Coupon Hoarding Comes To A City Near You!

Recently I discovered a new problem in my town. Maybe it is the economy that is driving people to commit crimes for couponing or maybe it is something completely foreign to my mind. Whatever it is, it needs to be brought to an end.

There is nothing that can anger me more than getting up at the crack of dawn on a Sunday morning to go buy a newspaper, pay $2.00 in quarters only to find out once I get home that someone took ALL of the sales ads and coupons out of it. Then, leave the house again to find that the next six newspaper machines I went to either had no papers, or papers with no ads. I wasted four hours, gas and $14 in this insane hunt. That is when I realize that I was just another victim of the coupon hoarder.

What is a coupon hoarder? In the shortest answer possible, a coupon hoarder is a person that will go to any and all extremes to get EVERY coupon they can possibly get their hands on, and they don't mind breaking the law in order to do it. They will steal papers out of your driveway, out of local dumpsters, pay for one paper and take them ALL out of the newspaper stands leaving not even one for anyone else.

Since August, I have been trying to find a reliable newspaper stand. I have gone as early as 6am to get a paper, never having any luck. Now I am noticing that even the "free" papers are missing from their machines too. Is it possible this is the doing of the Coupon Hoarder?

And then it happens! As I am pulling up in front of a paper machine I am startled as this blue van pulls in front of me, almost hitting the front of my vehicle. A woman jumps out, runs over to the machine, puts in $2, takes ALL of the papers, jumps back into her van and speeds off before I can blink an eye. Are you kidding me?

If you are new to couponing you may not know that these people exist. You may also not realize the impact that this may have on couponing in the future. Newspapers may eventually stop supplying coupons at all of it means people steal their papers and cut their profits. Cities may ban the use of newspaper machines if it becomes a dangerous event to score a paper. Not to mention that manufacturers may stop printing them or stores may stop taking them all together if it causes issues in their target markets.

Message to the coupon hoarders of America: I know many people coupon due to the poor state of our economy and I am not convinced it is going to get any better. However, that is no reason to become a criminal in order to coupon. There are legitimate ways to save money. Stop hoarding coupons so that many of the other people out there who have a need to coupon may also score some good deals! Take a few papers, not them all!

Thank you and happy shopping!