Thursday morning, I woke up to a phone call from one of my aunts; she and my cousin wanted to visit on Saturday afternoon. I was told not to make any lunch, but we'll see how that goes. I spent the morning relaxing and reading blogs.
In the afternoon, daughter and I went shopping, again! The store from which I bought all those lotions and shower gels were having a sale and the items I bought on 50% off were now on sale for 75% off. These lotions and shower gels are regularly priced at $12.50, I bought them when they
were priced at $6.25 and, today, they were on sale for $3. I had given 16 of them as gifts on Christmas Day (a bottle of lotion and a bottle of shower gel per recipient), but I still had 14 bottles not given away, yet. I checked the store's return policy which said 100% return for any reason. So, I took them back to the store, explained the situation to one of the shop assistants, "returned" them, and bought them again, at the lower price! My daughter was shaking her head and rolling her eyes at me, but I didn't mind. I saved $48 by doing so! I know it wasn't a good deal for the store, but I am happy that I was able to take advantage of their return policy and a good sale.
Then, we went to the dollar store to buy some freeze dried fruit snacks and hair bands for daughter, a wall calendar and a small one to keep in my purse for me, and a book of sudoku and word puzzles for my aunt as part of her gift. We were in a bit of a rush by then, because my daughter's friend was coming to pick her up to go on their escape room adventure and dinner. So, I didn't finish my shopping, but came home.
After my daughter left with her friend, I went to the pharmacy to pick up my medication and one or two other items I needed from there, and to the other dollar store located next to the pharmacy for the rest of the items I had wanted. I bought a bunch of bananas ($.49/lb), a head of Boston lettuce ($.99), a 3lb. bag of russet potatoes ($.99), 2 cans of mixed vegetables ($.50@), coffee filters, and a package of kitchen sponges.
I had wanted to go to the grocery store, too, to buy a gift card and some bread, but I was tired by then and didn't want to push myself, too much. So, I came home, had a cup of coffee, cooked the ground beef I had bought earlier, put away the laundry from the day before, did another load of laundry, emptied the dishwasher, and finished wrapping up the majority of the rest of my gifts!
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| Crocheted Candles |
These are candles I crocheted from yarn in my stash. I crocheted them, last year, but I didn't add the flowers until today. The fabric poinsettias are also from my stash. Now that they are finished, I added them to the gifts I'll be giving, this year.
Today, I am grateful for:
- Being able to take advantage of good sales
- Generous return policies
- Getting most of my shopping done
- Daughter had a fun evening with her friends
- A warm (84F), sunny day in December.
How was your Thursday? Would you have returned the lotions and shower gels to take advantage of the sale? Or, would you have let it go?
I, too, would have taken advantage of the sale. $48 is a lot of money. Every store is different, but I've been able to take advantage of next day sales by just taking in the receipt. That is much easier than taking back the merchandise.
ReplyDeleteJust the receipt would have been much easier, but I didn't know for sure, so played safe. :) I think the money I saved payed for quite a bit of other items I bought as gifts!
DeleteOoooh, good for you to have returned those items and bought them again at the cheaper price and gotten $48 back! That's a big amount saved! I'm almost never able to do this because those stores are too far away from my house and I don't buy those things in a large enough quantity that the price difference would be greater than the gas I'd spend to get there.
ReplyDeleteI don't know anything about Escape Rooms but I know you've mentioned your daughter going to do this with her friends several times in the past. Do they always go to the same one? Does the escape route change each time? I'm asking because they're building one here locally and I'm curious about it. I'd probably never go because of claustrophobia and anxiety, but there was an article in the paper this week about a local college student who has created a virtual escape room video game but is having trouble finding funding to produce the game. He was saying that the big advantage of the game is that the room can be reconfigured each time, but that if you go to a B&M escape room, it's always the same layout so there's no challenge the 2nd time and beyond. It strikes me as short-sighted on the part of the B&M business but I don't know anybody who's ever been to one to ask if it's true...
Yes, there were a few things to consider, in the return and rebuy. First, the mall is only about 15 minutes drive, second, it wasn't just one or two items, and third, I felt up to it. I bought 30 bottles of lotions and shower gels, with the intention of giving sets of 2 to 15 people. With tax, it came to $205.31, that first day. That was more than what I wanted to pay, but, under the circumstances (Christmas was just 3 days away and I had no gifts and little energy to shop), I felt it was the best I could do. And this was a brand of products I knew my family and friends liked (Bath & Body). It was the price I had to pay for not being as prepared as usual. But, when the opportunity presented itself to save a little on the remaining gifts, I was glad!
DeleteAccording to daughter, there are several escape rooms in the L.A. area and they have different themes, so they go to different ones. Some change the theme every so often, so there is variety that way, too. Some rooms offer replay value in that they offer multiple puzzles and escape options, so that one could try different puzzle options on repeat visits (they usually have a 1 hour time limit, so don't have the time to try all the different options). Maybe your daughter and youngest son (and middle son, too, perhaps) might enjoy the escape room.
So funny that you mentioned the return and repurchase. At a jewelry store yesterday a lady was returning an $800 necklace she bought at regular price before Christmas. She obtained her refund and promptly repurchased it for the current sale price. She quoted their return policy to the sales associate (similar to the policy at the store you visited). She basically saved $150. I thought it was a rare instance but I wouldn’t be surprised if the stores change their policies next year to find a way to prevent it. Anything that good for the customer can’t last, right? Haha!
ReplyDeleteYes, I think that is why so few stores have such generous return policies, these days. My daughter, who worked at the on-campus student store, thought it was not fair to the store; she mentioned it to her friend who works in retail and her friend had told her that it is quite common and people do it all the time. I told her that people will try to maximize their buying power, every chance they get.
DeleteOf course I would have returned the lotions and shower gels to take advantage of the sale. In fact, in most cases, the store should only have accepted the sales receipt as proof of the purchases within the same week, and given you the difference back in cash or on your credit card. Most stores have a "grace period" of a week or two if your purchases were just made within that time frame. No, I would not have let it go.
ReplyDeleteLove the crocheted "candle" decorations with poinsettias. That is a lovely gift on its own.
I doubt if the store would have given me a refund on the difference if I hadn't taken in the items, they are not that generous!
DeleteThank you, Susan. I think just about everyone in my family has a set of those crocheted candles. :)
Many years ago I bought bedding and curtains from Marks and Spencer when we were decorating the bedroom. Before I'd used them they were reduced to half price so I did exactly what you did - took them back and re-bought them.
ReplyDeleteI guess I am not the only one, Eloise. :)
DeleteI'm so jealous of the temperature! Just blow a little of that warm air this way will you? I don't like the mall but I do love the shop you're talking of. I must admit to having quite a lot of the lotions as we use them a lot. I LOVE their candles!
ReplyDeleteWe are in the mid-80s, today, too, Sharon. I am blowing as hard as I can! :D
DeleteI don't light candles all that much, but I believe they are having a sale on their candles, too ($10 for the 3-wick candles). :)
What pretty candles! I would never have thought of crocheting them. I'm really keen on LED candles right now as I am scared of fire. We did have real tapers on the table at Christmas during our meal, but I now have 4 large wax LED candles around the house and two of them have a remote control to switch them on and off, also the colour can be changed. The other two just have timers to put them on and turn them off 4 hours later each day. We have to keep several rechargeable batteries for them all and change them from time to time. I just love to see them glowing!
ReplyDeleteMy mother received a crocheted candle from one of her student's grandmother, many years ago. Then, mother looked at that candle and crocheted some of her own, which she gave as gifts. I kept one of her candles and have made some of my own to give. It's one of my favorite decorations to make.
DeleteThose battery operated candles look very realistic, don't they?