Posted on 03/01/2011 5:02:17 AM PST by Daffynition
As soon as Kathy Spencer walked into the Rite Aid in Haverhill, early one recent Sunday morning, she knew something was up: All the carts were gone. At that hour, she was accustomed to having the store to herself, quietly piling hundreds of dollars worth of goods in her cart, quietly working the system, quietly walking out the door without having to pay for any of it.
Instead, the store was “a madhouse full of crazy women fighting over toilet paper,’’ she said.
She knew exactly who was to blame: she was.
“I had a moment,’’ she said, “where I wondered, ‘What have I done?’ ’’
(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com ...
coupon ping
“I remain nestled in cognitive dissonance”
nestled? The idea behind cognitive dissonance is that it’s something people try to avoid.
A local welder is a semi-rich mooch. The kinda guy who brings brake pads and calipers to a softball buddy’s for-profit garage and asks to borrow the lift and tools at closing time and obviously expects softball bud to stay late and help, and “help” means actually do almost all of the work. And then when softball buddy’s steel-pipe well water line freezes, Mr. Welder is right there with lotsa long cable to set up the welder for low current heat and melt the ice in the pipe,
for $65 an hour.
Something-for-nothing people often disgust me.
I read the whole article and although it’s legal it doesn’t seem ethical. You would think these stores would get a clue instead of asking this women what loopholes can be exploited so they have enough product on hand. As with everything if too many people do this it will come to a halt, effecting the people who don’t exploit the system the most.
Something for nothing means someone else is paying for it. It seems immoral.
Then the manufacturers should quit printing coupons and the stores should alter their couponing rules. Until then, I will continue using their coupons and their rules to stock my store cupboards.
Mrs WBill and I carefully follow the circulars and use coupons all of the time, often in ways that this lady is talking about (combine coupons with 'onsale' items to make them 'free'). Smart shopping - especially in a one-income household like mine - is a good idea. I figure that I get about 1-1/2 weeks of groceries a month, for free.
Lots of what she's talking about are loss leaders jut done to get me in the store. They work, I buy the loss leader, but I also drop 60-100 bucks a week at the grocery store. Other 'deals' are done specifically by the manufacturer to boost sales of a certain item.
But you're right about these extreme coupon people. I don't get the allure of getting a bunch of 'free' stuff that you'll not ever use (or just to give away...who does she think she is, Robin Hood?), or buying things that you don't want, just to get money back. Or, clearing the shelves of a product, just because you can.
If I use a coupon for something, it's because I need it, would like to try it, or am already planning to use it. Anything else is just greedy.
I do like her “stock” of toilet paper. A lot of people do not realize what a luxury (necessity) toilet paper is. You can run out of a lot of things and make do, but does anyone really want to go back to catalog pages, leaves, or using the reliable cowboy neckerchief for their daily duties?
I only stockpile a couple of months worth of toilet paper at a time. I once had about a half year’s worth of TP but it took up too much space. Right now have about a half year of toothpaste and BO sticks but they take up very little space. It is about time to stock up on coffee. I am down to about a month’s supply and would like to built it up to about a three month supply.
I got into couponing last year and saved us a ton of money. It was great at first, until I realized I was feeding my family a bunch of processed junk. Wheat Chex, Pop Tarts, pierogies, frozen pizza, sugary yogurts, and noodles...corn, wheat...junk. So now I only use coupons on nuts, cheese, and frozen veggies, plus personal care items. We pay more at the store, but we’re not eating a bunch of processed, sugar-loaded foods - even if it is free, it’s not always worth it.
/my 2 cents
I never got into the drugstore deals because there’s only so many tubes of toothpaste and deodorant you can use in a lifetime. And if paying half the retail price for t.p. at the grocery store helps me keep my sanity (as opposed to paying nothing at CVS) I’ll pay half price.
That’s exactly how I feel about couponing. I’m starting to really get into it but I refuse to be swayed to buy stuff I don’t want or need. We don’t eat a lot of processed food either and coupons for “real” food are hard to come by, but we buy Cheerioes, oatmeal, cheesesticks, yogurt, eggs,etc and toiletries and household supplies with them.
And I love your tagline. High-five!
I have five children, three being girls. There is no such thing as too much TP. My stock of TP really “moves” around here.
Clipping coupons, organizing them and the like takes time. What is your time worth? I dunno...I wouldn’t poo-poo someone who does this expertly, but I can’t afford to do this full time.
Lots of the coupons are for products that I don’t use and sizes that are humongous. No point in that. And what’s with this *buy 2 and get .15 off*?
I missed out on the Motrin, but I got paid 75 cents to take Colgate off Walgreen’s hands yesterday. :)
Just kidding, Lord.
With the price of gasoline going up and up..I’ve come to appreciate my local store [I go there anyway] and for every $100. you spend ......10¢ is taken off a gallon of gas ...at one of *their* gas stations. SO I accrue the points and make a fill-up run about once a month...this week I’ll be getting 70¢ off/gallon of premium fuel. Cool beans!
The alternatives are horrible!!! :)
If you are careful and watch how your groceries *ring-up* you will notice that in almost every trip, there is a mistake and the product rings up wrong. If you know the store policy/law....you should be getting the product free for that go-’round. No coupon clipping. Meh.
I don’t think it is immoral/unethical... the mistake is always in the store’s favor. By the time you notice it, the store has already overcharged scores of customers. The store needs to get it right from the get-go.
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