1. Expectations Are Too High
1.期望值過高

When TLC's Extreme Couponing show first previewed in December 2010 many viewers were in awe as they watched $2,000 worth in groceries cost just $100 after applying coupons. Many viewers who never used coupons thought, I can do that! Unfortunately many of those same viewers missed what happened after the program aired.
當(dāng)TLC的極端優(yōu)惠活動第一次出現(xiàn)在2010年12月的時候，許多觀眾都覺得申請優(yōu)惠券之后，他們就能用100美元在雜貨店買到價值高達2000美元的產(chǎn)品。那些從未用過優(yōu)惠券的觀眾心想，我可以這么做！不幸的是，很多觀眾都錯過了節(jié)目播出后發(fā)生的事。

Savvy couponers, also watching the program, quickly jumped on their blogs and pointed out all the coupon misuse going on, including redeeming coupons for incorrect items, redeeming counterfeit coupons and making exceptions to store couponing policies that the normal shopper would never receive. In other words, the show was a fake. Does that mean that diehard couponers cannot save thousands on their food bill? Absolutely not. But that kind of extreme couponing takes a lot time, work and dedication and even then most "extreme" couponers will only save an average of 60-70% each shopping trip.
精明的優(yōu)惠券使用者也看到了這個節(jié)目，他們迅速地進入博客，指出優(yōu)惠券的濫用情況，包括用優(yōu)惠券兌換不相符的商品，用假的優(yōu)惠券進行兌換，以及用正常店員從來都不會收到的特殊店鋪優(yōu)惠政策。換句話說，這場活動是個假象。這意味著頑固的優(yōu)惠券使用者不能為自己的食品賬單省下一大筆錢嗎？當(dāng)然不是。但像那種極端的促銷活動要花費很多時間、物力以及精力，即使是最“極致”的優(yōu)惠券使用者，平均每單也只能省60-70%。

I average an email a week from coupon clippers that are disappointed with their savings from using coupons because they are comparing it to the "extreme" couponers. They become discouraged because their expectations are too high. If you are a casual couponer, be satisfied with any savings that you get from using coupons wisely. If stick to it, your skills will improve as will your overall savings.
我平均每周收到一封來自于優(yōu)惠券收集者的郵件，他們對使用優(yōu)惠券產(chǎn)生的節(jié)省表示失望，因為他們總與那些“極致”優(yōu)惠券使用者對比。他們因為期望太高而感到氣餒。如果你是一個隨性的優(yōu)惠券使用者，對正確使用優(yōu)惠券而得到的任何節(jié)省都會感到滿足。如果堅持下去，你的技能和積蓄都會得到提升。

2. Buying Items Because You Have a Coupon
2. 因為有優(yōu)惠而買東西

There are thousands of coupons for thousands of products and chances are you will not like all of them. Just because you have a coupon for an item does not mean that you must buy it. If there is a shampoo that you have used in the past that you did not like, it won't improve just because you got it cheaper by using a coupon.
成千上萬的商品有成千上萬的優(yōu)惠券，但你并不會喜歡所有的商品。只因為你有某樣商品的優(yōu)惠券并不意味著你必須要購買它。如果有一款你過去一直使用但并不喜歡洗發(fā)水，它并不會因為你使用了優(yōu)惠券讓它變得便宜而有任何品質(zhì)的提升。

A good rule of thumb to follow when using coupons is -- buy products you like, try to use the coupons when those items are on sale, and if the generic is cheaper, buy generic.
當(dāng)使用優(yōu)惠券時，一個好的經(jīng)驗法則是——買你喜歡的產(chǎn)品，在這些商品打折時嘗試使用優(yōu)惠券。如果通用的產(chǎn)品便宜了，就買通用的產(chǎn)品。

3. Clearing the Shelves
3. 清貨架

Smart shoppers stock up on items that they know that they use regularly, but clearing the store shelves of items just because you have coupons for all of them can be wasteful and also results in stores tightening coupon acceptance policies. In fact, since "Extreme Couponing" aired, many stores have already set new policies about how many coupons on one specific item can be redeemed per day.
聰明的購物者會為自己經(jīng)常使用的產(chǎn)品備貨，但是僅僅因為你有這些商品的優(yōu)惠券就去掃貨是非常浪費的，同樣也會導(dǎo)致商場收緊優(yōu)惠券的接受政策。事實上，自從“極端優(yōu)惠”播出以來，許多商場已經(jīng)制訂了每天每種商品能使用多少優(yōu)惠券的新政策。

If you know that you plan on buying a lot of a particular item, speak with the store management and ask them to order it for you. lso, remember that you will need room at home to store what you buy and you will want to use it before it expires.
如果你有購買許多特定商品的計劃，那就跟商場管理人員溝通，讓他們幫你訂購。同樣，記得要在家里準(zhǔn)備空間去存儲它們，并且在過期前使用完。

4. Over-Spending
4. 超支

Buying an excessive amount of all the super good deals at the grocery store can end up costing more than what you had budgeted to spend. In fact, a study co-sponsored by Washington University in St. Louis found that coupon clippers often spend more money than the average shopper. Some couponers will tell you this happens because they are building up a stockpile.
在雜貨店購買大量的產(chǎn)品容易導(dǎo)致花費超出預(yù)算。事實上，一項由圣路易斯華盛頓大學(xué)聯(lián)合舉辦的研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，那些經(jīng)常使用優(yōu)惠券的人往往比平常的購物者花費更多的錢。一些優(yōu)惠券使用者會告訴你他們在增加儲備。

A good rule of thumb to avoid over-spending and still build a stockpile is to do it over time and to stick to the allotted amount of money you budgeted for stockpiling.
一個既能避免超支又能增加儲備的好方法是，在一段時間堅持為儲備的商品分配一定數(shù)量的預(yù)算。

5. Not Using Your Stockpile
5. 不使用你的儲備

While having a great looking stockpile may be impressive to your neighbors and friends, it is completely useless if you never use the items that you are stockpiling. I've known couponers that refuse to use, for example, a can of beans from their stockpile because they only have six cans and they want 12 cans. Huh? A good rule to follow is to shop first in your stockpile and second in the stores, that's if your goal is to save money on groceries.
大量可觀的儲備會給鄰居和朋友們留下深刻的印象，但如果你從來不用這些儲備的商品，它們就會變得完全沒用。我知道一些優(yōu)惠券使用者拒絕使用這些商品，比如他們儲備的豆子，因為他們想要12罐豆子而儲備中只有六罐。哈？如果你的目標(biāo)是在雜貨店省錢的話，一個好的辦法是先從你的儲備中購買（先看看自己的儲備中有沒有），再從商場中購買。

6. Not Doing the Math
6. 不做計算

Couponers generally stick to the rule that using coupons on the smallest size of an item that the coupon allows will save you more than using the coupon on the largest size. While this is true most of the time, there are times when the opposite is true. That is why it is helpful to shop with a calculator so that you can figure out what the best price will be after applying your coupon.
優(yōu)惠券使用者通常堅持一個準(zhǔn)則，那就是把優(yōu)惠券用在小件商品上會比用在大件商品上節(jié)省更多的錢。大多數(shù)時候是真的，但有時事實卻相反。這就是為什么購物的時候攜帶一個計算器是非常有用的，你可以算出使用優(yōu)惠券后的最優(yōu)價格。

Example of When Buying Smaller is Cheaper
買小件商品更便宜的例子

Without Coupon
不使用優(yōu)惠券

Chock Full O' Nuts Coffee
Chock Full O’ Nuts牌咖啡

33.90 oz, $15.75 or $0.46 per oz
33.90盎司15.75美元或每盎司0.46美元

11.30 oz, $5.65 or $0.50 per oz
11.30盎司5.65美元或每盎司11.30美元

After a $2 off coupon
使用2美元的優(yōu)惠券

33.90 oz, $13.75 or $0.41 per oz
33.90盎司13.75美元或每盎司0.41美元

11.30 oz, $3.65 or $0.32 per oz
11.30盎司3.65美元或每盎司0.32美元

Example of When Buying Bigger is Cheaper
買大件商品更便宜的例子

Without Coupon
不使用優(yōu)惠券

Folgers Medium Classic Roast Coffee, 33.9 oz, $8.58 or $0.25 per oz
福爵經(jīng)典烘焙咖啡，33.9盎司8.58美元或每盎司0.25美元

Folgers Medium Classic Roast Ground, 11.3 oz, $4.58 or $0.41 per oz.
福爵經(jīng)典烘焙咖啡粉，11.3盎司4.58美元或每盎司0.41美元

After a $2 off coupon
使用2美元的優(yōu)惠券

Folgers Medium Classic Roast Ground Coffee, 33.9 oz, $6.58 or $0.19 per oz
福爵經(jīng)典烘焙咖啡，33.9盎司6.58美元或每盎司0.19美元

Folgers Medium Classic Roast Ground, 11.3 oz, $2.58 or $0.23 per oz.
福爵經(jīng)典烘焙咖啡粉，11.3盎司2.58美元或每盎司0.23美元

Although you will almost always save more money by using coupons on the smallest size, it pays to take the time to do the math.
雖然你總能通過在小件商品上使用優(yōu)惠券省錢，但是做計算是需要花時間的。

7. Not Reading the Fine Print
7. 不看明細

Most coupons have usage policies printed on the coupon. It can be minimum sizes that need to be purchased to use the coupon, specific colors, specific flavors, quantity limits and even regional coupons with zip code limits. Always take the time to read the coupon and follow the rules. Understandably couponers are not perfect and a coupon can be turned over, and then mistakenly redeemed by a cashier, to do it on purpose is not ethical or honest.
許多優(yōu)惠券都印上了使用條例?？赡苁鞘褂脙?yōu)惠券的最小購買規(guī)格、特定顏色、特定口味、數(shù)量限制，以及有郵編限制的區(qū)域性優(yōu)惠券。要經(jīng)常花時間去閱讀優(yōu)惠券信息并遵循這些規(guī)則。可以理解的是，優(yōu)惠券使用者并不是完美的，優(yōu)惠券也可能在交給出納員之后被錯誤地兌換，但故意這么做是不道德的，也是不誠實的。

[/en]8. Not Getting a Rain Check
8. 不開延期票

This is probably the one are that I get very lazy about because of the extra time that it takes, but my laziness has cost me a lot of money in the long run. Don't be like me. Take the time to ask for a rain check when an advertised sale item is sold out at your grocery stores.
這可能是我特別懶于做的一件事，因為會額外花時間，但是我的懶惰為后續(xù)帶來了很多損失。別像我一樣。當(dāng)你雜貨店里的折扣商品賣完時，花點時間去要一張延期票吧。

9. Buying When the Price Isn't Right
9. 不在適當(dāng)定價時購買

Every couponer has experienced going through checkout and realizing either they misread a coupon or the sale price on an item, or the cashier/manager just refuses to budge on a price or accept a coupon, even though they are wrong. Either way, if an item is going to cost you more than what you thought you would spend on it, pull it out of the bag and nicely ask that the cashier remove it from your total.
每個用優(yōu)惠券的購買者都經(jīng)歷

8. Not Getting a Rain Ch過這樣的情況，在穿過結(jié)賬臺時意識到他們看錯了優(yōu)惠券或商品價格，或者收銀員/經(jīng)理拒絕改變價格或使用優(yōu)惠券，即使是他們弄錯了。不管是哪種情況，如果一件商品要花費你比預(yù)期更多的錢，那就把它從包里拿出來，或者禮貌地請收銀員從總的商品中拿掉吧。

[en]Failing to do this can really get expensive. You end up with items that cost you more than what you would ever pay under normal circumstances. By doing this, it also helps you discipline yourself to pay attention to the scanned prices as the cashier scans your items.

如果不這么做，價格會貴很多。你將會花費比正常情況下更多的錢。如果這么做的話，它能夠幫助你訓(xùn)練自己在收銀員結(jié)賬時關(guān)注掃碼的價格。

10. Getting Angry
10. 生氣

Using coupons can be exasperating at times. You have to deal with eye-rolling cashiers, customers muttering profanity at you, managers that are barely trained and employees that don't even know their store's policies. But you also deal with moms working a part-time job, students trying to pay their way through college, parents who work six days a week, 10 hours a day, then go home and take care of kids.
有時候，使用優(yōu)惠券會讓人生氣。你必須面對翻白眼的收銀員，其他顧客的不滿與咒罵，以及幾乎沒有受過培訓(xùn)的經(jīng)理和不清楚商場政策的員工。但你也會面對兼職工作的媽媽，為了完成學(xué)業(yè)而打工的學(xué)生，一周工作六天、一天工作10小時、之后還要回家照顧孩子的父母。

Just like everywhere, there are all types of people working in stores. When things fail to go your way with your coupons, just keep things nice and leave with as much savings as you can. It just is not worth getting into heated verbal disagreements.
像別的地方一樣，各種各樣的人都會在商場里工作。當(dāng)使用優(yōu)惠券不順利時，就把東西放下帶著盡可能多的錢離開吧，激烈的爭執(zhí)是不值得的。

聲明：本雙語文章的中文翻譯系滬江英語原創(chuàng)內(nèi)容，轉(zhuǎn)載請注明出處。中文翻譯僅代表譯者個人觀點，僅供參考。如有不妥之處，歡迎指正。