I seem to have gotten a strange affliction recently, an obsession with building up my loyalty points. It seems I will walk miles (well really metres) for extra Club Card points.
Recently, I needed to buy a perfume type gift, I immediately wanted to go to Boots, the Chemist, so I could get my Advantage Points. Unfortunately the only box they had of the item was too shop worn to give as a gift so I had to go to the department store across the street.
I was happy to have the gift in hand as I needed it for the next day but I felt as though I missed out on my 136 Advantage Points. The amount of points was not insignificant as it could buy me something useful like a bar of soap or be points in the ‘bank’ towards a luxury cosmetic item.
So my scheming began – I devised a plan that if I went to another branch of Boots, bought the gift to get my precious points then I could return it to the department store. While I was hatching this clever plan my beloved was looking at me as though I had three heads.
I think my urge to be frugal might be getting a bit out of control. I was prepared to go to two different stores to buy and return a gift that I have already presented to someone, just to get the reward points, worth £1.36/$1.95. How far was I planning to go for a few loyalty points? Perhaps I should be factoring in my time when I am being overly careful with money.
Have you ever gone to somewhat silly extremes to save a few pennies?
I always think air-miles are reward points worth traveling for :->
But seriously, your time in the most expensive thing to waste and the first thing we forget to factor in our cost/benefit analysis.
I would have done the same, why buy at a store that gives you nothing for your loyalty? Don’t foget you could have used Boots.com if you had time and got cashback for your spend via a cashback site, Boots tends to give approx 3%, if you already know this – forgive me.
I wish I would have had the time to use Boots.com. Sorry I did not know about their cash back scheme, thanks!