As many people know: my life is full of a lot of unusual stresses, most of which are beyond my control right now. It’s nice to have something that’s a bit of an escape from reality, something to help distract me from the stresses in my life. I’m not into TV or movies – they do nothing for me. What do I find more entertaining than anything? Deal shopping! Shopping in general – eh, no thanks. But deal shopping? Now that’s a totally different game!
A few weeks ago life started out particularly stressful. I quite literally ran out of hours in my Monday. Tuesday wasn’t much better. Then Wednesday rolled around… wait, what? A price mistake? HOW MUCH?! Holy cow! Buy first – think later! It’ll never happen, but it’ll be good for a laugh.
Then Thursday came. Uh oh. Now what? This is the thinking part and that’s not as much fun. It’s still good for a laugh though! Hmm…
Yeah, you’re looking at FIVE monitors that cost me a total of $53.99. There might even be a $20.00 rebate coming… YIKES!
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As quickly as one deal ends, another one rolls in. This one nets me $19.05 profit – essentially ~40% off the Kindle cards since the Visa card can easily be flipped back into cash. Times EIGHT cards I can do this deal with, and I’d call that WELL worth my time! Add in the $5 in store rewards for EACH transaction – that makes this deal a $192.40 money maker across the 8 cards!
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These are the kind of deals that cause people to ask “But do you NEED it…?” when I tell them about a deal I got.
Maybe.
Maybe not.
Does it matter??
Who, or what, does it affect anyway?
No one.
Or…
Let me tell you who or what it might affect:
– ME! It’s a great stress release that doesn’t cost much money and often MAKES money.
– My husband. He’s an aspiring filmmaker and the discounted Amazon gift cards really help stretch his budget on equipment he needs for projects.
– The household budget – debt free except for the mortgage. Quite the change from just a few years ago!
– The folks who frequent the food pantries that I donate loss leader bargains to.
– The friend who wants to buy an item from me at a deep discount, MUCH cheaper than retail.
– The family member who wants to buy something off Amazon and gets a discounted gift card at cost.
– The family member who may need to borrow a few bucks for an unexpected purchase.
– The child we got matched up with through a local program who will now have a warm jacket, mittens, boots, clothes, and toys for Christmas.
– The friends and family that already do these types of deals, as we all share info with each other.
– The friends and family that want to learn a few new tricks, and are learning to save some of their own $$ in the process.
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So I like to deal shop and get good bargains – so what? Who DOES this affect anyway?!?
More people than anyone will ever understand…