Thursday, October 11, 2007

ANNALS IN SHOPPING (“Zeroing Out,” Part 396) — by Steve Nadis

Shopping is getting more interesting, and more exciting, at the same time. Yesterday at CVS I had a peak experience, coming close to the elusive “zeroing out.” I bought a dental product for about $3 and immediately received a store credit for three dollars. Then I bought a household product for $3, using the store credit, plus another of the dental product items, for which I received another $3 credit. I applied the $3 credit toward two 9-volt batteries that cost $5. But the cashier said that if I spent $10 on batteries, I would get a $5 credit back. I did that and used the $5 credit to buy two boxes of Total. At that point, I was done for the day deciding, wisely, to quit while I was ahead. Well, at least I thought I was ahead. Being so dizzy from all those transactions, I didn’t really know. Reconstructing it now, in the light of day, I realize I did quite well–coming close, though not quite achieving, the ultimate goal of “zeroing out.”
Posted by Snake at 12:37:05
Comments

4 Responses to “ANNALS IN SHOPPING (“Zeroing Out,” Part 396) — by Steve Nadis”

  1. Anonymous says:
    October 11, 2007 at 10:48 am

    Way to go, SNAKE. Maybe you’ll immortalize me someday when I again “0″out… ; ) — “Chief”

  2. Anonymous says:
    October 12, 2007 at 12:54 am

    Um… so, you spent $16, then.
    What’ja get? 2 “dental products” [retail $3 ea] when you only needed 1, a “household product” [retail $3], four 9-volt batteries (I presume), & 2 boxes of Total cereal.
    hmmm… That’s probably only a bit less than what I woulda spent @ Market Basket… & I wouldn’t have to think about all those credits popping up everywhere.
    16 >> 0, bubba! -Marco Polo

  3. Anonymous says:
    October 12, 2007 at 8:44 am

    You need a new category for posts like this. Maybe “Obsessive Compulsive Moments” or “Much Ado About Zero”?
    I guess it’s good you ride your bike everwhere, because if you drove, you would travel 20 miles to find 2-cents cheaper gas.
    The ratio of effort to savings approaches infinity after a while. Maybe you should take a page from Marco Polos book and aim for a rational part of the curve?

  4. Snake says:
    October 12, 2007 at 9:41 am

    Hi MP — If I followed your advice I’d miss the great adrenaline rush that comes from zeroing out, or at least trying. And hi Anon. Did you say 2 cents cheaper gas? WHERE???

Leave a Reply