The humble coupon -- which in the past gave consumers a few cents off soap or cereal -- has mushroomed into a lifestyle for millions of Americans with its own television programs, websites and trading platforms. A total of 167 billion coupons were distributed to US consumers in the first six months of 2011, according to the research firm NCH Marketing Services, and the value of redeemed coupons rose 5.3 percent to $2 billion.
過去，不起眼的優惠券充其量只能讓美國消費者在買肥皂或麥片時省幾分錢，但隨著相關電視節目、網站和交易平台興起，如今已蔚為千百萬美國人生活方式的一環。市場研究公司NCH營銷服務指出，去年上半年美國總共分送給消費者價值1670億美元優惠券，而且兌現回收總額增加了5.3％達20億美元。
But it's not your grandmother's Sunday newspaper coupon clipping anymore. Websites with names like Southern Savers or thekrazycouponlady.com give consumers an edge on how to find the right discounts in the art of “couponing,” which has now evolved into a verb.
但這不是你阿嬤那個猛剪周日版報紙上折價券的年代了。諸如Southern Savers或thekrazycouponlady.com等林林總總的網站，教消費者剪優惠券時如何在找最優惠的折扣上搶占先機，而couponing也由「名詞」演變成動詞了。
The principle is simple. First buy several copies of the Sunday papers which have pages of coupons tucked inside. Print others out from the Internet. The real“pro” combines all the offers to maximize reductions by adding on those offered by store cards as well as promotions on certain products.
教戰守則很簡單。先買幾份周日版的報紙，因為裡面會夾帶好幾頁優惠折價券。其他則可上網列印。真正的「行家」會結合所有好康，包括店家聯名卡及某些產品的促銷活動，以爭取最大的折扣優惠。
Take a humble $2 tube of toothpaste. Look for it on offer for $1.50, then add a 50 cent store reduction coupon and a 50 cent off manufacturer's coupon, and suddenly it can be bought for just 50 cents. Some days the coupon can be doubled in value. Which can then mean the store has to return money to the buyer... either in cash or more coupons.
以區區2美元的牙膏為例，先找1.5美元的特價品，加上店家提供的50美分減價，及製造商的50美分優惠券，突然間，只要花50美分就可以買到。有些特殊節日，優惠券可增值一倍，意味著店家要退錢給買方──不管是現金或更多優惠券。
Coupon aficionados get advice from websites on how to get coupons doubled or combined with other promotions. Sites contain testimonials such as one on Southern Savers from a woman identified as Jenny, who says: “It only took one trip to CVS to become hooked, leaving with over $100 in merchandise that I paid a quarter for.”
優惠券迷會上網並聽取達人建議如何使優惠券好康加倍或和其他優惠結合並用。不少人上網獻策，包括Southern Savers一個叫珍妮的女子推薦說：「只要到CVS（美國連鎖藥妝店）走一趟包你上癮，離開店時我買了超過100美元的商品，但只付了1/4價錢。」
Some social observers say the obsession with couponing is a sad reflection on the consumer society. “Some people do it because they want to fill up some kind of internal emptiness, some people do it to regulate their mood. Other people do it because they feel more in control,” says April Benson, a psychologist specializing in shopping addiction.
有些社會觀察家認為，瘋優惠券對消費社會無疑是個可悲的反思。專門研究購物癖的心理學家班森說：「有人這麼做是因為想填補內心某種空虛，有些人則想用它來調適心情，其他人則因為他們覺得如此一來一切更在掌控中。」
A Washington Post review of the TLC program says it allows couponers “to boastfully present themselves as newfangled heroes of the Great Recession, rather than as the piggy stockpilers they come off as, who voraciously amass paper towels, spaghetti, ketchup and more... Or it's just another weird reality show about the freak next door!”
《華盛頓郵報》一篇評論TLC「終極優惠券」節目的文章說，它讓優惠券狂「得以炫耀自己是這波經濟不景氣中新冒出頭的英雄，其實他們充其量不過是像小豬存錢筒屯積了一大堆優惠券，他們貪婪地屯購紙巾、義大利麵、番茄醬等等……又或者它只是另一種介紹鄰家怪胎的扭曲真人秀！」
Even some coupon users say they object to the extreme coupon movement. “When other people like these extreme couponers break the rules, it really hurts everyone that tries to use coupons in the way that they are intended, because it is stealing from stores, which in turn drives up prices for everyone.”
連一些優惠券用戶都說，他們反對太走極端的優惠券活動：當這類走極端的優惠券狂打破遊戲規則時，真的傷害了原本想使用立意良善的折價券的所有消費者，因為這有如到店家搶錢，這也使每個人購物價格上揚。」
Last year, more than 330 billion coupons were distributed in the United States — a record level, said Charlie Brown, an executive with NCH and co-chairman of the Promotion Marketing Association's Coupon Council. Fewer are being offered this year, but redemption volume is on the rise. “We saw in our consumer research that in 2010, the No. 1 reason people said they were using more coupons was because they liked saving money,” Brown said. “That's different than what we saw in 2009, when the top reason was they needed to stretch their budget. Once people started using coupons to a greater degree, it became habit.”
NCH主管兼「促銷協會優惠券委員會」共同主席布朗說，去年美國總共發行創紀錄的3300多億美元優惠券，今年發行量減少，兌現回收量不減反增。布朗說：「從消費者研究我們發現，2010年民眾較常使用優惠券，頭號原因是想省錢，這和2009年的結果不同，當時使用好康券首要原因是他們預算有限，必須節省開支。一旦人們開始大量使用優惠券，就會形成習慣。」
Photo shows a woman cutting coupons from the advertising section of the Sunday newspaper September 13, 2011 in Washington, DC.