I’ve been reading a lot lately about saving money. One great way I’ve discovered is by using coupons. While I’ve known of the existence of coupons for most of my life, I didn’t really feel they were worth the hassle and the time. Enter the internet and the age of printable coupons and blogging. There are some people out there they have a better shopping plan laid out than a strategic military operation, and it all centers around using coupons.
I decided to try this out for myself to see if it was worth the effort. I work about a mile away from Wal-Mart and yes I have referred to then in past entries as The Evil Empire. But I have been working until midnight and there are only 2 shopping options that late at night, Kroger and Wal-Mart. I was trying to get the most for my dollar and I decided to try Wal-Mart. Besides, that time of night you miss the big crowds, you only have to contend with the overnight stock crew.
So I found a couple coupons I knew I could use and printed them out. One was a coupon for $1.00 off Vlassic Pickles and if you are a pickle lover you know Vlassic is the best. The other was a $4.00 off coupon for Purina Cat Food. I entered The Evil Empire to let the experiment begin.
First I hit the pickle isle. I found a jar of Vlassic for $1.58. This was the cheapest jar on the self so I picked it up. Second was the cat food. I found a small bag of Purina Cat Food for $3.68. My coupon was for $4.00 so I wasn’t sure they would take it.
I got to the register and sat the coupons on top of their corresponding products. Not only did they accept the $4.00 Cat Food Coupon, the overage applied to the sales tax as well. After tax I got both products for 52¢!
Needless to say the coupon experiment was a success. While I don't think I'll be changing my name anytime soon, I do think coupons will become a big part of my saving money plan.
By the way, the Vlassic Pickle Coupon is good until December. I'm sure I'll be making several more trips between now and then and I'll use one of these about everytime to Stock Shop on these pickles.
