Coupons That Actually Save Money

I am all about saving money. I scour the ads to find the great deals, laboriously clip the coupons, and even put the necessary ones in my wallet before I head to the store. The problem is, I almost always forget to give them to the cash register attendant when I'm checking out! Coupons certainly don't do much good sitting in my wallet as I get in the car and drive back home. Sometimes, I figure that it doesn't matter that much, I'll just use the coupons next time. Yesterday was the rare time when it was imperative that I use the coupon. I had seen Target's ad which had a coupon for a $10 Target gift card when you get a new prescription filled. It was perfect because I had a new prescription from the doctor, and I wanted a new pharmacy. However, had I not possessed a coupon, I would have filled the prescription at Walmart because that's where I do my grocery shopping, and as a result most of my other shopping. Since Ainsley was born, I've learned to consolidate trips as much as possible! Carrying her in and out of stores gets very tiring!
But alas, I completely spaced when the pharmacy dude asked if I wanted him to ring up all of my items. I guess that threw me off because I did not give him my $1.50 off kitty litter coupon or my get-a-free-$10-gift-card-coupon.

I realized my blunder after arriving home, but couldn't turn around then and it didn't work out to return the rest of the day. Instead, Ainsley and I headed off this morning hoping for favor from the Customer Service representatives. I think they would have liked to help me; there were four women working on it and trying several different options. They gave me a $1.50 for the kitty litter coupon, but they just couldn't swing the $10 gift card. They couldn't return the prescription and then re-sell it because that's unethical (I guess) and also because it would look like they were giving out more pills than they're getting paid for. I couldn't argue too much with that because Heath & I have a friend who is a pharmacist and I would hate for him to get in trouble for something like this. Still, it was quite a bummer. I walked out of Target with tears brimming - mostly out of frustration that I had forgotten the coupon in the first place. And now I have a perfectly good coupon that I can't use (since I already filled a new prescription).

Ah well, perhaps that's the kick in the pants I needed so I won't forget again!