Clip And Click: Coupons Return
2009
Talia Holston used to spend about $150 a week to feed herself and her three children. Then she started using Coupons , browsing the Internet for the best ones. These days she spends about $200 a month on groceries. She once walked out of a CVS pharmacy having spent $50 for $200 worth of items. “Sometimes, it really feels like I’m robbing them,” the Washington, D.C., resident said. “I sometimes feel bad.”
That is, until she looks at what stores are charging for food and toiletries. “The price of everything seems to be rising,” she said. “When you walk out spending half what you would have, that feeling is mind-blowing.” More Americans are trying to get that feeling, consumer-behavior experts said. With wages not rising as quickly as the cost of basic necessities, coupons are back in favor after many years of steadily declining popularity, experts said. Eager to lure customers into stores, many merchants are offering more coupons and are experimenting with creative ways to deliver them, such as text-messaging them to cellphones. Consumers, meanwhile, are becoming more savvy about finding good deals, thanks to Web sites devoted to coupon-clipping strategies.
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