Shoppers have been hunting for ways to make their dollars count for decades, and now, the longest-running savers have a shot at scoring big on their dusty stash of discounts. And now, the homeware chain Bed Bath & Beyond is giving its thriftiest shopper a $100,000 home makeover—they just need to bring in the oldest coupon to date.
Bed Bath & Beyond’s “Legendary Coupon Hunt” is underway. And participants must bring in their iconic blue-and-white coupons to Bed Bath & Beyond + The Container Store and Kirkland’s Home locations by July 13 to qualify.
There’s no doubt there will be a deluge of loyal customers vying to cash in on their oldest savings keepsake. The grand prize of the competition is a $100,000 home renovation, alongside $500 gift cards awarded to 100 top entrants, and $100 in spending money for another 50 winners.
“For decades, our customers treated these coupons like treasure,” said Amy Sullivan, President of Bed Bath & Beyond, Inc, said in the announcement. “They tucked them into purses, filing cabinets, cookbooks and memory boxes because they believed they would be valuable someday. We think they were right.”
A backtrack on bargain-hunting
It’s been years since the beloved home goods retailer stopped accepting the coupons back in 2023.
The struggling business had filed for bankruptcy, shuttering hundreds of its brick-and-mortar stores until none were left standing. Under a new owner, Overstock.com (now Beyond, Inc.), it launched online later that same year—but contrary to its time-honored tradition, didn’t accept the physical coupons.
However, Bed Bath & Beyond is now getting back to its roots; it re-opened its first store in August 2025, and is on track to roll out more locations this year. And the coupon hunt is reviving the nostalgia of print coupons as old-school bargain-hunting culture has made its way to the internet.
From this competition moving forward, store locations plan to go back to accepting coupons in whatever state they’re in—faded, expired, and even decades-old.
And it’s a time-honored savings ritual deployed by even the wealthiest of shoppers.
Coupons are massively popular—even Warren Buffett and Shonda Rhimes clip discounts
Everyone enjoys the thought of knowing they got a steal when shopping, no matter the tax bracket.
About 93% of Americans use coupons or have redeemed one within the past year, up 26% from the year prior, according to a 2026 report from Capital One. However, most were claiming a code rather than handing over their paper clippings; 169.2 million Americans used digital coupons in 2025. Around 67% of all consumers use online discounts—at a frequency 13.6% higher than their counterparts—compared to the 59% who opt for physical coupons. And there could be a few factors at play. More consumers are buying online out of convenience; foot traffic is down at brick-and-mortar stores; and brands are shifting away from “dated” print coupons.
However, the appeal of couponing has lived on for generations—no matter what medium it occupies. 95-year-old Warren Buffett is famous for clipping coupons and living in a modest Nebraska house, despite having $146 billion to his name. Years ago, the prolific investor took Bill Gates there for lunch at McDonalds, pulling coupons out of his pocket to foot the cheap eats. Gates recalled laughing at his thriftiness—but for the hedge-fund mogul, every penny counts.
And one of the greatest and highest-paid showrunners in television history, Shonda Rhimes, is right there with him. The Bridgerton and Greys Anatomy creator still cuts coupons and hunts for the best deals, despite sitting atop an estimated net worth of $240 million. Rhimes said that when people finally hit professional milestones, “The trappings change—you don’t change.”
“You know what happens when all your dreams come true? Absolutely nothing. Everything stays the same. You’re still you,” Rhimes said on the Call Her Daddy podcast last year. “I’m still the person clipping coupons, and thinking ‘Maybe I should get that on sale,’ and, ‘Maybe I shouldn’t get too comfortable like with these shows.’”
Buffy the Vampire Slayer star Sarah Michelle Gellar is also one of the millions of Americans cutting coupons out of newspapers and magazines—and she’s not afraid to take the long road to save money. At just 19 years old she was a fixture on TV screens as the star of the hit vampire series, and was raking in money that finally made her feel financially secure. And yet, even after years of success in other projects like Scooby Doo, Scream 2, and Cruel Intentions, Gellar still hesitates when splurging on expensive items.
“I cut coupons to this day,” Gellar told CNBC Make It in a 2018 interview. “Like, if there’s a coupon there, I’m going to use it…I will go back and stare at a leather jacket for a couple days before I even purchase it.”
Are you a super-couponer? Fortune wants to hear from you! Email emma.burleigh@fortune.com to share more about your thriftiest habits and how much you’ve saved over time.
