How may "discount" cards to you have?

This week I've been shopping like a maniac, I needed soap, then I need a few groceries, had to stop by Borders to pick up a book and on and on. As much as I shop you would not know that I hate crowds. But now I have another pet peeve that I recently added to my list. What’s up with the “discount” cards stores are now offering? In my area, each grocery store, book store, vitamin shop, and drug store have some type of “discount” card going on. So far I have collected 7 discount cards, which by the way is very hard to keep track of. But don’t fear if you don’t have your card they can look up the card number by your telephone number or email address. That’s right you have to register the card to get the “savings”. If you are wondering why I keep placing parenthesis around discount and savings, well the truth is in most cases there is no discount or savings to be had. For example, a loaf bread is regularly priced at $ 3.85, but with your discount card you can get the bread for $3.32 a total savings of 53 cents ( if that much, most of the time the saving are very minimal) . Stores are now using these cards to track customer spending habits and to determine how often you visit their stores. It’s basically a marketing ploy to get to the core of the consumers spending habits. Stores like CVS and Borders don’t offer instant savings, but they will send cardholders emails with coupons. Discount cards also allow companies to contact their customers via email or phone because you are required to provide that information prior to the card being issued, or you can do like I do and give a fake email and a fake phone number that way they can not sell your personal information. I mean I really don't have time for all these damn cards. First you gotta swipe the discount card, then you gotta swipe your credit or debit card. Too many steps if you ask me, but what's a sistah to do.