# Does anyone here use coupons to eat at restaurant or buying stuff at a store? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 15, 2013, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-here-use-coupons-to-eat-at-restaurant-or-buying-stuff-at-a-store/674014 "2013-11-15T21:29:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2013, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-here-use-coupons-to-eat-at-restaurant-or-buying-stuff-at-a-store/674014/41 "2013-11-16T20:52:55Z")
> [@Antigen](#): > > Oh, I agree. What I mean is I’m not going to go to TGIFridays because I got a free appetizer coupon in the mail, because I don’t enjoy eating there. The money savings isn’t enough to make me want to eat there. New places, though, I’m happy to try at least once. Especially if I can do it for cheap! Ah, I got you. No, I’m not very interested in a free appy at a place I don’t care for, either. 🙂 > [@Rachellelogram](#): > > Someone who can afford to spend thousands on Banana Republic apparel does not live in the same world as people who use coupons on a daily or weekly basis. Thread over. I don’t completely agree with this, either - some rich people get rich because they don’t spend a lot of money, and some rich people _stay_ rich because they don’t _waste_ a lot of money. > [@Queen\_Tonya](#): > > I really don’t think so. I use coupons at the grocery store every time I shop, and I’m in the six figure bracket. I’m just thrilled by the gaming the system aspect, stacking coupons on top of sale prices to get my regular groceries for 60% retail feels like winning. I don’t think I’m in the six-figure bracket, but we’re living pretty comfortably - I still really enjoy getting a deal, too. I got a free $9 pasta sauce yesterday because the price came up wrong at the till (the rule here is that the price at the till should match the price on the shelf, or you get the item up to $10 free). Made my day. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2013, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-here-use-coupons-to-eat-at-restaurant-or-buying-stuff-at-a-store/674014/42 "2013-11-16T20:58:16Z")
It’s very rare for me to get coupons for things I actually buy regularly. It usually doesn’t count as saving if I didn’t want it without the coupon. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2013, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-here-use-coupons-to-eat-at-restaurant-or-buying-stuff-at-a-store/674014/43 "2013-11-16T21:03:12Z")
We’d use coupons more often if we didn’t put them in my wallet and forget that they’re there and finally notice them again after they expire. We live a few miles from a shopping district which offers a raffle every few months. The primary means of entering these raffles is a coupon for a shop or restaurant in that district, the restaurant coupons are typically buy one get one free or buy one get a second at half price deals. Ruby Tuesday’s had a buy one get one coupon in a circular recently, hopefully we’ll get over there before it expires next month. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2013, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-here-use-coupons-to-eat-at-restaurant-or-buying-stuff-at-a-store/674014/44 "2013-11-16T21:16:40Z")
I hardly ever use coupons for food purchases. Like maybe one or two a year at most. I don’t think I’ve ever used a coupon at a restaurant. But I do use coupons at book stores. I have a Barnes and Noble membership and they email me 20% off coupons every few weeks. And I have a membership at my local independent bookstore, which gets me a 20% off coupon every month. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2013, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-here-use-coupons-to-eat-at-restaurant-or-buying-stuff-at-a-store/674014/45 "2013-11-16T21:35:00Z")
I use a coupon whenever I can. Sure I could afford not to, but it’s just a discount. Sitting in my pocket is a coupon with 8 punches on it from a local sushi place and when I gets to 10, I will get a free meal. You bet I will use it. (It is all-you-can-eat, so the price of a meal is fixed.) My wife uses grocery coupons whenever she can. I am appalled that some people think this is infra dig. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2013, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-here-use-coupons-to-eat-at-restaurant-or-buying-stuff-at-a-store/674014/46 "2013-11-17T00:12:44Z")
Usually try to use a coupon whenever eating out. Prices are just getting to high to not do so. And some people complain about the portions being too big – at these prices they damn sure better be big portions! ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Wiggler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/red_wiggler/32/13190_2.png) [@Red\_Wiggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Wiggler)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2013, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-here-use-coupons-to-eat-at-restaurant-or-buying-stuff-at-a-store/674014/47 "2013-11-17T02:40:49Z")
Got 15% off our $110 meal at a local restaurant just last night. Pretty much covered the tip. No shame here. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2013, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-here-use-coupons-to-eat-at-restaurant-or-buying-stuff-at-a-store/674014/48 "2013-11-17T04:13:31Z")
> [@Pauly01](#): > > I dont eat mcdonalds anymore but i saw these coupons where you save like 25 cent for a big mac or something like that. I know many ppl do things to save money but does anyone of you do stuff like that where a coupon gets you say 25 cents off only? I’m not an expert in all things fast food coupons but the ones I see are usually for a buck off a “major” food item (like a Big Mac) or for free items (Buy One, Get One or free fries w/ sandwich purchase). But if you regularly run by McD’s, why not throw the 25¢ coupon in your car and use it next time? I wouldn’t plan a shopping trip around it but a quarter’s a quarter for no extra effort on your part. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2013, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-here-use-coupons-to-eat-at-restaurant-or-buying-stuff-at-a-store/674014/49 "2013-11-17T05:32:43Z")
> [@Rachellelogram](#): > > Hasn’t this always been the case? Look, Safeway pushes its online coupons using an app for a smartphone, which is hardly targeting the poor demographic. I shop at groceries in prosperous neighborhoods, and there is plenty of coupon use. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if coupon use for the middle class was higher than for the poor. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2013, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-here-use-coupons-to-eat-at-restaurant-or-buying-stuff-at-a-store/674014/50 "2013-11-17T05:35:11Z")
> [@Shakes](#): > > I’ve been digging Kroger’s digital coupons. > > You got to their website, click on whatever coupons they have to offer and the discount automatically attaches to your shoppers card. Hell, sometimes they offer free stuff. Not buy one get one free, but actual free stuff. I recall one time I got a free jar of Tostitos salsa. I do this for Safeway, but I dislike it, since you need to make or print a list of your coupon items, and the little catches (like product size) are hard to remember. So you wind up starting up the app for it, and waiting in the aisle until you see what the coupon says. Personalized deals, based on your shopping history, are cool but have the same problem. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2013, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-here-use-coupons-to-eat-at-restaurant-or-buying-stuff-at-a-store/674014/51 "2013-11-17T06:43:17Z")
> [@48Willys](#): > > I do not know about that. It worked for me! My pretty wife married me 28 years ago. If you’ve got 48 willys, I’m not surprised you have a pretty wife who loves you. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![48Willys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/4/db5fbb/32.png) [@48Willys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/48Willys)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2013, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-here-use-coupons-to-eat-at-restaurant-or-buying-stuff-at-a-store/674014/52 "2013-11-17T20:56:28Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > If you’ve got 48 willys, I’m not surprised you have a pretty wife who loves you. 🆒 Well, she SAID that she married me for my 1959 Ford pickup. I told her I married her for her 1949 Willys pickup. We still own the Ford, but she sold the Willys to her brother. Now I own one 1948 Willys CJ-2A running rig, and one basket case 1948 CJ-2A, three 1953 Willys wagons and one 1947 Willys pickup in unknown condition. I just bought it this week. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2013, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-here-use-coupons-to-eat-at-restaurant-or-buying-stuff-at-a-store/674014/53 "2013-11-17T22:58:29Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > If you’ve got 48 willys, I’m not surprised you have a pretty wife who loves you. 🆒 > [@48Willys](#): > > Well, she SAID that she married me for my 1959 Ford pickup. I told her I married her for her 1949 Willys pickup. We still own the Ford, but she sold the Willys to her brother. > > Now I own one 1948 Willys CJ-2A running rig, and one basket case 1948 CJ-2A, three 1953 Willys wagons and one 1947 Willys pickup in unknown condition. I just bought it this week. **njtt** , didn’t anyone warn you not to get him started about the Willys’? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![48Willys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/4/db5fbb/32.png) [@48Willys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/48Willys)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2013, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-here-use-coupons-to-eat-at-restaurant-or-buying-stuff-at-a-store/674014/54 "2013-11-18T09:36:17Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > **njtt** , didn’t anyone warn you not to get him started about the Willys’? 😃 Shhh, that is a secret!😉 ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2013, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-here-use-coupons-to-eat-at-restaurant-or-buying-stuff-at-a-store/674014/55 "2013-11-18T11:38:57Z")
Even the nicest restaurants often have coupons in disguise. For example, Morton’s will offer a limited selection four-course duo for a (discounted) fixed price, which is less gauche than asking patrons to print out a coupon for “free pie!” But don’t fool yourself that this isn’t a form of a coupon. Eddie Merlots (a regional 4\* restaurant chain) will send coupons in the mail for $25 off, but the coupon itself is hard plastic and resembles a credit card. I assume this is to alleviate the “stigma” of using a coupon, though if a restaurant needs to offer $25 off to lure people in, it seems to me that the stigma would be on the restaurant, not the patron. Many restaurants this time of year offer a complimentary $20 or $25 gift card for the folks who purchase $100 in gift cards. I have no problem using those. In fact, I’ll go out of my way and stock up on them in December, even if I give myself the gift card, so that we can enjoy some discounted meals in January and February. I feel zero stigma using those. I’ll certainly use a grocery store coupon for .25 or .50 off, if I have it with me. Trouble is, most times I don’t. ---
**Author:** ![sandra\_nz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@sandra\_nz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sandra_nz)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2013, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-here-use-coupons-to-eat-at-restaurant-or-buying-stuff-at-a-store/674014/56 "2013-11-18T12:11:03Z")
I do have a situation where I don’t use a coupon. I have a very simple hairstyle and only get my hair cut about four times a year (I trim my own fringe in between). My hairdresser sends me automated ‘we miss you’ emails on a very similar time schedule, offering a discount on my next haircut. I don’t feel it’s ethical to use the coupon - I was going to book a haircut anyway, and I wonder whether the discount comes out of the shop or the hairdresser who rents the chair. So I prefer to pay full price. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2013, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-here-use-coupons-to-eat-at-restaurant-or-buying-stuff-at-a-store/674014/57 "2013-11-18T14:38:49Z")
> [@PunditLisa](#): > > I assume this is to alleviate the “stigma” of using a coupon, though if a restaurant needs to offer $25 off to lure people in, it seems to me that the stigma would be on the restaurant, not the patron. Sometimes I’m watching a TV commercial or looking at a coupon in an advertising flier and it’ll say something like “Mention this ad for $500 off your gutter guards!”. To which I immediately think “That’s $150 more than I would have been willing to spend in the first place!” ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2013, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-here-use-coupons-to-eat-at-restaurant-or-buying-stuff-at-a-store/674014/58 "2013-11-18T15:00:18Z")
Definitely. ---
**Author:** ![Grapefruit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/73ab20/32.png) [@Grapefruit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grapefruit)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2013, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-here-use-coupons-to-eat-at-restaurant-or-buying-stuff-at-a-store/674014/59 "2013-11-18T17:06:07Z")
Mr. 48Willys, sir, things in the dating world has changed since you took your girl out for a malt at ye olde soda shoppe. If a guy pulls out a coupon for dinner anytime between the first and tenth-ish date, I’m going to think “Aw shit, is he going to ask me to chip in for gas if I invite him over?” On a date night while in a relationship, I might think “Hmmm… is he saving to buy a ring?” ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2013, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-here-use-coupons-to-eat-at-restaurant-or-buying-stuff-at-a-store/674014/60 "2013-11-18T18:10:27Z")
> [@Grapefruit](#): > > Mr. 48Willys, sir, things in the dating world has changed since you took your girl out for a malt at ye olde soda shoppe. If a guy pulls out a coupon for dinner anytime between the first and tenth-ish date, I’m going to think “Aw shit, is he going to ask me to chip in for gas if I invite him over?” On a date night while in a relationship, I might think “Hmmm… is he saving to buy a ring?” That seems odd. I could see having that reaction if he actually, you know, asked you to chip in for dinner. But judging him for spending money unnecessarily rather than using a coupon strikes me as kind of silly. “How dare you save $20 in my presence after we had this otherwise fine meal? You’re obviously unsuitable for sleeping with, what with that extra twenty in your pocket and all…” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-here-use-coupons-to-eat-at-restaurant-or-buying-stuff-at-a-store/674014.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-here-use-coupons-to-eat-at-restaurant-or-buying-stuff-at-a-store/674014.md?page=4)