Don’t be afraid of the people at the beginning of the year shoving those thick coupon booklets in your face. These people are some of your first friends you will make in college, so to speak. These are the people offering you discounts on daily needs. Why so important, you ask?
1. Don’t fight the lovin’. These people, whether they are students or just volunteers, have taken their time and undoubtedly some sweat from the August heat to bring over boxes of coupon books to Turlington Plaza on campus just to help make your life easier. The least you can do is give these men and women the time of day. People will come at you with fliers and handouts all the time on campus throughout the year, but this is the one guaranteed to benefit you.
2. You will actually use them (if you don’t lose them). If you don’t toss the books upon gathering or place them into some deep, dark corner of the room to never be seen again, you will have use for coupon books. You will totally forget about them until you actually see one laying there like a forgotten childhood stuffed animal. Not to mention they last all semester, so there isn’t a one-week expiration that most too-good-to-be-true coupon books have. And you can get one each semester. You’ll pick it up, browse through the pages and behold:
3. You will, without a doubt, go to one of the places offering discounts in the books. After looking through the thick coupon book, it is a certainty you have gone or will go to one of the restaurants/shops in the booklet anyway. Just take five minutes to remove the ones you would use, stick them in your wallet and next time you look in there — thinking of the money you don’t have and the hunger in your belly — you will see the coupon and go to that location to save some money. And, they are actually great deals. From discounts on oil changes to BOGO smoothies at Tropical Smoothie Café and a discounts on game day dresses at Allure Boutique, you would have gone to one of these places anyway. Now you’ll just be getting a discount.
4. You’re broke. Face it: You are a broke college student. And if you aren’t now, you will be after a few years of insane student costs. Your car may break down, you will want some new clothes, and you have to eat. Every dollar counts.
Repeat after me: Coupon books are amazing. Coupon books are useful. I love you, coupon books.
This story originally ran on page 28 on 8/14/2013 under the headline "Take them, use them, love them: An ode to coupon books"
