No Coupon Needed

Never go anywhere without your coupons. This is the #1 rule for couponers everywhere, and yet I was in Walmart this morning without my binder. I was there to pick up medication for my daughter Emily, who just had her wisdom teeth removed. While I waited, I wandered the nearby aisles, coming across five more boxes of marked down Kotex U pads, along with five $2 coupons. $1 a box after coupons is a great stockpile price, so of course I bought all five.  I almost didn't go in the clearance aisle because I knew there was a good chance there would be something marked down that I had coupons for~ at home~ and I didn't need the guilt at having forgotten my coupons and missing a good deal. I'm glad I ignored my initial hesitation because when I got to the clearance aisle I immediately spotted a cart of marked-down Scott toilet tissue. Now, Scott tissue has been my favorite brand of toilet paper for over 15 years, ever since we lived in the country with a septic system. And I was just thinking about how low we were getting on toilet paper.

(photo circa 2002)

I am always looking for a good deal on Scott tissue, so when I saw these single rolls marked down to 25-cents (regularly $1), I began throwing them into my cart.  Then I thought What am I doing? and I put the rolls back in the cart and added my other items to their cart full of toilet paper, instead. Then I pushed it up to the checkout, where I was met with the very wide pair of eyes of a young cashier. David would have loved this, I thought.  He was never embarrassed with my good deals, unlike my children, who would have been mortified. David would have started bragging on the good deal and called me his "Coupon Queen." (despite the fact that I didn't have coupons for the toilet paper) "She's the coupon queen who writes a column for the Telegraph Herald," he often told complete strangers in line behind us. Hey, he was proud of me, and after 32 years, used to my sometimes extreme couponing tactics.

I helped the cashier count the 89 rolls and handed her my coupons for the Kotex products. "Now you have something funny to talk about in the break room later," I told her, "You can tell everyone about the crazy lady buying toilet paper."

"Oh, I will," she smiled broadly. I think I made her day. I know this deal made mine.