Get with the Program

There was a time when I couldn't be bothered to sign up for a store's program. I still have no idea why. We've all bee there:

Cashier: Do you have a Store Program card?

Me: No.

Cashier: Would you

Me: No.

Hell, sometimes I say "Nope" in the correct tone for the first question, and I don't even have to bother with the second.

I mean, it's one thing if you have to pay to be in a program. Rarely is there a program that I will use enough that cost of entry will be greatly eclipsed by the savings (BJ's and Sams Club are examples where you win). Also, at some of these places, the prices are so high that even with the discount, it's cheaper to shop somewhere else. An example of this would be GNC (I recommend shopping at http://www.advantagesupplements.com) or Best Buy (only if I need something right now, otherwise online, get your cables at MonoPrice, and do other shopping online).

My thinking now is, if I'm going to spend money, I might as well do whatever I can to stretch the value of my dollar. I use only my credit card, and shop through links from my bank's website, because I can get more cash back. I'm currently working on a free trip to Japan, thanks to frequent flyer miles (and would probably be there if I had joined the programs earlier).

Anyway, now I'm part of so many programs that I have trouble keeping track of them. The hardest part is all of those stupid cards. If I could find some way to consolidate them into one easy to carry item, I would. Maybe I can create a card of bar codes just for that purpose.

Math Olympics

When I go out, unless I really know you, or we work together, I tend to be a fan of separate checks. I think it's a great idea, and yes, it may be a little bit of a pain for the waitress, but the lack of headaches is worth it.

Case in point. Last weekend, I HAD TO get out of the house, and my roommate was headed to Hooters with some friends to watch the UFC fight. That seemed like an excellent excuse. My roommate, however, is a couple of years younger than me, and by extension, so are his friends.

The night went very well, and when it came time to pay up, I was a champ, having to only close out my check. The other 6, however had some issues. For some reason, they couldn't get the math to come out correct for the check, and so they kept coming up short (actually, I will hand it to my roommate, since he is astute in these matters). Add to this the fact that they apparently were unfamiliar with how tax worked, and the fact that our group size automatically incurred an 18% gratuity due to size, and it was a recipe for hot wings disaster.

Being the brains in the is operation, I stepped in and tried to help them. First I decided that I would use the handy app on my phone to calculate exactly what each person owed from the bill. This would have worked well, except for two things. First, one girl was upset because her amount came out to much more than the rest. She seemed to be unable to grasp that she had ordered a $11 drink, thus starting her subtotal higher, and entitling her to a greater percentage of tax and tip. Second, the math didn't work out.

Due to her protests, and the group willing to just split tip and tax evenly, I looked at the math another way. And then I saw what was wrong.

One of the individuals took off right after the fight. I think right after their bill arrived. HE left money on the table. Apparently, he not only had NO understanding of what tax and tip were (because he left no money for it), but I believe he was a few cents short (having left only bills) on his part of the subtotal.

I would like to hope that they learn from this mistake. However, I will still get a separate check.