Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Deals gone bad

Frugal was a motto my mother lived by. We only shopped sales and she always spent cash for everything. That all changed when she got a Macy's credit card to get better deals on the sales when she used her card. Don't worry, they still pay it off every month and despite her Macy's credit love, she is still motivated by a good sale.

I inherited this frugal gene. And now I've taken it to a whole new level. Couponing and Walgreen deals. You should know that I was forced into it by these two ladies. They came over, forced me to cut coupons and took me to Walgreen's. There my eyes were opened. I could get household goods for FREE!

Despite the success, there has been a HUGE failure. Maybe failure isn't the word. Screwed might be more appropriate, albeit slightly offensive. None the less, it describes perfectly my deal breaking event.

Dreams of catalina's** danced in my head. I would have load's to spend at Fred Meyer. The family and I spent a Saturday afternoon running to 5 different Fred Meyer's purchasing horrible smelling Glade Plug-In warmers. The girls were following Dave looking for the "Glibulmumble" at every Fred Meyer. They tip-toed, rode in 'beep-beep' cars and helped me accumulate my many Catalina's. It was a family day to remember.

With a few coupons left in my wallet I anticipated the final loot I would take home. There at Fred Meyer they had 10 Glade Plug-In's left. I had hit the mother-load.

My confident coupon hands loaded up the cart and checked out. After the cashier took some of my Catalina's to pay for these horrific, repulsive, money making trinkets, one Catalina printed. ONE! What? There was supposed to be 10! My heart started to beat, my palms got sweaty and my kids started melting down. What? My money, my family Saturday, my extra groceries. I couldn't think, I had to get out of there. Where was Angela? Was there a way? Could those Catalina's possibly grace my hands again. No. I had been utterly screwed.

You see, Glade, being the smart company that they are, caught onto our money making scheme (scheme is not a good word, nothing here was illegal or wrong, we just figured out a way to make money off their product). They had revised the deal to print only ONE Catalina. Had I gone home to read my blogs I would have noted this.

My pride is a lot bruised. I just don't know if I can clip another coupon. These ladies here may have some inspiration for me. They've just started this new site to help ladies like me. I'm hoping I can find a flicker of hope there to jump back on the horse and start saving some more money.

**Edit: The short of it. I used Catalina's (a coupon off towards your next purchase) to purchase the 'motherload'. I lost the ones I had built up AND the ones I thought would generate out of the last purchase. So I would have had a total of $48! I came away with $8.

7 comments:

TcH said...

Can you just return those glade things??? I dont get it.
Im trying, but I can't.

But, sorry about your deal gone bad
:- (

Cutzi said...

I'm confused too. Can you explain some more? I want to get in on good deals..... (that's me whining)

kate said...

okay, sorry for the confusion.

I bought them with some of the catalina's (coupons off towards next purchase) that i had already made. So...the hope was that I would get more out of this last purchase therefore doubling what I had. When in fact, I lost the ones I had and did not gain any more. Does that make sense? I'll post that.

kate said...

T - I can't return them for any money b/c I bought them with a coupon so I'm stuck trying to sell them on ebay.

Jenny said...

OH Kate I'm sorry. HAHA
I'm not laughing that you got screwed just about the day that you had doing this. I am reminded of when Dave told me that he and the girls were looking for the "Glibulmumble". At least you all had fun running around.

(((hugs)))

AND we did get a good deal on Sunday right? Can't wait till I get em.

Love you!!!!

amanda said...

i keep telling the husband that i am going to become a coupon mom. i have yet to take the plunge.

i want to. but for some reason i haven't??

Mercedes said...

Hi Kate,
We have all made mistakes. Just two days ago I bought soups that I thought were on sale for a dollar. After doubled coupon they were free. I was buying them to donate. But I actually chose the wrong type and got charged the full price for them. There is also the example of when I bought Dove chocolate that should have been free after coupons and I actually ended up paying 1.25 a bag. I had 14 bags :-(
It's just statistics. For so many good deals you get you are bound to mess one up, you know? But don't give up and keep plugging along. In the grand scheme of things your efforts will be rewarded.
Mercedes