards college funds, retirement or into my house (I bought when the market hit rock bottom so I should make a nice profit now that values are going back up in my hood).
Be an interesting subheadline:Majority of Frequent Store Coupon Users Well-Off(Majority of lottery players not so much)
Kind of like the study showing the those not-so-well-off are more likely to but chomping the fast food.
WOW!!! You mean by saving money I will have more? The same mentallity of working hard to save money might actually work towards working to make more money????Common sense isn’t so common.
Did anyone read "pantry raid" as "panty raid"?/just curious
Yup, they probably all stereotype a lot too. ***** ‘em I say.
Yup, I met a very wealthy man who would pick pennies off of the ground. Not because he needed it of course, but because having respect for money (not love, respect) is a large part of the mindset of staying rich.
That’s a bunch of *****…. It really takes no effort at all to get a handle on your finances.. Most, hell every "poor" person I know (the bulk of my family and in-laws) have xbox’s, full blown cable and internet services, cell phones, etc.. and they complain. Me and my wife have a small home, two used cars which are paid off, no cable, no game systems, etc.. We’ve always lived under our means and now that I’m making good money, it’s really paid off. Now we can afford to buy the things we want, but we still proceed with caution…
No but I’ll digg you up for panties.
"Seeing rich people clip coupons then get in their luxury vehicle is sickening!!"Why is that? You think wealthy people owe their money to stores? What’s it to you if they don’t wish to waste their money?
I’ve seen people in late model BMW’s and caddies dumpster diving.
same herewe shop at Costco every 2 weeks for meat, milk, muffins, paper productsand at Fred Meyer for fresh things like fruits ad vegetables.i get up early on weekdays to make my husband’s breakfast and pack his lunch..it keeps him healthy and saves us money
What store are you shopping at? Super Target, Wegman’s and Safeway send out ton’s of coupons in the form of coupon books (that are awesome) if you take the time to sign up for one. If you don’t want more mail, try an email list. I maintain an dedicated email account just for the purpose of signing up for stores I may be interested in shopping at knowing they will send great coupons my way.
Like Samueul, I’m calling BS. I grew up extremely poor, and I used to clip coupons when I started out. I know what it takes to go from poor to rich (and back again, lol), and clipping coupons is part of it. If I can save $500 per year with coupons, that is money for my future that I otherwise wouldn’t have had. The real question is, can you make more per hour clipping coupons than you would with other opportunities, and for poor people, the answer is clearly yes. I suspect rich people who do it are people who recognized the value of the habit when they were poor and stuck with it, even if it makes less sense for them now.
The only one’s that can validly claim otherwise are those that are legitimately born into poverty. Even then, it’s not impossible for them to not make it out of the poor house. Hence America being the land of opportunity.
I doubt that. In my experience, well-off people work far harder than poor people. They worked hard in high school and college to get decent grades, worked hard to achieve at their professions and/or businesses, and continually improved their skills to remain competitive. The well-off use the time others use to watch TV and to participate in other leisure activities toward these important areas.
Generally speaking, it is a mindset. When rich people go bankrupt and have to start over, the majority of them will be rich again in a relatively short period of time. Most people with higher income levels got to their level of income through pinching pennies where they can, researching where they invest and working smarter and harder at their job or business. This is one of the reasons that redistribution of wealth doesn’t work.
You have to accept them all if you want the good ones. That’s how it work’s. Then you must spend the time and effort to go through them. Living frugally is not hard, it just take’s time to do it.
Perfect real world example of your statement mdelling…My cousin is rich, he owns and runs a multimillion dollar plumbing and contracting business. We all grew up in a small steel town in PA. My uncle got his business started with some borrowed tools and my father’s air compressor (my dad was an automechanic) and turned that into the business my cousin now runs. He’s been working 16 hour days since he was 17, and now at 36 he’s "rich". HE BUSTS HIS ASS and I could never look at him or his family and say "you didn’t work for your money"…..My other cousin is dirt poor, even worked for my "rich" cousin but ***** that all up with drugs etc.. Even when you have a relative who is willing and able to help you, you can still arrive at poverty through irresponsibility…
Most of the time coupons are for name brand items whereas even with the coupon the store brands are still cheaper.Oh, some store’s 2 for one sales aren’t that great. One regional grocery store runs 2 for 1 sales on fresh meat. If you look at the prices what the store does is jack up the price per # to the point you are maybe getting $.50 per # off(if that), not 2 for 1. Now another regional store does run actual 2 for 1 sales, not on fresh meat, but other items people regularly use. I like the albacore tuna 4 pack sales and try to only buy olive oil 2 for 1.
Your conclusions make no sense, but I’ll simply advise you to pay attention to grocery specials on fresh produce, milk, etc. There may not be manufacturer coupons for them, but all the time I see $1/bunch asparagus, b1g1f strawberries, reduced organic milk, and so forth. I buy the produce that’s on sale.
Before using the "saving means more money in the pocket" argument, keep in mind they’re referring to income which is completely irrelevant to how much you save per year. Then you have to factor in that I as a person who owns a home, I get flooded with store flyers (with said coupons), which wasn’t the case when I used to live in an apartment.
I go shopping for certain foods like meats and canned goods once every 6-8 weeks at BJ’s or Costco. We use coupons. I bet we spend less on food and eat better than people who go shopping at a supermarket every few days. All it takes is a one time investment in a freezer and some pantry space.I also pack lunches as opposed to buying fast food or going to a restaurant for lunch. I bet I save close to 100 dollars a month compared to some of my colleagues on that alone.
Redistribution of wealth doesn’t work if your goal is to make everyone rich. However, if your goal is to make everyone poor it works fairly well.
Coupon users don’t hold up lines. They are merely using offers provided to them by stores and/or manufacturers. If you wish to blame someone, blame the stores for not having better ways of accommodating those who wish to use the offers the stores themselves offer — and advertise.
You don’t truly know junk mail until you have a house and a mortgage.
People should read "The Millionaire Next Door". Frugal habits require self-discipline. Many americans, including those in poverty, do not have it. There is no shortcut to being rich; Either you, your parents, your grandparents, etc. had the necessary discipline to save for the future.
Wish I had learned that lesson sooner.
Same here. We use everything at our disposal to save a buck. I could care less if I’m shamed by using coupons etc, eating at denny’s etc… I make roughly 90k and my wife is a "stay at home mom".. We live well under our means though we still have some consumer debt, but well under the national average. I strive to live about 25k under our means and I’ve found that life is so much easier that way.. We save for retirement, can buy what we want if we put a little effort and time into saving for it etc.. We may not be rich, but we are not burdened and sleep soundly at night..
How do you think wealthy people become wealthy? There is a huge misconception that the well off were born with it or scammed people for it.
No…..they get rich by getting others to spend their money.
Exactly.
"but chomping the fast food."That was quite the slip… one would think the ideal word would be "BUY."
I for one love seeing idiots with 25¢ off coupons for the most expensive brand & least economical size of whatever they’re buying, even if its something with a long shelf life that they’ll be buying more of a week down the road anyways… Or coupons for the store-brand product that don’t bring its cost down below name brandThey could’ve spent the extra 60¢ and got +50% more but instead chose to "save" 25¢ off their $4 item
I don’t use coupons because I don’t get the opportunity…my wife won’t let me do any shopping by myself at places that accept them.
Why wouldn’t you use coupons, no matter how much cash you make. Pretty foolish to waste money. (I also go grocery shopping in the Vette heh, an ’02 Convertible).