Couponers galore

[Aragarthiel]

I'd love to be able to do that. Our tiny apartment has no space to store anything. We have to buy in small amounts just to avoid having the clutter gain sentience and kill us in our sleep.

I remember seeing on a forum once that one lady was bragging about how her grocery bill was only $30 a month because she bought whole cattle from an organic farm and took it to a butcher who cut it up for her, she had her own garden full of fruits and veggies and made EVERYTHING on her own. Anything she couldn't get, she bought organically from other local farmers. She seemed to have the mindset that EVERYONE had to be JUST LIKE HER. My question was, where do you store all of this? I mean, you have to have a deep freezer (the only way to store an entire cow), and you probably have your own pasta maker, juicer, blender, extra fridge and freezer, and smoker among other things. Not everyone can fit all of those in their home, let alone a 1-bedroom apartment, and in most areas you can forget about a garden. Plus, what's your electric bill for all of those extra appliances? It probably makes up for the low food bill.

On a side note, I recently discovered that my rewards card for the store in the original post holds coupons you can load from online, and some of them can be used up to five times in a transaction.

[wolfie]

My boss literally said to me today "Give them whatever they want unless you think they're trying to commit fraud." How do I know they're trying to commit fraud? I can't read minds.

You don't need to read minds (which, in the case of customers, would be a useless ability - since it would be like reading a blank piece of paper), just the fine print on the coupon. Virtually all the coupons I've seen said that trying to redeem them in a manner other than that expressly printed (i.e. if the coupon said it was for a single 175 gram package of brand X wasabi mesquite flavoured potato chips, trying to redeem it for anything other than a 175 gram package of brand X wasabi mesquite flavoured potato chips) constitutes fraud.

Customer wants to redeem a coupon in a manner you think is fishy? Read the coupon. If the coupon says that the manner in which customer is trying to redeem it constitutes fraud, don't accept the coupon. Boss should be satisfied - after all, HE told you the "unless you think they're trying to commit fraud" exception.

[fireheart]

Well then, good luck finding that non-profit grocery store chain.

That's what food co ops are for right? (my uni runs one. I never used it, but I could see the appeal)

[WishfulSpirit]

she had her own garden full of fruits and veggies and made EVERYTHING on her own. Anything she couldn't get, she bought organically from other local farmers. She seemed to have the mindset that EVERYONE had to be JUST LIKE HER.

Ah time snobs. Some of us work two jobs in between caring for disabled family members and don't have TIME to spend all day in the kitchen making everything ourselves, let alone time to garden. If your partner / spouse / husband / whatever makes enough money that you can do that, well and good, but please try to understand how the other half lives.

[XCashier]

Ah time snobs. Some of us work two jobs in between caring for disabled family members and don't have TIME to spend all day in the kitchen making everything ourselves, let alone time to garden. If your partner / spouse / husband / whatever makes enough money that you can do that, well and good, but please try to understand how the other half lives.

QFT. I would love to be a Happy Homemaker and decorate the home, cook wonderful meals from scratch and have plenty of time for gardening or crafting. Real Life™ dictates otherwise. You have to be born rich or marry rich to be able to do that, and I fit neither qualification. Therefore, husband and I work two jobs each, three during the holidays, to keep our heads above water.

[notalwaysright]

To be fair, these people might have the time but not the money. I don't at all mean to defend the way they act! Please don't think that. I know these people can get rabid, I was on a self-sufficiency board years ago. (It was actually well run, they banned people like this pretty fast) I was on it because at a different time in my life, I did have the time to do some of these things. I didn't have money, which was why I was trying to do or make things myself. I baked my own bread for over a year, I made soap from scratch, I grew a small amount of things, stuff like that. I loved it, unfortunately now my place is so small it has nearly no counters or storage space. I have less time, because of school, but it's really the space issue with me.

So yeah. Sorry, if it was off topic. It just makes me irritated because I have been a person who makes and grows things, and I would never dream of acting like that.

[RootedPhoenix]

It's the snobbery that gets to me. DIY everything, or DIY some things, or don't DIY anything. You are the one who knows what you have time and space for.

I love making things, which is good because I cannot work. Making stuff isn't always the absolute best, though. If I worked, I might choose to spend time with my family instead.

And I'd be the one to know best.