The other day I went to Wal-Mart to purchase gift cards for my current giveaway (which is open until 7 p.m. PDT May 9, if you haven’t already entered). While there I noticed carts full of deeply discounted Easter items.
Six-packs of Reese’s peanut butter eggs for 50 cents? I took four packages for the freezer, figuring my nephews might enjoy an ice-cold treat on a warm spring or summer day.
Then I saw the gallon-sized white plastic buckets with a pastel egg motif. Apparently these are designed for Easter egg hunts; filled with fake straw and treats, they’d also make good Easter baskets. And the price was right: 10 cents.
Heaven help me, I almost bought some. But then the frugal filter kicked in. Except that this time I’m calling it the “10-cent bucket list,” i.e., the questions I’m glad I asked myself before walking out with bags full of future clutter.
Why are you even thinking about buying these?
They’re only a dime.
Do you need them?
Well, no, but somebody probably does.
Name someone.
Alison could use them for the boys’ Easter baskets next year. Or use them to store art supplies in her classroom. Or maybe DF and I could use a couple for storage or small painting jobs.
The boys have very sturdy baskets that Alison reuses from year to year. She teaches in a public school so even a quasi-religious motif is probably not a good idea. And you and DF already have a ton of plastic containers and old buckets. Walk away. Walk away right now.
Trouble was, in walking away I passed another cart, this one full of 25-cent stuffed animals. (So cute! So soft!) Once again I was miserably tempted: Angel Tree gifts? Take some to the family shelter? A stocking stuffer for my younger nephew?
Watching your wallet
No, no and no. Most of the toys were obviously holiday-themed (e.g., “Baby’s First Easter”), making them a not-great choice for the first two. My nephew already has plenty of stuffed animals; anything I took from the cart would have simply melted into the general FAO Schwarz-ness of his bedroom. (He goes to a lot of garage sales.)
The experience was a good reminder that buying really is a reflex in this country. So often we let price overwhelm utility: That’s a good deal! I better get three! We don’t think about how we’ll use the item or whether we even need it. I jokingly describe this as a “consumer tropism,” i.e., shown a bargain (or even the illusion of a bargain) we automatically move toward it.
And me a frugalist, too. Shame!
The trip was a good reminder both to question my spending and to pay attention to marketing triggers. Sure, those were screamin’ deals. Someone was going to go nuts over the opportunity. That someone wasn’t me.
Except for the Reese’s eggs, of course. Halfway through my writing this those sweets began calling my name. Dang, they’re good when frozen. The centers have the consistency of sorbet and the salt-and-sweet combination is quite winning. If I could turn back time I still wouldn’t buy those buckets. I would, however, throw a few more six-packs into the cart.
Related reading:
- Does frugality have to hurt?
- Choosing what – and whether – to buy
- A satisfied life
- When is a toy not a toy?
I love the day after holidays to stock up on candy! But oh, the other temptations you mention…..
However, we DO watch the clearance aisle and stock up on (non-holiday) toys, art supplies and other gifts throughout the year to donate to Toys for Tots and the Children’s Hospital. (BTW – children’s hospitals usually have a wish list for older kids that includes things like nail polish, diaries, journals, etc.)
Go back and get a dollars worth of the buckets. Plant something in them, probably stuff you need to start inside and gradually bring into the sunlight. Take two of them and two of the stuffed animals, and sit them aside for next Easter, and the week before, take them to the D.V. shelter in case there is a child or two who had to leave home suddenly.
We’ve got plenty of plants already started in containers we already own. I expect at this point the toys are all sold but maybe I’ll check back in tomorrow when I’m out doing errands.
My gosh what a deal! I dont need them but my I want them! I think maybe your niece should give u a wish list for the boys. Certain things they’ll always need that way if u see a good deal on those items you’ll never hesitate to pick it up.
I do sometimes buy deeply discounted stuff for stocking stuffers or for her classroom. Mostly their needs are taken care of, but I do like to fill in around the edges a bit.
And yeah, I still want the buckets because they were only a dime. But I don’t need them.
Thanks for reading, and for leaving a comment.
Now I’m going to have to go our Walmart (we have 2 24hr ones) and see what they have. And I swore I would not go the day before Easter or the day before Mother’s Day. But they do that have greenhouse attached to the one side……
Hilarious, and so true! I can relate, as we used to say in the sixties. Here’s my story.
About 25 years ago I made a trip to the Midwest and saw Walmart for the first time. There was a table of paperback dictionaries for 25 cents each. Great for Christmas gifts, I said to myself, and I bought a dozen.
Returning home my husband met me at the airport and tried to lift my suitcase. What the heck is this? I explained proudly about my great bargain. He struggled on for 100 yards into the parking lot. He turned to me and said, “I’ll give you a dollar apiece for the dictionaries if you let me leave them right here?”
I laughed until I cried and the story has been a ‘teller’ in our family for years.
This weekend our church had its spring rummage sale. The thought that stopped me from buying the $5 everything you can stuff into a brown grocery bag bargain is “clutter”. It’s a variation on the do I need it theme. I worked very hard to decide what goes to the rummage sale and I don’t want to just turn around and fill up that easy to close drawer or crowd my closet with more stuff. It would defeat my own purpose.
Exactly! I was at a huge garage sale today, a benefit for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation (one of my niece’s in-laws has a granddaughter with CF). As I strolled around with one of my nephews, he was showing me things he thought I should buy. (Oddly, not a single one was something he wanted.) I told him that I’m trying to have fewer things at this point in my life, and I think that confused him.
However, here’s what I came away with:
–Large basket with a lid (DF has been wanting one for our sewing stuff, currently housed in a plastic bag)
–Small tin of watercolors with elephants on the front (will be part of a birthday gift)
–Hello Kitty hair clips (ditto)
–A tube of lip balm (will wind up in a TSA-friendly travel bag giveaway)
–A set of wooden salad tongs that look like bear claws (will be part of another giveaway)
–Poinsettia-printed tin (always looking for tins for the Christmas candy that I make as gifts)
–The old card game “Rook” (for an artist friend who’s fascinated with ravens)
–Half a bag of charcoal (you find the darnedest things at yard sales)
Total spent was $5. I felt okay about these items because none of them will end up as clutter. Note that I specifically avoided the books section — just too dangerous.
Thanks for reading, and for leaving a comment.
Today, hubby had a gift certificate (rewards thing) worth $5 at the Bass Outlet, about 10 or so miles south. We went last month and he didn’t find anything he really wanted. So we thought we’d give it another go. (So, second trip out of our way for a “free” $5.) He found a shirt on clearance for $10. So, it only cost him $5. Then I found two pairs of capri pants at another store. Had a coupon for both, but spent about $25. Granted, I really can use the pants considering I lost weight and don’t have clothes that “fit” well, least of all pants. But this $5 reward cost us a round trip of 20 or so miles, plus $5 for the clearance shirt, and my $25 pants. Let’s not forget the first trip down… I won’t mention what I spent at the Bath & Body Works outlet… Luckily the tab was covered (mostly) by a gift card I earned through MyPoints…
We laughed at the experience. It was a good day, and we’re frugal in so many other ways…
Sounds like you did okay. I’m a MyPoints user myself. (Anyone who isn’t? Feel free to join using the widget under the “Sponsors” ad block on the right-hand side of the home page.)
You could look at it as buying stuff you’d have bought anyway (pants) and using up your B&BW gift card. Or just taking a drive together.
I ask myself questions similar to yours when I find a clearance sale. My favorite question to myself for a personal clearance purchase is, ” Do I love it?!?”. If yes, I buy it. If no, I walk away. This has been the most helpful tactic for me personally to cut down on my clearance clutter. Also, after a blinded-by-80%off-binge on Christmas greeting cards and wrapping paper a few years ago, I only buy enough of a clearance item to use for one or two more years. After all, it’s not the last chance EVER to get deep discounts.
The Easter-themed stuffed toys would be okay for Christmas Child shoe boxes. Those boxes are given to the children several months after Christmas. Of course, the stuffed toys would have to had been very small. I bought a bushel of Christmas stuffed animals one year. I gave them my grandchildren who were little for about three years. Then, they got older and I gave them to friends’ children for a few years. My son gave me more grandchildren so they got them for two years. Finally, I put the last of them in the shoeboxes for Christmas Child. I was really glad to get rid of those. I have a dresser seven-feet-long that has nothing but Christmas, Easter, and other holiday stuff that is not stuff I pack away in boxes. I just could not get rid of those stuffed animals! They did help me when I needed a gift. So, my stuffed animals were a good thing after all. Since even the little grandchildren are getting too old for the tiny stuffed animals, I won’t be buying those again. Right now, I am on a sticker kick. Those fit into the boxes and Christmas gifts for little grandchildren much better. But, stickers must be a quarter or less for the sheet.
Nice walkaway you did! I am getting better at it.
Those baskets certainly do sound very tempting! We do take advantage of the after holiday candy sales and put them in the freezer, but I try to limit how much we get because before you know it those candies are calling our names also! It’s just too tempting (at least for me) to have stuff like that in the house.
I love a good bargain but if you don’t need it than it is no bargain! I would have gotten to candy too!
I hate having to pass up super cheap things that I can’t use. It’s hard for me to walk away too.