Catalina Questions

[spork]

When tracking savings or figuring out how much you spent on an item, do you count your OYNO catalina's on the item/transaction that generated the cat or count it when you redeem it on a later transaction?

Seems I get all excited that I got something practically free because it generated an OYNO cat, but then I can't get excited and count it again when I use it, lol.

[carisal]

I always have counted mine when they are earned.

Whatever works for you is fine, as long as you don't double count them :)

IE, I did the Huggies deal today at walgreens, I paid 15 OOP and got a $10 RR in return each time, so I look at it as costing me $5 each time for the 3 packs of diapers, because I earned the RRs from buying Huggies, not what I'm going to spend them on next week (walgreens diapers - 2/$9).

When I buy the Walgreens diapers next week, I'll look at those as costing me 4.50 in RRs each (20 packs *4.50 = $90 - 9*10 RRs= -$90RRs)

[daisydog215]

I count them toward my savings when I redeem them, and count rebates when I receive/deposit them.

[shannonpa]

For me, it is really about what I spend OOP, so I count them when I use them.

[spork]

Thank you all. Since I think I'm going to track savings in a spreadsheet, I'll probably deduct when I redeem and see how that works -- so that my spreadsheet matches my receipts. I can see the logic either way. I just need to commit :-)

[spork]

For me, it is really about what I spend OOP, so I count them when I use them.

that makes sense. i also was tracking prices on some of my most-used products so I can get a better idea of best price/deal, which is when I went all iffy on which way to go.

[bluechicken]

I count them when they are redeemed as some don't get redeemed so I didn't 'save' that money after all.

[TheWoman]

It doesn't matter how you figure it as long as you are consistent.

I don't do it either way. When I earn then I count it as turning real money into OYNO coupons and then when I spend them I count it as using my OYNO. That is because OYNOs are not as good as cash. They expire and don't give change back, and often at wags I need to add fillers, so I often end up buying some stuff that I wouldn't have bought otherwise. OTOH, if you count them when you spend them it looks like you just paid $30 for 10 tubes of toothpaste and then got $30 worth of groceries free, which doesn't seem quite right when you already have 100 tubes of toothpaste in the closet. It drives me crazy when my husband uses one of my OYNO and then claims his purchases were free. No, they cost an OYNO. My method works for me, but if I were trying to track my spending/savings in a spreadsheet it would cause real headaches.

What really makes me crazy is when someone posts a scenerio like this:

Buy x,y, and z for $10
use $8 OYNO from a previous purchase.
Total = $2. Get a $10 OYNO.
$8 PROFIT!!!

[gettinrevvin2007]

I don't count them like that, so much as profit, but...
If I buy x,y, and z for $10, use the $8 OYNO from a previous purchase, and paid out $2. I would just say 'my oops was $2.'

bluechicken:

as some OYNOs don't get redeemed.

I used to have this problem, as part of my 'learning curve', but have definitely gotten better at it. Even if I can't keep the OYNO 'rolling' any more, I can at least spend it on something useful, so I don't lose my 'investment'. (like on potatoes, milk, toilet paper, etc.)

[spork]

Buy x,y, and z for $10
use $8 OYNO from a previous purchase.
Total = $2. Get a $10 OYNO.
$8 PROFIT!!!

Yes! see that example doesn't make sense to me. You can't count them on both ends. It makes sense to me that the OYNO's would count towards reducing my OOP, though. But more in the same way that rewards or rebates would.

I think I have the potential to be seriously ECB-challenged when I get into CVSing. ::gah::