Monday, May 11, 2009

I know you're trying...

Yesterday, Kevin says, "Honey, I know you're trying to save us money, but these Q-tips are horrible!" Yeah, I know. In an attempt to save money, I have bought cheaper products, only to regret it later.
  • generic Q-tips-they're flimsy, and, well Kevin through them out
  • toilet paper-I thought I had gotten used to the crappy brand I bought, until we went to my Mom's house for Easter. Her toilet paper was so soft and smooth, I realized how much I missed my Charmin
  • Coffee-I bought Kroger brand because it was on sale and I had a coupon. After 2 days, I threw the 50 oz canister in the trash.
  • wheat crackers-Avery threw a fit the last time I bought generic crackers. She only likes the wheat thins. Luckily, I just printed off several coupons for them
  • diapers/wipes-lesson learned the hard way. From now on, it's Pampers diapers and Huggies wipes.
Have you ever bought something, thinking you saved money, only to regret it later? Do share...

3 comments:

Brandi said...

I bought generic cheese slices, and Anya refuses to eat them. Also, Kroger saltines are not very good.

Karen said...

The worst is cheap wrapping paper! It's so thin it tears at each corner. I tried to save money by getting an a Proactiv knock-off, but it didn't work at all. Ryan bought some hairspray for $1 that made him look like he had dandruff--that went in the trash.

Ryan's been drinking 8 O'Clock brand coffee to save money. We read about it in Consumer Reports. It's cheap, but he likes it.

Ryan said...

You'll know when you've hit rock bottom when you begin to drink Clover Valley soda from Dollar General. I've been there.

Or when you shop at a Foodliner's ShurSavings sale for canned vegetables and "juice" that contains the word cocktail--mostly because it doesn't contain any juice.

OR when you do all your Christmas shopping at Dollar Tree where one can routinely find kitty cat Christmas ornaments with English-translation errors on them: "Happy Christmas" was one of my favorites.

How do I know all this? I've tried everything to save a buck or two. I've even gone to Wall's (an Oklahoma treasure that makes Big Lots look like Von Maur) to look at items salvaged from stores that have caught on fire or been subjected to the perils of other natural disasters. After hurricane Katrina, I got some great deals on toys--even though the packaging was moldy. Like most of the stuff we buy to fill our homes, it ended up in the trash.

My new philosophy is to by fewer, nicer things. I'll wear a nice watch from Dillards for years, but I'll throw away a Timex in a matter of months. That's real value.

Now if I could just stay out of the dollar aisle at Target.