When I see a really good deal, my heart starts beating faster. My palms get sweaty, and my brain gets a little foggy. I think thoughts like: “How many should I buy? Should I pick some up for a friend? How many can I get without making people stare? Maybe I should grab a second shopping cart. Ooh, do they come in all flavors, sizes and colors?
This is how I can waste a bunch of money, getting a ton a great deals that we don’t need, won’t use, and can’t store.
Instead I should ask myself: Is it healthful? Do I love it? Do I need it? Can I use it? Will it require maintenance (like ironing)? Will it help me reach my goals? Will I have to store it? How long will it keep? Do I have anything to wear with it (or cook with it)? Should I leave it for someone who needs it more?
Last week, for example, CVS had a double coupon opportunity that would allow me to get many bags of bite size butterfingers for free! Yep, free. I have to work hard at keeping my weight normal and sugar makes the entire family feel horrible after we indulge. It would have been a waste of time and gas for me to even try to snag a bag or two. It was not healthful or necessary.
Stores are full of “good deals” that we don’t need to take advantage of. Lunchables often go on sale for half price. I pass them by, because I can throw a more healthful and filling lunch together for much less than that. Frozen hash brown potatoes go on sale for $1 a lb occasionally. This is a really great price for them, but I pass them by. I can get 10 lbs of potatoes for $1 on sale. That’s 10% of the best price for frozen hash brown potatoes. They are more healthy, can be shredded to use as hashbrowns plus have a limitless number of other possibilties.
I once found a clearance rack full of girl’s pastelle cotton blouses full of adorable ruffles for just $3 each, brand new with tags! I bought one in every color and in sizes to wear now and grow into. They wore them once (then decided knit tops were more comfortable) and after washing, each blouse was a wrinkled mess. All those ruffles made ironing tedious. I was more than happy to put them in the next garage sale, but the great bargain turned out to be a waste of money and time.
I’m speaking to myself as much as anyone here, but a great bargain is no time to panic or to spend more than you should. Think it over carefully, leave some for someone else, and if you totally miss it, another one will come along.
I can entirely relate to this, Angela! I am starting to get better about buying things that are needed, not wanted. The person who taught me about thrift will often get those free things just because they’re free. In fact, she buys cat litter nearly free and she doesn’t have a cat! Sometimes those free or cheap things that we cannot use are great for a food pantry at church or at an animal shelter, though. Plus, you get the tax write off for the donation. As I understand it, you can legally write off the full value of the donation too, not just what you paid. It may end up being a money maker.
Nicole, You are right that many items can be donated. I go back and forth on this one. There was a time that we were needing to purchase diapers and had a very small budget. My health wasn’t good enough to keep up with cloth at the time. CVS had a very special sale that fit right into our budget, but someone went and cleaned them out and donated the diapers to a shelter. That left those of us who aren’t desperate enough to need a shelter, but still needed the deal, out in the cold. I’m all for donating…..but you can probably see my quandry.
Excellent advice. Great deals are definitely a temptation.
I often experience what you did in your diaper comment. In fact, I stopped deal-hunting at CVS, because they are more often than not out-of-stock on the only items I come in for. I always try to leave things for the next mama trying to feed her family.
I can completely understand what you are saying Angela! I too do the CVS thing and once a get a pretty good stock I stop all together until we are low again. I don’t go every week and snag every deal as my cvs is a good 15 minutes away and would end up costing me more in gas than a free bottle of shampoo. Its all about moderation and control, I can get really giddy about good deals too, and most of the time I let them pass unless its a bulk item that we normally stock. Its easy getting bummed when you read about all these free things ppl get but at the same time if I don’t need them are they really worth it?
Thanks for sharing
Joy
Free things are really a point to ponder. The person who cleaned them out of diapers probably thought they were doing a good thing, but in reality probably weren’t. My hubby works for a shelter, he’s a full time missionary, and they always have diapers (opened packages) donated, as well as shampoo, conditioner, deodorant, soap, snoring strips, things that don’t sell, the stores donate. What doesn’t get donated enough is the staple stuff that rarely goes on sale. The only thing accomplished by buying up, or taking freebies you don’t need, is taking money out of the pockets of those who need it and giving it to the store.
Hopefully that doesn’t sound ungrateful, it’s not meant to. But I used to do the same kind of thing. Pick up every free thing I could think of and donate it. I thought I was helping. But what happens in a donor supported charity is that people do that a lot. So they have store rooms overflowing with the junk people didn’t want to buy from the store (the store gets FULL retail credit for these on taxes) and then in turn, their precious stocks of bare necessities is dwindling, because they’re not being donated. I back you up totally on the theory, “if you don’t need it leave it for someone else”.
I have read an old article, from the 1600’s on “etiquette” and such. It said, “the higher class citizens should buy the more expensive cuts of meat, leaving the cheaper cuts for the poor and thus allowing them to have meat too.” My husbands theory, is buy as good of quality as you can afford. You can still do this with grocery shrink, it just takes a little creative thinking. One thing I do is the “dirty dozen” rule. There are about a dozen fruits and veggies that are terrible to buy regular commercial, and if you can’t buy organic you should go without. But, other F’s and V’s I buy commercial. We can’t really afford all organics, but we can make due with some.
I can relate to that, especially when I’m in the grocery store. It’s hard to just let those go sometimes. However, just because it’s on sale doesn’t mean I have to buy it!!! OH, and you ‘re so right about thinking about where to store those items. I have limited storage anyway, so I couldn’t buy very much!!! Good advice 🙂 🙂 Love and hugs from Oregon, Heather 🙂
Too many times I have stocked up on stuff for salads, only to have it ALL go bad. I have had to learn this lesson over and over.
Great post today I got that feeling in the shop how many wil a buy! and just happy and shaking from a good deal about canned vegetable.
from 0,85 cent too 0,50 euro cent! And went to Aldi and have a big bag ful off healthy groceries for 16 euro! ( 21 dollar). But know I look closer to see that we don’t buy a lot af candy anymore and chips we save a lot! thank you for sharing. Do you buy clothing for your family at thrift store ore do you have other great tips.
f.y.i. – CVS will usually give you a “raincheck” if they are out of something that is a special sale. Then you can go back next week when they are stocked up again. You just have to tell them how many you were planning to buy. They will even usually take your coupons if they are expired. hope this helps!
Bethany, that is true. But if there were CVS bucks involved, you can’t earn them when you buy later with a rain check. Often that makes the whole deal not worth it anymore. And sometimes the coupons expire before the rain check can be filled. I haven’t found a CVS deal worth my time yet because my family doesn’t shop on Sunday and by Monday the store is out of stock. It’s not a problem though. We’ve learned to cope with other shopping habits that still keeps our budget low. It just means I rarely go into a CVS anymore unless we need a prescription filled.
Angela,
At our CVS (and I assume others) you CAN earn Extra Care Bucks on rainchecks. They have a special code they put on the raincheck that alerts the cash register that ECB’s are supposed to print.
Susan :o)
Susan, That’s good to know. It’s been awhile since I check with CVS since it was such a frustrating trip the first few times I tried it. I’m glad they’ve updated their system.