Knowing When to Just NOT Shop

This will be quick for now, and may get updated later as it's late, and as I am suddenly DROWNING in coupons to get clipped! Between the multiple coupon inserts, getting multiple copies dropped in my lap, and all the new printables, now is one of those time my binder system is a real pain.

Against my better judgement, I think, I ventured ot Ingles and Kroger tonight to grab a few items I felt I had to snag at their current price. I didn't do as well as I'd hoped for various reasons, and it taught me a valuable lesson:

* Thou shalt not go to the store if the deals are lukewarm, unless thou really really needest something.

I'll post totals later, but here are a few of the "sins" I think I'm guilty of...

(1) I strayed from the "list." Not that this isn't EVER okay, and I really really wanted that Mayfield Banana Split icecream! But it's probably the fastest way to jack up your total without realizing it in the store.

(2) I left the binder home. Actually, this isn't SO bad b/c the other stuff I bought off-list didn't have coupons for them anyway.

(3) I went to the store during a week when the deals for both stores were just... "Eh." Now WHY did I do that? I think I lured mySELF in with the promise to just go in, get the free/cheap stuff, and get out. And that didn't happen. Of everything I bought, I think I only really NEEDED the bleach (ok, and the icecream), and even that could've waited.

Also, I had an issue AGAIN at Kroger with a P&G esaver coupon not coming off. Last time, I was supposed to get $2 off Herbal Essences. I bought 2 items using a paper "Buy any item, and get a styler FREE" and I theorized that because the paper coupon applied to BOTH products DURING a P&G promotional event (the Buy 4 / Get $4 off), the P&G promo sort of cancelled out the e-coupon.

But this time it was for Aussie hair care. And Aussie had no tags for the P&G event this week! So there should've been no problem stacking my $2/2 coupon with the $2/1 e-coup. I'm not sure why it didn't come off. Oh well...