Personal blog of christian
writer & fallible mom
Katy McKenna Raymond
in Kansas City, Missouri
Katy is represented by
Greg Johnson at
WordServe Literary
Read more Katy at
LateBoomer.net
Recent Posts
- Try
- Becoming Brenda Starr
- Off Beat
- Scattered
- That’s It
- So I’ve Finally Signed With An Agent. Now What?
- The Spoon
- Sciatica
- Sweetheart
- A Woman’s Train of Thought Has No Caboose
- However much we own, we are all still living on borrowed time
- After all, when restaurants shrink portions, they don’t shrink prices.
- As with everything in life, balance is key.
- Slow down, you move too fast…
- Yeah, I know. I have issues.
Syndicate
E me at katy @ ngenius.com
Ready! Aim! Charge!
The only credit card I ever use is a Kohl’s card. Other than that one, I’m debit all the way, baby.
But Kohl’s lured me a couple Christmases ago when I was about to plunk down a huge chunk of change, by offering an easy 15% discount if I opened an account that day. So I took the bait, knowing I would pay my account off in full every time it has a balance, and also knowing that 15 times per year, Kohl’s would be mailing me—a Very Special And Obviously Loaded Customer—a coupon for 15% off a day’s total purchases.
Two weeks ago, Doug and I made our annual visit to Kohl’s to do some serious holiday shopping. I had my sales circular in hand, plus my 15% off coupon. I addition, there were doing that fabulous thing they do every Christmas—the one where they give you a $10 gift card for every $50 you spend.
We made sure we spent our hard earned credit in multiples of at least $50, because to fall short of that miraculous number would mean forfeiting the coveted $10 card. We may not be the brightest bulbs on the bush, but we’re not dumb enough to leave any cards on the counter.
The only drawback to the gift cards was that they must be spent by December 24, or lost forever.
I can handle a lot in the way of commercial bonuses that border on blackmail, but “lost forever” is more than even I can take.
So today, when my shopping was already finished and I was in the mood to put festive finishing touches on four loads of laundry and dust the cobwebs off the wreath that’s been hanging on the door since this time last year, I realized that time was not on my side.
If I didn’t hightail it to Kohl’s whether I wanted to or not, I would forever lose $80 worth of merchandise.
It took me TWO HOURS to decide how to spend $80. Not counting traveling time! I wandered through that store several times, meeting the same forlorn looking husbands coming and going. First, I’d see them in fragrances, then in lingerie, and finally in jewelry.
The fact that I didn’t meet the same guys back in spatulas speaks well of their good intentions and their hard-won experience from disastrous Christmases gone by, but what does it say about my desperation to spend down my cards?
Spatulas? It’s come to that?
Then there were the women. Two varieties scoured the aisles, and I didn’t fit in with either group. The first were the career gals, dressed for the office and trolling the store during their lunch hours, looking dazed and frazzled. I heard one of them screaming into her cell phone, loud enough for God to hear, “Why didn’t you TELL me you were going to Sam’s? You could have picked up a brisket! What am I going to feed these people? You should have CALLED me!”
If her husband ends up at Kohl’s later to pick up a little something for her, I have a feeling she may score a meat thermometer.
The second group consisted of young moms wheeling toddlers, most of whom have endured about as much shopping as I can stand. “I want my MOCHA!” I heard one yell, and then her little kid said that Starbucks sounded good to him, too.
I spent my cards, and charged another $50 bucks worth of stuff, because Today And Today Only’s Additional 15% Discount If You Use Your Kohl’s Charge was too good to pass up.
Thank God they weren’t passing out any more gift cards, though. I’ve lost the will to shop.
- Kohl's is a wonderful horrible, suckyouinsoyoucan'thelpyourself type of place. I love it. Wish they were up in my neck of the woods. Whenever I visit my mom we go nuts there.
Posted by Kathryn, the daring one on 12/23/05 at 02:15 AM
- Kathryn--One good thing: During the 30 minute drive over there, I realized that when I'd looked at my bank statement online the day before, the price for a gift I'd ordered (also online) hadn't been deducted.
It turns out I hadn't "completed the transaction" by pushing one last crummy button, and I had NOT ordered the main gift for my son and his wife! So we had to order it again, and pay for two-day shipping!
So I had to spend $80 to realize that I hadn't spent the bucks I thought I'd spent that I really WANTED to spend...Yeah. it's like that. :)Posted by Katy on 12/23/05 at 07:21 AM
