Why does my husband always have to be right? Well, sort of...

Every time I rave about a great deal I got and tell him how much I saved, his response is always the same....

"You would have saved even more if you didn't buy it."

Technically, he's right, of course (don't tell him I said that!). We don't see it the same way, but we do see each others point-of-view.  In his eyes, I have a coupon for something, so I buy it...and if I have lots of coupons, I buy lots of it.  Especially if I can pair a great coupon with a great sale.

...and he's right.  BUT my rationale is that I only buy stuff I know we will use.  If there is an expiration date I will only by as much as we will use by then, and if it is something that does not expire, but we use it all the time, I will buy lots of it when I have coupons for it because it prevents me from paying full price later.

I know he understands.  I just have to laugh when he gives me his usual line.

The morale of the story is, just because you have a coupon for something doesn't mean you should buy it.  Know the prices of the stuff you regularly buy (whether written down or in you head) so that you will know what is a good price. 

For example, I normally buy store-brand cheese crackers.  2/$4.  The brand name, Cheez-its are 2/$5.  If I end up with a coupon for $1 off 2 boxes of Cheez-its, then it is the same price as the store brand, so I'm ok with getting the brand name.  I do that with lots of items.  If I don't have a coupon for the brand name, I go for the store band. 

Beware of the coupons that are tempting, but still don't bring the price down enough to be worth it.  If you are really serious about saving money, and you are not brand loyal, you will do well - compare and know your prices.  You'll even need to check the sizes to be sure what you are comparing is the same.  Do the math.

I'd love to hear some of your successful shopping trips, or any good deals you come across.  Occasionally, I post some of my most successful deals here on this blog.  It's encouraging to know that even with rising prices on almost everything, we can still find steals and deals if we look hard enough.