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For me, time is money

My time is valuable. Isn't yours?

I switched to a more part-time work position so that I would have time for my son. My job is great, my work hours are somewhat flexible. Not as flexible as work-at-home or freelance, but I don't have the skills for that.

By working part-time I am able to spend more time with Bean in the morning - let's face it, we are dawdlers. Once I drop him off at daycare I meander to my office, unless I have a meeting scheduled which makes our morning hectic, but thankfully that is only once every month during the school year.

Some days I leave work early so that I can go to the grocery store alone, or attend a self-help meeting (my version of "me time").  I know I can't handle the stress of "I want this! I want that!" so I rarely take Bean to the store with me.

A couple of weeks ago though I was feeling rushed. It felt like a thousand degrees outside and I was hurrying through Price Chopper, getting the things we needed to get through the next couple of weeks. I don't overstock because we have a small kitchen, and I haven't yet overhauled our storage closet. I went to grab a loaf of brown bread, of which I always stick half in the freezer. This time I didn't grab my usual brand and took the cheaper loaf instead. I'm sure the sign said $1.57, but when I got to the parking lot and checked the receipt I saw I was charged $1.99.

I hesitated and was going to return inside to check the price and the heat got to me and I said "forget it, it's 42 cents, I'll survive" and I left. I know I could have received the item for free if there indeed was an error thanks to a Scanning Code of Practice but at that time, in that heat, I decided it wasn't worth the two bucks.

Same goes for coupons. I just can't seem to make the time to care about coupons. They usually sit in my wallet well past their expiry date. The things I tend to buy - usually just staples - are cheap at the Chopper and there are rarely coupons for the things I buy.

Nina Yau from Castles in the Air lists some of the reasons why she chooses not to clip coupons:
  • I don’t find it a particularly productive use of my time.
  • I don’t carry coupons with me since I hardly ever use them.
  • I don’t subscribe to the Sunday newspaper coupon section.
  • I find myself spending more because of a coupon (e.g., buy 1 get one 1/2 off “deals”) and prefer to spend less altogether by buying only what I need and not just because it was on sale and I have a coupon for it.
Same goes for rewards cards. I was asked by a gas station cashier if I had one of their points cards. I admitted that I had two, neither of which were with me. I used to collect their points because I could transfer them into CAA dollars, but the last few times I tried to make the transfer online it didn't work, so I quit their program. I just don't have the time to sit and figure out why it didn't work.

Seriously, Karissa

Comments

  1. Hi Karissa,

    I don't bother playing the coupon game over here in the UK either. Like you have already found, if you choose the lower priced store's own products you don't get coupons for them anyway. As we don't buy newspapers or magazines we don't usually get access to coupons anyway.

    Regarding reward cards, I only bother if it's very simple! I have two British loyalty stores who send me my vouchers in the post. One is for groceries and I just type the code into the computer when I next shop at their online store. The other is for childrens clothing, I take with me to the city when I need to purchase an item of clothing for them, i used some yesterday to get a 'free' pack of high quality socks for my Son. I appreciated that and know they will last longer than average too.

    You are doing so well with repaying your debt, I have noticed the percentage bar moving a little. Keep up the good work, go you!

    God bless love from COuntry Girl.

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  2. Anonymous1:57 PM

    The absolutely best thing about scrimping and saving to get out of debt and have a little extra put away is that I no longer have to feel guilty every time I don't bother to figure out how to save 20 cents. Time is SO important and valuable, especially now that we have a kid.

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  3. I totally agree!

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  4. I agreed with you for years, and even today, I'm NOT a compulsive coupon clipper. But that said, I've saved an untold amount of money by using doubling coupons, frequent buyer cards, etc. It really is worth doing, at least the easy ones. For example, my coffee shops gives me every 10th coffee free if I have my card stamped--so easy, and free is such a nice word!

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  5. Anonymous2:20 PM

    The coupons I will go out of my way for are free products, and something over $5 off a product I already use.

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