Day 57

Groupon, Living Social

Are you familiar with these internet coupon sites?  The premise is that you sign up and then they secure “Daily Deals” which you can buy and then use the deeply discounted coupon later.

These sites are interesting.  While researching, I found that users of these sites are not the stereotypical penny pinchers.  According to Forbes’ magazine, Groupon users are more than twice as likely than non Groupon users to live in households with annual incomes in excess of $100,000. And, Groupon users are 73% more likely to live in households whose net worth exceeds $1 million. That is probably how they got their millions in the first place; that last editorial bit is not according to Forbes, it’s according to Reifel.

I have had great success with this:

• $10 for $20 at Whole Foods

And not such great success:

• $10 for $20 at Texas Pecan and Gifts that I let expire

Anyway, I had a $20 Living Social deal for Overstock.com which predated The Simple Year. Overstock.com is a great discount site that I have used since 1999. Although in recent years they have started to call themselves simply, O.com, which is slightly annoying to me.  A few days ago, I got an email warning me that my credit was going to expire, and I certainly wouldn’t want to lose my $20.  So, my solution was to search the site for either a consumable or a refurbished item.

Overstock.com has a bazillion things listed for sale, some better than others.    Here are some sample refurbished or recycled items I culled through:

• Brooks Women’s ‘Green Silence’ Recycled Sustainable Running Shoes (believe me, it doesn’t make any more sense when you read the listing)
• Nuage Women’s plus-size Ocelot Faux Fur Jacket (How does one refurbish fake fur?)
• George Forman Quesadilla Maker (some of us might call that a skillet)
• Refurbished Austrian Crystal Dog Ornament (uh, what?)

As you might imagine, it was hard to choose with so many fabulous options.  After about 6 hours of exhaustive research (that was an exaggeration, but it definitely felt like that long), I finally decided on a package of 88 White Chocolate Keurig Pods, which only cost me $45 after my credit, it was either this or a package of three truffle infused salts for $60.   Make no mistake, this is something, I wouldn’t have otherwise purchased, but I had to use my coupon.

When they arrived,   My kids, who pretty much like ALL things sweet and unhealthy, took one sip and both gave it the thumbs down and asked for “real” hot chocolate.

So now, I am in possession of 86 overpriced, unhealthy and bad for the environment, single serving packaged items that no one likes.  Plus, I can’t return because they are OPENED food

But, apparently I didn’t learn my lesson, because while researching this hard hitting blog post, I bought a $20 Groupon to Fox and Hound for $10.

I couldn’t help it.