The Bargain Hunting Continues

4 tomato plants for $6! Two beefsteak and two cherry tomato

Yesterday was $1.49 day at our local grocery store.  I didn't find as many bargains as usual but then again we are eating much differently, mostly from scratch ingredients which involve meat, veggies, fruit and plain rice or potatoes (only 1 or 2 times a week for those).  The bargain of the day were these 4 tomato plants at $1.49 each, which is about half of what I usually pay.  I have started tomatoes many times from scratch and never seem to get the same kind of produce volume that I do when I buy plants.  They are small and it is still too cold to plant them so I will wait a couple of weeks and use them as houseplants in the mean time.  The cost of them comes out of my grocery budget (which is already over this month) as what they bear is an edible item.  In past years I have been pretty lucky on the tomato hauls, often having to give away/freeze them as we have more than we can eat.



Thanks to my friend Jane, over at Life Begins At Retirement I learned that Skecher Go Walk shoes are some of the best on the market and can withstand long walking distances while still providing comfort.  While I have several pairs of sandals, none are great for hiking/walking long distance.  We are walking more these days and expect to do even more on our holiday so I wanted a comfortable pair of walking shoes that would also be good on stairs and cobblestones.  I've never seen these in the thrift store so decided to bite the bullet and buy them new.  I went to our local shoe store and found the perfect pair for $90 plus tax.  I walked away.  I knew that there is always somewhere online that has them on sale.  The same exact store but online had almost identical ones for $55.  I bought them.  I also signed up for Ebates right before I bought them so will get 2% cash back.  I even asked at the local store if they had any on sale and the answer was no - I would have rather spent my money in my town but I am not paying nearly twice as much to do so.  They will be here within a week as shipping was free.

I can't believe that prior to now I was not signed up for Ebates.  I really thought that I don't shop very much for new things online so what was the point.  I was wrong.  I book a lot of travel for hubby for our business and was shocked to see that I could get ebates on those things too!  They pay you quarterly so in a few months we will see how much it adds up.  It certainly can't hurt, we were paying for these things already anyway.

Ebates Canada
(referral link)

Today the Rotary book sale starts with all money going to charities they support.  There are literally thousands upon thousands of books there and in the case of fiction they are even alphabetized by author.   They take up an entire warehouse to house all the books.  Mom and I will go today and hubby will try later in the week when he has time.

The psychedelic blue/green elephant from my last post has sold.  In the end I found a chip on the front, must be more careful when I buy things for resale as chipped items don't make as much money if they sell at all.  Fortunately, I bought him for $1 and sold him for $9 with the proceeds going straight into our Ucluelet/Tofino in August fund.  I don't have to buy and sell things to make travel happen but I love doing it, is really a hobby as enjoy the thrill of the hunt.  If I can make money at it even better!  $8 profit isn't much but it literally took 30 seconds to list and the lady came promptly same day as the auction ended to pick it up.  Very painless.

Recent events regarding bad behavior by airlines (unforgivable really) does not shock me.  I was a travel agent in my past life for 15 years.  If someone is going to be let down about any part of their holiday it is usually the airline.  It doesn't matter what class of service you book or which airline, you need to expect the worst from them and hope for the best.  I could tell you stories....but I won't.  I will say that no airline is perfect.  We booked British Airways to Greece and all of a sudden they started no longer offering free food/drink service within Europe after we booked.  It did not surprise me.  We will stock up on snacks on our London layover and buy drinks after security at the airport.  Yes, they are selling food and drink on board but many reviewers have said that the new onboard service is terrible and many are not offered any food or drink for purchase due to sellouts or running out of time.  They are still offering food/beverage service for free for our overseas flight so at least we will have a hot meal there.  Think of flying like camping....with the possibility of thunder showers and you will be fine.  My last flight with British Airways was almost 20 years ago to Egypt and I know their service will definitely not be the same.

Have a great hump-day everyone!