Stop saving shaming

Scrolling through TikTok as any responsible college student avoiding their academic obligations, I came across an account called CouponKatie.

As a broke college student, this obviously caught my attention. More bang for the buck, right? I started scrolling through her – Coupon Katie – page and realized how convenient couponing and outlet shopping is. But as college students, and simply humans in general, we face judgment a lot, which leads me to say: what’s the problem with saving money?

The number of adults I know who refuse to shop at discount outlets or use coupons astonishes me; I don’t understand why anyone wouldn’t want to save money. College students hear plenty of snarky comments for simply attending community college to save money. What is upper-middle-class America’s problem with saving? No matter the case, the option still exists; less talked about, but still in existence.

Coupon Katie caters to the need of college students living on a budget. I learned so many things I never knew existed before.

Apparently, Dollar General offers a five dollar off coupon only on Saturdays. Experienced couponers – obviously not myself – know this little coveted secret of Dollar General: penny sales. Every Tuesday, items go on sale for a penny. But Dollar General doesn’t advertise this to its customers. Various grocery franchises offer coupons. So much, in fact, that the store can end up owing its customers money. Who doesn’t want free money?

The bottom line: we need to stop shaming couponing and discount outlets and initiate discussions about them because saving money benefits everyone.