<p>This isn’t really a “purchase” but I am putting $ into a 5-month CD at the local credit union & earning 5%. It’s their grand opening & I’ll need the funds to pay for the kids’ college so I want them accessible.</p>
<p>My best hotel purchase was Peachtree Hyatt in Atlanta, 5-star hotel for under $35/night for hubby, me & our two tykes. They included free continental breakfast bar & newspaper & had children’s meals 3x/day for under $4 apiece. Generally, I took the kids to eat & ordered soup & finished their meals (they were toddlers & didn’t eat much). Hubby’s office paid for his trip & the hotel & per diem & the kids were free on the airlines.</p>
<p>Shucks, though, no diamond earrings. I found a ruby ring in a handbag once – it fit perfectly & I love it! It’s even my birthstone!</p>
<p>^ My state university CU is opening a branch near me. 1-yr CD @ 6%APR with start of free checking. Offer expired 11/15/08 so don’t PM. Available only at that new branch.</p>
<p>Wednesday is half price day for shoes and clothes at our Salvation Army. I was shopping for theater clothes one year and found two like new Lanz nightgowns for me at $3.99 a piece which meant $4 for both of them! I now look there for all sorts of things like dress shirts for the boys, suit jackets, khakis, clothes for me. I found a nice pair of black Catholic Schoolboy shoes there that did not even look worn, and a pair of winter boots for boys that I snatched last year that fit this year. Don’t remember price but it was cheap. I left the store with two huge bags and barely spent $30, all for things that were going to get very good use. Also found some ties, belts and other things for a bargain.</p>
<p>Target reported a big earnings drop yesterday and they basically said that they will be discounting heavily going forward. It’s amazing to hear this from a major retailer. They realize that there’s a smaller pie out there and that they’re going for a smaller piece of it and they are not afraid in announcing that publicly. Imagine if your cable company or phone company did that.</p>
<p>Last winter, I found a Dooney and Burke Annalisa medium lock sac at Goodwill…for $3. It retails for $275 and is still a current style. I would NEVER have spent that much on a bag, but I’m glad I found it, because I love it and get compliments on it all the time.</p>
<p>I have no idea how it got there - I’m thinking that whoever gave it away accidentally put it in the wrong pile of “give aways” (ie, not the consignment or resell pile). I’m also surprised it got past the Goodwill staff too - usually the higher dollar stuff gets put in a display case and is marked up more than normal Goodwill prices. Also, it was a Saturday and there was a decent amount of people in the store - I’m surprised nobody else noticed it. Guess it was meant to be :)</p>
<p>I have never had much luck with the thrift stores. I don’t know if it is my location or if I just don’t have the patience. I have noticed that several friends who would have dropped off nice stuff at the thrift store are bringing their stuff instead to the consignment stores. Sign of the times.</p>
<p>I don’t find that much for me at SA, but when it comes to things like khakis, button down shirts, sports jackets for the boys, I’ll always look there first. I have found some great items for myself, but I don’t think I’d want to dress myself there entirely. I’m hard to fit and the stuff I like just isn’t there. However, I found the prettiest jean vest there with embroidery that I would have loved even in a full priced store. The Lanz nightgowns were also a great find. Have never found anything for H there, as he is hard to fit also.</p>
<p>Yesterday a friend emailed me that a local odd-lots store had chef’s jackets for $5 ea. I went there today and bought 3. The other one I have I paid something like $35-40 dollars for.</p>
<p>At Costco today they were handing out coupon books to use next week. One of the coupons was for 7 dollars off the price of the itunes gift card pack.
I found a kitchenaid saucepan at Ross today.</p>
<p>Last year I finally kept my promise to buy a new artificial Christmas tree right after the holidays. I paid just 20 bucks at Home Depot for the one I wanted. In the box, brandy new. Yesterday I was in HD and saw the same tree for $120. Yes !!!</p>
<p>I keep my house cool (63 day and 60 at night) during the winter. I bought a great pair of fleece pajamas at the Dollar General Store for $10. And for those of you of a certain age - they’re made by Bobbie Brooks! I cut the tags off and wear them wrong-side out, since for inexplicable reasons the fleece always seems to be softer on the outside than inside. They’re very warm and kind of cute.</p>
<p>I sometimes am able to buy us all children’s clothes at a significant savings off the adult sizes. I’m a boy’s XL in polo shirts or a women’s medium. Sometimes the reason the clothes are in clearance is because the color is too “feminine” anyway. I’ve purchased about 4 polo shirts there for under $15 apiece–in the Women’s department, the same shirts were about $60.</p>
<p>We have purchased Gap kids XL hooded sweatshirts that fit all of us.</p>
<p>Of course, all of these purchases were on sale–clearance is better yet, especially if I have coupons to add.</p>
<p>Today, I bought D a cut coat/hooded sweatshirt – marked @ $65 on sale for under $20 after discounts. She also bought a cute t-shirt for some outrageous price (though it was more than 50% off the normal astronomical price). Every once in a while, we let her buy clothes other than at Ross–we were at Macy’s, their one-day sale.</p>
<p>I can do that with kid’s shoes HImom…my 18 yr old still wears Uggs and they are a lot less expensive if you buy the kid’s size. I used to buy Teva sandals and save that way too.</p>
<p>I just got a pair of $276.00 Trina Turk wool dress pants for $38.99 at Nordstrom Rack.</p>
<p>I am trying to go back to work after 17 years of being a mom, and of course I have nothing appropriate to wear, so this was a major find for me!</p>
<p>Not a purchase, but I recently gave a call to Comcast, our cable company. I mentioned how there are several competitive options available these days (satellite), and I asked if there was anything they could do to lower my monthly bill so I wouldn’t be tempted to go to one of the other options. They lowered the bill about $20 a month for 6 months, so I’ll save over $120 during that period. Not a bad return for a 10 minute phone call.</p>