I have come to the realization that “Black Friday” gets to us all,
eventually.
Welcome to Thrifty
Living Today, a special way of life for the Twenty-first Century. My name is Lori Blatzheim and I am your host.
On 11/23/2012, I decided to avoid, the evening before and early morning
mayhem of, Black Friday. I could think of nothing that I really needed and that
a visit would be waste of time.
A few hours later I decided it would help me understand and evaluate
Black Friday a little better if I went for an hour or two with my son. We were
planning to look at the Holiday decorations, view the crowds, gage the
enthusiasm, and pat ourselves on the back for spending almost nothing.
Things changed when I saw a sale on suitcases.
I thought about our last vacation. My husband and I had each taken a
suitcase on the plane, a “mine and hers” sort of situation. There was no room
for me to stash some of my items (hair dryer, etc.) in his larger suitcase.
I took the smaller suitcase and very carefully placed the bare minimum of
clothing and supplies in it. Everything worked out fine. We both had a great
time and my economy of clothing worked well.
Somewhere during the trip, I decided I needed a new suitcase.
The problem
Now I was at the mall on Black Friday. Everything seemed to be on sale. I
strolled through a major department store and suddenly saw a display of suitcases.
One of them was huge! The price was $57.00, $62.21 with tax.
A small voice in my head was saying “look at all the room, you can pack
everything you want in there, and you can always return it.” So I bought it.
The revelation
I drove home with my son. Once there he carried the suitcase up to the
guest bedroom. I felt good about coming
home with such an amazing find. That is, I felt great until I decided to walk
out to the garage and, looking around, noticed something on a top shelf. It was
the other large suitcase that I had forgotten when I packed for our trip. I
realized that I had made a real shopping error.
What to do now
I know what I will be doing this afternoon. I will retrace the steps down
the stairs while holding the suitcase handle. I will place it in the trunk of
the car and bring it back to its original home. I will present the receipt to
the friendly staff members and, hopefully, get my $62.21 back.
Then I will spend the afternoon telling myself that “we all make mistakes
and we all learn from them.”
Postscript:
I would like you to know that I did go back to the
department store and I did bring the suitcase and the receipt with me. The sales clerk was helpful and competent. I received a total refund.
Lori Blatzheim
Lori Blatzheim is a wife, mother, grandmother,
writer, thrift advocate, and retired nurse. She knows that use of Thrift can
help people because she has experienced the benefits.
Are you a Senior? Do you have a friend or relative who is considering
retirement or has already retired? Check out this web site: Retire and Renew:
http://retireandrenew.com
