Bargains

I love getting a good bargain. I wouldn't say I'm cheap, but I am frugal.



I know a woman who refuses to clip coupons. Once we were at Blockbuster renting a movie and the employee tried to give her a coupon to use for the dvd. She actually said to him, "No thanks. I know it will save me money, but I don't want to." That's crazy.



I clip coupons but only if they are for products that I normally use. I clip coupons for restaurants like Olive Garden, Red Lobster and Arby's, plus pizza coupons, that I keep in an envelope in my van. I enjoy going to Goodwill and yard sales, not only because of the good prices but because of the interesting items you can find. One time I was telling a neighbor about a shirt I bought at Goodwill and he looked horrified and said, "I would never buy used clothing."



I don't see anything wrong with clipping coupons or buying gently used clothes. My logic with coupons is, "If I saw $1 on the ground would I pick it up?" Yes. So how is this different than cutting out a coupon for $1 on an item? It takes me maybe 10 minutes to clip coupons every Sunday, and on average I clip at least $10 in coupons. Spending 10 minutes to save $10 is reasonable.

Guidelines I have for buying used clothes: no stains, rips, fading or missing buttons. Also, I won't buy used underwear or socks. A lot of times the clothes I buy at Goodwill are brand new with the original price tag still attached.

This weekend I got a lot of good deals. On Friday our church had its annual rummage sale. I bought:

-a Ralph Lauren Polo shirt for Sophie for .50
-brand new Gap shorts for Kylie for .50
-2 books for $1.50 (both brand new)
-school desk and chair for $2.50 total
-6 small Alvin & The Chipmunks toys for .50 total

But the best deal at the rummage sale was a woman's black leather jacket for $1! And the jacket was brand new, never worn, with the silica gel packets still in the pockets. I still can't believe I got a new leather jacket for a buck.

Saturday we went to Goodwill to look for antiques (Steve has his own booth at the local antique mall and is always on the search for good deals). We didn't find any antiques at Goodwill but they had a sale of 50% off all clothes. I bought:

-pair of brand new Levi jeans for myself $3.50
-Evan Picone dress for myself $3.50
-skirt for $2.50
-2 pairs of khaki capri pants $5 total
-2 books for $1.50

All in all, a good weekend, I spent less than $20 for probably at least $200 worth of stuff.