Old Navy Deal

If you buy something at Old Navy right now they will give you a coupon to use for 20% off gift cards from Dec. 18 to Dec. 24. My genius idea is to go buy something really cheap, like a clearance item, to get the coupon. Then go back and buy a gift certificate with the coupon (you can use it for up to $300 in gcs). So there you are saving 20% right off the bat. Then use the gift card later tobuy merchandise and ALSO use a coupon at that time (they release Qs all the time on their website and sometimes in ads in newspapers). I find 20% and 30% off Qs all the time. So, in theory, if you could find a 30% coupon to use later, you could end up saving 50% (the original 20% + the 30% Q) on future merchandise.

If you are a frequent Old Navy shopper, this is totally worth it! Since gift cards don't expire soon like coupons do, you can hold on to it as long as you need to in order to maximize your deal. Maybe you could even use it to buy school clothes for your kids this coming fall.

rookie mistakes

My Target trip today was one of those times I end up kicking myself for making dumb mistakes that end up w/me paying more than I had planned for things.

I had 2 b1g1 Target Qs that said "only one per transaction" on them, but I figured it didn't matter b/c I had used 2 Qs that said this before w/no problem. I guess b/c it was B1G1, the register actually gave a crap. So my 2nd Q beeped and wouldn't go thru. Normally I would have just taken the offending items off then and there and re-did the whole thing, but it was busy and people were lining up behind me quickly, and I so hate being "that guy", so I just paid. Jon was with me and convinced me to turn around and return the full-price box of cereal and use the remaining B1G1 Q to get 2 more boxes. So I did. In the end, I paid .90 a box for 5 boxes of Kashi cereal which is usually $3.69 a box, so I really can't complain.
My real point in saying all this is that you know you have a real coupon obsession/problem when you let the fact that you would have gotten 4 boxes of cereal for .33 each, but instead got 5 for .90 each REALLY bother you and eat away at you all day. It's dumb b/c really, .90 a box is still an insanely good price on some fancy-ass cereal. But I am still irked...
However, I learned a lesson today and I will not make that same mistake again. And that is pretty much how I've learned a lot of lessons in this Q business. Trial and error.