I just can't get myself to use coupons. I tend to be a bit of a scatterbrain when it comes to organizational skills. But what I don't save on groceries with coupons, I think I make up for in savings on clothes.
I always tell myself, "I find great deals on clothes". When I say or think these words, I don't just repeat the words, but I throw in a healthy dose of emotionally charged excitement about the prospect of finding a REALLY, great deal.
How about finding $90 jeans for five bucks a piece for my fourteen-year-old son? Not just one pair, but four of the coolest jeans ever for a kid his age. The icing on the cake is that they weren't just $5.00 each, but were buy one get one free! So every other pair was only $2.50.
Christmas shopping at the Traverse Mountain Outlets brought another adventure in savings. I was buying a last minute Christmas gift for one of my sons, and the sales clerk asked me if I had seen similar shirts on the clearance rack. I told her I hadn't seen a clearance rack. She craned her neck for a moment, walked around the counter to look deeper into the store, and said, "Oh, sorry, it's not out yet. It will be out any minute." I forfeited my place in the long Christmas line to hover back near the "employees only" door. Within a few minutes a manager wheeled out the rack and told me that the sale price wasn't correct. The clothes were actually 90% off the marked sales price. My husband did the mental math and said, "That's only 70 cents an item!" I put back the $24.00 shirt I had in hand, grabbed an armful, and got to the back of the line with a BIG smile on my face.
Another great deal was found at Ross. My husband and I were already at the cash register and a colorful scarf caught my eye across the store. I'm a sucker for colorful scarfs. I rushed to the scarf section to check the price, hoping to get back in line before the sales clerk was finished ringing up our purchases. I saw $14.99 on the scarf's price tag. Although it was more than I usually want to pay for a scarf, the colors were perfect, so I grabbed it and rushed back to the cash register. The tag caught on the display, so when I got to the register the price tag was missing. I told the clerk it was $14.99. He smiled and said, "You know, I think I want to give you a deal today." He opened a booklet and scanned a bar code that rang up my scarf for $1.99.
I told a friend about my adventures the very next day while we were at work. She said, "That NEVER happens to me". "Really?" I asked a bit surprised because it is such a common occurrence for me. She reaffirmed with strong emotion, "Never." I told her that THAT was exactly why it never happens to her.
How are you talking to yourself? What are you thinking? Scarfs, jeans, etc., they really are just insignificant material things. But to me this illustrates a point. Our self talk matters. We create with our thoughts. Here's to a positive weekend where I choose to dwell in happy possibilities instead of negative "perceived" realities.
