coupons, groupons, and more

I have never been a coupon clipper.  All my life I have ignored my mother’s prodding, “Get the Sunday papers.  They are filled with coupons.”  I couldn’t be bothered clipping, organizing, remembering.  All that to get 20¢ off a bar of soap hardly seemed worth the effort. 

But then came the internet and all kinds of great deals started exploding all around me.  Living Social.  Amazon Local.  Bloomspot.  Groupon.  Everyday I am bombarded with amazing deals worth gazillion dollars in savings.  I just open my emails and boom!  In my face!  Temptation a click away.

And, to make it even more tempting, the coupons are local and can be loaded onto my phone.  I don’t have to print them out, find a place to put them, remember where I put them, and then carry them with me when I finally want to use them.  As long as I have my phone with me (and who doesn’t have their phone with them?), I’m fine. 

So everyday, I find myself with much to contemplate.

    Do I really want to eat at that restaurant?  The pictures in the coupons make everyone’s food look 5-star worthy, but I am careful to only choose restaurants I know.  Last week, for example, I buy a $69 dinner for two at Ethos, the great Greek restaurant my friends took me to for my birthday.  This includes an appetizer, main course (of which lamb chops are included), and dessert.  I will take Alexander there this summer.  He will love their french fries.

    Should I take a chance having my hair cut  at a place in the funky East Village for $39?  The salon did get good reviews on YELP and it would be a $40 savings over what I pay at my salon.  But what if I hate the cut?   I’m still thinking about it.  

    And what about 3 massages for $99 at a spa near my apartment?  That sounded good when I purchased it last November, but now I have only a month to get three massages.  Why didn’t I plan better?

    I am excited to get my 70-minute $39 Korean body scrub in Tribeca that I purchased last month.  Corinne raved about it, promising me I'd be amazed at how much dirt we all have on our bodies until it is literally scrubbed off.

    $20 for $10 worth of food at Sables came up again today.  I don’t hesitate to buy it.  I shop at Sable’s regularly and Alexander loves their lobster salad.  Limit is one per person.  I wonder if I send the link to Alexander if he can manage the time to buy one also? 

    I buy a $14 coupon for 5 small frozen yogurts with toppings at Pinkberry in January, but have yet to purchase one,  Every time I am in the mood for frozen yogurt I find myself at the 16 Handles next door.  I wonder if this purchase was a mistake.

    Oh, then there’s the $30 eye exam and $250 to spend on prescription glasses at Cohen’s Fashion Optical that is currently tempting me. I do need an updated eye exam, as well as a second pair of reading glasses, as mine are lopsided and unfixable.  Maybe I’ll buy it.  I’m not sure.

Last week I get an email about Bloomingdales Friends and Family, 20% off most things for the next five days.  And today’s email tells me it's Spa Week in New York.  Huge savings at major spas.  What’s a girl to do?

Unsubscribe, I suppose.  But what would be the fun of that?