Couponing for the Easily Embarrassed

Day 5

Today I had some time to waste as I waited for my daughters Girl Scout meeting to wrap up. I used this time to drop into a nearby Walgreens. I had noticed a sale on peanut butter in a circular and it matched up with a coupon that I had been carrying around, so it seemed like the time to swoop in on a deal.

I grabbed the peanut butter first: 2 jars on sale for $1.99 a jar + a coupon for $1 off of 2 jars.

Feeling pretty good about closing in on that deal, I decided to wander around the store a bit and try to find more.

My lack of strategy made me realize why people map out their trips to the store first: looking for the sale tags, and then leafing through my coupon organizer was cumbersome. And I felt like everyone at the store was looking at me. Bottom line is, I was embarrassed to be using coupons. And taking the time to read the tags and try to find a matching coupon made me feel like all eyes were on me.

In reality, probably nobody noticed, and if they did, they might have pitied me or, at best, thought I was a discerning shopper. But it really doesn’t matter. At least that’s what I think now that I am no longer at the store. But in that shopping moment, I was shrinking inside.

And I left with only the peanut butter. Regular price: $4.49 each.

Which, after coupons, I paid only $1.49 per jar: A savings of 67%.

Receipt for 2 Jars of Peanut Butter

67% is Not Bad

 

And I walked out of the store feeling so dissatisfied. Why?

I looked to my inspirational show for answers. After watching yet another episode of Extreme Couponing, I felt re-inspired, and I think I figured out why I am not feeling the rush of savings bliss.

The people on the show are getting some pretty sweet deals. They are not only saving money, but they are getting things for free. Naturally, this is because they are couponing experts, especially in comparison to a novice like me. These people know the coupon policies of their favorite stores and have no qualms about handing over a stack of coupons during a transaction. It’s quite admirable.

I still don’t have a favorite store, largely because I have not tried couponing in a variety of places. And I do not know any stores coupon policy. And I have only purchased one newspaper and clipped a relatively small handful of coupons.

But you have to crawl before you can walk and walk before you can run, so if 65% savings is all I can muster at the moment, then it is going to have to be Ok with me.

Be gone melancholy!

SAVINGS TO DATE:  $ 74.83   ($68.83 last count + $6 saved on peanut butter)

 TIME SPENT TODAY:  0  (I went shopping, but I was already there waiting for my daughter to finish up an activity, so no additional time was spent due to this shopping run.)