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| (Image from Single Mom on a Budget) |
These blog posts with the 'header' titles, "My Point Of View On," Parts 1 - 26, are originally from my "Paul Whiting — Math Magician" blog, which is my blog with the fewest posts. So, I decided to not group posts in this series with similar topics from that blog (unlike the blog post series with similar topics from my other blogs, which I republished on my "Paul Whiting — A Creative Writer" blog), because I wanted this series of posts in their chronological order, representing the way they were originally published.
My Point Of View On...
Using Coupons, Or
"Couponing"
My Point Of View No. 1: "Couponing"—that is, the use of coupons, or vouchers, offering discounts on goods or services—is virtually a form of artwork! And 'couponing' is on the same "money-saving artistic level," if you will, as the following money-saving techniques (which are listed in alphabetical order): annual sales, as-is sales, auctions, bargain shopping, big box stores, buy-one-get-one (BOGO) sales, buy-ten-get-one-free cards, buy-two-for-one-price sales, classified advertisements, closeout racks, closeout stores, closeout model sales, club cards, colored tag sales, consignment stores, damaged goods sales, discount racks, discount stores, dollar stores, email advertisements, email coupons, email discount offers, estate sales, everything-must-go sales, farmers markets, garage sales, going-out-of-business sales, holiday sales, in-store sales, inventory reduction sales, junk yards for auto parts, last-year's-model sales, library gift shops for books, lower everyday prices, military surplus stores, moving sales, online sales, outlet stores, percentage-off sales, price bargaining, price comparing, price reduction sales, regular mail advertisements, regular mail coupons, regular mail discount offers, resale stores, seasonal sales, second hand stores, shopping around, sidewalk sales, store advertisements, street markets, thrift stores, twice-a-year sales, used book stores, vintage stores, want ads, and yard sales—just to name a few!
My Point Of View No. 2: If possible, wherever you go, take with you any printed coupons that you have, so that you have them available for use when you need them!
My Point Of View No. 3: If possible, sign up for digital coupons, such as email advertisement coupons, at stores or businesses which offer those type of coupons!
My Point Of View No. 4: If possible, set aside your "spending savings" in your monthly budget from coupons, discounts from stores, and discounts from other businesses, etc. Then, save that 'spending savings' for later use. As an example, if I buy an item on sale for $20.00, that was regularly $25.00, I set aside the $5.00 that I saved, in my monthly budget, as if I spent that money since—if I hadn't received a discount—I would have spent that money! Thus, I do this on most of my purchases that are discounted, by setting aside the money that I would have spent, as if I had spent that money. And the first full year that I set aside my 'spending savings' in my monthly budget, I saved over $900.00 in only twelve months! Also, to clarify, I only track what I have saved on discounted purchases that I made with my debit card, in order to set aside those funds in my monthly budget, and not with discounted purchases that I made with cash or credit. Otherwise, I feel that it would be too difficult to set aside funds on purchases that were discounted for which I paid in cash or credit. And, to clarify even further, I only track what I have saved at a store if that store lists the amount that I have saved on the receipt. Otherwise, I feel that it would be too difficult to track discounts on purchases where the store does not list discounts on the receipt. And, to clarify one final thing, I track other discounts from businesses that I also set aside in my monthly budget, such as discounts on my subscriptions to news outlets, or discounts on my monthly cell phone service!
-Paul Whiting
(a.k.a., A Creative Writer)
"I maybe say too much about how life really is!"
My Writing About Tracking My "Discount Savings" In My Monthly Budget: I track how much I save from discounts on purchases in my monthly budget! You see, beginning in the year 2016, I started to set aside my 'discount savings' in my monthly budget from coupons, discounts from stores, and discounts from other businesses, etc. Then, I saved those 'discount savings' for later use. And the reason that I decided to start doing this is because I couldn't figure why I did not have any money left over at the end of each month, even though I was always really careful about purchasing whatever I needed to buy when it was on sale—as much as possible. Then, I realized that I wasn't keeping track of how much I was saving when I bought items on sale in order to save money! Therefore, that is why I decided to start setting aside what I saved from any discounts on purchases in my monthly budget. As an example, if I buy an item on sale for $20.00, that was regularly $25.00, I set aside the $5.00 that I saved, in my monthly budget, as if I spent that money because—if I hadn't received a discount—I would have spent that money anyway! Thus, I do this on purchases that are discounted, by setting aside the money that I would have spent, as if I had spent that money. And the first full year that I set aside my 'discount savings' in my monthly budget, which was 2017, I saved over $900.00! Also, to clarify, I only track what I have saved on discounted purchases that I made with my debit card, in order to set aside those funds in my monthly budget, and not with discounted purchases that I made with cash or credit. Otherwise, I feel that it would be too difficult to set aside funds on purchases that were discounted for which I paid in cash or credit. And, to clarify even further, I only track what I have saved at a store if that store lists the amount that I have saved on the receipt. Otherwise, I feel that it would be too difficult to track discounts on purchases where the store does not list discounts on the receipt. (I actually used to go back through a store and write down on my receipt how much I saved on each item if the store didn't list the savings on my receipt, but it was kind of a hassle to do so. That's why I only track what I save at a store if they list my savings on the receipt.) And, as I mentioned above, I also track other discounts from businesses that I set aside in my monthly budget, such as discounts on my subscriptions to news organizations, or discounts on my monthly cell phone service! –Paul Whiting (written originally sometime after 2017, then turned into a quote on July 11th, 2022, revised July 13th, 2022, revised August 31st, 2023 and revised June 26th, 2024)
My Writing Notes:
The reason that I wrote this prose can be summed up with the following statement: "'Couponing'—or the use of coupons or vouchers offering discounts on goods or services—is virtually a form of artwork!"
And this prose was also published on my "Paul Whiting — Math Magician" blog (please see the hyperlink below for the blog), since I feel that the message in this prose applies to the message I am trying to convey through "Paul Whiting — Math Magician."
This prose was written in Portland, Oregon.
-Paulee
https://paulwhitingmath.blogspot.com
This "Paul Whiting — A Creative Writer" Post No. 288 was edited on June 26th, 2024.
"Prose is using all of the words that are necessary in order to describe all that is necessary to describe." –Paul Whiting [June 1st, 2022]
