Having shopped and added up the cost and implemented the savings strategies, today concludes this paying less than the sale price series.
Though you already know the end of my story, I will still tell it and show you via tables how to use multiple savings strategies.
This third and final post gives an overview of our savings, the order in which those savings were used, and documents the future savings earned through this purchase.
I separated my out-of-pocket expenses from the future earnings. I do this because I will count the future earnings when I spend them.
So, here is how I completed and evaluated the purchase of our new range.
Part 3: Completing and Evaluating the Purchase of our New Range
Completing the Purchase for our New Range
With the gift cards purchased and the codes e-mailed to my inbox, I proceeded to checkout. I verified that the order had all the items we needed and the subtotal was $496.98. Then I used the saving strategies to see the final cost of our new range:
| Amount | Description | Balance |
| $496.98 | Subtotal | $496.98 |
| -$50.00 | Honey promotional code (SEARS50) | $446.98 |
| -$0.91 | Applied Shop Your Way points (910) | $446.07 |
| $26.77 | Sales Tax | $472.84 |
| -$442.95 | Paid with Discounted gift cards purchased from Cardpool | $29.89 |
| -$29.89 | Paid with credit card and earned reward points | $0 |
Evaluating the Purchase of our New Range
With lots of saving strategies at work, these tables breakdown our out-of-pocket cost and our future rewards for making this purchase:
Our Out-of-pocket Cost
| Amount | Description |
| $411.94 | Purchased discounted gift cards from Cardpool |
| $29.89 | Paid remaining balance and taxes |
| ______ | |
| $441.83 | TOTAL |
Our Future Rewards
| Amount | Description |
| $11.99 | Ebates cash back which will be included in the check I receive from Ebates this May |
| $4.31 | Shop Your Way Rewards (4,311 points) for use on a future order |
| 49 points | Rewards added to other credit card points for gift cards, merchandise, or cash back |
In weighing the cost of repairing a 10-year-old range or buying a new one, we are thrilled with our choice of making a new purchase. With the larger window and a few other neat features, this range fits our needs, and the cost was within our budget.
I was thrilled that not only did we pay less than our $450 target price, but also that our final cost was less than the sale price of the unit.
Using savings strategies takes time. I spent about 2 hours making this purchase. But those 2 hours included researching with Paul and waiting on the delivery of the electronic gift cards from Cardpool to appear in my inbox.
For us, these 2 hours were time well spent. I am hoping this range lasts for the next 10 years. Knowing we got the best deal available (minus the extra 2% I could have saved using Shop at Home rather than Ebates), I was giddy with excitement as I waited for our range to arrive.
As you shop online, remember these saving strategies to continue stretching your dollars while using time wisely. Off to bake some more chocolate chip cookies because now I can. 🙂 Happy baking and saving!
Question: Which savings strategy is your favorite?