Living in a parallel universe

I seem to be living in a parallel universe as far as money is concerned

When I was younger money was money was money.  It all seemed so simple.  I had my salary paid into the bank each month and then I spent most of it.  I chose what to buy.   I got a bit of “divi” if I shopped at the co-op or a few Green Shield stamps (anybody else remember those?) on petrol but that was about it.

Then marketing became so much more sophisticated and businesses wanted to know a lot more about how I spend my money so they give me a loyalty card which was scanned at the till when I paid for whatever I was buying.  It might be called a Clubcard, an Advantage Card or some other such thing but basically I was offered a small percentage back in return for information about how I spend my money.   I could then spend that in the same store. 

Then it became even more complicated.  I could get more than the face value of those loyalty points by exchanging them for specified goods which might be from the same store or not.  And I could collect loyalty points from other companies and add them onto my basic loyalty card. 

Today I have felt that I am indeed living in a financial parallel universe.  This morning I spent some considerable time sorting out a vegetable plant order from Thompson and Morgan to be paid for using Tesco vouchers.  And this evening I have been sorting things on my energy account (Eon) so that I get Tesco points on gas and electricity.  (I hasten to add that I check the prices of utilities regularly and the points do not form part of my calculations.)  

It would appear that this year my runner beans will be running on electricity.