I’d Totally Turn Down a Guy Who Used a Coupon

While I was waiting in line for lunch I overheard an interesting conversation with two college aged women. The first woman was telling the second about a recent date she went on with a guy she met in one of her classes. She said she was “totally into him”, (her words, not mine), and that she was “super excited” for their first date. He took her to the local Applebee’s, because neither of them have cars and it is one of the closest restaurants to campus. It seems everything was going great until the check arrived.

When the check arrived she assumed the guy would pay for her meal. After all, she said, “it was their first date and that is what the guy is supposed to do.” When the check came he reached for his wallet, but along with his credit card he also pulled out a $5 coupon.

As she told this part of the story the second girl in line gasped. I kid you not. She gasped and said, “I’d totally turn down a guy who used a coupon.”

Of course, as a personal finance blogger I found this whole conversation very amusing. The guy did not ask her to pay for her share of the meal. Instead, he willingly paid her portion, but used a coupon to offset some of the cost.

I held my tongue but I wanted to tell her she probably found herself a keeper. Rather than being mortified by his behavior she should be super stoked that she found a college student who is wise enough to clip a coupon to help cover her meal.

Is that really such an awful thing to do? What reasoning could she have for being offended by his behavior? What do you think? Would you be offended by a guy, (or gal), using a coupon? Does it make a difference if it’s used on the very first date?

6 thoughts on “I’d Totally Turn Down a Guy Who Used a Coupon”

  1. ha – I’d say coupon guy is a winner! I’m at a different stage in life, but I love it when the bf wants to go to the places I have groupons for

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  2. When I was younger and dumber I might have thought it odd, but it certainly wouldn’t have been a deal breaker. I guess because I keep reading about how doomed college students are–taking on mountains of debt with few jobs out there, i assumed they were getting savvier. I guess not all of them.

    Very interesting…

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  3. A guy from work (he was nice, young, and made good money) once took me out on a dinner date at Chilis (or some inexpensive restaurant like that) and when the check came, pulled out his corporate credit card to pay his half of the bill. I was appalled by this show of cheapness. Needless to say, I did not accept any more dates from him.

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