Signs of the times

I'm an habitual coupon clipper. I learned it from my mother and have done it throughout my married life. Over the years I have honed my skills and impulses: I clip only what I think I'll really use and realize that large monetary coupons for ultra-new items may go to waste because the coupon will expire before the item makes it to my stores' shelves.

Over the years, coupons have become larger in denomination. Gone are nickels and dimes. Quarter ones are out there, but they're for the cheaper items. Yoplait's 40 cents off 6 cartons of their product is one I regularly clip, small savings that it is. Also, it would be unusual to find a coupon good past Nov 30 of this year. Their shelf life has shrunk into weeks, not months, or even the end of the next year which was once quite common.

But in last Sunday's paper (my main source for coupons), I was quite caught off guard by the number of 'buy 1, get 1' offers. There's usually one or two, but not the plethora I was seeing/clipping.

What gives? Manufacturers are understandably reluctant to give the consumer anything, but has a drop in sales prompted this largesse? Are we being wooed? Because these offers weren't just for new products, but for established ones.

Not a complaint. I clipped away.