Bustles of a Budget Mom
Frugality, I’ve learned, isn’t just one among the many whacky thing associated with us desis. Being cheap, as it were, is universal, and what’s more, it’s the in thing these days. Well, when you’re an overly distraught, and completely overwhelmed mommy of a diaper-wearing toddler like myself, you do tend to get cheap. You may even, if you’re as tech-lame as I am, acquire some knowledge on the dos and don’ts of online shopping. With all those deals and coupons and weekend-only sales on tiny products that otherwise cost a fortune, why not? Of course, there is a thin line between trying to be cheap and actually being cheap. Let me explain.
My entertainment and sleep-deprived eyes are constantly on the look out for the words “save,” and “sale,” especially when they pertain to a baby product. My Sunday mornings are spent enthusiastically, cutting coupons out from newspaper supplements. These coupons, as fate would have it, are then stacked away in a “safe” place - a place so safe and secretive that it simply evades my already-fading memory. So it is only when the diaper pail runs out of refills and the odor of dirty diapers permeates the house that I suddenly and breathlessly recollect a coupon for “buy one, get one free,” refill packs that I’d cut out. And of course, I never find it; or if and when I do, it’ll have expired. So I end up spending twice as much, and so on and on it goes.
Thus, when the printed versions failed me consistently, I turned to the internet for help. I signed up for as many baby-related web sites as I could. The coupons and deals flooded my inbox, but so did the junk mails. And unlike days of yore, when junk mails were sent in bulk, to a zillion ids at the same time without a whim or care, these days, junk mailers seem to know the race, color, ethnicity and nationality of their receivers rather well, despite the hard to crack, bizarre ids some of us possess. For instance, I get mails from various Nevers and Naysayers asking me if I need help with parenting, by offering me the services of certain Indian babysitters with equally shady names. So amidst all this junk, the Pampers and Gerber coupons get little notice and ultimately hit the trash. And of course, it results in a rushed me standing in line to pay off a hefty bill for a range of over-priced baby stuff in a wobbly shopping cart, to witness a perfectly au fait American mommy in front of me, drawing strips of coupons out from her bag like she were a magician.
I don’t ever remember seeking and cutting coupons out for petty bargains whilst in India. Our self-made discount conduits, as it were, used to be our own tongues out there. Just last year, I managed to get a pack of “imported” diapers at a considerably lesser price than advertised by merely haggling with the vendor. And haggling is an art that can’t be mastered by everyone - sometimes it is also something that is inherent, or genetic. I think I acquired mine from my sister, who has this amazing ability to make vendors feel sorry for not selling things to her at the price she deems fit, right at the outset. And I have been known, on an occasion or two, to get a pair of what-have-yous at the price quoted for one. Well, it’s no rocket science really, but it takes practice. And I cannot even begin to imagine what would happen to the holiday shopping sprees out here if haggling were permissible, in the place of coupons. A bunch of us desi moms could sweep stuff off of store shelves on Black Friday faster and easier than the night owls and early birds, with their pocketfuls of coupons and codes.
But alas, alack, that’s not the case, and we must move on in our quest for cheaper deals and bargains. Well, these paltry negotiations may not be on everyone’s agenda, but if you’re a desi mom who knows how much diapers and wipes and pail refills and teensy clothes and shoes and the like cost here as opposed to India (which you may have experienced on a recent or erstwhile visit), you’d better look them up. But if motherhood has blessed you with a failing memory like mine, and you’re not Stephanie Nelson, you can at least make a start somewhere. I hear they’re selling cutout, printed, and collated coupons in little booklets, just for people like us. So going cheap is not only fashionable, it’s easy too. And if there’s a deal on that booklet, count me in.
My entertainment and sleep-deprived eyes are constantly on the look out for the words “save,” and “sale,” especially when they pertain to a baby product. My Sunday mornings are spent enthusiastically, cutting coupons out from newspaper supplements. These coupons, as fate would have it, are then stacked away in a “safe” place - a place so safe and secretive that it simply evades my already-fading memory. So it is only when the diaper pail runs out of refills and the odor of dirty diapers permeates the house that I suddenly and breathlessly recollect a coupon for “buy one, get one free,” refill packs that I’d cut out. And of course, I never find it; or if and when I do, it’ll have expired. So I end up spending twice as much, and so on and on it goes.
Thus, when the printed versions failed me consistently, I turned to the internet for help. I signed up for as many baby-related web sites as I could. The coupons and deals flooded my inbox, but so did the junk mails. And unlike days of yore, when junk mails were sent in bulk, to a zillion ids at the same time without a whim or care, these days, junk mailers seem to know the race, color, ethnicity and nationality of their receivers rather well, despite the hard to crack, bizarre ids some of us possess. For instance, I get mails from various Nevers and Naysayers asking me if I need help with parenting, by offering me the services of certain Indian babysitters with equally shady names. So amidst all this junk, the Pampers and Gerber coupons get little notice and ultimately hit the trash. And of course, it results in a rushed me standing in line to pay off a hefty bill for a range of over-priced baby stuff in a wobbly shopping cart, to witness a perfectly au fait American mommy in front of me, drawing strips of coupons out from her bag like she were a magician.
I don’t ever remember seeking and cutting coupons out for petty bargains whilst in India. Our self-made discount conduits, as it were, used to be our own tongues out there. Just last year, I managed to get a pack of “imported” diapers at a considerably lesser price than advertised by merely haggling with the vendor. And haggling is an art that can’t be mastered by everyone - sometimes it is also something that is inherent, or genetic. I think I acquired mine from my sister, who has this amazing ability to make vendors feel sorry for not selling things to her at the price she deems fit, right at the outset. And I have been known, on an occasion or two, to get a pair of what-have-yous at the price quoted for one. Well, it’s no rocket science really, but it takes practice. And I cannot even begin to imagine what would happen to the holiday shopping sprees out here if haggling were permissible, in the place of coupons. A bunch of us desi moms could sweep stuff off of store shelves on Black Friday faster and easier than the night owls and early birds, with their pocketfuls of coupons and codes.
But alas, alack, that’s not the case, and we must move on in our quest for cheaper deals and bargains. Well, these paltry negotiations may not be on everyone’s agenda, but if you’re a desi mom who knows how much diapers and wipes and pail refills and teensy clothes and shoes and the like cost here as opposed to India (which you may have experienced on a recent or erstwhile visit), you’d better look them up. But if motherhood has blessed you with a failing memory like mine, and you’re not Stephanie Nelson, you can at least make a start somewhere. I hear they’re selling cutout, printed, and collated coupons in little booklets, just for people like us. So going cheap is not only fashionable, it’s easy too. And if there’s a deal on that booklet, count me in.
posted by Ranjini | 8:58 PM
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