Make the most of it

I’ve mentioned this before, and I’ll probably mention it time and time again…I love seeing how far I can stretch a dollar.

After spending a couple of months skimming through websites & checking out items in various stores… I had an idea of what I wanted for the much needed area rug in our living room. Unfortunately, the prices of the rugs I loved, didn’t exactly align with my measly “budget.” The same went for curtains. Even if I made them, I knew I couldn’t currently afford the cost of the four oversized panels I needed. We were using a pair of flimsy panels left behind by the previous owners, that didn’t even fully cover our back patio doors!…not exactly what I’d call privacy, nor did they help with any of our heating/cooling bills!

I searched craigslist, I searched garage sales…but I wasn’t exactly into the hideous floral/animal prints I kept running into.

For Christmas, I asked my mom for a TJ Maxx gift card, lucky me received one and I began my mission. To buy an area rug. Minnesota winters are cold (duh) and solid surface floors in December weren’t exactly homey…or comforting. To make a long story short…I was sick and tired of of everything being cold!

A couple of days ago, I dragged my boys along with me to go check out TJs rug selection…another couple was also taking a look so I scrambled to see what I could “find” first. One stuck in my mind, and the second I saw them take a lengthy pause at the same one…I knew I had to have it. I quickly informed them that I was already taking that one home and rushed off to find some help to get it hauled to the front of the store. (Needless to say, I got a dirty look from the woman, oh well.) And then I noticed the price…it was HALF the price of what I had been planning on spending. Seriously? I was beyond excited. As someone brought the rug to the front of the store, I stumbled on four, yes four matching curtain panels, for less than half of what I thought I’d be spending on those (not to mention that since then I have seen identical panels for 2-3 times the price I paid!).  And to make it better, they were blackout (yay privacy!) and were extra lined (yay for lower heating/cooling bills!). So for the gift card I  received, originally meant for just one rug…I instead was able to get an 8x10 rug, four curtain panels, a new shirt and a new wallet with money leftover.

Yep, money leftover. I seriously love that store. And I am happy that I am getting better at holding out for a good deal, rather than buying the first appealing item I come across. Next up, some new throw pillows. I think I might just have to make those myself…spending $25 a pillow, and wanting a whole heap of them to curl up with…probably wouldn’t make Casey too happy!