# Great moments in saving money **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 11, 2011, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-moments-in-saving-money/567238 "2011-01-11T17:47:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2011, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-moments-in-saving-money/567238/21 "2011-01-12T21:28:08Z")
> [@Eureka](#): > > A couple of months ago, I went to Kohl’s, and bought three pairs of khaki pants (guess what my work uniform consists of?) and a long plaid skirt. > > Got $20 Kohl’s cash. > > A couple of weeks later, I went back to Kohl’s, and spent that Kohl’s cash on trouser socks–they were buy one pack get one pack half price. > > Well, 14 + 14/2=21 plus tax > Minus my $20 Kohl’s cash, and I got twelve pair trouser socks for $1.06 And that is why I love Kohl’s. From there, I got a $130 leather jacket for $48 and a $100 fire bowl for $7. It was marked down several times and I think I had some Kohl’s cash and maybe another VIP discount of 20%. Fire bowl came to $7. That was my single greatest moment in moneysaving history. ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2011, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-moments-in-saving-money/567238/22 "2011-01-12T21:34:51Z")
Martin’s Supermarket Nesquik chocolate powder, buy one, get one free (normally $3.69 each); Newspaper coupon for .75 off Nesquik powder; store circular coupon allowing me to triple the value of a coupon with a face value of up to .99. That’s $1.44 for _two_ cans of Nesquik! I do miss living in a place where they sometimes did triple coupons. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2011, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-moments-in-saving-money/567238/23 "2011-01-13T02:27:22Z")
I bought a used Toyota for $3000, drove it for 3 years, then sent it overseas (at a cost of around $1000) to a market where it was worth around $12,000. Ka-ching. ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2011, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-moments-in-saving-money/567238/24 "2011-01-13T03:01:09Z")
Went into a sports shop looking for moisture-wicking compression socks used in soccer. Found some Nike socks for $18 for two pair - that meant the price had come down considerably from when they first went on the market. I wasn’t thrilled but the socks are great so I grabbed two packs. At the register, the cashier asked for $1.98. Whaa? They rang up as 99 cents per pack. I told them the price on the shelf was $18 so the cashier called the manager over. The manager double-checked and agreed that it was an error so they would give them to me for the cheaper price. I asked if we could throw another pack into the deal. Yep. I walked off with six pair of special athletic socks for $2.97 instead of $54. Score! ---
**Author:** ![lindsaybluth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/90db22/32.png) [@lindsaybluth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lindsaybluth)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2011, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-moments-in-saving-money/567238/25 "2011-01-13T03:37:43Z")
**Dogzilla** , what’s a fire bowl? ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2011, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-moments-in-saving-money/567238/26 "2011-01-13T04:03:46Z")
A fire bowl is a large bowl made of some nonflamable material that you have a fire in. Sort of like a charcoal grill or fireplace. Like a chimnea without a top. ---
**Author:** ![rjk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@rjk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjk)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2011, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-moments-in-saving-money/567238/27 "2011-01-13T05:47:27Z")
I got a couple of stollen (German-style fruitcake) just after Christmas for $1.99 each, marked down from $15.99. And another mention of how good thrift stores can be: A year or so back \*\*Zyada \*\*and I saw a couch in one store we check out fairly often. It’s wood-framed, carved all over, and upholstered in a rather dark rich-coloured floral print, with the large motifs centered in each of three seat and back sections. It even came with a pair of matching cushions. We thought $150 was a great deal, so we went back the next day and it was marked down to $75! We bought it out from under the guy ahead of us who went to call his wife about it. Too bad for him! We got lucky there! ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2011, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-moments-in-saving-money/567238/28 "2011-01-13T12:37:35Z")
Yeah, I’ve had a couple of thrift store items sell out from under me. But so what? There are always new things coming in. I dithered about getting a valet chair for my husband, and lost out. And then a few months later, I saw a better valet chair, at a better price. ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2011, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-moments-in-saving-money/567238/29 "2011-01-13T13:00:54Z")
I stopped at a new consignment shop that opened up a few months ago. I was looking for a wool dress coat, but didn’t hold out any hope of finding anything in my size. The first thing I saw as I walked through the door is a dark gray, wool dress coat, with a scarf…in my size! It was $30. Then I saw the sign on top of the rack…50% off! Right next to it was a black wool blazer, pockets hadn’t even been cut open on it…also $30 and 50% off. I found two tops, not on that rack, but also tagged 50% off. So for a grand total of $42 I got a dressy winter coat, a wool blazer for work, and two shirts! I consider that a success! ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2011, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-moments-in-saving-money/567238/30 "2011-01-13T13:46:39Z")
I was at a hospital a few years back. It was the middle of the night and two nurses were talking. One said “I got a deal where I got two pair of glasses for the price of one.” The other said “I didn’t do that well- I just got 50% off”. I am still trying to work it out. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2011, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-moments-in-saving-money/567238/31 "2011-01-13T14:01:53Z")
My second apartment in Glasgow was mostly unfurnished. Kitchen cabinets and appliances were there, so was the bed (the kind which you fold up and it then looks like a regular closet). The large, glass-top table and six very-comfortable matching chairs in a Mackintosh-like design were less than 100 quid at the Salvation Army; I could probably find the exact price in an MMP somewhere around here, all I remember right now is that it was silly low. Later I handed the lease over to a friend, who eventually gave the furniture back to the SA when he left. **Cicero** , if the 50% off was on the price of the second pair of glasses and not on the whole sale, then the second nurse did, indeedy, get a worse offer than the first one. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2011, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-moments-in-saving-money/567238/32 "2011-01-13T14:15:45Z")
i went to cvs, they have a sale on pepsi 5 bottles for 5 dollars. i had a coupon for 5 cvs bucks. free pop! ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2011, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-moments-in-saving-money/567238/33 "2011-01-13T16:29:07Z")
Went to Old Navy last week, got a big sweater, button down shirt, zippered sweatshirt, toddler socks and kids water bottle, all for $25. My favorite saving moment was with my wedding. Wanted a big champagne toast, so we needed a ton of champagne glasses, and our rented location did not do champagne. Looked at plastic (yech) and renting for over $1 per glass, and wound up buying 100 glasses from IKEA at $0.75 per glass. No too shabby, but the place we rented decided that they might like to have some champagne glasses, and offered us $100 off our price if we gave them the glasses after the event. So, we paid -$0.25 per glass. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2011, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-moments-in-saving-money/567238/34 "2011-01-13T16:34:16Z")
I had four coup0ons for $3 off any Benefiber product. The local grocery had Benefiber ice tea mix for $3.29, with ninety cents off with your discount card… I made $2.44 by buying four and using my card and the coupons. ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2011, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-moments-in-saving-money/567238/35 "2011-01-13T16:58:18Z")
> [@lindsaybluth](#): > > **Dogzilla** , what’s a fire bowl? [Random example](http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=fire+bowl&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=15872534033649299194&ei=yy4vTdjZOsOAlAeZ89DuCw&sa=X&oi=product_catalog_result&ct=result&resnum=7&ved=0CGQQ8wIwBg#) that looks nothing like the one I bought for $7, but this one is priced similarly. ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2011, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-moments-in-saving-money/567238/36 "2011-01-13T18:21:47Z")
> [@kittenblue](#): > > I stopped at a new consignment shop that opened up a few months ago. I was looking for a wool dress coat, but didn’t hold out any hope of finding anything in my size. (Snipped by me) This reminds me of two coat ‘scores’ at thrift stores! A few years ago, I was longing for a black leather trench coat. Couldn’t find one I really liked, in my size, at a price I was comfortable paying. A good friend of mine needed a ride to see his attorney (long story) in a town a little more than an hour away. He was willing to pay me for gas, but I knew the trip was going to take up most of my day. While he was in the attorney’s office waiting for his appointment (it’s like waiting at a doctor’s office!), I went to browse the thrift store down the block. Right there, in my face, the _perfect_ black leather trench coat, in my size, for $20.00!! I couldn’t whip out my wallet fast enough! I still have it, and I still love it! Next coat bargain: at the local thrift store, just around the corner, I was going in just to browse. They were having a 50% off sale. I found a _brand new_ London Fog All-Weather (zip-out winter lining) trench coat in khaki, in my size, originally priced at $8.00. Scored for $4.00! It was so new it still had the spare button in a little plastic zip-top bag in one pocket! I get compliments on it all the time. ---
**Author:** ![lindsaybluth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/90db22/32.png) [@lindsaybluth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lindsaybluth)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2011, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-moments-in-saving-money/567238/37 "2011-01-13T19:21:48Z")
> [@Dogzilla](#): > > [Random example](http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=fire+bowl&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=15872534033649299194&ei=yy4vTdjZOsOAlAeZ89DuCw&sa=X&oi=product_catalog_result&ct=result&resnum=7&ved=0CGQQ8wIwBg#) that looks nothing like the one I bought for $7, but this one is priced similarly. > [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > A fire bowl is a large bowl made of some nonflamable material that you have a fire in. Sort of like a charcoal grill or fireplace. Like a chimnea without a top. Ahhh, thanks. I guess I just generically called it a “fire pit”. ---
**Author:** ![Moonlitherial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Moonlitherial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonlitherial)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2011, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-moments-in-saving-money/567238/38 "2011-01-13T19:50:51Z")
There’s a long cardigan sweater that I was eyeing at Lands End for $90 and eventually decided against. I got an email yesterday about their 25% off sale so I decided to go have another look. My sweater was on sale for $19 and I got 25% off of that. ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2011, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-moments-in-saving-money/567238/39 "2011-01-13T20:03:07Z")
> [@lindsaybluth](#): > > Ahhh, thanks. I guess I just generically called it a “fire pit”. And I think of a fire pit as a big hole dug in the ground, which may or may not be lined with fire proof material such as sand or rocks. I actually dug a fire pit, filled it with rocks and then placed the fire bowl on top of my platform o’ rocks. For the purposes of naming things in my yard, I use two separate phrases to describe two different things. But I could see how you’d use the two interchangeably. You may now resume your regularly scheduled bragging about saving money. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2011, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-moments-in-saving-money/567238/40 "2011-01-13T20:40:09Z")
Around Christmas 2008 CVS had all their small appliances for super cheap, so I picked up an Oster rice cooker that came w/ an equal amount of ExtraCareBucks. I used the ECB w/ coupons a few weeks later and made money but the best part is that the rice cooker still gets used nearly every day and has never failed to produce great rice, lentils, beans (boiled from dry), pasta, browned sausage, etc. It has been the single most ‘paid for itself’ device I’ve ever had. And it has exactly three settings if you consider unplugged a setting. The non-stick coating has some scratches so I’m keeping an eye out for a replacement but that’s been the only drawback. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-moments-in-saving-money/567238.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-moments-in-saving-money/567238.md?page=3)