..and other commonly overused phrases

Coupons. There's a word you don't often hear in typical college-student conversation...unless, of course, you happen to live with me. While this economic downturn (or this past economic downturn, I guess, since it's technically now over) hasn't really affected me the way it has some people--no one I know has lost his or her job, I'm still going to a well-regarded private university, I haven't had to worry about how I'm going to afford housing, or my next meal--I still find myself morphing into a 45-year-old mom (not to stereotype or anything) on a weekly basis. Maybe some of the several hours I spent interviewing "mommy bloggers" for my internship this past summer had an effect, or maybe the prospect of graduating and moving out on my own is finally starting to sink in. But for whatever reason, way back in September I signed up for shortcuts.com and P&G brandsaver (both free websites that allow you to download coupons right to your Kroger card) thinking I'd forget about them after one or two weeks...and now I'm addicted. I scour the emails for my favorite foods (FiberOne bars, anyone?). I make lists of the coupons I have on my card, just so I don't forget. I get irrationally excited when my coupons and in-store sales coincide (which, it turns out, is all the time). Every time I go to the grocery store it's like a mini adrenaline rush. Sure, the cost of law school is pushing $60K a year, but hey--I saved $20 at Kroger last week!

Now, I know couponing is nothing new. And if I were the only one doing it now, these web sites wouldn't exist. But that doesn't mean coupons aren't seriously under-utilized--especially by college kids. Despite my constant rhapsodizing, none of my 5 housemates has started doing the coupon thing...and I really can't understand why. It takes far fewer than 5 minutes of my time each week, and it's stuff I'm going to buy anyway...why not pay less for it? Being pretty much the furthest thing from an economist possible, I have no idea what it would do to the economy if every student at Washington and Lee started using coupons (although my hunch is not very much at all). But I do know that if saving 50 cents on my can of soup today means I get to go a few more weeks without eating ramen after I graduate in June, it is more than worth it.

--Erin Galliher