I had to stop going to Target. I found myself going there for no real reason at all. For example, I'd need dog food, so instead of going to HEB and picking some up along with my usual grocercies, I'd go to Target because it's cheaper there. The problem was that I'd spend another $100 on crud that we don't really need - some new clothes for the kids, bribery toys for behaving in the store, magazines, DVDs. I'd go in for $20 of dog food and come out with $100 of stuff.
It was even worse when I decided I needed "Target stuff" like dog food and paper towels AND groceries, because then I'd head off to SuperTarget. I'd come out of there with all the usual random Target stuff and expensive groceries. They advertise lower prices, and some stuff is less expensive, but the overall bill is always more than good old HEB. Plus there's the 20-minute drive to get there.
I just love going to Target. There's no other way to say it.
So I cut myself off, cold turkey. I buy the dog food at HEB even if it is $2.00 more expensive there, and I order diapers from 800diapers.com, which delivers them to my house.
But tonight I broke down. I made my first trip to Target in two months - to buy Ella's school supplies for first grade. I was a little nervous about going. It's my equivalent of sending a compulsive gambler into a casino for a quick hand of poker. I found everything on Ella's list except the red pencils with erasers, and I didn't buy any extra supply stuff like a backpack or lunchbox. Hers from last year will work just fine. I also didn't buy her a first-day outfit because I want her to pick out her own. I've decided that's our little ritual.
Other than school supplies I bought snacks for the lake trip tomorrow and some baby food. I can almost honestly say that I only bought necessary items; "almost" because I did break down and buy a People magazine and a bag of Twizzlers. I couldn't help myself.
6 comments:
I "heart" Target too, and I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who can't make it out of that store without buying more than initially intended. Sometimes I feel a little silly when I hand the clerk my coupon for the single item I went in to buy b/c I usually end up tacking on another $50 in "non-essentials". But darn it - those non-essentials SEEM essential when you're in Target.
I heart Target, too. I occasionally go to Costco. I refuse to support Wal-Mart/Sam's Club.
My girlfriend once ran into a Walmart Mom at Target--you know what I mean? Someone whose child is screaming piteously and she's paying no attention and not even comforting the poor thing and more than likely, she CAUSED the screaming by smacking the poor kid for wanting to touch all the cool stuff in the store. (I mean, it's a pet peeve--WHY BRING YOUR CHILD if you're going to get mad at him for shopping and touching just like you do? Especially in the TOY AISLE!) (Okay, sorry, I've had a lot of caffeine.) Anyway, Lisa reached over and patted the poor kid on the back and then said, "Honey, you have to stop crying. You're ruining my TARGET VIBE."
I'd never have had the nerve but I think about having a Target Vibe every time I go there.
I was raised a Target person, and I find I have more in common with Target people. Co-pilot of the cart with the circled Sunday ad in hand was a weekly job when I was young. It so happens that a massive Walmart has opened near my mom's house in Houston. She now visits that place regularly enough that I am forced to question whether she still is a Target person. I have no idea how to reconcile this. My own mother may be a Walmart person?
I should have shared the 3 Peoples I bought the last 3 weeks on my weekly trip to Target. That's right..weekly.
i am the same way. whenever i need something i immediately try to come up with addditional 'needs' so that it makes the most sense to drive over to target instead of the grocery store. it's really just a sham so that i can waste time calculating the worth of random items in the bargain aisle.
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