Expiring Coupon Syndrome

I had to make an "emergency run" to Walmart yesterday, not because we desperately needed anything, but because when I pulled out my coupon binder to do some much-needed organizing I'd noticed that my stash of Mitchum $2 coupons were expiring that very day!  Now, I have often said I am not brand loyal to anything but Scott tissue, but I do admit to having a preference in brands of deodorant, and Mitchum is my favorite.  When I spotted the Mitchum $2 coupon a few weeks ago I collected as many as I could and was holding onto them for a sale. That sale never materialized. Unfortunately, or fortunately, however you want to look at it, I suffer from "Expiring Coupon Syndrome," a common, but little-understood malady that causes the most well-adjusted among us to rush out the door in our yoga pants and no make-up in pursuit of inexpensive health and beauty products. This is a real syndrome, people, and not something I just made up to explain my bizarre behavior.

Once inside the store, I was pleased to see a few Mitchum marked down to $2 in the clearance aisle, but I had to pay a whopping 97-cents for the others. I filled my cart with as many purchases as I had coupons for, and then made a beeline to the Valentine's Day clearance aisle where I picked up half-price window clings to decorate my library next year. At the checkout, the cashier totaled up my deodorant while the person behind me looked on: in disgust or awe, I wasn't sure which. When I handed the cashier my coupons, she put on her glasses and scrutinized them carefully, before handing them back.
        "These are expired," she said. I gasped and clutched my chest.
         I checked the date on them again. How could I have gotten the date wrong?: 2-16-2014.
        "Isn't it the 16th?"
         She checked her register for the date, and then reached out her hand to take them back."You're right. I'm so sorry."  We both smiled as I breathed an audible sigh of relief. The woman behind me craned her neck to see as the coupons were taken off, snorting at the final tally, whether in derision or laughter, I will never know.
        What I did know was that a potential crisis had been averted, and my girls and I wouldn't have to worry about underarm "wetness or odor" for a very long time....

 

Look Ma! No Coupons!

I recently began a new job as a director of a small-town library. Every Monday we host an after-school program that includes a half hour craft project. On Wednesdays there is a story time for the younger set, which also includes craft time.  So when I stopped in a Michaels craft store this afternoon with my girls and spotted large bags of Christmas stuff for just $2, and I could see craft kits through some of the bags, you would have thought I was a kid in a candy store. My teens rolled their eyes when I asked for help carting ten bags up to the checkout.  We'd just watched several episodes of "Hoarders" on television last night, and I know what they were thinking: Mom's turning into one of those hoarders.

contents of one bag

Abby and I had a blast going through the bags together. Some of the items in the bags had originally been priced at $9.99 each, and there was even a few things priced at $19.99, including Christmas baskets I will use for gift baskets.  Four tall kitchen garbage bags were set aside for my sister's consignment store late this year. I'll store those on the attic steps.  What was left was a huge pile of craft kits and materials I will donate to my library, slated for craft time in December. Not everything was holiday merchandise, either. I found some journals, mouse pads, rubber stamps, and decorated lunch bags in amongst the Christmas items.  It just goes to show; you don't always need coupons to net some super savings. Sometimes you just have to be in the right place at the right time~