Story time with Sue...

Over my years of teaching people how to save with coupons, I've found that folks who are new to couponing really find it helpful to know that even the pros make mistakes or do things that don't make sense sometimes. It's a little bit of comfort in a very confusing world. And so with that in mind, I offer the following story for all you newbies (and you pros, too):

Last night I was at Target and I noticed that the store had a bunch of Scotch packing and mailing supplies on clearance. I had a coupon to get a free roll of packing tape when you buy one of those wrapping paper cutter tools. I don't NEED the cutting tool. I don't even really want it. But I've been waiting to use this coupon forever because the allure of FREE packing tape was just so strong.

So I bought the cutter and the packing tape. I used my coupon and was really pleased with myself. It was only after I got home that I actually thought about the transaction and realized that it would have been cheaper for me to just buy the tape (clearance price $2.23) rather than buying the cutter I didn't really want (clearance price $2.37) and using my coupon. Now I have to figure out what to do with this cutter and I feel like I overspent by 14 cents. But c'est la vie... The bottom line: there's always a better deal tomorrow.