Ignorance, How fun!

A few evenings ago, Caleb and I took a much-needed date to Barnes & Noble to get away from work!  One of the disadvantages of working from home is that, well, work is home and so when you are home you feel you should be working.  Anyways, we ordered our coffees and sat down to read magazines.  

I was reading a magazine on decorating and cooking and found an article on the topic of couponing.  

The author of the article began by saying she had never couponed before and that this article was written based on her first week of trying it out! (lovely, one week of couponing experience gives you permission to write a full page article on the topic.)

Her first paragraph talked about how she signed up for something similar to Groupon.com (awesome site!), ordered a discounted certificate, used it, but then let the sushi she bought with it go to waste because she went out with friends instead.  She stated that therefore, this was a waste of money. (Maybe, she should have said no to going out and cooked what she already had purchased?)

Next she talked about how she printed a $1 off coupon for Jamba Juice and went and purchased a smoothie because she had the coupon, even though she really wanted a coffee.  After she drank the smoothie, she still went and bought her $4 coffee. She chalked this up, as a $4 loss. (Aghhhhhhhhh, what??)

She ended the article by saying that clipping some coupons for grocery and household items will save you some money, but to skip other coupons that save you money on eating out and entertainment because you won’t end up saving much (because apparently, since she cannot use common sense, neither can you!).

Lessons learned here:

#1 – Do not buy a gift certificate and use it unless you know you will utilize the item you are purchasing. This has nothing to do with using a coupon or not, this has to do with not being wasteful. Don’t buy it if you don’t plan on using it!  If you’ve already bought it, make sure you don’t let it go to waste!

#2 – Do not buy an item just because you have a coupon.  You will spend MORE money by following this methodology.  If you want a coffee and don’t have a coupon, it’s okay! Life is about small splurges!  The reason I coupon is so I can grab my $4 coffee every now and then and not cry!

Bringing some brains back into this topic…here are some websites to check out!

www.restaurant.com I’ve posted about this website before as a great way to get good deals on gift certificates for restaurants. Caleb and I have said a lot of money using this site!

www.groupon.com emails you local offers every day. Most of the offers are 50-80% off.  The offers can be for restaurants, stores, spas, etc.

www.retailmenot.com this website lists all of the coupon codes available when making purchases online.  This can be a $ off amount, a % off amount, or free shipping. Sometimes you can even use more than one code!