During the past few months I have gotten into the mindset to bargain shop. I have a few friends who are experts at finding the best bargains by using coupons, store reward dollars, outright research, and anything else they can think of. They'll get the best deals on groceries even if it means going to several grocery stores in one day. I was certainly awed by their success and had made attempts to economize as well. most notably at CVS where I would make purchases to maximize the ExtraCare Bucks I'd receive as well as using the register coupons to save money.
Fast forward to Hyderabad. We moved into a furnished apartment. It has furniture but no dishes, cookware, glasses, cutlery, utensils, etc. So when I went out shopping, it was almost a relief to know that I was only going to go to one store, and if I needed something, it was going in the cart.
That being said, nothing I have found has been expensive. I bought a darker set of curtains for 2 of the bedrooms and sheets for the girls' beds. I did look at the prices and decided that they were still cheaper than they'd be if I were purchasing them at home, so to the checkout I went. Then when everything was rung up...50% off everything. Woo Hoo!
So even though I got lucky, hopefully the lessons I've learned from my frugal friends won't be forgotten. For all of you who are still in the mindset of bargain hunting, check out my friends' blogs:
http://www.frugalinvirginia.com
http://www.madamedeal.wordpress.com
http://www.funfabulousandfrugal.com
Showing posts with label shopping. Show all posts
Showing posts with label shopping. Show all posts
Monday, May 11, 2009
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Cinco de My-oh-my-o
The girls refused to go down for naps today so I had the not so brilliant idea to go out and do some errands. We went to HomeTown (as close to a Home Depot that you can find in India) so I could buy a mattress. Once in the car I knew that this idea was going to be a big mistake. The girls kept saying “A Motorcycle, another motorcycle, a motorcycle!” Every time they saw one. Keep in mind that whenever on a road in Hyderabad, you can see several dozen motorcycles no matter where you look. My head was pounding by the time we arrived.
We went up to the 2nd floor where I looked at mattresses. The girls, instead, ran ON the display beds bouncing from one to another, first with their shoes on and then with their shoes off. I was having a hard time figuring out what I had written down as to the mattress measurements I needed (there's no such thing as a standard size here), I was sweating profusely, trying to keep the girls from both destroying merchandise and cracking their heads open, and preventing the salesman from thinking I was a complete idiot for thinking I needed a mattress 116cm (less than 4ft) in length. Once I decided to ignore the girls a little, I realized that I had written 196cm which made much more sense. To top it off there was an Indian family there who were also mattress shopping. They had a young boy of ~8years old who came up to me several times and said (in perfect English) “You need to control your children” and "you should be ashamed." What can you possibly say to that? Yes he was 100% right, even though it was impossible to control them, and yet it was completely rude and obnoxious to say. In hindsight, I should have asked him for some parenting tips. (I’ll file that away for the next time).
Unfortunately the check-out process was not much more fun for me. There was more sweating, more feeling stupid (didn’t know my cell#), and more little blonde girls running around out of control. We definitely should have stayed home.
Once we finally fled the store, and were in the relative sanctuary of the car, we saw the coming of something that we hadn’t even seen a trace of yet: rain. The clouds were pouring in, there was both noticeable humidity and the tingling of electricity in the air. If this storm was a preview of the coming monsoons, we are in for some really good ones! After these 100+ degree days, I can't wait to sit on the balcony (covered of course), watch the rain come down, and feel the temperatures drop.
Cinco de Mayo was celebrated at the Novotel hotel's Mexican restaurant having dinner with some new expat friends. My beverage of choice was a fruity little number called "Heaven", something that sounded great after my miserable day out.
We went up to the 2nd floor where I looked at mattresses. The girls, instead, ran ON the display beds bouncing from one to another, first with their shoes on and then with their shoes off. I was having a hard time figuring out what I had written down as to the mattress measurements I needed (there's no such thing as a standard size here), I was sweating profusely, trying to keep the girls from both destroying merchandise and cracking their heads open, and preventing the salesman from thinking I was a complete idiot for thinking I needed a mattress 116cm (less than 4ft) in length. Once I decided to ignore the girls a little, I realized that I had written 196cm which made much more sense. To top it off there was an Indian family there who were also mattress shopping. They had a young boy of ~8years old who came up to me several times and said (in perfect English) “You need to control your children” and "you should be ashamed." What can you possibly say to that? Yes he was 100% right, even though it was impossible to control them, and yet it was completely rude and obnoxious to say. In hindsight, I should have asked him for some parenting tips. (I’ll file that away for the next time).
Unfortunately the check-out process was not much more fun for me. There was more sweating, more feeling stupid (didn’t know my cell#), and more little blonde girls running around out of control. We definitely should have stayed home.
Once we finally fled the store, and were in the relative sanctuary of the car, we saw the coming of something that we hadn’t even seen a trace of yet: rain. The clouds were pouring in, there was both noticeable humidity and the tingling of electricity in the air. If this storm was a preview of the coming monsoons, we are in for some really good ones! After these 100+ degree days, I can't wait to sit on the balcony (covered of course), watch the rain come down, and feel the temperatures drop.
Cinco de Mayo was celebrated at the Novotel hotel's Mexican restaurant having dinner with some new expat friends. My beverage of choice was a fruity little number called "Heaven", something that sounded great after my miserable day out.
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