Adventures in Shopping

But they were free with purchase!

It's been a real roller-coaster of shopping experiences as of late.



Went the local Evil-Mart just before Easter and had a heaping cart of items. I rolled up to one of the few human checkers and handed my fistful of coupons over and proceeded to dump the merchandise on the sticky conveyor of germistan. I got the stuff loaded in my car and drove all the way home to my garage...where I saw the receipt peeking out of the top bag and decided to read it. Sure enough, checkout bimbo hadn't deducted ANY of my coupons, despite being presented them prior to checkout.



Furious, I jumped back in the car and drove all the way back - about, oh, five miles. Fuming, I stormed up to the checker and asked if she still had my coupons. Amazingly, she did. Was she going to use them herself? I was shocked she didn't slip them in the coupon slot after I left, leaving me little recourse. (Actually, I would have got the manager at that point and demanded the register be opened. Don't cross me over a coupon, bitch.) I frostily told her in no uncertain terms that I didn't enjoy having to drive all the way back and would appreciate it if she could remember them in the future. Went up to the service desk where I was apologized to profusely and handed seven dollars cash.



Steamed, I left a second time to go home and unload the merchandise I never would have bought were it not for a coupon.



Then this Saturday I had a furniture fiasco over at the local Farm & Fleet. Bought a four-piece indoor-outdoor fake wicker furniture set for the lizards, as the old set is starting to break down. Yes, that's right, for the lizards. They sit on them every bit as much as I do and the thought of plastic coating that wipes clean easily was a big plus.



Al goes to the loading dock to get the set while I check out with a few smaller items and meet in front of the store. We go straight home and he begins to unload the furniture. It's not until the packing is removed that we notice the love seat has a bent rear leg that is so distorted the chair won't even sit square on the floor. Never noticed it loading the truck, and it's not bendable. By this time I have the little table and a chair in the lizard room, and it's pretty obvious the color is too dark a brown for the room. Back we go for a refund. Sheesh.



Did much better yesterday. Had tons of coupons to redeem, and did pretty well. Over at Ulta they had a BOGO on Jergen's lotion and I had two $1.00 off coupons. Bought a few other things on Clearance and used my $3.50 coupon for the whole transaction, so I did pretty well.



Headed over to Bed, Bath and Beyond What I'm Willing to pay - only because of the $10 off any purchase $30 or more coupon. Normally they are much too expensive for me, but the thought of getting almost a third off my purchase if I played my cards, er, coupons, right motivated me. I bought a mango slicer for $12.49, a Vegetable-Fresh for the Fridge for $5.75 and a cutting board for $12.75 and qualified! Yay.



But it was Petsmart where I really shone..



The little teenage girl at the check out was so impressed with my purchase. She couldn't get over all my coupons and how I was 'so organized' by laying a coupon on each grouping of items as it came down the belt. Waved my Pet Perks cards for discounts, too.



Bought a bag of Pro Plan and received 4 free Pro Plan cans free. Reg $36.99- on sale for $29.59 ($4.14 for cans)

Busy Bone $2.19, $1 off

Beggin Strips $2.50, $1 off

Kitty treats, BOGO $1.00 each

Kitty treats, two for $1.59 each, $1 coupons for each

Mighty Dog Can, BOGO, 70 cents

Alpo, buy two cans, get one free - bought six, had two coupons, 58 cents each





I had about $11 off in coupons, and ended up paying $41.35 with tax. I think they owe me a free puppy for that transaction! Or at least one of those shelter cats along the south wall...