The other day I went to Wal-Mart to purchase gift cards for my current giveaway (which is open until 7 p.m. PDT May 9, if you haven’t already entered). While there I noticed carts full of deeply discounted Easter items.

Six-packs of Reese’s peanut butter eggs for 50 cents? I took four packages for the freezer, figuring my nephews might enjoy an ice-cold treat on a warm spring or summer day.

Then I saw the gallon-sized white plastic buckets with a pastel egg motif. Apparently these are designed for Easter egg hunts; filled with fake straw and treats, they’d also make good Easter baskets. And the price was right: 10 cents.

Heaven help me, I almost bought some. But then the frugal filter kicked in. Except that this time I’m calling it the “10-cent bucket list,” i.e., the questions I’m glad I asked myself before walking out with bags full of future clutter.

Why are you even thinking about buying these?

They’re only a dime.

Do you need them?

Well, no, but somebody probably does.

Name someone.

Alison could use them for the boys’ Easter baskets next year. Or use them to store art supplies in her classroom. Or maybe DF and I could use a couple for storage or small painting jobs.

The boys have very sturdy baskets that Alison reuses from year to year. She teaches in a public school so even a quasi-religious motif is probably not a good idea. And you and DF already have a ton of plastic containers and old buckets. Walk away. Walk away right now.

Trouble was, in walking away I passed another cart, this one full of 25-cent stuffed animals. (So cute! So soft!) Once again I was miserably tempted: Angel Tree gifts? Take some to the family shelter? A stocking stuffer for my younger nephew?

Watching your wallet

No, no and no. Most of the toys were obviously holiday-themed (e.g., “Baby’s First Easter”), making them a not-great choice for the first two. My nephew already has plenty of stuffed animals; anything I took from the cart would have simply melted into the general FAO Schwarz-ness of his bedroom. (He goes to a lot of garage sales.)

The experience was a good reminder that buying really is a reflex in this country. So often we let price overwhelm utility: That’s a good deal! I better get three! We don’t think about how we’ll use the item or whether we even need it. I jokingly describe this as a “consumer tropism,” i.e., shown a bargain (or even the illusion of a bargain) we automatically move toward it.

And me a frugalist, too. Shame!

The trip was a good reminder both to question my spending and to pay attention to marketing triggers. Sure, those were screamin’ deals. Someone was going to go nuts over the opportunity. That someone wasn’t me.

Except for the Reese’s eggs, of course. Halfway through my writing this those sweets began calling my name. Dang, they’re good when frozen. The centers have the consistency of sorbet and the salt-and-sweet combination is quite winning. If I could turn back time I still wouldn’t buy those buckets. I would, however, throw a few more six-packs into the cart.

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