[St. Theresa]

I had a feeling I'd get a mixed reaction. And, indeed, it seems they ARE fixing their system. The latest $1 off coupon I got can be used once per order, so this won't last. I have struggled with the question about whether this is stealing or just being savvy.

Their system allows me to scan the coupon over and over again and lately, the system doesn't even ask for you to put the coupon in the box!

At this particular store, I have spent, at the very least, $78,000 over the last 20 years. Their prices are high and their wages are low. Normal price of butter? $3.99/lb. We're a tourist area so every summer they jack up the prices to gauge the vacationers, but never bring them back down.

As for real theft, they're allowing people to go through the store, scanning their items right there in the cart and BAGGING as they go. I wonder how many people are not scanning everything they bag. I'm sure that idea has occurred to many and employed by at least a few. I won't do that as a matter of principle.

But if a coupon scans, it scans.

Today I bought 4 bottles of Life Water, a bottle of Carnation creamer, another package of Purdue shortcuts, a quart of milk, a 3-pack of microwave popcorn, 2 cans of Progresso soup, a regular-sized can of Maxwell House coffee and a package of store-brand cookies for a total of $6.21. Like I said, I scanned everything I bagged. I bought sale items and used coupons (the cookies were free with a coupon they sent me by mail.)

If I were to buy these items without using my store card or any coupons, it would have been $30.09. Every item I bought was on sale with three exceptions: the cookies, the milk and the creamer. But as I said, the cookies were free with the store coupon I was mailed. I got $1 off the creamer for using the scan and bag as you go system. I took $13 off my order with the $1 off coupons. I have 3 of them. So $10 of it would be questionable - but the other $13.88 off was completely legit.

These $1 off your order (or 50 cents or $2 or whatever they print) don't come out for no reason. You have to buy X amount of something to generate one. Lots of people don't take their coupons. I could very well collect the coupons other people don't take and use them all on separate orders.

Staff watch the self-checkouts and if my light blinks, they come right over. They can see the screen. And even if they're not standing right there, everyone can hear the machine say, "Savings $1" over and over.

And just to dig myself a deeper hole, you'll find that some coupons scan right through even if you haven't exactly met the requirements. Usually I find this out by accident. For example, say Lean Cuisine is on sale for 5 @ $10. I will buy the 5. When I get to the checkout, I always go through my coupon box (organized like a mini file cabinet) to see if I have coupons for the items I bought. I might find a coupon for $2 off the purchase of 6 Lean Cuisine items and it might scan. It would work the same way if a cashier scanned it.

As a side note, there are two other legitimate ways to save money. For one thing, you can use other store coupons. Lots of stores offer, for example, $5 off a shopping order of $30 or more. If I have one of these, I buy the $30 worth and JUST the $30 worth then use that coupon. I don't get the newspaper (which is where these come from) so I only get them once in a while via mail. I COULD go to the recycling area in town and dig them out of the newspaper bin, then break my shopping list into $30 orders so that I can use them on each. Is that stealing?

The other way to save money is their scan accuracy guarantee. If an item scans for more than it is marked, you get one of that item for free. When I find items like this, sometimes I will go back to the store to take advantage of it again.

Apparently, the store is not feeling abused by the self-checkouts. They've been there for a couple of years now and not only are they keeping them, but they upgraded the system with the price guns. They really want us to use the system, which is evident by the special offers you get only if you use the scanning guns.

My favorite part of the scan guns is that there are no surprises when I get to the checkout. This store is notorious for putting their sales tags under the wrong items. I swear they do this on purpose. It's only when I get to the checkout that I discover that I bought the wrong flavor or that the sales tag I saw was from two weeks ago and no one had taken it down. If it's something expensive or something I don't really need, I might ask a staff member to take the item off my order and return it to the shelf. But generally I just end up paying the higher price I didn't expect.

With the new system, I know right there in the aisle if it's not scanning for the price I think it's going to. I can then unscan the item and put it back, then squint at the sales tag to see what's going on. I will save a lot of money in the long run by not buying things at higher prices than I expected. No more, "Oh well, I'm halfway through check-out, there are people behind me, I need this item, and I don't have the time to mess around."