Shopping Blues
Scene:
Side pocket in grocery store, with only 4 items and in a hurry:
“There’s an express lane, limit 12 items, with only one person in line. I’ll go there.”
Person in line:
“I only have 17 things, wait, I have coupons for some items. Where did I put them again? Oh, this one’s expired. Can I use it anyway? My pin number? It’s xxxxxx. Oh, that didn’t work? Just a second. I wrote it down on a slip of paper. Where did I put that again? Oh, found it. It’s on the back of another coupon. Can I still use this coupon? Wait, I forgot mustard, I’ll be right back.”
Side pocket:
Faints.
Many grocery stores, and also other types of stores. offer a “Club card” which provides for set savings on many items. I see that one can now pre-load these cards with offers, thus obviating the need for paper coupons. This is accomplished by “scanning” some odd code with one’s phone, which of course everyone has. The technical procedure required to do this is far far beyond my understanding and I like it that way.
The club cards record your every purchase to allow for more direct marketing. It’s on the internet, so accessible to all.
Employer:
“It says here you purchase 12 bottles of wine and four quarts of vodka plus orange juice every week. How big is your family, anyway? And what do you do with kumquats?”
Don’t get me wrong; I pursue bargains like everyone. Mostly I do so by knowing and keeping track of what prices are and which stores are optimum. And most of our food purchases are for basics and not processed items. By and large coupons are for processed, high profit foods. But bargains are hard to resist. As a result one might buy sale items that you don’t need but might need at some future date. You will store it and perhaps lose it as well.
I shop Costco for bulk items (mayonnaise), local fruit stands for vegetables, Trader Joe’s for cool processed foods, and Whole Paycheck Foods for toilet paper. But Safeway is right across the street so proximity and familiarity brings me to do most of my shopping there.
Where do you do most of your shopping? Do you use coupons or e-coupons? Do you shop at several grocery stores to access bargains? Is your go-to store also the closest? Any food shopping on-line? Did the pandemic change your shopping techniques? Will those changes persist?
As always, this is an open thread. Autocorrect suggested “open threat”. That’s good too.
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