When Sales and Coupons Align

I am doing another swap on Crochetville and was out shopping for it over the long weekend. Swaps present unique shopping challenges. When I shop for craft items for myself, I can wait until I get the right combination of sale or coupons to get the price I want. The time limits of swaps create a challenge of getting the items I want for my swap partner at the best price I can find in the time allotted. With this challenge, I often find I have coupons for items that are sale items, thus making the coupons useless, or a previous sale has often cleaned out the items I wanted to use my coupons for leaving me with limited options. Sometimes I think the companies do plan for this when they issue their best coupons. They place certain items off limits or have them, as sale items for a price that is higher than a coupon would have made it if used. When I have time to shop, this is not an issue because I can usually find the deal and wait until I get it before purchasing. The challenge with a deadline is to find the deal in a short time allotted for the swap.

This week was different. I must have been out of their shopping cycle because I managed to get sales on some of the lower end items I needed and was able to use my 50% coupons for the higher priced items on my list, which at one point brought me to getting two items for the price of one. This means more items for my swap partner. My husband picked up one item on my list that was the last one on the shelf. I have heard that it can be challenging to find at this store so I was thrilled when he told me he found it as they have the best non-sale price for the item.

I also got lucky finding Lily Sugar & Cream brown cotton yarn at AC Moore. I had planned to order it online because I have never been able to find brown locally. Sure enough, I checked at Joann’s and Michaels while we were out and they had no brown. I am hoping because I cleaned out their supply that AC Moore will order more due to demand.

Even online, I hit sales at Knitting Warehouse and was able to use online coupons at Joann’s. It does not often happen this way, so it is important to celebrate when it does.

Sometimes It's Easy to be Nice

I was shopping the second day of the AC Moore yarn sale, yesterday. I had gathered two copies of the $5 and $10 coupons, along with some percent off coupons and put them in a plastic baggie so they would not get lost in my purse. When I was finished, shopping my companion used the $10 coupon and I used the $5. This left me with a complete set. Since the sale was over that night and we were near closing time, it was clear I was not going to be using the other two. There was a woman in line behind me with a significant pile of items. I asked her if she had any of sale coupons. She did not seem pleased with the question and I realized people have taunted me with the need to be more diligent in picking up the flyers myself. Therefore, I quickly asked her if she would like some coupons and offered her the two I had. She took the one that applied to her purchase and left the one she could not use for the next customer. She was quite pleased at her $10 savings. I know I have forgotten my coupons more than once and every so often, someone is kind enough to share. Especially on the last day of a sale when you are not likely to be back, it is hardly a sacrifice to share with a stranger.

I was pleased with my purchases. I was able to try out the Clover Soft Touch Hooks. I bought an E to use with my doll projects. I will write more about my experience later. I finished up the last of my purple cotton so I picked up some Bernat Handicrafter on sale to replace it. The last time AC Moore had Red Heart on sale I picked up the Red Heart Super Saver Carrot for the first time. I liked the way it looked for my fall projects, so I picked up more skeins to help with my Thanksgiving projects. They had a good bargain on Caron One Pounders and this time allowed me to use my coupon in addition to the sale. I also picked up some green Bernat Holiday yarn to make a doll dress.

It was a great trip and I am glad I was able to help someone else save some money as well.