Voucher Coupons and Roseanne

I came of age with Roseanne.  Began to understand what the real world was all about.

It was one of the first programmes that my Husband and I watched together regularly. We really enjoyed the humour, even though the Connor household seemed a world away from anything that we could ever envisage being involved in.

When she started up her ‘loose meat sandwich’ (I think that’s what it was called) business with her sister, Jackie, I was a bit mystified to start with but, from the big vats of meat, I think it was what we Brits would call ‘mince’ – minced animal meat of varying kinds, as opposed to mincemeat, which is the fruity filling in Christmas mince pies.

I was reminded of Roseanne and Dan, Becky, Darlene and DJ earlier this week as I searched frantically for discount codes to make one of my online purchases cheaper. I can remember several episodes where she had one or more of her children sat around the kitchen table ‘clipping coupons’. It was not a task with which I was familiar.

Over here in the UK, we just didn’t have that sort of culture. You might get offered ‘a bit off for cash’ and there were always the big Sales after Christmas – you must have seen the news footage of all those people rushing into Harrods, having camped outside in a very orderly British queue for a week beforehand to be sure of getting their dream sofa/fur coat/diamond necklace. But for a store to put a special voucher into the local paper that you could physically cut out and produce for a guaranteed discount at any other time of the year? Unheard of. That was back in the early nineties.

These days, from pizza delivery firms to computer supplies, my letter box is assailed with money saving opportunities – both physical and virtual. And, in the best traditions of Having My Cake and Eating It Too, I am not too proud to say that I use as many as I can in these cash-strapped times, turning up at my local supermarket with every money-off voucher that they have sent me. Probably buying a lot of stuff that I wouldn’t have purchased otherwise!

My family situation has changed too, since those halcyon days. I can remember laughing at the way Roseanne would deal with her teenagers, firm but fair, whilst using trickery and obfuscation wherever necessary to get the best possible outcome for her kids, despite their unwillingness to be guided. I only wish my own efforts were as successful… but then I envy Roseanne her relationship with both her children and her husband in that programme.

Still, back to the voucher coupons. These days, there are whole websites devoted to providing the most up to date voucher coupons and discounts, with every store that is worth its salt submitting their own to ensure that their brand is kept in the public eye. So that’s why, when I had selected the new set-top box I wanted, I started searching for discount codes. Unfortunately, so many of the UK sites listed codings which had expired. As usual, our American cousins are ahead of the game with Sony coupons. Not that it helped me much, if you add in the delivery charge!

However, perusing the website further, I noticed several areas where our UK suppliers could really hit the big time. For example, Chegg.com coupons. Now, for those of us who are not familiar with this company, Chegg.com is an online site where you can buy or, better still, rent text books.

Judging by the huge number of massive medical tomes currently buckling the book case at Ruf’s – a reminder of his decade-long stint as a mature student with the local University – he could have saved a fortune in cash and replacement shelves if he’d rented them rather than purchasing.

I’m pretty sure that’s what Roseanne did for Darlene – and I bet she would have utilised the voucher coupon too!