My syndicated Super-Couponing Tips column for the week is entitled “How much is too much?”
Here’s an excerpt:
“A national drugstore chain had gummy candies on sale for $1. When you buy a bag, you get $1 back in a reward coupon that you can use for your next shopping trip. I really have trouble stopping buying things like this. There were at least 20 bags on the shelf, and I never buy them all, but I do feel like I must buy a good amount because they are free. I bought 15.”
Read this entire column at the Napa Valley Register.
My Super-Couponing Tips column appears in newspapers around the country to a weekly readership of over 20 million people! Learn more about my column’s syndication at this link.
Miss a column? Here’s an archive of all of my past columns I’ve shared on the blog.
QueenKitty says
Whenever I get things free and I have an excess, I share with family and friends like at Thanksgiving everyone gets a bag of goodies as I am Thankful to have them in my family. My adult kids know to shop at Mom’s Market before they go to the store. I also will buy the maximum with my coupons on free things like personal care items and keep a box by the back door and when it is full I donate it to my local homeless shelter. They appreciate items that their clients can use especially when they are transitioning into halfway homes. Each shelter has a list of needs and wants so I keep that in mind when shopping.
assassin says
besides avoiding spoilage or food going stale, expiration dates are indeed a great way to instill purchase discipline and limit clutter. however, specifically with your peanut butter example, i’ve recently run 2+ months after the date with two jars in a row, and they’re perfectly fine — even without refrigeration (though i kept them in the colder basement before opening). that’s both upon opening, and not noticing drop-off in the weeks a jar is open. meanwhile, i refrigerated a Nutella partway through, contrary to their instructions, because of expiration date concerns. it wound up thicker and stickier, more likely to tear bread when spreading (but the taste was still great), even after letting it warm on counter.
but i am one person who would benefit from pretending expiration dates are written in stone when buying — poor backlog management.