I do all the grocery shopping at my house. I have to admit, I am pretty good at it. I have a computerized shopping list that allows me to be organized and allows me to know where to find every item. My trick to a successful shopping day is to get to the store before my wife hands me a fist full of coupons. I really hate coupons. Sure they help you save money, but I find them to be a major pain in the ass. Here is a small list of why I dislike them so much.
- I walk out of the house and forget to take them. My wife will quickly point how much I could have saved. This makes me feel like a failure and reinforces my belief that no good deed goes unpunished.
- You won't believe this, but sometimes I take the coupons and forget to use them. When this happens, I usually try to throw them away before I get home. I know, I know, -- I could take them back with the receipt and still get the discount, but I hate admitting I screwed up. After all, my self esteem is worth something.
- I end up buying things I normally wouldn't buy. I am sure that makes some company happy, but it pisses me off when I throw it way later because no one liked it.
- Sometimes it hard to find the product being featured by the coupon. I already know where my usual products are located, why do I want to play hide and seek?
- I hate getting stuck behind some one at checkout that has a ton of coupons. First, the cashier has to scan them all, but secondly there's always a couple coupons past their expiration date, or not valid for some reason and the person checking out want to return or get some additional items. This is when I am glad I don't believe in guns.
When I am King, I am going to have all the grocery stores go to a new system. It's called,
Lower The Prices.
Hey, every Sunday I collect, every two weeks I throw them away because they have become torn in my purse. Ridiculous behavior, I need to get a grip.
ReplyDeleteI'm way to absent minded to use coupons.
ReplyDeleteRecently I encountered an interesting implementation. In stead of distributing the coupons, they were stickers stuck to the product in question by the store. So you get to the cash, they scan the product, then if the terms are met (you needed to have two items and you get a third free) they scanned the coupon and it did the operation in the register. This seems to be one step closer to the 'just lower the prices' system.
I don't think my wife uses coupons, but she saves them for a nephew with four kids. His wife seems to appreciate them.
ReplyDeleteBut if the prices are lower, who would buy newspapers!??!?!
ReplyDeleteHaha, yes, coupons can definitely be tricky. I look at them after I've made my list and only clip ones for items on the list. The cheapest way to shop is to buy fresh produce - and also to buy ingredients like flour and make your own bakery items. You know how many pizza crusts or loafs of bread you can get from one 5 dollar bag of flour? A lot!
ReplyDeleteSarah - I admire your discipline.
ReplyDeleteSarah - I admire your discipline.
ReplyDeleteI don't think my wife uses coupons, but she saves them for a nephew with four kids. His wife seems to appreciate them.
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ReplyDelete