Friday, January 16, 2009

Counterpoint - Bargain-hunting

To prove to myself that I don't always mess up rebates & other money-saving things, here's a counterpoint. Call it "things I've done right" or "lucky finds" or something.

  • I scored a practically-new Roget's Thesaurus at the library sale this week for a measly 50 cents.
  • Also bought Magnum P.I. Season 2 on DVD for $3. That's about what it would cost to ship a used set if bought on Amazon or Half.com.
  • I got a great deal when El Burrito needed socks last month. We tried Old Navy first, since that's where his current-at-the-time socks were from. No luck - they've changed their sock selection. Ended up at Gymboree, which usually isn't that cheap. But they had a sale, I had a coupon, and we got 11 pairs of socks for $15. Usual retail is $3.25 per pair. And these are their "good" socks, the solid-color, mostly cotton (I think) socks. They've also got theme socks to match the different clothing lines, but those tend to be shorter, thinner, and often with enough polyester that they pill.
  • Bought myself some warmer pajamas online - organic cotton "Mutts" prints from Walmart. On clearance, although my awesome Eeyore "Zen Master" pajama pants were still $7.
  • Got El Burrito's vitamins cheap at Gerbes last week - buy one, get one free, which made it cheaper than either Target or Hy-vee. And we got a $5 credit for buying Procter & Gamble products (Pampers) which meant that one bottle of the vitamins was essentially free.
  • We're apparently getting a free replacement stapler, since I called about the lifetime warranty from Swingline.
  • I've resisted the Christmas Cactus for sale at Hy-vee ($9.99 each). I'll wait until April and order some online. Found a place with plants for $4.99, or 5 for $20 ($26 with shipping).
That's about it. Not much for the frugality lately, sadly.

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