Expect more, pay less… a LOT less
26 Jan 2007 Leave a Comment
in General
I subscribe to a few frugal/thrifty newsletters. My favorite is from Michele Easter. Her newsletters are always packed full of enthusiasm, she seems to really enjoy bargain hunting.
A recent newsletter from her said that Super Target was offering an online coupon that would take one dollar off “any Market Pantry Mexican item”. Michele’s email said that she successfully used the coupon to buy items such as honey (for her sopapillas) and canned tuna (for a Hispanic tuna and rice dish she made).
I mentioned this to my daughter MP. She and I both thought the idea was interested and wanted to try it for ourselves. We were a bit dismayed to find out that the closest Super Target was about 20 miles away, but we were determined not to let a bit of distance stand in the way of our “project”.
Last weekend, I wake up to find that MP is raring to go. Since the Target web site allows a person to choose the amount of coupons they print out, she decided to print out SIX HUNDRED coupons. I can only assume that she didn’t want to have to drive back home if she ran out of coupons.
After several mis-turns, we arrived at the Target parking lot. The day is bright and sunny, so I stayed out in the car cutting coupons and sneezing while she went in for a test run. She came out about a half hour later. She had bought several bags of tortilla chips, a few packs of taco seasoning and some boxes of Kraft mac and cheese. (The Kraft mac and cheese was also on sale with the coupon and only cost a dime a box.) The total on the receipt was 14, then the cashier scanned in the coupons and the net cost was zero.
She loaded the goodies into the back of the van, and said she was going back for some “real shopping”. It was about 3:30 in the afternoon, so I settled back in the drivers seat to do more clipping and coughing.
I cut, I sneezed, I listened to the radio. I should’ve brought something to read, or at least stopped for a paper along the way. I tried calling MP’s cell a few times, but she didn’t answer. I suspected it was because we may have been in another county or something like that. For all I knew, we were in another area code as well.
At seven p.m., MP called me. She had turned her phone off, she seems to do that just a bit too often, lol. She told me that she was almost done (HOORAY!!!) and was just about to check out.
A few minutes later, I see a young woman struggling with a very overloaded cart. (Btw, MP is not what I’d call petite, she’s about five foot six or seven and is much stronger than most people her age.) When I say overloaded, that doesn’t quite do it justice. That cart was packed to the brim and overflowing with stuff.
