Even movie stars want to save money

You wouldn't suppose the woman who played Buffy the Vampire Slayer on TV and who starred in hit movies like Cruel Intentions and The Grudge would be too concerned about pinching pennies. (I mean, come on — the royalties from Buffy alone would be enough to keep her comfy, no?)

But according to the US website Coupons.com, Sarah Michelle Gellar leads the pack of "frugalebrities" — celebs who like to save money, and don't care if anyone thinks that's dorky. She told Self magazine: "I clip coupons all the time. Why should I pay more for something someone else is paying less for?"

Other money-savvy celebs on the Coupons.com list include Oscar-winner Hilary Swank (who thinks of coupons as "a dollar in my pocket"), Renee Zellweger and former NFL star Tim Hasselbeck (whose wife, Elizabeth Hasselbeck of The View, describes him as "a coupon guy").

Yes, undoubtedly, it must be easier to be enthusiastic about saving money when you don't HAVE to save money. But I do like the message this sends: Just because you have extra cash, doesn't mean you must spend it. Just because there's stuff out in the stores that you could buy, doesn't mean you have to buy it.

Zooey Deschanel of 500 Days of Summer and the TV series New Girl, as well as one of Matt's celebrity crushes because she sings like an angel and plays ukulele in addition to being super-cute (not that I'm jealous or anything...), is also pretty good with her money. This came to light in the context of her divorce from actor-composer Benjamin Gibbard, after the "very serious journalists" at TMZ got hold of court documents listing her income and savings. So, the 31-year-old Deschanel earns $195,000 a month for her starring role in New Girl, has more than $1.5 mil in the bank and $1.6 mil in investments. Yet she gives $1,500 a month to charity (just a little less than the $2,000 she spends on new frocks) and pays each of her three credit cards in full every month.

 

Which is all as it should be. Yet there are so many reports of formerly uber-rich celebrities who file for bankruptcy, who end up selling their multiple luxury homes for less than they initially cost because they need the cash, and who basically make a train wreck out of a very lavish income. So good for Zooey, Sarah, Renee and Hilary.

But my real heroes are the everyday moms and dads who are struggling to make ends meet, and who find ingenious ways to keep their familly fed and clothed and happy paycheque to paycheque. And my question for these real heroes is:

Do you use coupons? What's your favourite source for coupons? Coupons.com is a US website, but Canadian versions are blossoming — including smartcanucks.ca and redflagdeals.com, as well as from manufacturers' own websites.

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Photos: Juan Rico (Gellar), RR (Zooey)/FameFlynet Pictures