For ages now, I've been encouraged by people in my real life, as well as online writers, to take up "couponing". As if it's hobby, just like camping or scrapbooking or knitting. With the notable exception of being an insatiable reader, I'm not a big hobby person. I've never jumped into the world of couponing. But, it seems like proponents are everywhere! Online ads, stay-home-mom friends, church seminars...the pull seemed relentless. And how do you argue with someone who says things like, "Well, I bought $643 worth of groceries and only paid $0.79!!" It had really gotten to the point that I felt like it was a 401(k) match I'd missed out on for all these years. Seriously, free money? How can I pass that up?
Since I worked at CVS for 2 years and was pretty familiar with the Extracare system, I thought "CVSing" was the place for me to start. So, last Sunday morning, we stopped on the way home from church so I could get a Sunday paper.
Strike One: There was no CVS sale ad in the paper. Uh, makes it a little harder to determine the sales for the week, don't you think? I decided to look online at the ad, but that didn't seem to work either. Forget starting small, I'll go ahead and look at the other ads...
Strike Two: Have you ever seen how many ads there are in your typical Sunday paper? By the time I was done looking through them, the all-too-sacred naptime was over, children were ripping the sections apart, and I had a shopping list that ranged from digital cameras to school supplies to ground beef. The list also spanned something like 20 stores. Yes, I can see this working...Clip out seventeen coupons per store, load a preschooler and an infant into car seats, drive to first of 20 stores, load children into the cart--oh, wait, they both won't fit in the cart--so perch Little Lady's carseat precariously on cart seat while chasing Little Man through Store #1. Obtain 3 items on list at Store #1 and make way to checkout line. Purchase items with sale prices and coupons after explaining Store #1's obscure coupon policy (gleaned from various couponing websites) to cashier over the din of children screaming. Give up, load kids back into car for drive home after having only gotten 3 items on weekly list.
Strike Three: I simply can't figure it all out!! Mind you, I'm a fairly well-educated woman. A doctorate under my belt along with several years of college-level math. But, I still floundered among all the "wyb" and "ecb" and "rp 8/01" to ever get to "makes it free!" My sleep-deprived, child-addled brain just cannot process how to make it work.
In conclusion, I've decided that, while I may find a coupon worth hanging on to occasionally, I'm just not a couponer. I am amazed and awed by women who are, much like my amazement and awe toward women who complete triathlons and run companies. Press on, you CVSers! But, alas, my sanity requires that I spend my time and my limited brain cells elsewhere during this season. Guess I'll stick with my store brands and my bulk shopping for now.
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