Love a Good Deal

I just love finding great deals. Most of us do its a psychological win where I think I’m paying much less for something of greater value.

My recent thrill is Garage Sales & finding items selling for half their value.

I decked out our home with some incredible pieces, largely 2nd hand with the help of Facebook Marketplace & now I’ve embarked on a new quest I’ll fill you in later.

1st the dynamics of shopping are just impressive, applied to all areas of life.

Retail therapy just validates that we can spend the money we earned on what we’d like to exchange it for. We all love it, don’t you?

It feels good to be in CONTROL of acquiring something with our credit cards so easily with a few clicks.

The science behind consumer behavior especially online consumption is so interesting to me.

Depending on what we value & the worth we place, we have a very ‘universal’ buying behavior & everyone makes shopping decisions that are directly correlated with how good the deal is.

Case & point is the FREE shipping incentive. This was always one of the highest performing BOF ad campaigns, because you’ve just added an extra reason to buy. Even if you slap on another $50 to the retail price.

Anyway let me tell you about a few deals I’ve bartered.

It might be the asian in me but I love high value and I’m not afraid to spend as long as it’s of high value & it adds ease into life.

1. Pumba, our Roomba i3+ Vacuum Robot was one of the very first things I got as we moved it (even before I found a couch). It retails even now for 10,000 mxn (probably more a year back - $555 USD) I got it for less than half of that. One of my favorite things that adds ease, saves me so much time every week. The feeling of telling Siri/Alexa to “Feed Pumba” before we leave 🤣 and coming home to a super clean house is priceless.

2. Don’t write of SHEIN things - we were on the hunt for a new huge saucepan, partly wok style with a lid too and after weeks of trying to find it at department store & kitchen stores, zero luck. I kinda gave up & ended up ordering off SHEIN this Korean large pot and I’m amazed at the quality, it was a non stick, with a lid that is one of Jay’s favorite tools now. All for 400 pesos, like $25 USD. While anything comparable in size was at least $150 in stores. I’ve found that most of the manufacturers are the same from Amazon to Shein. They just have a different interface but it you know how to look & you aren’t in a rush to get the product. They have most of the same products for half the cost now.

3. My baby registry is looking pretty slim. All by accident too - we are meant to have a baby shower soon, and from my original list of 30 items, I’ve almost found half. All within the last 2 weeks, through a mixture of Buy Sell Whatsapp Groups & Marketplace + a really amazing Mexico City Community:

   1. I found an Ergobaby carrier for $30. It’s normally $180.

   2. In a sea of so many strollers - we were recommended the Uppababy Stroller Minu (Compact yet functional pram) & the next day I sourced that exact model in mint condition for 7K MXN (~ $400 USD). It retails for $1000 at least.

   3. I also scored a portable bed that came with a mattress, a change station, and a baby chair all for $150, eliminating my need to buy any extra furniture too.

   4. I went to garage sale that had an electric blanket, foot massager & storage draws, lounge chairs all for less than $100. (I even got her candle maker set but that’s another story) So from what I originally budgeted of $8K worth of nursery & baby things I’d need, we basically got all the essentials & big items for all under $1K. I’ve been patting myself on the shoulder for the outstanding job. I did this all so quickly. It’s been a breeze.

Is it just me, or is it such a thrill to land great deals. I feel like mini victories, each time I’m finding high quality things for less than half the original cost.

Anyway, finding good deals has been so fun. It’s been a nice little side project of my own while I’m redefining the focuses I pour my time into.