Posted on 01/22/2012 5:30:43 AM PST by PJ-Comix
The Family Dollar stores have a DESERVED reputation for being hostile towards coupons. Some of the stores accept coupons with no problems but others act like they absolutely HATE coupons...and couponers. One Family Dollar store in Broward County, at the corner of Broward Blvd. and State Road 7, is especially notable for their hostility towards coupons and I normally avoid it like the plague. However, on Friday, I was looking for some easy laughs so I went to that particular store more for entertainment purposes than to get the product, Scrubbing Bubbles Toilet Kits. Yes, I did get my comedic entertainment but at the same time I also entered a surreal Twilight Zone.
I came up to the cashier with four Scrubbing Bubbles Toilet Kits and this is what happened after the cashier stared at my coupons as if they were radioactive objects from an alien planet:
(Excerpt) Read more at couponwhisperer.blogspot.com ...
PING!
Deer-in-the-headlights
exactly why I do not use coupons. I used to never shop without them. I was vigilant. Then I did the math and figured out my time searching, cutting, organizing, and going to certain stores at a certain time to save 50 cents did not equal my time. Folks couponing is not like looking for the Atocha. If you put that time, effort and fortitude into some side business or investment strategy you would be earning 500xs what you are actually saving couponing. All for what, being able to tell your friends you got 2 for 1 on plastic wrap? ... Seriously?
To some it is Hugh and Series
I ended up getting about $150 worth of stuff for under $10 by using coupons. That was like earning $140 in 4 hours for stuff that I needed including a non-stick frying pan, several 2 liter bottles of Pepsi, mayonnaise, canola oil, ketchup, cleaning supplies, and a ton of other stuff that I needed.
$140 of savings in 4 hours is like earning $35 per hour. Not a bad "payment."
BTW, once in a while I score FREE gasoline via coupons. Not easy but it can be done. I last did this in October for a 2 week period in which my gas tank was constantly FULL for FREE. I figured that the gas money I saved (same as earning since that is an unavoidable expense) came to about $300. I put in about 6 hours total to get that freebie gasoline or about $50 per hour. Not bad.
Coupons are frequently offered for name brand products that are significantly more expensive than equal quality competitors. I find that I often end up spending MORE even with the discount. Most of my shopping is at SamsClub and the ‘coupon’ is automatic at checkout.
My father-in-law did all the couponing for me. He would spend several hours a day cutting the coupons, organizing them, and preparing the shopping list. He would go shopping with me, and get all the coupon items.
We saved a few dollars, but this was his job in retirement. Huge amount of psychic income.
Psst! Right now you can go to Sams Club (or Walmart) and price match the Scrubbing Bubbles Toilet Kits with the Family Dollar fliers which list them at $4. They sell for $9.47 at Walmart. Then you take $4 Scrubbing Bubbles coupons (I have them now but Friday I only had the $3 coupons) and get those kits for FREE. Which is exactly what I did yesterday for several such kits.
Now what were you telling me about those "wonderful" automatic checkout coupons?
I usually save at least $400 per week. Some weeks much more like when I was scoring my freebie gasoline.
Ten boxes of scrubbing bubbles!?
Ten?
I don’t think I want to know...
What side business can I run on Sunday afternoon while I watch a football game or movie...this is when I clip the coupons that come in the Sunday paper? Go the simple route...flip through the coupons and only cut out the ones that are for products that you already buy...it is the same as that found coin...small amount of time used...and time that is being used for multiple tasks...I was talking to the union worker while I picked up the coin...
Time to see if the Sunday paper is here...
Yeah. They are cheaper than buying the refills that are $3.97 each. These are the kits PLUS the refills. A refill lasts about a month. We have 3 toilets so I got about a 3 month supply. But I also give most of them to relatives.
One time a friend of mine was in a really bad personal situation (known as "broke") so I gave him about 7 dozen boxes of frozen chicken wings to tide him over. So all this stuff has an ultimate purpose.
Yeah, I also do my coupon clipping while watching TV shows.
You spent 4 hours of your time to save $140 of things you needed... That may be of value to you...Maybe you do not value your time as much as I do. I wish you the best...
Oh you watch tv.... got it....
Which also means LESS time I have to work to earn that same amount of money. $35 per hour is not a bad "wage" at all. How many folks here would love to be earning that?
I hate the couponers in line in font of me wasting my time as I hate the lottery ticket buyers.
Hey PJ! Great to see your posting again. We’re not found of Family Dollar either.
Tough luck. Perhaps you need to take the advice of the KRAZY COUPON LADY who has this to say at the top of her site: Pick another checkout lane, honey.
Hi. I had been thinking of writing a Kindle article on couponing but much of the info is already out there on the Web. However, I am definitely thinking of writing an article for NASCAR fans on how they can make some serious money while attending the NASCAR races. I actually did this for 2 full NASCAR seasons as well as for a few weeks of an additional season. I spent 6 months on the road travelling to, and watching, NASCAR races while making some good money. In between races I was basically on vacation.
“You spent 4 hours of your time to save $140...Maybe you do not value your time as much as I do”
That comes to $35 per hour...but your time is worth more then that...congratulations.
But I don't think of my time in terms of dollars but in terms of time...we all have the same amount of time per day...roughly 24 hours. Some of it is used for sleeping, eating, cleaning, praying, working, entertainment, and on relationships. When I am using my time for most of these activities I do not even attempt to figure out the “value” of that time in dollars...if during some of that time I am able to multitask and clip some coupons then great...if not then no big deal. I am busy enough with my family, farm, job, and church so adding a side job really is not an option...but I can still save some money by clipping coupons and it does not hinder the other uses of my time.
Correct. And the 4 hours I spent getting my stuff meant at least 4 hours less time needed for working so I have more time to do stuff that I LIKE.
Here's the deal. Would you prefer spending 4 hours working (at a possibly boring) job or out couponing? Keep in mind that 4 hours of couponing includes several pit stops at barbershops and other workplaces where I enjoy myself swapping FUnnie stories with folks. So I am having a blast while couponing.
Some of us have more time than money. I will scan the grocery aisles for clearance items and take the time to make sure those unit prices are accurate. I even take the time to verify clearance item prices and will wait for the meat guy to bring me out sales cuts which they hoard in the back like gold. I rarely use coupons because 1) we don’t get them in the newspaper, 2) printing them from the web isn’t worth the ink when the store pulls that item because there’s a national coupon going (yes, that’s what our one and only store does) and 3) the store brand is still usually cheaper. But, on the rare occassion I do happen to get a coupon and it’s for something I normally buy, then I’m grateful for every penny saved since we’re on an extremely tight budget.
“Couponing”=shopping.
Shopping is detestable to me.
I go in, grab what I need, and get the devil outta there. I can’t be bothered to spend what little “spare” time I have hunting down obscure bits of paper.
My time is better spent OUT of the store, rather than detaining several others and standing there while the cud-chewing clerk rings the coupons through.
Those who enjoy shopping, and “saving money”, more power to you. Just stop trying to convince me that hours spent in the store, or preparing to go to the store, aren’t wasted time.
I use a free site called Coupon Mom (no affiliation)to expedite my couponing. They give you the store sale list for your area and next to the item, the date and flier the coupon is located if there is one for that item. Also stores like Walmart,drugstores,Target,etc. You just hang onto your fliers, Red Plum,Smart Source etc, until they expire,mark the date on them, and only cut out what you are going to use. You print out your list and you’re ready to go.
I was driving myself crazy before I found this.I’ve saved a ton of money.
ME: Read the date on the coupons.
MANAGER: December 31.
ME: Right but what year?
MANAGER: December 31, 2012.
ME: So what's the problem?
MANAGER: They're expired.
OMG, I would've been much less civil than you were at that point.
“Right because obviously the North Koreans could be taking a break from forging hundred dollar bills by switching to forged $3 coupons. One just can’t be too careful.”
bwahahaha!!!! and yes, I did click your link!
I buy dog stuff there; somehow I missed the SB deal...
Psst! You can buy coupons off the web and they come already clipped. The store brand is not cheaper in most cases when using coupons.
As to not wanting to print coupons off the web...that will cost you a lot of money in the long run. Let me give you an example:
Last year my wife started walking out the front door.
"Where are you going?" I asked.
"To Payless to buy a pair of shoes," she answered.
"Wait! Have you learned NOTHING from my couponing?"
"I didn't know Payless has coupons."
"Maybe they do and maybe they don't. Let me do a web search."
So I Googled the words "Payless" and "coupon" and right away came up with a Buy One Get One FREE online coupon. I printed it out and gave it to my wife.
"But what happens if they don't accept the coupon?" she asked.
"Then they put you in handcuffs and take you to the county jail for processing."
"What?"
"Just KIDDING! Take the coupon. Worst that could happen is they don't accept it."
So she took the coupon and came back later with TWO pairs of shoes. One she paid for and the other she got FREE.
So being annoyed, disrespected, and having total strangers waste your time is considered comedic entertainment?
You have to realize my main purpose was to be comedically entertained by those clowns, not so much to get the Scrubbing Bubbles which I can easily get at other locations.
Absolutely because it was hilarious to watch them strain in so many BIZARRE ways to keep me from using those coupons. I knew going in the place that something like this would happen and wasn't it FUn to read about this encounter?
Well, there are well-off people, and not so well-off people on this forum.
It really comes out to time vs money. If you have a lot of money, time is more valuable; if you don’t...
You need to get a life. It is a sin to waste the life that God gave you for such nonsense.
You’ve been missed. Good to see you back.
I don’t ever go to Family Dollar. The one here doesn’t take coupons, local checks or credit cards. They’re strictly cash only. Since I don’t carry cash, they’ve lost me as a customer. I’m sure they’ve cut out a lot of their customer base for the same reason. I do see lots of illegals there and that’s because they are paid under the table in cash or don’t have bank accounts so have to carry their pay in their pockets.
Venting, here. At our one and only grocery store, HEB, this week, I got royally ticked off as usual. Can’t stand that store. Other HEBs are ok, but this one takes the cake on sneakiness. They always seem to pull products that have good national coupons and have limited supplies (uh, the truck didn’t come in, blah, blah, blah) of advertised sales. Anyway, I spied a great shelf price but the bacon in that section didn’t match the bar code listed on the shelf tag. Next, they had t-bones on sale. Normally, I can’t afford steak so I wanted to buy several packages but as usual they only had one package. I went to the back to ask for more and the guy grudginly brought out 4. Other customers were standing around when he put them on the shelf. Excuse me, but I took them all and why couldn’t he have handed them to me at the door instead of making a big production of putting them out for everyone. Sorry, y’all can ask for more, these are mine. I had also asked him for the London Broil that was priced good but he claimed that the one (again, one) package was all he had. Somehow, I don’t believe him.
Then I went over to the clearance cart. Yeah, I know, a waste of time and aggravation. I picked out three items - gingerbread cookie mix, prepared gingerbread Christmas cookies, and cat treats. Nothing was marked (like I didn’t know from experience that they don’t mark them on purpose). So, I took them over to the office to be scanned. Sure enough, both the cookie mix and the prepared cookies didn’t match the bar code on the basket. All three items were NOT sale priced. LIARS!!!!
As a final insult, I got to the check out and sure enough they rang up not only my reduced (big red sticker) produce but also the previous customer’s. I pointed out the previous customer’s reduced price to the cashier (gee, I didn’t see that big red sticker) when she rang it up as original price. That customer said she always has to check her reciept there (uh, hello HEB, we don’t like cheaters!). I happened to have bought the same reduced produce and the cashier had the nerve to ring mine up also at the original price. It was avocadoes which were originally $7.49 and the reduced price was $3. That’s a whopping *** $4.49 *** price difference!!!! It does no good to complain to the manager because he’s obviously aware of it (guess his paycheck is a percent of sales?) and I’ve never gotten a reply to any complaints on their website. Ok, I’ll step down off my soapbox now.
WOW!
In most case I just point, click, and a few days later my coupons arrive in the mail already clipped. Process takes like about 5 seconds to accomplish.
Just stop trying to convince me that hours spent in the store, or preparing to go to the store, aren’t wasted time.
Not wasted because to me its like a big vacation, especially when I used my favored cashiers who are friends. I ENJOY joking with them and I like giving them coupon advice along with giving them the coupons they need to score cheap/free stuff in their own store. Sometimes when I walk into stores, the cashiers yell out to me to be sure to use their lane because they know they are in for some great goodies...and FUnnie stories.
Every hour of couponing allows me AT LEAST 2 additional hours of free time. My lifestyle is probably more laid back than 90% of the folks out there. As to "wasting" my life, perhaps you need to do a web search on me to find out what the real deal is. I'm not going to toot my own horn with specifics but I am doing LOTS of stuff.
Our Payless always has a BOGO or some other sale and they’re good about giving you a coupon on your reciept. But I haven’t bought shoes in 4 years and those were $4 sale flip flops. I just don’t shop.
I can get cheap 50 cent canned veggies without a coupon. Most national brands run about 79 to 94 so with the usual buy 4 get one free or $1 off 4, it’s still cheaper getting the off brand. We don’t use many cleaning or personal products. We just don’t buy much.
Like I said, if there’s a good national coupon out there, our store will pull the product. Remember when there was that free greek yogurt several months ago? Pulled it. I suspect the manager gets a percent of sales and that coupons take his profit down. I dunno. Most people wouldn’t have the coupon since our paper doesn’t carry them but who knows his reasoning. One day, there were so many empty shelves that I took pictures. Ridiculous.
The normal price for T-Bone steaks at Broward Meat & Fish market is $3.99 per pound.
It was avocadoes which were originally $7.49 and the reduced price was $3.
Normal price for avocados at Broward Meat & Fish is just a buck each. At this VERY MOMENT I am eating a plate of breaded mussels and eggs purchased at Broward Meat & Fish. The breaded mussels were $2.99 BOGO for a 2 lb pack which meant I got 4 lbs for $2.99 total. The eggs were for $1.69 for a jumbo sized dozen.
Now now Kirkwood, we all have our hobbies. Who is to say rock collecting beats couponing beats china painting?
I don’t think our Lord went to the cross to atone for the ‘sin’ of couponing.
You purposely went out of your way to spend a half hour annoying people working at the store and then come here to ridicule them. You only make yourself look foolish and petty. If you are here looking for respect, you are again wasting your time.
Are you sure? How do you know that couponing doesn't rank right up there with the sin of murder?
“Are you sure? How do you know that couponing doesn’t rank right up there with the sin of murder? “
Well, it’s not on “the list.” (!)
That said, covetousness is, it seems to me almost anything can go too far. The love of money is also a sin.
You however don’t seem to be indulging in any spectacular covetousness or money love, (how would I really know?), just doing your hobby, sharing pointers with others, sharing the goods with the needy, being frugal at home, having fun with cashiers. . .
so I assume you’re cool. :)
That was 6 in the package, so $1.25 each which there’s no way I’d buy them. But reduced for 50 cents, they’re coming home with me. Had one on toast this morning, yum.
Eggs here are way more than that. If you asked for mussels here, you’d just get dumb stares. The closest thing to a “fish market” is frozen fish sticks. You want cheese? You have a choice of velveeta, cheddar, colby, mozzarella, and on a lucky day, proccessed swiss slices. Olives are canned black and green. Need a new Swiffer pad? Forget it. Need that color catcher sheet for the laundry? No way. You might find Karo syrup during the holidays but only the small bottle.
Oh, did try to get Libby’s canned pumpkin with a coupon during the holidays but the 5 cans they had were bent badly. The 3 cans they had of the store brand was like half the price so it was better than using the coupon.
Last month, I was standing in front of the shelf thinking if I stared hard enough the product would magically appear. Another lady came up and stood beside me. After a few moments, she said, “You know, I...” and I said, “didn’t want to go to the city to get it” A man passed us and agreed.
This song and dance was their charade to dissuade people from using coupons, and she called their bluff. The store manager is a lying deadbeat; boo f**king hoo, the deadbeat's time was wasted. I just wish she had a buttonhole camera and put it all on Youtube...
This song and dance was their charade to dissuade people from using coupons, and she called their bluff. The store manager is a lying deadbeat; boo f**king hoo, the deadbeat's time was wasted. I just wish she had a buttonhole camera and put it all on Youtube...
I buy bargains over name brands constantly. However, one can get seduced into buying far more things that are “Just a great deal” than what you need.
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