When we were growing up in Ann Arbor, it was pretty clear that our parents had faced different challenges in their youth than we were experiencing.  They were in their teens and twenties when the great depression hit.  It made a big impression on them and changed their perspective on life forever.  These were brave, hard driving and very principled people.  However, when some shaky news about the economy hit the nightly news, you could always sense a fear and foreboding creeping into their life.  To us it was a foolish over reaction.  Life was great.  We would hit a few speed bumps but nothing could stop the great juggernaut of the American economy and the opportunity it provided to anyone who wanted to work.        

Mom and dad had first hand experience that bad things could happen.  They knew what it was like to get down to peanut butter sandwiches and eventually run out of that.  They became master gardeners not because they enjoyed it.  They needed it.  They valued education and assumed all of their children would go to college.  This opportunity was never open to them.  In their mid teens they had to scruffle for any kind of work to keep their families afloat. My father felt incredibly fortunate to snag a job stringing cable for Michigan Bell when he was eighteen years old.

Through it all, these were not unhappy people.  They were positive, excited and took things as they came.  They were always concerned that the dark days could return and prioritized building a safety net to survive if they did.  The need to have something to fall back on never left them.  Much more than our generation, they always wanted to have something in reserve.  Part of every paycheck went into savings and they worked hard to get the best return on all of their expenditures.    

So my dad became a highly talented shopper.  After fifty seven years with Michigan Bell, moving from line worker to mid management, Pete retired.  After retirement, he put the shopping skills into high gear.  He scoured the local newspapers for sales and coupons.  To him, life never got better than double discount day at the Supermarket.  He carried a large pouch with all of his coupons.  More than once, I got a call from one of my friends saying that they had run into my dad at Meijers.  He checked out their shopping cart, rummaged through the pouch and gave them a fistful of coupons. Pete saved us $23!  

Eventually, Meijers became his favorite store.  They seemed to have everything.  A full blown grocery store and K Mart all rolled into one.  Very quickly, the staff at Meijers got to know Pete very well.  They gave him a “heads up” on next week’s specials.  They recommended great products that they were marking down.  They even provided the weekly store Ad a day before they distributed it to the public.  He could not take advantage of the discounts before they were valid, but he could plan an effective shopping spree.  This was helpful because many of the big sale items had limits.  70% off to the first 20 customers, etc.  While others were reading the Ad for the first time, he was ready to pounce.  

Not surprising, when I visited him one day and asked what he would like to do, he replied; “Let’s go to Meijers, I need a few things.”  On the way to the store, he explained that he was having trouble getting some of the big sales items before they ran out but he had solved the problem.  Today, they have Maxwell House coffee 50% off, Bushes Baked Beans, buy one get two free, and a 40% discount on Contadina tomato paste.  We picked up a cart, put the coupon stash in the child’s seat and started hunting the big discounts.  Pops says; “Let’s get the coffee first. It is over here.”  Now I’m a little concerned.  I said; “Dad, we are in the bread aisle.  Coffee is at the other end of the store.”  He replies that “All the discounted Maxwell House on the coffee aisle will be sold out by now.  People are like vultures.  These big sale items only last a few minutes.  Watch this!”  He moves three loaves of Aunt Millies whole wheat bread and neatly stacked behind them are four one pound cans of Maxwell House coffee.  Incredible!  I asked; “How did that happen?”.  Dad replies, unabashedly, that he gets the sales brochures a day early, he goes to the store and hides the items he wants a day before the thundering herd arrives.  Not a lot of people are checking the bread aisle for coffee.  He get’s the big deal without a hitch.  So we go retrieve three cans of Bushes Baked Beans hidden behind the Cheerios on the cereal aisle and four cans of Contadina paste that have been resting behind the Fritos.  

He says that this is all he needs today.  He forgot that tomorrow is double coupon day.  No sense in firing the coupon bullets now when they will be worth twice as much tomorrow.  He will come back.   

We are about to head to the check out counter when dad realizes he has eleven items.  He says, let me put a can of tomato paste back on the shelf.  We now qualify for the ten items or less queue.  As Dad is putting his larder on the conveyer, a guy jumps in behind us with a half cart of groceries.  Way over the ten item limit.  Pops asks the gentlemen how long he has been playing golf.  A little stunned, the shopper says; “How did you know I was a golfer”.  Dad responds; “Because you can’t count past five.”

We have all been significantly influenced by the experiences of our youth.  For my parents, that was a full time struggle to avoid abject poverty.  They were terrified and pulled out all of the stops to avoid total collapse.  After a narrow escape, they continued solid fiscal policies to protect against another disaster.  Amazingly, they kept a great balance and a very positive attitude through all of the challenges.  When I was young, we got down to peanut butter sandwiches for a few days at the end of the month but we never ran out of bread or peanut butter.  I admire the sacrifices mom and dad made for all of us and I cherish the lessons they taught me about fiscal responsibility and staying positive through the tough times in our lives.