Thanks to a sour economy, coupon clipping and redemption is on the rise again, up for the first time since the early 1990s.
In 2008 coupon redemptions jumped 10 percent. In the first half of this year, 23 percent more coupons were clipped and used for retail discounts of all kinds.
Data from research company Knowledge Networks/PDI show that coupon use among young, single consumers with minimal savings rose 14 percent in January and February 2009 compared to the same months in 2008.
More significantly, coupon use among households earning $70,000 per year or more showed a big jump.
Data from Inmar, a coupon processing company, showed this more affluent group increased traffic on web sites with printable coupons, showing that new online shopping behaviors are also supporting the 100-year-old paper coupon tradition.
Clipping coupons is one way to lower cost of living, but many Americans are simply choosing to live somewhere else. For example, many expats are living better than ever (and for less) in cheap Ecuador. In fact, four of the five top retirement destinations in the 2009 Global Retirement Index were in Latin America, and all had costs of living significantly less than the U.S.
