Discounts and Coupons and Sales, Oh My!

I am a good consumer. As the mother of 3 teenagers, manager of the house and business owner, I work with a pretty fair number of retailers.

For all my spending, I am rewarded--I think. You see, I am constantly receiving discount coupons in the mail and on the Internet for my favorite stores.'That's a good thing,' I hear you saying. Well, yes and no.

You see, inevitably, I find myself with a couple of minutes to run in to a store and make a purchase and, alas, I recall the coupon sitting on my kitchen counter.  It never fails that the coupon I need is not with me.

I actually set up a folder to manage these coupons; when I sort the mail, I evaluate whether or not I will use a coupon, and if it makes the cut, it goes into the folder. If I am going shopping, I sort through and decide which coupons I am likely to need. I also spend a couple of minutes online checking out the latest discounts from different stores.

There is one particular  department store that I no longer go to because they continue to offer coupons to anyone who is willing to shred their paper and carry coupons with them (and there is a new one every couple of day)s. I applaud this, in theory, but I never seem to have a coupon with me when I have the time to stop by a store and I refuse to pay more than the person in front of me for the same item! Guess what? I won't go to that department store. If they don't want my business--and for the same price as the next guy-- there are plenty of other retailers who do!

But back to the coupons...why can't the coupons we get be tied to the frequent buyer clubs that we are also required to join in order to get the coupons?  Is is just so that we demonstrate that we REALLY want the discount?  Isn't it enough that I give them my business, over and over and over (and they can see that by scanning my little fob)?

I feel like this coupon business has taken on a life of its own: besides my coupon folder, I have a special key ring for my store cards/fobs and a separate email for my on-line shopping (I can't manage my regular email for all of the ads I get from these retailers).  I am trying to stay on top of this coupon/discount business without having it become my whole life. My mother-in-law is a wonderful shopper. She takes advantage of all of the discounts and manages to get some amazing deals. She also doesn't work and has the luxury of actually planning out a shopping trip--instead of dashing in to pick up a last minute gift.

With the holidays, this coupon management has hit an all-time complexity. How are you dealing with it? Am I the only one who feels like this has gotten out of control??