It’s one of the many big wonders in my life! All the people cutting, clipping, ripping coupons and really truly getting a break on the price tag?!!! I’ve tried it I admit, grudgingly. So yes the commitment is barely there. But every time I dip my coupon clipping toe in the water, I’m flooded with trepidation & questions & doubt!
And here’s why! I don’t trust those companies. I totally believe they’ve set this whole scheme up to get the best of me & my money.
Let’s talk about Costco. It’s a whale of a store. Who can’t love traipsing through there? With a list or without...you gotta come out with a little bit more than you expected! Make that an extra grocery cart more!!! And how about those extra big portions? We have a big family so it makes some sense. But even we, have not been able to go through (in a decade) that big bag of almonds I bought for Christmas cookies. My husband did have one allergic episode after eating them like popcorn one day! But that’s another story. So I go to Costco to buy a few things for a few dinners and $500 some dollars later, I’m squishing giant stacks of food into my car. I fly home hoping the trunk doesn’t pop open from the pressure and positive I must have saved big money. Of course the kids are still in school, so alone I lug in the 4 tons of food I’ve just purchased. 20 minutes later the first kids rush through the door and immediately follow the food trail. Yahoo they say and set in to whatever rips open the fastest. 2 days later, I’m back where I started. Those coupons always look good, some of them are even for things I need, but most of them are for things I think I need or things I’d like to try. But here’s the thing. When you look at the coupon, it’s good for 5 or 6 of the items. And they’re all big. But how can you pass them up?
I’ll clip coupons. I’ll separate the ones that interest me out of the weekly direct mail envelopes I receive. No way can we eat that much. Turns out to be a big mess in my house...lots of piles. So ok, I’ll just put them in my car so I have them when I need them. Uh-oh, now the junk pile is in my car. So I’m getting the pizza. Hold on I know I have a coupon. Oh no, all 6 coupons are for different pizza places. Dum me! But if you think my car is bad or my house is bad...you should see my purse! Problem is... when I nice and neatly organize them, they’re gone and I forget to look for them. So they’re either out and a mess or lost somewhere, or they’re neatly categorized and long forgotten. And the thing is nine times out of ten the coupon is for something I never use or even occasionally use is not an inspiration.
And how many rewards, awards and clipper cards do you carry? My wallet doesn’t even close all the way because of them. But geez, if I already shop there, how can I pass up the great deal of buying 20 and then getting one free! When it comes to that, I usually end up starting a new card every time, which simply adds to my problem.
I like the companies that record your purchase amounts for free dollars off somewhere down the road. I used to like the dollars off coupons sent to me by Best Buy, but now the only way to get those is to go to their website and somehow find it. I’m computer savvy enough to figure it out, but at what cost of my time? Even when I do manage to receive a $10 coupon, I still have to have it with me when I shop there! Sometimes this little perk operates like frequent flyer mileage. You have to have a whole lot of usage to get a little amount and then if you don’t get to the magic number in a year, you lose it all and start over. Don’t you love incentives?
So I am still coupon fascinated. To me it’s like trying to figure out how a TV works. Somehow it gets there and it’s lovely, but I don’t know how it actually happens. Yesterday I watched the real “coupon queen” in action. She was challenged by a reporter to shop for items on the same list and come up with the lowest cost owed. The coupon queen was loaded with her (organized) coupons and she grabbed a mailer on the way into the store. Net net at the end, the reporter owed $80 some and the coupon queen owed $1. Now really how does that work? If you get $1.50 off for a package of toilet paper, you still owe more than that! The best coupon I’ve ever seen is $5 off a $20 purchase. So even then, it’s still $15.
Ok so I’m no coupon queen, no math queen, too lazy to clip, remember and save...but getting to that $1 price tag amazes me. I can’t let it go.
As the world goes on to give us
more economic strife;
I’d like to be a coupon queen
sometime in this life!
Speaking of Christmas cards and other...
I am also in the entertainment indust...
Just read your Mother's Day blog and ...
Like Sharon, my kids move on when the...
Hi Sharon, I can relate, but I've...