I Get the Point(s)

Free stuff = happy Rita. It's a simple equation, really. So I suppose that explains why I'm a complete sucker for any brand that offers points.

I've used Pampers exclusively for four years now - ever since Colin was born. (There was only, like, a one-month gap between his potty training and Cameron's birth, when I didn't have any diapers to change ... but oh, what a blissful month it was. *sigh*) I've found that, for the most part, I like Huggies just as well - but do I buy them? No. Because I've spent years saving up the Pampers "Gifts to Grow" points. So what if the free stuff they offer is crap these days? Back when I started collecting, before I'd built up any substantial points, the prizes were good: kids' scooters and stuff, on the higher end of the spectrum. But now the biggest thing you can get is, like, an Applebee's gift card or 150 free photo prints. Yawn. Still, I'm loyal to the brand, in hopes that someday there will be something cool for which to redeem my hundreds of points.

It's the same with Fresh Step kitty litter. I'm okay with Tidy Cats. But Fresh Step, well, they offer "Paw Points." And because of my collection of said points, I got a free litter scoop. A free litter scoop, people. That's a value of ....... oh. Like $2.99. Well, whatever.

Probably the most frustrating of my points collection are the "Boxtops for Education." Yeah, I've got a ton of 'em, but they're only worth five cents apiece - which means that even if I saved up five hundred of them, my "big" contribution to a local school would equal a measly $25. What's that going to buy, a box of napkins for the lunchroom? And yet there I am, scouring the grocery aisles, forking over an extra twenty cents for the brand with the "Boxtops for Education" logo rather than the store brand, which tastes the same to me.

The sad thing is, all these points will probably end up in my drawer until well past their expiration date ... kinda like the umpteen pink Yoplait yogurt lids I saved up for breast cancer research but never sent in.

It's the thought that counts, though, right?

Comments

  1. they give points for pampers? Crap - I've been using those things for three years and counting (with two kids in diapers at a time) and I aint saved no points!

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  2. It's similar to how I cut coupons then never have them with me when I need them. By the time I remember them again, they're expired!

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  3. Yep, the points are the little numeric codes - you'll find them on stickers inside the plastic. You just enter them at Pampers.com. I'm telling you, though, the prizes are NOTHING compared to what they used to be!

    Jennifer - I do the same thing! It's always so annoying ... especially when I realize that the coupon expired, like, just a day or two ago.

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  4. Oo I also love free stuff.

    And I use those Pampers Points. I once got a $10 giftcard to Gap. I was thrilled.

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