Wednesday, April 26, 2017

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!

25 comments:

  1. I definitely plan to not eat on a flight, or bring my own food. Unless I'm flying business class, of course, in which case the food is typically great. We just planted our tomato plants as well. Fingers crossed for a great growing season!

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    1. Usually we can plant ours by now but this year not so much, cold rainy windy weather. We usually have long hot summers though so hopefully that starts soon! I've only flown business class twice and I tend to agree with you (both times upgraded for free :))

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  2. Isn't bargain hunting great...Hope your day is full of blessing.
    Coffee is on

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  3. My mother, who was very cool, loved Skechers. She always tried to find deals and always ended up paying retail. (She didn't shop online.) Great find! I wish I enjoyed buying and selling. I only enjoy buying and end up giving everything away... but I guess that's OK, too.

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    1. Buying is ok too, you don't really live in the same kind of retail environment that you used to in the States though. Is Spain big into online sales? Some countries are and some aren't

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  4. If I still planted tomatoes I would have planted them 3 weeks ago, but after a 5 year war with chipmunks I surrendered and am only planting foods they aren't fond of. Damn rats with stripes!

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    1. Our problem is deer and bunnies but our yard is fenced off so the deer can't get into it and the bunnies steer clear due to the amount of dogs in each back yard (one in every neighbor except 1)

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    2. Our nemesis up to now has been the birds, but deer and bunnies will be our next when the house is built. How deep do bunnies dig?

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  5. Good shoe deal.Flying is not as fun as it used to be, that's for sure.

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    1. True! I try and watch as many movies as possible to make it go faster, can't really sleep

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    2. I cannot sleep on a plane either. On our trip to London from Houston, I swear I was the only one awake - all the kids, adults, flight attendants were are sleeping - it was a surreal moment for sure.

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  6. I'm going to plant some tomatoes in pots if it ever gets warm again. Snow at low levels on the hills around us. I'm in the planning stages of a trip to Europe for early June.

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    1. Glad to hear about your trip to Europe, you guys deserve it. We still have loads of snow on our mountains, don't think we will have any lack of water this year unless it doesn't rain for months on end.

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  7. We're trying tomatoes from seeds (again!) this year. The first time we used seeds we had a dream tomato crop but it's been pitiful in recent years, not helped by missing days of watering due to being away at festivals.
    London to Greece is short haul, I wouldn't bother with food if I were you, its only a few hours- treat yourself to a drink instead! xxx

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    1. Our flight out of Heathrow to Athens is at 6am so I am thinking we just wait until Athens Airport then grab lunch since we have a 4 hour layover until our light to Santorini departs. Yes, it takes 4 flights to get to Santorini from our house. I will still need to pack snacks for hubby though, he is like a squirrel always needing to know snacks are available. I shall be treating myself to some drinks on our other flights though - all part of the holiday budget.

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  8. Our bargain of the week was a $20 top sirloin roast that we got for $10 and then promptly cut up into steaks and BBQ'd them. They were delicious!

    I think I am going to try buying a couple of tomato plants this summer and see how they do.

    We would rather pay lower prices and not get food on board than the other way around. I think most overseas flights include a meal or two, at least all of ours have but not in country or within Europe flights and we are Ok with that.

    Just got bumped from our Toronto to Regina flight today and we are happy campers with the compensation package we got, 1 - $800 flight voucher each, upgraded seats on our flight tomorrow, a hotel for the night, as well as lunch and dinner vouchers valued at $25 in total, each. We take things as they come when it comes to travel by air, it is all part of the experience in our mind. I like the way you said it though, think the worst and you can't be disappointed.

    www.travelwithkevinandruth.com

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    1. Great deal on your vouchers! I've only been bumped/taken the deal once, about 25 years ago but back then it was in Minneapolis on Northwest Airlines....they gave me one free ticket anywhere in North America including Mexico, plus a hotel and 2 meal vouchers. I thought it was a great deal!

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  9. In toronto, we are still feeling the cold. Shops are not putting plants out yet. I have my indoor plants and that is it. Waiting to see how your garden going to be this year.

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    1. I only garden in containers and 2 boxes hubby built me....not willing to give over our nice lawn to more gardening at this point in life as don't have the energy to devote to it.

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  10. I think BA still providing food and drink free at the mo due to too much bad publicity but still intending to stop soon. We flew BA recently I still think it's one of the better airlines.

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  11. I'm glad you got the shoes at a decent price - $90 is way more than I paid - I think mine were in the $60 range. I wear them a LOT and have put them in the washing machine twice - they look and fit like new.

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    1. So glad to hear that they wash well. They are so comfortable. I think my Mom is going to buy a pair as well now that I showed her how comfy they are

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  12. I bought my tomato plants from the local FFA sale and they are living in the hot tub area until it is warm enough to plant them out. :) I've been selling plants that have self seeded in our garden that I needed to purge and have made some good money doing so! Yay!

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