Thursday, August 11, 2011

Discounts, Rewards and Bonus Points

If you’re like me, you probably have way more discount and rewards cards than you can possibly keep up with, much less stuff into your wallet or hang on your keychain.  I finally gave up and only carry the three that I use most often—My Panera card, Max Perks from Office Max and Best Buy Reward Zone.  The others are in a drawer somewhere or were lost a long time ago.

But then you just never know when one of those long forgotten cards might come in handy.  Case in point.  Today I needed to purchase some cream cheese to go with the baker’s dozen bagels I had bought at Panera (I got points for that purchase, by the way).  I was on the way to a job site, when I passed a Winn Dixie.  How simple it would be to stop and get the cream cheese I needed instead of waiting until I got back to my side of town and going to Publix because Winn Dixie closed the store at Brook Highland years ago.

340px-Winn-Dixie_old_logo_svg

So that’s just what I did.  When I got to the check out line, the cashier asked if I had a Winn Dixie card.  I had forgotten about my Winn Dixie card, which was probably the very first discount card I ever owned.  I used it all the time.  I explained to the cashier that unfortunately Winn Dixie closed the store near my house, so I no longer carried my Winn Dixie card and had no idea what had happened to it.

She asked for my phone number.  I said it had been years since I had used the card, and I was sure I wasn’t still in the system, but I gave it to her anyway.  What do you know, I was still there, and I saved $1.59 on two containers of soft cream cheese.  Note:  I really pays to have one of those discount cards, because it appears that Winn Dixie charges non-card holders a huge premium.

Anyway, maybe some of you are way more organized than I and carry all of those cards in some convenient container that you tuck into your purse.  However, there’s got to be a better way.  Surely there’s an app for that.

5 comments:

Lou Cinda @ Tattered Hydrangeas said...

Now wouldn't that be great! Scan your card FROM your I-phone!!

Hope you are having a great summer!

Lou Cinda :)

Cassie said...

I don't carry any reward cards. CVS is the only place we go to often enough to make a difference. I give them our phone number. We do use a very old phone number (first apartment in Cahaba Heights) for the occasional trip to Winn Dixie. That's where we shopped since that Publix wasn't there yet.

Someone does need to develop an App for that!

nanny said...

I never seem to have the needed card in my wallet!!!!

Bargain Decorating with Laurie said...

Kathy, Great idea for an ap. I am glad that most of the places were I use one do have a computerized system, and no matter how little I use it, they keep me in the system. laurie

Unknown said...

Going to have a chat with hubby to do this. What do I know ...

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Have a beautiful weekend.
Hugs,
TTFN ~
Marydon