50% Off

Is it normal to live your life by sales?  I know it is normal for me, but I'm not sure how many other people live this way.

I guess I should explain a little.  I live my consumer life through sales.  I rarely purchase anything unless it is on sale or not likely to be on sale in the near future. 

The only real exception to this rule is food and even then, when non-perishable food items we often eat go on sale, we stock up in a big way. 

When I think about what we buy, almost everything we purchase, when we purchase it is on sale - clothes, house stuff, craft stuff, books, yarn (of course!), vacations, entertainment, you name it.

• I never buy full price clothes.  At the stores I shop, things always go on sale.  I just wait. 
• Last year we decided to take a trip to New York City.  We wanted to do it up and stay at the Waldorf Astoria.  I started watching prices for hotel rooms in June.  We ended up booking and paying for our room in July (our trip was in November).  We paid around $250 per night in July, had we booked the same room in October it would have cost us $600 per night (I know $250 is still a lot for a hotel room, it was our one vacation last year and like I said, we wanted to do it up right.  It was a very nice room!).
• We generally buy our books at the local library.  Yep, you read right.  Our library allows people to donate gently used books for the library to sell.  The money raised goes to literacy programs with a specific focus on increasing the french book collection (this is important to us!).  I find great books there all the time.  Many have barely been opened.  I found a book I plan to include in an upcoming swap.  I had made a mental note to purchase it and then there it was.  The highest price for these library books is $2.  What a bargain!
• Yarn.  Of course, yarn.  I often buy from WEBs which gives you a discount when you buy several items.  I often buy too much, but that's another story...  We also have a local store that sells Odd Balls (often single skeins or colours that have been discountinued).  They have 50% Odd Ball sales occasionally which means the yarn gets really cheap.  I usually stock up for gifts etc on these days.

This whole post started as I was thinking of an upcoming sale at my fabric store:  It was only after I signed up for the fabric stores 'member club' that I truly started sewing again. 

The member club costs $20 but give you 25-35% off every day.  It also qualifies you for their member sales (about every 6 weeks) which gives you 40-50% off of everything in the store.  If I need something for a project, I pretty much wait and buy it on the 50% off days (or when it's on sale).

I made my membership money back on the first member sale I attended.  My husband encouraged me to buy an Olfa cutting mat (the large size) which was regularly $100.  I paid $50 on the sale day.

This week there is a member sale and I've been waiting for a sale to finish up my simple modern baby quilt.  The top is all done, I just need a backing and a border.  I'll also stock up on threads (I always seem to run out) and maybe some new fabrics for new projects.

I'm really looking forward to sharing the final quilt with you.  I love how the top looks.  I think you will too.