A Day of Deals

It seems like it was all around us yesterday. Everywhere we looked, we were doing something thrifty or getting a deal on something. For the sake of pointing them out, I'll put the word "deal" with them to point them out.

The first thing I did after we got up was to get a haircut from Suzie. (Deal.)

After I got out of the shower and cleaned up I made some calls about changing the wheels and tires on my truck. The idea was to have my current tires remounted on wheels that I bought from a guy on Craigslist a couple weeks ago for only $60 (deal). After many calls, I ended up out at our local "junkyard alley" the next town over, where the tire shop at Budget Auto Wrecking said they would mount and balance my 4 tires for 10 bucks apiece. When I drove out there, it was wall-to-wall people, all apparently waiting for their turn to have some sort of tire/wheel work done. Disgruntled, I drove around a little and reluctantly decided to go back and get in line at Budget. Instead, I noticed a Tire Shop sign right next door at AAA Auto Wrecking. I didn't even know they had a tire shop. Anyway, they were the same price and there was only one customer there at the time. The tire shop was run by a wisp of a woman about my age that was working her butt off. She did the changeover for $40 cash with no tax (deal). She also threw in, for free, a baggie full of black plastic lug nut covers the hold the center caps on my wheels (deal).

While I was out doing this, Sue was out hitting pawn shops, checking their jewelry offerings. She wasn't sure how I'd take the fact that she was more interested in wearing used jewelry (and getting more bang for her buck), so she was doing investigative research. When I got back to my place, she was back there already. I had no sooner gotten home when Steve rode up on his Harley. He was there to drop off a special little Compactflash/Ethernet port card that would work in my PDA. He had gotten two of them on an Ebay deal and only needed one of them. Knowing that I had the same PDA as he does, he gave me one (deal). I may never need it, but hey--Free is free.

During his visit, he mentioned this coming year's Spring Opener motorcycle run, which was held in Toppenish last year. He said that it was in Goldendale this year, and also mentioned that he had made reservations for it already. Right after he left we got online and found the motel he was staying at and negotiated a good price on a stay there with my AARP membership (deal).

Right after that Suzie told me about her wanderings into the local pawn shops while I was out with my truck. She said I needed to "broaden my horizons" as she put it, and look other than new jewelry stores. To explain, she told me all about her findings at the pawn shops. The prices, selection, and the 30-day return policy. After we talked about it, I assured her that I would not be the least offended should she find a ring she liked better in a pawn shop. We decided to go to the nearby stores of the Super Pawn chain, which is the store that impressed her the most. At our second one, we found a ring for her. A ring that she totally loves! It's a full carat total weight (not to mention more gold) and we got it for the same price as one of the two 1/5-carat rings I bought her at the jeweler. It was marked at $999.95 at the pawn shop but we got it for $350 (deal). I must say, it's a beautiful ring all right. We both think it's great! The other rings ended up going back to Fred Meyer Jewelers.

I must say, it was a day of feeling good about the deals we scored. Neither Suz or I could stop checking out her new ring... It's a beaut! We both agreed that we are indeed lucky that we both recognize the benefits of shopping used. It's much better to have quality used than substandard and new, and besides--If you save in one area, it affords you the luxury of spending your savings somewhere else right?