Sale Perspectives

I kind of like Target. I don’t know that I necessarily love it, but I definitely prefer it to Wal-Mart on any day. But then Wal-Mart is always a bit more disorganized and just feels grimier. Heck, at Starbucks last week one of the youth told me that every time they go into Wal-Mart they want to buy some cleaning stuff and clean the place for them.

Our family tends to do some of our general shopping at Target, things like diapers or other baby stuff. This past week we got a coupon book from them for things we actually use. It was with these coupons that we found ourselves in Target this past Sunday.

I needed some mouthwash so we trooped down the aisle and I grabbed the Listerine. Being the frugal (read cheap) person I am, I was excited to see that it was on sale, 2 for $11 (or $5.50 each). Got me wondering what the regular price is, so I pulled up the tag and saw how much I was saving. Usually it’s $5.39. Yep, I was saving a great -11 cents. Man was I lucky, with this sale I got to pay more for the mouthwash than if I bought it any other normal week.

While I always love a good sale (I recently bought a $250 suit for $80, woo hoo), I sometimes wonder what sort of deal we’re really getting. I’m going to assume it was an oversight at Target, but how many other times does it happen? Buy 3 whiz-bang thing-a-ma-jigs for $3 when the price is usually $1.05. We’re talking 15 cents. And you only need to buy one for the sale, but we still pick up 3 whiz-bang thing-a-ma-jigs.

Heck, I looked at the Target brand mouthwash and it was $4 cheaper than Listerine. Yeah, do the math, it was about $1.60 compared with $5.50. I think I can ignore the ad just this one time and be fine.

So, what did I do? I Bought the Target brand and a Listerine in case I didn’t like Target of course. Hey, I had a coupon. Besides, didn’t you read earlier that I’m a moron?

No deep thoughts here really. All I can say is that you should keep alert. Look around and make sure that “deal” is really worth it, or might you be charged more? Do you really need whatever you’re buying? Even if you need it, can you compromise and get the cheaper store brand?

Peace,
+Tom/Bob

posted by Tom at 9:05 AM