It is a fact that for 40 years, I have not run out of "feminine protection." Seriously. As soon as I realized that my parents had a difficult time keeping the house stocked with such an important necessity, I started using my baby-sitting money to pay for my own. When I got married in 1979 I began using coupons on everything I regularly used, and at that point I stopped being brand-loyal. It was whatever pad was on sale that I had coupons for. For one entire year it was Always pads, the year I lived in Independence, Iowa and raided the recycling center weekly, netting 25-30 of the amazing $2 coupons that made the product entirely free. And up until six weeks ago, when my husband passed away and I temporarily lost my mind, I avidly perused the sale ads and the coupon inserts so that my cupboard was well-stocked with this important product at the lowest stockpile price possible.
Then last night one of my daughters informed me the stockpile was down to one single pad and I needed to go to Walmart first thing in the morning.
Without coupons. There was not one single coupon for feminine protection in my coupon binder. No Kotex. No Stayfree. No Always.
Terror struck in my heart. Would I have to pay full-price for this pricey product?
At Walmart this morning, my eyes scanned the shelves, silently repeating the steps to saving that I recite in my workshops:
Step 1: Identify what you need. I needed pads.
Step 2: Look for a sale price. I found a couple boxes of Kotex U products on sale for $3, regularly $5.97, and they included a nice purse clutch holder.
Step 3: Ask yourself if you have coupons for that product. No, I did not. BUT, and this was the best part of emergency couponing shopping in action~ Right on the product were $2 off coupons, bringing those two boxes down to just $1! I picked up two other packages that were priced at $3.97, and used the $2 coupons on those as well.
There was also a refund form attached to a Stayfree product, offering a $5 refund for purchasing two Stayfree products, limited to one per address. I picked up two packages of pads priced at $2.84, and immediately filled out the form when I got home, sending it out in today's mail to get a $5 check. (the manufacturer's count on the impulse buy and the slippage that occurs when the consumer forgets to send for the rebate)
Arms full, I headed to the checkout, only to be stopped by an older gentleman who informed me I had dropped one the packages. He laughed when I stooped over to pick it up and dropped another one of the packages.
"Emergency run. Two teenage daughters," I explained.
"That is an emergency!" he said, "But I think you could have used a cart," and he gallantly offered me his empty one.
I demurred, and carefully made my way to the check-out. Hopefully I won't have any more emergency coupon runs anytime soon.
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