The Evolution of the Coupon
When I was a little girl, I remember helping my mom clip coupons from the hefty Buffalo, New York Sunday paper. We’d drink tea, eat cookies and watch T.V., while we did our coupon clipping. It was a memory I still think of fondly. As a six year old, I already felt like I was contributing to the greater good of the family, with every snip of my safety scissors (even though I’m sure I clipped the expiration dates off a few coupons). There was also that feeling of a treasure hunt each week. You never knew what wonders would be provided in the paper’s offerings.
Then I grew up. In my teen years, I had little appreciation for saving money. It wasn’t till I had my own kids, financial reality abruptly dawned and I began the Sunday snipping ritual once again. I’ve shared this for years with my children.
Then e-coupons came about. Our coupon clipping Sunday afternoon events became rare. Why pay for news or coupons when their free on the net? But we still hoard our e-coupons, print, cut, and catalog them for use. At least we have some “e-moments” revolving around savings.
Now even our e-coupon moments are up for grabs.
Kroger and P & G (Proctor and Gamble) have a program where you can sign up and preload your Kroger Plus Card with selected coupons. Then you can print an optional list of claimed coupons (an eco-friendly text list is available) and hustle off to the store. No more hunting coupons, no more clipping of coupons, (nor even printing them for that matter). All you need to do is show up at your local Kroger and scan your card to receive the discounts.
At present these e-load coupons are only for Proctor and Gamble products, such as Tide, Downy, etc. With hundreds of P &G items available, there still are a plethora of savings available.
E-load coupons are green. They are printer friendly, wasting less ink and paper to print a list than a series of coupons (or skip the list if you’d like).
I’m nostalgic about this, as you can tell. I see the value of coupons and am glad to receive them however it transpires. The ease of doing this is breathless. It saves time. There are a million great reasons to love e-load coupons. I suspect it will only be a matter of time before this catches on and every retailer or manufacturer is offering these. However, I will still miss those Sunday afternoon events, with my grandchildren, teaching them to save, while drinking tea, to the sound of safety scissors snipping. I suspect we older generation will need to discover other means to teach bargaineering to our kids. E-load your Kroger Plus card today and enjoy the savings!
Sign up and save today: