Sometimes I do things out of convenience. Today was one of those days. The local grocery store had some items on sale in the meat department, so I decided that instead of going up the hill to the megastore, I would save time and energy (and perhaps some $) by shopping closer to home.
I headed down the card aisle and decided now was as good a time as any to choose a few cards for celebrations coming up.. a couple of anniversaries and a birthday. I hummed and hawed, picking through the choices, spending much too much time deciding.. but finally had 3 cards in my hand and carried on to the checkout.
I paid for my groceries, and just as I was about to leave, the cashier pointed to the cards that had missed the conveyor belt and hadn't been rung up yet. "Are those your cards?", she asked.
I nodded. She began to ring them through and then we started chatting about the insane price of greeting cards these days. I'm ashamed to say that the total came to $18 for 3 cards!! They WERE beautiful cards with some great sentiments, though.
I pushed my debit card into the machine and punched in my PIN number.
"Are you sure you want those cards? The dollar store has some great ones, you know." the cashier looked at me, waiting for my answer.
The little elderly woman behind me piped up. "And all people do is throw them away after they read them!"
"Except for my parents," I replied. "They love cards and keep them up for a while".
But practicality won over emotion.
" Okay, yes, just cancel this sale", I said. I thanked the cashier for saving me all that money and we all smiled at each other, agreeing I had made the right decision.
" I'll be sure to come see you the next time I need to save some money" I chuckled, as I headed out. She laughed.
So, would you have bought the cards or headed to the dollar store? Has a stranger ever talked you out of your purchase?
It is amazing how expensive a card can be and the elderly lady was right, most people do throw them away (except in the case of my in laws that had EVERY single card ever given to them over the years. I used to save cards, but now I save them to the next celebration, like hubby's cards are on the mantle, but they will come down at our anniversary and so on. I think you were wise to cancel the sale and get them at the dollar store. When we were on a budget for the past 4 years hubby and me didn't even exchange cards. I often joked we should go to the store, pick out a card show it to the other and then put it back on the shelf.
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I started buying cards at the dollar store awhile ago. It saves so much money and some of the cards are actually nicer than more expensive cards.
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