Exposing the Truth Behind $25 Saving Coupons

Okay. So we've all fallen for these sales, right? The "Spend $50 now, and we'll give you a $25 savings coupon (or whatever it is called) to use in a week or so." The catch - you have to spend at least $50 in order to use the coupon when you come back. But still, it doesn't sound that bad, does it? Now let's do some math, shall we?

So - first trip to the store you spend $50, but let's be honest, it's impossible to spend exactly $50, so let's round up to $55.
Then - the next trip you NEED to spend another $50 in order to use that savings coupon you were rewarded with a few days/weeks ago. But of course, it's impossible to spend exactly $50, so let's round up to $55.
So - we have $110 in STUFF and we saved $25 off of that $110. That means you save 23% off of ALL your purchases. But really, unless you really needed all the stuff you scrambled to buy (to reach the $50 goal), that's not a huge sale, nothing to write home about, anyway.

Even if you happen to be able to find good deals on STUFF while this sale is going on, then you might feel like you're saving a lot more money, but it'll still be around 23-25% off. And that's just if you stay close to the $50 goal - if you go above that without reaching $100 - you're actually getting even a less of a deal. Usually, when you reach $100 (the first time), you'll be rewarded with TWO $25 savings coupons, to be used later - and at that later time you'll need to spend $50 for EACH coupon, so again, you'd only save about 25% off of your STUFF. So unless you really need more STUFF, then is it really worth it? I tend to think these sales get you to buy STUFF that you really don't need, just to reach the goal and "save big"!