Thursday, April 14, 2011

My new favorite game?

I believe that I have inadvertently stumbled upon what may become my new obsession....my new favorite game...and probably ultimately my downfall.


You see that?  Yeah, that's what you think it is.  That's a stack of coupons.

I have never been one to clip coupons.  Not because I don't see the value in it, but because I don't usually plan out my shopping trips more than 5 minutes in advance.  Typically, I will drive to Target, pull into the parking lot, and think what do I need to get here?  I make a list on my phone, and I'm off.  This also happens at the grocery store, and just about every other store I go into.  Not very conducive to couponing.

But I'm going to be a wife now, you know, and this means I am going to have to learn how to plan shopping trips.  Specifically, trips to the grocery store, because stopping at Kroger every night on my way home from work and buying a box of macaroni & cheese is not going to cut it anymore.  I have embraced this change and in trying to make myself get used to looking for coupons, I was looking through the ones that came in the mail the other day and I stumbled across a $3 off coupon for Nivea bodywash.

I use bodywash, and I thought, well, that's a pretty big coupon, so I cut it out.  I had to make a trip to Wal-Mart today for groceries (just for one dinner, mind you, I don't have the meal planning thing down yet) and I thought I would check out the Nivea bodywash while I was there.  So imagine my surprise when I only found one bottle left on the shelf (this should have foreshadowed what was about to happen.)  I smelled it; not my favorite scent but I could live with it.  I look at the price tag to see how much I'm going to have to pay for this and the tag says: Rollback!!  $3.00.

WHAT?!?!?

I blinked about 20 times and realized that yes, the bodywash had been on sale for $3.38 but was on sale for $3.00, and my coupon was for $3 off....which meant.....surely not.....that bodywash was FREE!  I about died right there in the aisle.  Is this what it feels like to be an extreme couponer?!?!

Now don't get me wrong, I don't think I could ever be like those women on the show.  First of all, I think it's counterproductive to have to buy 45 bottles of mustard in order to get 30 of them free.  What am I going to do with 45 bottles of mustard?  Or 45 bottles of anything, for that matter?  I am not a hoarder and I'm not going to become one in order to become a couponer.  However, I definitely now see the value in looking for coupons (for the things I need only) because clearly it could save me some dollars.

Of course I know what will happen....I'll start buying stuff I use, but don't immediately need, just because I have a coupon.  So if you see me at Target, Wal-Mart, Kroger etc. and I have a cart full of junk, please stage an intervention immediately.

3 comments:

  1. Too funny! I've tried to do the coupon thing, but there are never coupons for the things I need! Maybe I should try again. :)

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  2. Wow, that's amazing that it was FREE! Extreme couponing is kinda outrageous but I think it's good to use coupons if you are going to buy that product. Those companies pay good money to have those coupons made so why not use them to save if you can!

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  3. Where do you find your coupons? Ashland newspaper never has anything good!

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