Tell me if you think I'm nuts. Apparently my family does! Yesterday I went to Walgreens and bought saline solution and visine, among other things. I had no coupons, so I paid full price (about $17 total). This morning, I was flipping through the coupons in the paper and I saw a $2 coupon for the saline and a $1 coupon for visine. So I told hubby that I was going to return it and repurchase it using the coupons. (It wasn't out of the way, as I was shopping for my dad today anyway, and going right past the store). Hubby said, "Is it worth all that just for $3?". Now, if I knew I would buy this stuff again before the coupons expired, I wouldn't have bothered but I never buy this stuff (only once or twice a year). So I did. The employees in the store didn't seem to think it was a big deal. Later tonight, I was having dinner with my dad and I told him the story. My dad is 83 years old and grew up in the Depression, so I figured he'd appreciate my frugality. His response: "You did that for $3?" (What do they say about girls marrying guys just like dear old dad?). I was so proud of myself!
Here's another example of what I did for $3 (or so). While grocery shopping for Dad, I was in the cereal aisle and saw a box of Kelloggs Smart Start cereal with a big "Try Me Free" banner across the top. So I bought it. And I'll send in the form with my receipt and get my money back. Again, the response: "Why'd you buy that? You don't eat that cereal." What the heck? I'll eat anything for breakfast, and if they want me to try it so badly, I'll oblige.
So am I nuts? Would you do either of these things (or more?) for $3?
I added today's purchases to my grocery spreadsheet. It's basically just an Excel spreadsheet. I list the item, size, date, store, cost, deducations for store coupons, mfr coupons and rebates, net cost and unit cost. That way I can compare prices for different sizes easily. I can also see how frequently I buy different things. We'll see how tedious it gets when I have a big grocery order.
A few other notes from today. I bought a belated Christmas gift from Chef Central today. I had a coupon for 25% off one item that expired 12/31. I went in on New Years Eve and they were out of stock on the item. So I talked to the manager, and he said they would honor the coupon when I came back. He wrote that on the coupon, dated and initialed it. I used it today with no problem. The item I bought was $149.99, so with the coupon, I saved $37.50. Lesson learned: It never hurts to ask. In the past, I would have chalked it up to my bad luck and paid full price.
Along those lines, I think it was HouseHopeful who called her bank to get a charge reversed when she accidentally paid her mortgage twice. Again, doesn't hurt to ask. I've done that with credit card companies when I've accidentally paid late and as long as you're a good customer, they usually waive it.
Only other spending today was gas for the car: $28+. My goal is $50/week ($25/car) for a total of $200/month. The $28 is high because dad lives about an hour away. It should go down from here.
I also managed to list about 2 dozen books on half dot com. I let my inventory expire because I never logged on (and went a while without a sale), so now I need to reenter everything. Not the end of the world, because it gives me a chance to see exactly what I have.
Have a great day!
What would you do for $3?
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