Even a recession can't make coupon clipping a must for most guys.

Despite the fact that a record 311 billion coupons were distributed nationwide in 2009, only 18 percent of grocery shoppers who used coupons at least once a year were male, according to Nielsen Media.

That doesn't mean men don't want to save, but it may mean that coupons aren't the way they like to do it.

"Coupons are a nuisance," said Edward Roberts of Roseville as he shopped -- coupon-free -- at Byerly's recently. "You have to cut them, remember to bring them with you, and then remember to redeem them at the checkout. It's too cumbersome."

Neil Ankrum, also of Roseville, doesn't use manufacturer's coupons, either. "I never see any that appeal to me," he said.

However, he regularly scans the Cub ad in the Sunday paper and will clip coupons from it. In fact, Ankrum uses store coupons almost half the time he grocery-shops, but not without complaint. "The preparation is too time-consuming," he said. "You have to think ahead."

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I would never be the one to say that men don't like to think ahead. I'll leave that to Paco Underhill, a behavioral research consultant and author of "Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping."

Underhill's theory about men and coupons harks back to the whole hunter/gatherer thing, when it was primarily women who had a vested interest in conserving. Of course, things have evolved a bit since the Stone Age. As male and female roles have intersected in dual-income households, both sexes find themselves being gatherers.

Boyd Huppert, who does the shopping for his Edina family, describes himself as a bulk buyer rather than a coupon clipper. When Rainbow puts Ragu spaghetti sauce on sale for a buck, he buys 30 jars. Campbell's Chunky soup on sale for 99 cents at Cub? Huppert scoops up 25 of them. Even the dreaded "limit six" doesn't deter him. He just goes back to the store three times.

"I saved about $100 in a half-hour at Cub by buying items for a dollar that normally cost between $1.65 and $2.50," he said in an e-mail. "Coupon clipping doesn't give me that kind of return on my time investment."

Dudes who do clip

Dave Crowley of Shakopee is one of those rare males who know their way around grocery coupons. Because he's single, he can't leave the grocery shopping -- or coupon clipping -- to a spouse.

Crowley estimates that he saves well over 50 percent on his grocery bill every week by using coupons. In fact, he's so coupon-savvy that he's known as "Coupon Dave" at work. Every day around lunchtime, his colleagues stop by his desk to see which restaurants he has coupons for.

"Lions Tap, McDonald's, Crave and Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. -- I've got all of them," he said. "Around the office, people say 'Call Dave because he's always got a coupon for it.'"

But Crowley doesn't brag about his grocery store savings to his male friends. He understands that most of them just want a quick assist with a restaurant or gas coupon. "If I told them about how I bought a BOGO on Gillette Body Wash and got eight Extra Care Bucks for it at CVS, they'd say, 'What are you talking about?'"

Crowley is more committed to coupons than most men are, but he may be part of a developing trend. Nearly 93 percent of men who started using coupons when the recession began in 2008 say they plan to continue doing so, according to a survey by NCH Marketing Services in Illinois.

Just a hunch, but I'll bet at least some of those coupons were clipped by women.

John Ewoldt •612-673-7633 or jewoldt@startribune.com. If you spot a deal, share it at www.startribune.com/blogs/dealspotter.