Shopping

Contrary to popular belief, I do enjoy shopping- if I have a good enough coupon.

I had one of these for Kohls recently- one of my favorite clothing stores.  Not only were they running their "Kohls Cash" promotion (purchase $50 in items, get a $10 coupon back for use the next week, no limit), there was clearance around- and I had received a 30% off coupon in the mail.

Yes.  It was clearly time to go clothes shopping.

Now, to begin with, there is one thing they do not tell you about Kohls cash.  It has to be $50 after coupons. I've always thought that was kind of tacky.  It isn't like other stores where you can stack a manufacturer's coupon with a store coupon and really walk away with a steal- you can only save as much as they let you, because they control the coupons and the wording.

Hmpf.  But anyway-

I found several things I wanted, then headed to checkout.  My total rang up around $75 and I probably whipped out my 30% off coupon.

"Oh, are you going to use your Kohls Charge?"

"Nope!"  I had been planning on using my credit card, which is netting me 5% cashback currently.  Take that Kohls and your tacky policy.

"Oh- to use this coupon you have to use the Kohls Charge."

Eurgh.  I will some day remember to watch the fine print on those stupid coupons they send me.  So fine, I whip out the Kohls Charge, because saving 30% is better than 5% cashback and my total before tax drops to $50.10- just enough to get me that $10 in Kohls Cash.  Buwahaha, couldn't have worked that out any better if I'd been using a calculator.

Much to the annoyance of the cashier, I insisted on turning around and paying off my charge balance right then and there.  See, that's yet another tricky thing about Kohls. You can only pay off your balance with cash or a check.  It takes a magic trick to figure out that the interest rate is 21.9% on that card- 24.9% if you are late making a payment.

Coupons are all well and good, but I don't play the interest game. Because I know I have to look for a separate bill (one I am not used to seeing and wouldn't notice if it was missing) if I use the Kohls charge, I insist on paying the balance off 100% at the time of purchase, even if it takes two transactions to do it.  I'm a pain in the rear that way.  Having been burned once with an unscrupulous credit card company that would hold transactions until right before they came due, charge them to the card, then hit me with 20+% interest, I tread very lightly.

So- moral of the story is always read the fine print.  I guess.  Not really sure what the moral of this post is, other than I got some new clothes on discount! Buwahaha.


-Kristen