Thoughts On Finance

The current economy is meaning big savings for consumers.  This has a lot of people watching the stores for ads and sale days, and waiting to buy the items they want on sale.  This is a great idea, but watch out, because the stores know that you are looking to save money, and they are all juggling their sales so quickly, while altering their prices, that a savings may not really be a savings at all.

Let me sight an example.  Recently I received an e-mail from a popular clothing store that usually charges a lot for their clothing.  The sale e-mail said it was 30% off of everything, including clearance stuff, which we all know is unheard of.  Also, shipping was free over $100.00 so I took advantage of the sale and placed an order for some great items.  One of the things I bought was boys shirts, which were on sale for 2 for $30.00 and then I got an additional 30% off, which made these shirts about $10 a piece.  I placed my order and not 24 hours later, I received an e-mail telling me that they now had everything 50% off, so I really thought I had been had.  I went back online to look at these shirts that I had purchased the day before, and they were now priced at $34.50 per shirt and so with 50% they would cost me $17.25 per shirt, a good $7 more than I had spent.  I was relieved, but this just goes to show you that a sale, may or may not really be a sale.

It is important to shop around and even re-shop the same stores over and over again to insure that the deal you are getting is really a deal.  Realize the consumers are looking for the deals, and so the stores may make you think that you are getting one, even when you aren’t.  Shop wisely and you will see that there really are some great deals out there, but don’t be fooled by the make-believe deals that some stores are putting out.