Clipping Coupons

Glancing through yesterday's newspaper, I decided to look at the food ads. I usually don't pay much attention to them, as I pretty much always just buy whatever appeals to us. This time, I saw the supermarket was having a good sale on things we normally buy, but for even less than the rock-bottom grocery prices at our regular store. There was just one catch: You had to clip coupons.

"Go get the scissors," my husband said when I showed him the ad, to which I answered, "Oh, I'm sure we can just take the whole page and show them." We got ready to go shopping, and I decided on second thought to cut them out. It's a good thing I did, I realized later!

This was work! Rifling through the coupons and matching them to the product! We weren't sure if the offer was good for every style of say, green beans, but we did the best we could. All over the store, from canned vegetables, to meat market, to baking aisle to cookies and crackers! We are too old for this! I thought, as we laboriously and slowly pushed our cart, squinting at the coupons (I had forgotten my glasses) and scanning the shelves, often looking over the shoulder of some other shopper taking their time.

Unaccustomed to coupon shopping as we were, Howard was placing the small paper squares atop each item and grouping them appropriately, but the checker said, "Just hand me your coupons. The computer will figure it out." We put our requisite $10 or more purchase on the conveyor belt with the sale items and waited for the total. We saved $18.00! Wow! Now my shelves are full! What a good feeling!

Earlier, Howard had mentioned a favorite television minister he had watched last night. "He said we are not supposed to be chintzy and act as if we can't afford anything when we can," he told me. Since he liked that philosophy, I ordered a fancy salad for lunch with chicken, glazed pecans, cranberries and apples. Then just as we were headed to the supermarket, we passed a shoe store that we had forgotten was having a going-out-of-business, 70% off sale today.

Their prices are so high we have never shopped there, but they do carry quality merchandise, so we decided to stop in. Nothing really caught my eye, as I'd bought new shoes recently. Howard declined to buy anything except some designer shoe polish. Then I saw a great-looking purse! I circled the aisles a few times, but I kept coming back to it. Should I get it? I loved it and needed (well, not "needed,")one.

"Remember what you said about thinking you can't afford anything?" I teased. He looked thoughtful and soft-hearted, and it was on sale, so I got it! Well, at least we economized on groceries!