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We were set.
Coupons were clipped.
Lists were made and triple checked.
Biker Bob was super awesome enough to not only make the trip to Acme and CVS today, but he also took Lily Bean with him. A saint? Yes. I made the most of my rainy day home alone – straightened up the downstairs and vacuumed, enjoyed an uninterrupted shower and even wasted some time pinning and facebooking.
My coupon scenarios were pretty easy today – only one transaction at Acme and 2 at CVS.
Well, the train came off the tracks at Acme and continued through CVS. I wanted to share this experience with you to reinforce the fact that we ALL have crappy couponing days. FOR. SURE. It doesn’t mean we should throw in the towel and never clip another coupon – it just means we have to learn from the experience, deal with it and move on.
Acme: We hoped to snag a $4 OYNO catalina for purchasing $12 in Edy’s Ice Cream Products. We spent $12 in participating products. We got no catalina. It didn’t print. Meaning? If I really want that catalina I am going to need to contact the Catalina coupon company. And I obviously want it or I wouldn’t have bought the stinkin’ ice cream.
Fail.
CVS: We had some ECBs to roll. Transaction #1 of 2 included a freebie Gatorade deal and 5 Air Wick air fresheners to qualify for the $10 free gas card deal.
Payment was to consist of $12 in ECBs from last week and a $10 gift card that we got from WeShop a few months ago for $5.
Total came to around $8 and the DAMN GIFT CARD WOULD NOT SCAN. Biker Bob said that the cashier tried with all of his might. He scanned the gift card, typed in the number, even switched computers. Nothing. Um, and I just checked WeShop and their site looks like an abandoned ghost town. AWESOME.
So we get stuck paying $8 out of pocket when it should have been $0 (or, technically $5 that we paid for the card in the first place).
By this time, Lily Bean was entering that really cool witching hour that occurs when she is desperately needing a nap. Bob cut his losses and left CVS before even attempting the second transaction.
Fail.
And so, in conclusion…
We now have a boatload of ice cream for way more than I ever would have paid for it. We also have a surplus of Air Wick dispensers and a dud gift card.
It doesn’t matter how practiced you are at deal seeking and couponing – THINGS WILL STILL GO WRONG. There are just too many outside factors that are beyond your control. Don’t let it discourage you from trying again – great experiences are absolutely possible.
So on that note, I put my ice cream in the freezer before it melted all over.
I gave an Air Wick to my neighbor and to my Mother-In-Law before stashing the rest in my donate pile.
I brewed a savory mug of coffee in my beloved Keurig.
And I vegged out while the rain continued to pour around the homestead. I added to that perfection by lighting my Autumn Splendor candle and started to think about all of the great harvest-y things I want to do come Fall.
Amen.
I have had days like those before! I decided with all the rain to just stay home today, put a roast in the crokpot and enjoy the family. No shopping, didn’t even clip my inserts. That will wait til tomorrow!
Hope your next shopping trip goes smoother :)
Oh! A pot roast! I was sooooooo tempted to run out and grab one today and throw it in the crock pot. I’ll bet that tasted great!
Hiya,
I just wanted to thank you for posting this. I am a newbie (been doing this bout 6 months) and have really benefited from couponing but have had a few disasters. I did this last week, I waited on the catalina for the double dip & pampers. Well, I goofed and waited tooo long! sigh, ;) Least I got diapers which will get used.
Also, I just want to say this shows people that yes you can save money and be more savvy with your money. But, life is life :) and things happen.
Things certainly will happen, won’t they? And I agree – diapers are never wasted! LOL :)
after nagging my mom for so long to use my guidance and use the pile of coupons I set aside for her, she finally decided to give it a try today, on her own. Well her shopping experiance was summed up in one text message to me. ”I used my coupons today, it was a disaster. I think I need shock treatment after this. I bought a few boxes of cereal for you and also saved 65$ love you” So this post couldn’t have come at a better time, I can’t wait to share this with her!!
LOL!
Aww – good for her – giving coupons a try!! There definitely is a certain rush of excitement and anxiety that comes with couponing – well, for me at least. And she saved $65?!?! Go, Mom!! :)
Thanks for sharing!
hey i also paid for a weshop gift card and never received my confirmation email. how are you going to go about contacting the company?
I sent them an email at the address listed on their website: support@WeShop.com. We’ll see if I hear back.
I didn’t get the $3 @ Weis on the ice cream today either. I was buying them anyway, the single containers work for my family!! But the money back would have been great!
Is this considered part of “coupon etiquette 101” or would have been a disgrace for your husband to just say he didn’t want the ice cream since the coupon (which is what you REALLY wanted) didn’t print. Then you wouldn’t be out the money for something you wouldn’t have paid for in the first place.
Well, unfortunately for me, my husband is OBSESSED with ice cream. I don’t think he would ever take ice cream back. LOL! But yes, you could totally return it.
hmmm….I used my giftcard code about a week after I purchased it from them. The cvs employee had never seen an email giftcard like the one i presented. She was so surprised when it scanned and worked. lol! I have contacted weshop before with a response from them but that was right after purchase a few months ago.
WeShop ran a CVS gift card offer back in January that I bought. I was able to redeem with without issue at CVS. They ran the offer again a couple months later and I bought that one as well – that’s the one that gave us trouble yesterday. So strange.
Some of the more recent cvs gift cards that have been available on the deal sites are set up that you have to use the entire value in one trip, maybe try again with a total of more than $10?
I went onto CVS.com and looked up the gift card number – it said the gift card had been used and the account had been closed. :( So either I got a bum gift card – OR – I royally screwed up and printed the gift card that I already used. I am 99% sure I did not do that – but well, you never know. In any case, I hope WeShop comes back online so that I can log in and check.
My ice cream cat also wouldn’t print!!! Actually, I should have gotten 4 cats and not one printed. Nothing wrong with the printer, just nothing came out! Aggravating for sure.
A fellow blogger let me know that she thinks my cat didn’t print b/c some of the ice cream I purchased was the “Fun Flavors” variety. I saw nothing that excluded that kind – just that it had to be 5.8 oz. She’s probably right – but I am still ticked!
I bought the drumsticks that were pictured and made sure to spend the amount after sale price and nothing. I think that maybe Acme cats were messed up yesterday. Thinking about going again tomorrow to get more hamburger helper, that ended up being almost a $2 MM for me.
Thank you for posting this. It helps to know that even “a professional” like you and Biker Bob have rough couponing days. Success to you guys and thanks for all you do!
Awww – thanks, Christie! We sure do have our bad shopping days – no doubt! :)
I loved reading this :o) Last week, I planned, clipped and went to the grocery store with 2 kids under 2 1/2… I sorted my food into two seperate transactions, and checked out. I left figuring that I had saved $43 with both orders, and when I got home, I was still calculating that this was way off. Now, don’t get me wrong, I was happy saving $43, but it seemed like it should have been more. Then I realized it was Tuesday and double coupon day was Wednesday. Ugh… I kicked myself for a few hours and then got over it. Better luck next time (and I’m sure I’ll go over in my head a few times to be sure of what day it is)!