Shopping, saving, and store policies.
My mother used coupons. It was a habit I picked up. I had gotten away from it in recent times, mostly because it made more monetary sense to buy generic/store brands, and quite frankly I never did buy huge amounts of name-brand stuff (most of it is junk I don't need anyway).
I have been lured back for an entirely different reason now. My reverend mentioned that the place that we donate food to put out a request for personal care items, which cannot be purchased with food stamps. Well, those items have coupons issued regularly. In addition, both CVS and Walgreens offer deals each week where you can get "reward bucks" to use on your next purchase - which as far as I'm concerned becomes free money if I'm shopping there anyway.
I read someplace that you should try to put aside $3 dollars every day: 1 into savings, 1 for charity, and 1 for you to get something special for yourself. Using that as an inspiration, I'm using an approximate $30/month budget for this, and seeing how far it will stretch.
I may have spoken about all this before. The bottom line is, now I'm back in the coupon groove. Now, the latest thing that companies are doing to attract new customers or promote new products is sending coupons to you online, which you then print out and take to the store. Sounds great, right?
Unfortunately, the possibility of abuse is great, so some stores are refusing to accept these coupons. While I understand their concerns, this is a fast-growing trend, and I think it's bad company policy to reject them outright, especially if they don't have an option such as a loyalty card into which the coupons could be loaded instead.
I was at one local store chain (let's call it Deerbugs) because they had a major sale on Driscoll's berries going on. Well, since I am a member of the Driscoll's club, they sent me a coupon, which I printed. I also took a coupon from Dannon for a free yogurt (one of their new styles). I went to the checkout, and the cashier refused both coupons. I told her to void the transaction in that case, and she hesitated, finally agreeing to take the Driscoll's coupon only. I paid and left.
I then went to a different local store chain (let's name it Schmucks) and grabbed 3 Activia yogurts (another computer-printed coupon) and my free yogurt from the other coupon. Golly, they didn't have any trouble taking the coupons. Huh.
So I wrote to Schmucks thanking them for not being dicks, and sent a different email to Deerbugs, calling them out on their policy.
I wrote Deerbugs at work. By the time I got home, there was a message on my answering machine from their corporate office, asking me to call them to get clarification on the situation. Well, let's see here:
1. I asked to be contacted via email, NOT phone.
2 Your number would involve me calling long-distance.
3. As you prattled on, it became obvious that you intended to justify your rejection policy, rather than listen to anything I could say.
So, no, I will not be calling you back. You can keep your snotty attitude, and I can keep my money to spend elsewhere. (I only go there if they have something REALLY cheap, or they have something I can't get elsewhere.)
I have been lured back for an entirely different reason now. My reverend mentioned that the place that we donate food to put out a request for personal care items, which cannot be purchased with food stamps. Well, those items have coupons issued regularly. In addition, both CVS and Walgreens offer deals each week where you can get "reward bucks" to use on your next purchase - which as far as I'm concerned becomes free money if I'm shopping there anyway.
I read someplace that you should try to put aside $3 dollars every day: 1 into savings, 1 for charity, and 1 for you to get something special for yourself. Using that as an inspiration, I'm using an approximate $30/month budget for this, and seeing how far it will stretch.
I may have spoken about all this before. The bottom line is, now I'm back in the coupon groove. Now, the latest thing that companies are doing to attract new customers or promote new products is sending coupons to you online, which you then print out and take to the store. Sounds great, right?
Unfortunately, the possibility of abuse is great, so some stores are refusing to accept these coupons. While I understand their concerns, this is a fast-growing trend, and I think it's bad company policy to reject them outright, especially if they don't have an option such as a loyalty card into which the coupons could be loaded instead.
I was at one local store chain (let's call it Deerbugs) because they had a major sale on Driscoll's berries going on. Well, since I am a member of the Driscoll's club, they sent me a coupon, which I printed. I also took a coupon from Dannon for a free yogurt (one of their new styles). I went to the checkout, and the cashier refused both coupons. I told her to void the transaction in that case, and she hesitated, finally agreeing to take the Driscoll's coupon only. I paid and left.
I then went to a different local store chain (let's name it Schmucks) and grabbed 3 Activia yogurts (another computer-printed coupon) and my free yogurt from the other coupon. Golly, they didn't have any trouble taking the coupons. Huh.
So I wrote to Schmucks thanking them for not being dicks, and sent a different email to Deerbugs, calling them out on their policy.
I wrote Deerbugs at work. By the time I got home, there was a message on my answering machine from their corporate office, asking me to call them to get clarification on the situation. Well, let's see here:
1. I asked to be contacted via email, NOT phone.
2 Your number would involve me calling long-distance.
3. As you prattled on, it became obvious that you intended to justify your rejection policy, rather than listen to anything I could say.
So, no, I will not be calling you back. You can keep your snotty attitude, and I can keep my money to spend elsewhere. (I only go there if they have something REALLY cheap, or they have something I can't get elsewhere.)