Target is one of my favorite stores to shop at. There is not one in the town I live in and it is always worth the 30 - 45 minute drive one way to get there. Yes, I typically save that much!
I went there yesterday to do my normal shopping. I was excited because I had planned my trip, had my list and knew exactly the deals I was going after. I had all my manufacture and Target coupons together, had my Cartwheel loaded and ready to go. I had my e-coupons pulled up on my phone, I even had my recycled bags with me. I was all set to save about 70% on my total bill and get around $100.00 worth of groceries for about $30.00. That's awesome right? That was the plan. It didn't work out quite the way I wanted it to.
I broke some of my cardinal rules when it comes to shopping. These are things you should NEVER do when you are on a tight budget. I have been using coupons for well over a year and I know better than to make these simple mistakes.
1) I picked up items that were not on my list. (I did not have these items in my budget plan even though they were on sale and I got great deals. None of us wants to miss out on a great sale item, not even me!)
2) I chose the wrong check out line and my cashier was brand new. She was very sweet, but I overwhelmed her with all of my coupons and other discounts she wasn't familiar with.
3) I got distracted by a phone call in the middle of the check-out process. I did not pay close attention to make sure all of my coupons were scanned and all of the prices & discounts rang up correctly.
4) I forgot to give the cashier several of my coupons for one set of products I picked up. This mistake cost me about $15.00.
5) The cashier forgot to scan my Cartwheel. Because I wasn't paying attention I did not catch it until I got home. This one mistake cost me over $20.00. Bummer!
6) I did not read the fine print on one set of my coupons. There was a limit on the usage on that particular manufacturer coupon. I could only use 4 of them per visit and I had purchased 6 items with the plan to use 6 of those coupons. I lost a couple of dollars because I forgot to read the fine print. Shame on me.
These six little mistakes more than doubled the amount I had to pay for my items. Remember, I originally only planned to spend out of pocket around $30.00. I almost had a heart attack when my bill was over $60.00. I fully take the blame on myself. I made mistakes and I had to pay for it. I learned an expensive lesson the hard way. I still saved over 50% off of regular price. I was just hoping to do even better. I spent $60.10 and saved $68.69.
Most coupon sites online only tell you how wonderful they did shopping and how much money they saved. They never tell you that they made mistakes that cost them money. I want to be honest on here and when I do well I hope you will celebrate with me and when I make mistakes I will share them as well and hope you can learn from them. I am not perfect so I am sure there will be a lot of mistakes.
A smart man learns from his own mistakes. A smarter man learns from the mistakes of others. I hope you will be the smarter one and learn from the mistakes I made.
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