Coupon Queen

I am a firm believer that every good coupon should be redeemed.  If I am already going to use the product, it is within the realm of the budget and it is a reasonable offer, I chunk said certificate in a special drawer in the house or in a manila folder that I keep in one of the cars.

If the offer is for something I would be adding to my list of things to buy or maintain (in other words I wouldn't buy this unless this coupon came into my life) then I generally don't keep it unless it is really cool or I think I might be able to give the product as a gift to someone who would really like it/use it.

My theory?  If I'm not tempted to save money, I won't spend the money to begin with.

Well, let's just say that my car couponing manila folder has seen better days.  When I pulled its crumbling exterior out from between the seats this morning, I found notes I made to create a gift for a friend who was turning 40.  He is now 43.

Yeah, time to rethink my method of keeping track of things.

So, I brought the entire folder into the house and merged all the coupons with those that are in the closest thing we have to a junk drawer.  In it, you'll find all sizes of batteries, a couple of handheld games that need funky batteries*, and my coupons.

As I was sorting through things, I became impressed with the number of Bed, Bath and Beyond certificates that I've collected over the years.  Yes, YEARS.  Not this year, not just 2010, but all the way back to 2008.

Seriously, I had FORTY-ONE coupons. 

Which begs a couple of questions:

1.  Is this how hoarding starts?  With an innocent little pile of coupons that then leads to a small collection of rubber bands (which I already have) from Whole Foods** which leads to recycling aluminum foil and then, BOOM, you can't open the back door?

Honestly, I'm already looked at cock-eyed by folks who notice my recycling compulsion.  Do I really need to tempt the idea of hoarding?

2.  If I had actually cashed in each and every one of those coupons, what seriously warped collection of George Foreman grills/Snuggies/"J" initial koozies would I be sorting through come spring cleaning time?
 
3.  If Bed, Bath and Beyond can afford to send so much marketing, why don't they just skip the cost of composing and printing 20% off mailings, reduce everything in the store by 10%, and pocket the difference?

Clearly, I kept EVERY OFFER they sent from the beginning of time.  Truly, from the mailbox, to the drawer.  So, if I have this many offers from January 2008 through July 2011, they are sending, on average, one mailing per month.  Time someone figured out the financial sense of their marketing.***

But here is the funny thing:  I couldn't bear to part with all my coupons.  I threw anything that had clearly expired or wasn't valid, but I am still looking at a stack of paper pretty thick.

So, if you have need to go to BB&B in the near future?  I'm your coupon dealer.  Give me a shout.  Honestly, you'll be doing ME the favor by taking away one more opportunity to camp out at the store and drool over the latest bedding that nobody in this house needs.

Next up?  Tackling the marketing machine that's Kohl's.  And ridding myself of percent off cards and $10 "thank you" certificates.  The one consolation?  Currently, I can't get ahold of a pillow pet at THAT store.

Ay caramba.


*That I put in the drawer, hoping it would remind me, every time I opened said drawer, to replace the batteries.  Hasn't worked so far....

**Who graciously band the eggs so they won't fall out.

***Wanna offer me a job opportunity, Mr. BB&B?