I only drink two kinds of soda (please don’t assume my location due to the word soda- I am the only person here that doesn’t call it pop), Pepsi and Squirt. I’m also too cheap to buy bottles at the convenience store. I cannot fathom paying $1.50 for 16 ounces when a 64 ounce bottle is only $1.40.
Sometimes my weakness for fountain drinks will force me to enter a convenience store, so when Kum & Go announced the Summer of ’59 promotion, I was ecstatic. All 32 ounce fountain drinks were 59¢- and they carry Pepsi and Squirt (not too common is a lot of stores)! These 59¢ drinks became my guilty indulgence over countless hours of baseball, softball, and football. I began to carry exactly 61¢ in my pocket for the chance I might pass a Kum & Go.
Fast forward to last week, when on that fated Thursday, I entered Kum & Go while double checking my pocket for two quarters, one dime, and one penny. As I walked to the fountain, the large sign came into view, “Summer of ’59 promotion will end on September 30th”. Although I knew that the summer promotion would eventually come to an end and that I was quite lucky it lasted through the end of September, I fell into a depression.
When I voice my concerns to my hubby, I asked him, “What on earth will I do when I can’t get my 59¢ sodas any longer?” He replied, so matter-of-factly, “Pay 89¢ for it”, then rolled his eyes and walked off.
It hit me like a ton of bricks. Duh! The soda wasn’t going to suddenly disappear, nor were the prices going to skyrocket. Prices have increased so much in the past couple of years that I wouldn’t think twice about paying an extra 30¢ for milk, eggs, or even a two liter bottle of soda, so why on earth would I drive myself crazy over 30¢ for a fountain drink that I went without for so long? So, Kum & Go, your promotion worked perfectly. The discounted prices drove up sales of these drinks and caused addictions that will persevere over a 30¢ price increase (which sounds a lot worse if I tell you that’s a 50% price increase). I will stand tall and admit that even though I fell victim to the ‘Soda Scam of ’59′, I did not make any impulse purchase while in store.
I will also continue to have my tri-weekly fountain Pepsi, because it is only 89¢.
Thanks hubby!
Have you ever had a bargain shopping reality check? Leave a comment below!
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I always have bargain reality checks. For instance, this week a certain store had Libby vegetables on sale for 2/$1.00 (I was in heaven as I was down to just a few cans of peas). I can remember these same vegetables years ago being 4 or 5/$1.00 when on sale. With the $1/4 coupon that came out in the inserts Sept 27 I knew I had a bargain at .25/can.