...Why People Spend That Extra $7 Dollars At Supermarkets On Something They Don't Really Need Just To Get That 4c Off Voucher For Fuel (And Other Illogical or Retarded Behaviour Concerning Shops and Shopping)

A while ago, supermarkets in New Zealand began introducing that additional fuel voucher for grocery shoppers. The most common value is 4c off per litre of fuel if you spend more than $40 on your groceries. There also has been other promotions such as 6c off for $75 or 10c off for $200 (or something like that). This idea seems great - you get to spend money on things that you inevitably need for discounts in something else that you also need. However, the keyword that makes this idea worthwhile is the bit about spending money on things that you inevitably need.

Think about it - if you had a voucher and you filled your fuel tank by 40 litres, you would save a mere $1.60. There is nothing wrong with that as it is good to save whenever you can. But I don't understand why people would purposely try and make it to a certain threshold just to get the voucher. I guess it's fair to buy that extra pack of chewing gum for $2 but trying to add more than $5 to your bill for the discount is just plain illogical. You're gonna be spending money on something that you probably won't need in order to save like a dollar on fuel. Just don't buy anything extra - you don't actually need the voucher in this case.

Which leads me to the next point - why people buy random things just because it's on sale. First we must understand the term of "sale". It usually means that items have been reduced in price from its original value. Somehow people think that this is amazing and they just have to buy it. Just because it's on sale, doesn't make it free. If something is 60% off, you still have to pay for that 40%. It's good to get bargains on things that you would have bought if it was cheaper, but do not be fooled into buying things just for the sake of a sale. I've made the mistake of buying a shirt that was on sale and I now never wear it because I realised that I didn't actually need it, nor do I like it very much. I'm pretty sure there are clothes in your own wardrobe that had been on sale, worn once or twice and then neglected to a life of imprisonment on a hanger, waiting for their chance to see the world again. Or the insides of a nearest clothes bin.

Furthermore, sales could be deceiving themselves. How do you not know that the original price hadn't mean marked up before it was reduced? I've heard from a not 100% reliable source that appliance selling places increase their price before reducing it by a percentage during the peak sale times (Christmas etc.) Plus, some sales are ridiculous. I once saw some sort of confectionery on sale at a certain supermarket. At the bottom of its price tag thing on the shelf it said that you save 7c. 7 cents. Seven. Not even ten. Seven. Don't let the words sale or discount get to you (psychologically attracting you to spend money) - actually think about these things before you buy them.

With sales, there also comes with the issue of why some shops are so god damn stingy while others are so extremely (and annoyingly) "generous" with their sales. It's time for some public shaming (drumroll?)

The former refers to New World (yes, I said it). Have you seen their birthday "vouchers" that they send you through the mail? At first glance, they seem alright - "$5 off your groceries on your next visit" or something like that. However, underneath it says "if you spend more than $150". I just plopped that into my handy calculator next to me (oh so handy) and that equates to a 3% discount. So first you have to spend $150 dollars on groceries (which may include things you don't need - refer to above), and then after all that effort you save... $5. It's your birthday New World. Please at least have some dignity and let us save a bit more.

The latter refers to mainly Briscoes, but also Farmers and places like that. How many freaking sales can you have in a year? I swear Briscoes has a sale every single day. And the reasons for them are just retarded:

End of January Sale! Pre-Autumn Sale! Mid-Autumn Sale! Early Winter Sale! Mid-Year Sale! End of year sale! Beginning of year sale! I-Don't-Really-Have-Any-More-Reasons-But-I'm-Going-To-Have-A-Sale-Anyway Sale!

Farmers is not nearly as bad, but as Becca once said to me "How many red dot sales can you possibly have?!" I don't get these shops at all. Yes, you attract a lot of customers to your stores when things are cheaper but we're not stupid. Sooner or later we figure out that you have sales all the time and there's no need to rush in to buy something (The other time my mum asked me if we needed to buy a suitcase for the end of the year because it was on sale at Briscoes - I told her not to worry because there is bound to be 2389432 more sales before we go on our trip). I bet you Briscoes can barely sell anything if everything was at its normal price. You've ruined it, Briscoes. You've now got us in this mentality that you always have sales and nothing is worth its original price since you can afford to have so many discounts. Plus, how much money would you save if you didn't have that woman on the ad telling us that this plate set is 60% off? How much paper would you save if you didn't have to print off so many pricing things to fit the theme of the sale? Why you have so many back-to-back sales is totally beyond me.

And don't even get me started on the ads themselves. All I have to say is that woman from Big Save Furniture really needs to STFU.