Those of you who shop at Costco are aware, I am sure, every once in awhile Costco assembles a group of coupons that are actually worthwhile! Conveniently the day after receiving such a collection of coupons in the mail, I had to go to Costco to pick up bagels en masse for a group event. For convenience, again my favorite motivating force, I decided to do some personal shopping while I was there because why waste a Costco trip, right? Right? Wrong! As I gleefully filled my cart with our necessities that were on sale (ok and some not so necessary items too), I had no idea what tragedy was lying in wait for me. One of these coupons was for something like $2 off Nutella. When I opened the coupons and flipped through them, this particular one was what I was looking forward to most. I had been eying the already fabulously priced Nutella at Costco for a month or two and this coupon finally gave me the impetus needed! I'll cut to the chase, I was about to pay for my items when I remembered to hand the coupons to the cashier who told me that the coupons weren't good until the next day. A reasonable person might have just not completed the purchase, but I'm a med student and time doesn't grow on trees, people! The cashier helpfully suggested that I could return everything tomorrow and repurchase it and the guy in line behind me lended some sympathy by relating a similar experience the previous month. I could have saved $11! Moral of the story? The first date on a coupon is just as important as the expiration date.
