I am a bargainista extraordinaire, but I gave up couponing and have never looked back.

Part of the problem was that I would forget I had coupons in the first place. And then I'd buy something without the coupon and all my time cutting the damn things was for naught. But, I really rarely buy things that have coupons anymore. I sort of shop the perimeter of my grocery store (produce, meat, bakery) and leave the center aisles (processed food) unwalked. Not bothering with coupon sections is freeing...and makes it less likely that I will buy some stupid treat just because I have a coupon. Not couponing may actually be saving me money. So there.

I finally got some used jeans that fit

Forgot to mention, yesterday when Savers denied my coupon (that I had earned through making purchases), I did buy some jeans that were 30% off because it was a "sale" day. One pair of Gloria Vanderbilt Amanda jeans was $6.66 and the other was $4, both were in really good shape. I also bought a pair of Gloria Vanderbilt jeans that weren't "Amanda" and they did not fit at all. Took them back today (Savers allows you return an item within 7 days if it still has the tag on it and you have the receipt, though you must take your "refund" in merchandise that same day...a lousy return policy for a for-profit store like Savers, but better than most thrifts). I returned those today and bought some of the stuff I was going to buy with my coupon yesterday (today was "seniors" day, so I got a 25% discount). I think Savers is very expensive for most stuff, but I really needed some jeans.

My love/hate relationship with Savers is really more a hate/hate relationship

I had a 30% off coupon from buying a certain amount of merchandise during the Christmas shopping season. I went to use it today, after a long shopping session, only to be told it expired. While the dates during which you had to do the shopping to earn the stamps were somewhat prominent (for fine print) on the coupon, the expiration date of the coupon was hidden in even more fine print on the back. Sigh. It's bad enough that they seem to go out of their way to make you think they are a nonprofit (they are not), but then they have this kind of thing going on. Wasted all that time shopping for nothing. I must have had at least 20 pieces of glassware in my cart. Maybe I'll go back tomorrow and see if any of it is left (tomorrow I get my senior discount).

Be sure to checkout the back of those receipts at the grocery check out

If you shop at a grocery store that prints coupons on the back of its receipts, check 'em out! I officially gave up clipping coupons from the Sunday newspaper inserts because they are mostly for processed foods and I don't buy processed foods. But the grocery receipts have some interesting local pizza joint coupons AND, at least in my area, $4 off at AmVets coupons...which usually have a longer expiration date than the coupon on your receipt at AmVets.