Photograph Credit: Microsoft Images
My youngest daughter received a Leapster Explorer for Christmas. This gaming console was purchased through Amazon at a great sale price.
Though the unit, charging station, and case were discounted, the game cartridges remained around $25 each. Ouch!
Asking friends, whose children have the Leapster Explorer, where they find their games, I quickly discovered that sales are rare on these items.
Knowing that the purchase of games was in our future, I registered her Leapster device and checked the box to receive e-mail notification of sales and discount items. (Of course, I used my junk e-mail account to prevent overloading my personal e-mail account with offers.)
Waiting for a Sale
Last week as I checked my junk e-mail account, I discovered that for a limited time all the Leapster Explorer game cartridges were 25% off with free shipping. This deal came at the perfect time as my daughter recently turned 3 and had saved her money for games.
Acting on the Sale
In using time wisely and stretching our dollars, my daughter and I made the following purchase:
- Logged into my Ebates account.
- Searched for the Leapfrog company which carries a 3% cash back on my purchase.
- Shopped through Ebates.
- Selected two game cartridges and added them to my shopping cart.
- Entered promotional code DISCOVER (which has now expired) to receive 25% off and free shipping on my order.
- Reviewed the order for errors.
- Placed the order using my credit card for which I will earn rewards.
Instead of paying $55 for the two games, we paid a total of $39.73 and will receive $1.19 back through Ebates and $.40 in credit card rewards. Spending less than $20 per game – rather than $25 plus shipping – helped in stretching my daughter’s birthday money. She did not mind waiting for a sale as she knew she could get 2 games rather than 1 if she was patient.
Teaching my children the value of money by showing them how we use the available savings tools to stretch our dollars, I enjoy watching them think through how they can save their money but also get the item they desire. Great lessons learned by waiting for a sale to come along. Happy waiting!
Question: For what have you waited to snag a great deal?
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My daughter saved up $60 for a Furby, but only wanted the Teal one. Well, we tried for over two months to track the Teal Furby down, but with no luck for the $60. It was on other websites and Ebay for $85-120, but I explained to her that she could earn more money and buy that color or just wait and see if we could track it down for less. She was very patient and we looked and called stores, but with no luck. In the end, she decided to use her money on a few other things she wanted and told me that she didn’t want to spend so much for one toy. I feel badly we couldn’t find the Furby, but I do think she learned a valuable lesson; Know how much you want to spend on an item and try and find it for that. Don’t overspend just because you think you “need” it right now. In the end she was much happier she got to buy several toys rather than the single toy.
Touching account, Shannon. These teachable moments are highlights among the routines of school, sports, home, and church activities. I’m glad she patiently waited, adjusted her perspective, and found another solution. Great lessons to take into life.