I was at an A.J. Wright this weekend. It’s over near the Brentwood mail facility in DC. (Yes, the anthrax one.) My friend was looking for a cheap hair dryer so he could do the plastic shrink wrap window insulation at his house. Because we happened to be in there, we decided to check out what else they had. I mean, I saw a really nice ceramic curling iron near the hair dryer and other brand-name stuff so we figured it was worth checking out the whole place.
I ended up with a set of Cuddle Duds thermal underwear, new kitchen tongs, and some baby shower presents. My friend left with a $10 hair dryer, 22oz bar glasses, nested bakeware, present for his friend’s kid, and all kinds of other stuff.
For me, the best find was the Cuddle Duds. I got a set for Christmas a few years ago and love them. I really wanted some more thermal underwear but hate paying full price. These were on a rack of slightly irregular stuff. Which leads me to Advice #1: Scrutinize your item for minor flaws. Look for pulls, holes, bad seams, ink spots, other poor construction. This is important, since that’s often why it’s in a discount store in the first place. Each item was $3.99, but $8 bucks if it was perfect. I went through the entire rack and found a matching top and bottom, even though the top is sleeveless (less preferred). It doesn’t matter to me because it’s a cream color, just like my existing set. I got an entire set for $8 instead of $16 or regular retail of about $40.
Advice #2: Noisy children toys must have removable batteries. My friend got this really cool fire truck for his friend’s kid. However, the siren on it will get annoying. I reminded my friend that to stay friends with this family, to tell the parents to remove the batteries when it gets to be too much. Otherwise he’ll be tagged as the annoying toy giver and they will look upon him less fondly.
Advice #3: Be open to what’s in the store. Sure, you could stick to your list, but often, to get a really good deal, you have to be open to what the store has on that particular day. For instance, I *ALMOST* bought an iron. I don’t own an iron at all and the price of the Black and Decker irons was very good. I decided to skip it, but had I been open to having an iron, that surely would have been my best price compared to a regular department store. (I had just seen the same types of stuff at Macy’s last week.)
I was pretty open to the barware that had gold dollar signs on it too, but figured I didn’t really need them. But they were pretty funny.
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My parents took the batteries out of two of my stuffed rabbits as a kid. One played “Easter Parade” and the other was “Repeat Rabbit.” You pressed his toe and he recorded what you said and then said it back. Apparently I was obnoxious with those. I eventually got the batteries back when I was 10.
It’s good to have a mental list of obnoxious toys to give to the kids whose parents you’re not fond of.
Spin Art sets.
Finger Paints.
FisherPrice popcorn popper pushtoy.
Suntan Barbie (if they still make them).
And so many more. >:D