Dog Food, Shredders, Burgers, and Bed Linens
Dog Food, Shredders, Burgers, and Bed Linens: What do these things have in common? Not much except that we were able to enjoy good deals on all of them!
How we saved over $111.55 with almost no effort!
Busy Saturday, full of errands taking care of little odds and ends that I had been putting off for some time. First, I headed to Petco, to take advantage of a coupon I had gotten in the mail for being a Petco loyalty member, and picked up a FREE 4-lb bag of their Nature’s Recipe dog food (normally $11.49).
On to Staples to buy a paper shredder. There was a woman standing alone in the isle in front of the shredders, holding a flyer covered with coupons. I asked which shredder she was thinking of and she said they were out of the one she wanted but the sales associate was bringing one from stock that he thought she might like, however she wasn’t sure if the additional 25% coupon she had would still apply. I asked to see the ad, and I noted that it said: 25% off ALL shredders. The sales associate came back back with his selection saying it normally was $139.99, but was on sale for $59.90, (savings: $80.09) plus the additional 25% would bring it to $44.93 (additional savings: $14.97). I mentioned that if there was another in stock that I would take it and I asked if there were any coupons in the store that I could use, and the associate assured me that he could take care of that for me, and fetched the same shredder from stock. I asked why it wasn’t on the shelf, and he said it was a discontinued item. That was okay with me… so I was able to get a $139.99 shredder for under $45.00. If I hadn’t asked that woman and the sales associate, I never would have gotten that deal. When I returned home I noticed that the additional 25% had not been deducted on the receipt. I called Staples, spoke to the manager, and she told me that she would be able to apply a credit to my credit card. That’s what I call value and service!
Then, I just couldn’t resist looking into a brand new Five Guys Burgers and Fries which had just opened up right next to Staples. I’d never been to one so it was kind of an adventure to check it out. I was pleasantly surprised to find some terrific items of note: ALL toppings on burgers (besides cheese and bacon) are FREE; you can help yourself to all the fresh peanuts in the shell you want, for FREE; soft drink refills are FREE, and the regular-sized fresh-cut french fry order was more than enough for two people, actually it was enough for three people! All of that speaks well for their customer consideration and product value.
Then to Bed Bath and Beyond for a mattress cover, where I asked if they would accept my $5.00 off coupon that was dated 2008! Yep! So glad they honor ALL their coupons, no matter what the “date”… In reality, don’t expiration dates discourage shoppers? After all, isn’t the purpose of coupons to get the consumer to come in and shop?
With almost no effort at all I saved $111.55 on items I really needed. Sometimes it all just comes together, and it’s happy all around: happy to finally have a shredder; happy to have tried a new burger joint and have some free fresh peanuts, happy the bed will be cozier, happy the dog will be full, and happy that I was able to do it all without breaking the bank! Now, that was a nice, and frugal, Saturday afternoon!
Jamie, SLTV co-founder
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