Flapper's Folly

Yesterday the daughter and I visited Bath & Body Works. I had received a coupon in the mail offering $10 free merchandise or $10 off any purchase. The bottom of the coupon also offered $50 off any $100 dollar purchase. Wow! Half price is good, right? We decided together we could easily tote up $100 and be out only $25 each. Sounds, wonderful, huh?

B&BW has to have the most clever marketing scheme on earth. Sounds easy to gather up 100 bucks of sweet smelling goodies, but the reality is frightening. Nothing is as it seems in B&BW. A soap is marked $7, but buy three for only $15. The shampoo is $9, but pick out $20 in the aromatherapy line and it is free. Buy two, get one free. Buy one, get the second half price. You get the idea. It gets complicated!

So we have our little basket, walking around sniffing stuff, trying to get items we really want and still take advantage of the all the specials. Eventually we are in the floor, one calculating and keeping track of specials, while the other runs back and forth across the store to get the much needed items to make all the deals work. Now.... Imagine this times 5 because we aren't the only poor souls who got the damned coupon and decided to share in the booty with a friend, mother, sister, daughter, etc. All over the store, women are spreading out bottles in little groups and counting on their fingers.

I would like to say this story has a happy ending. But you see, after accounting for all the special deals and actually getting a few things we liked, we were at $109 before tax. Nine dollars is almost ten and guess what was lurking in my purse? Another coupon for $10 off a $25 purchase. For only $6 more we could have $25 more. This reasoning doesn't seem sound to me today, but yesterday, amidst others on the floor, counting and running, it made absolute sense.

This is how it went. We spent well over $80 with tax to save half of $100, much of which we didn't need in the first place. I'm so ashamed of myself. And to top it off, today when I cozied up to my husband, swinging my freshly shampooed hair, he didn't even notice the lovely sensual, stress-relieving "blue lavender palmarosa" scent.