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If it weren’t for bad luck, I’d have no luck at all.

That’s a favorite saying of my father’s.  I guess I know who to thank for my glass-half-empty mentality.

I’ve been needing casual summer clothes for the kids.  Now that the winter stuff is removed, their drawers are dreadfully empty.  The in-between clothes I bought for spring only go so far.  I suppose I could do laundry more often, but that would require work.  I’d much rather shop than work, so this morning I ran over to Kohl’s to see what they had.

Kohl’s is hit or miss for me, but this morning I struck gold.  I stocked up on cute little cotton knit shorts and tank tops for the girls and athletic shorts and tees for my son.  When I checked out, I automatically declined the offer to “save 15%” (which requires, of course, opening a line of credit) with my usual pat answer, “No thanks, my husband will divorce me if I came home with another store card, hahaha.”

The truth is, I have reformed my wicked ways and am no longer tempted to open a store card every time a clerk asks me if I want to save X-percent because I understand what it does to our credit rating.  In fact, we have closed almost all of our credit cards and are using our bank check cards for almost everything.

So even though I know Kohl’s is one of the more beneficial cards to have, I stood firm this morning and paid my large bill with our check card, telling myself, I’m better off, I’m better off, I’m better off… Okay, so old habits die hard.  But I held myself together and got out of there without an anxiety attack OR a new credit card.

I came home and pulled out the bag of clothes and gave it to the girls to sort, and then I skittered out to the mail box to check the latest delivery.  And what do you think I found in my mailbox?

kohls

Alrightythen.

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31 Responses

  1. Many stores will allow you to take the receipt and the coupon, and they’ll refund the money you would have saved. I’d head back to Kohl’s with receipt in hand (and the coupon) and see if they’d be reasonable. Target usually honors discounts like that. (And I’ve been in line when other women have asked about the coupons starting later that week. The Kohl’s employees are usually very good to work with.)

    And if that doesn’t work, I’d return it all and repurchase it to save the 15%.

  2. Oh, I HATE when that happens! I don’t know what I’d do – my fear would be that you return it and by the time you get back there, the stuff would be so picked through that you wouldn’t find what you need/want.

  3. In regards to the phrase about luck, I prefer the following:

    “With my luck, when my ship comes in . . . . I’ll be at the airport.”

  4. I do have a Kohl’s card myself but pay it off every time I use it.

    Last time I left my 15% off coupon at home and the lady gave me 15% off anyways.

    These things happen to me all the time too!

  5. Many, many stores will actually give you a refund for the difference with 7 days of the original purchase. It saves them time because some people really WILL return everything and re-purchase it all at the lower price.

  6. Just think of all the extra laundry you would’ve had to do if you had received the coupon first and waited another week to shop. 🙂

  7. I would call the store and find out if they will honor the coupon since you bought so much stuff. Most retails stores will if it is within their time guidelines.

    let us know what happens!

  8. Kohl’s is the only store credit card I have. Every now and then I will get lucky and get a 20% off coupon and sometimes when the moon and the stars have all lined up correctly, I will get a 30% off coupon. And when I do, it feels almost like I won the lottery.

    It’s the little things…

  9. I just got home from spending $130 at Kohl’s and then read your post… Maybe they aren’t having that special where I live… I sort of hope not, otherwise, I will be trying to figure out what to do.

    I will probably tell myself that if I waited until next week, all the things I wanted would be sold by then…. and nothing would be on sale on those dates like it was today, so it would all even out in the end. =]

  10. Good on ya for not getting the store cards! My husband and I are debt-free after reforming our bad credit habits, and it’s a great feeling.

    Be careful, though – using your debit card makes you VERY vulnerable for identity theft. If they get your debit card, your bank account is suddenly empty and overdrawn. With credit, your actual money is never at risk. Here’s an article about it: https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/12/AR2008011200275.html and there are many more.

    We put everything on a low-interest credit card and pay it off monthly. Plus, miles!

  11. You know, there’s a CHANCE that if you go right back, they’ll honor the coupon and refund you. Since you could just return everything and then buy it all with the coupon again anyway!

  12. Kohls is also the only store credit card I have. Since I do a fair amount of my shopping there, the 15-30% off adds up. I’m not afraid of credit and I pay all my bills off in full.

    I would check and see if they will adjust the price for the 15% off. Hey, it’s worth a try! Friends of mine say Kohls has the best customer service anywhere.

  13. I learned a very important lesson during the Christmas season last year. I cannot speak for certain about KOHL’S, however, Goodys and JC Penney raise some (MOST) of their prices AND sale prices when they have a sale event happening. I returned $269. worth of stuff to Goody’s the day after purchasing for this very reason just to have it rung up (is that a word?) again, so that I could use the special in-store savings card and the total was more than it was the day before BECAUSE they raised their prices. As it turns out the sale card DID NOT save me money on that day because the sale prices were better than the 15%. GRRRR….

  14. Heidi – I’m not afraid of credit either; my temptation is to open a new one every time I’m offered 15% off a purchase. 🙂

    We do keep a couple, and one of them is a Gap card b/c the rewards do make it worth it, and perhaps we should make an exception for Kohl’s as well.

    I’m definitely going to call and see what they say about adjusting the price. The sale card isn’t good till the 11th though, so that may make it more dicey.

  15. Emily, yeah, that does concern us, actually. And I have to say, I miss our AmEx rewards points. But I also like having it come right out of checking and not having to mess with the bill.

  16. I’m with you friend! I only have 2 credit cards (well, I have others, but they have a zero balance and they don’t get used), Macy’s and Kohl’s. I can get some pretty sweet deals from both of those places on certain days. But, I only use those cards on “those” days and then I usually march myself to customer service and pay the bill off with cash. I don’t buy anything on my cards that I can’t pay cash for right away. But, I have saved some “cash” by using my cards when there is a discount. Speaking of which I’ve got some good Macy’s coupons and Father’s Day is coming up.I better get to the mall.

  17. Well, of course. 🙂 I find it hard to resist those store cards, too, but considering the debt we are Still. Paying. Off. . . . well, I know better. Doesn’t mean it’s easy, though!!

  18. Sounds like something that would happen to me. Let us know how it works out if you take it to Kohls, I’m curious as to what they will do. Sometimes I wonder though if it is worth it to go back as it is hard enough for me just to get to the store to go shopping in the first place!

  19. It has always been my understanding that with those % off coupons from Kohls, that you have to use your Kohls credit card to get the discount. So I am surprised you even got an offer in the mail if you are not a cardholder. I have not even been able to use them when purchasing things with a Kohls gift card! Good luck… maybe it will be different where you are.

  20. What does opening a new card do to your credit rating???? I was told that *so long as you don’t have high balances on your credit cards & pay on time* it actually ups your credit score. Something blather about having $5,000 available and only using $100 of it or something…I didn’t understand it all LOL

    I actually open accounts for store credit (at places I like/frequent) because I’m on a tight budget and cannot usually scrape enough money together to buy clothes or other needed items all at once. It’s easier for me to put it on a card and pay it off later. I only use them when it’s something that can absolutely NOT wait for me to save up enough for though (like when all THREE of my bras wires broke within the same week *sigh* and Lane Bryant is the only store that consistently stocks my size).

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