Extremely frustrating extreme couponing

Anyone who has watched Extreme Couponing with the wide-eyed bewilderment I have knows that it is an oddly fascinating show that seems, in the end, to be about organized hoarding.

The episode I saw featured a woman who brought her kids to the garbage dump to search for coupons. She had stockpiled years and years-worth of paper towels, laundry detergent and French's mustard. She was proud of teaching them how to save. I applaud her efforts at teaching frugality (though not at traversing garbage dumps) and couldn't help but wonder: Would I be up to the challenge? Could I ever organize myself enough to get $1300 worth of groceries for something like $23?

The answer is found in this little microcosm: I clipped a coupon for $1 off Neutrogena make up. In the two or so months' time I hung onto that coupon, I lost it 3 to 4 times and didn't have it in my purse on at least 10 Target runs when I could have used it. I finally decided it was getting personal: I would find that coupon (I think it's somewhere in the kitchen?) and use that damn thing if it's the last thing I do on this planet.

Finally, on August 25th, 2012, I used the coupon, which, incidentally, expired on August 25th, 2012. It would have gotten really personal if I had tried to use it on the 26th.

What drove this purchase? A score to settle. Frustration.

Was it worth looking for it each time I misplaced it? Was it worth all the effort and energy to save $1? For me, no. I am barely organized enough to save $1, much less $1277.

Dang make up.

First purchase is a biggie

I am a coffee junkie. I can tell you what blend I am drinking at Starbuck's without looking. I bought a Capresso grind and brew 14 years ago that cost probably $150 at the time. I loved that machine, though it was finicky and on life support this last year. My husband loved his Keurig single cup maker. And everything was brewing along.

Until the week they both broke.

This constitutes a coffee emergency in my house. I wanted one coffee maker that would brew good coffee like the Capresso, quick like the Keurig. I found it in the oddly named TechniVorm Mocca Master. In 5 minutes, I have the best home brewed cup of coffee available. Plus, the boiling water makes it look like a science experiment.

This was an expensive purchase for me. $280.00 at Willliams Sonoma for the brewer and another $200 for the grinder. I expect it to last 20 years or more.

What drove this purchase? Panic, certainly. Availability. I could get it same day 3 minutes away at Wms Sonoma. Glowing reviews on Amazon and Cook's Illustrated. And that I have learned to invest in one good piece of equipment that will last.

When the Keurig went kapoot, my husband asked the Keurig guy at his office how to fix it. The guy said Keurigs "really only last a year or two." Too much money, too short a shelf life for me.

And Capresso hasn't made any advances in the last 14 years.

TechniVorm: I have no idea what your company name means, but you sure have the coffee thing down.

So long, Capresso and Keurig. Hello TechniVorm!

Introduction

It is easy to think that price is the driving decision for 90% of purchases made. But we all know it is more complicated than that.

I would love to go back to school and become a Social Economist. Ironically, I can't afford that right now as I've got a kid to send through college soon. 

But I thought it would be interesting to start by studying my own behavior: Why did I buy this over that? Why did I chose this store over the other? 

I am going to review ten purchases I made and why I made them. Then I am going to start with ten more. I think this will be fun and enlightening.