2 In Multiple Personalities-Take Your Pick

Rhenna The Bargain Hunter – I’m Not Cheap, I’m Frugal

It’s shaping up to be a hellacious Monday already, so today’s post is gonna be of the short and sweet variety–I think. One never knows once I get going…

Once I wrap my head around something–be it a project or something I want to acquire–I tend to be a bit of a bulldog. I also tend to be a person who likes to have my cake and eat it too, which means I’ll put a dizzying amount of effort into achieving what I want at an awesome deal.

My deal-hunting persona drives the hubster bonky. “You get what you pay for,” he always says. Okay. I get that. There’s no substitute for quality, but that doesn’t mean I should just take the first price I see either. Sometimes you really can get good quality at a reasonable price.

Take JC Penney, for instance. I shop there all the freakin’ time and save a ton over what I could find somewhere else. And the clothes are good quality. I’ve dragged more than one person there–hubby included–and converted them in just one trip.

My latest focus is wine. It was an article I saw a few weeks ago that triggered it. I love having a glass of wine at night, but have to admit that a trip to the liquor store puts a nice dent in the bank account…and that’s with just a few bottles. I’ve been tempted on more than one occasion to nab one of the lower priced bottles, but was always worried the guy at the checkout would put me in the Mad Dog 20/20 list of clientele. After reading the article on Yahoo, I started rethinking my ways. Why shouldn’t I try the cheaper alternatives?

Now, unfortunately for me, none of the options mentioned in the article are an option since I live in the wonderfully conservative state of Oklahoma. (Read that last bit however you want to–I can argue both sides of the coin.) We don’t get to buy wine outside of liquor stores and I doubt my local liquor store is going to carry the Trader Joe, Whole Foods, or Wal-Mart options. But they do have other alternatives. So, the last time I went, I grabbed a few bottles under ten bucks just to see what happened.

So far, I’m only one bottle into my experiment…and it didn’t go so well. This particular one was a red blend (my current obsession) called Rex-Goliath and ran about $6.50. I’ve got two more in the hopper before I’m ready to put my experiment to rest.

What do you think? Am I cheap? Frugal? Spoiled? Smart? Do you have an especially fantastic find (quality for a killer price) you can share? Especially if it pertains to red wines and can be found at the local liquor store.  Because if the day keeps darting along on its current path, a bargain glass of something awesome might be just what the doctor ordered.

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2 Comments

  • Reply
    Marianna Heusler
    February 3, 2014 at 12:48 pm

    There are a few things I spurge on, not necessarily clothes (although I agree that Penney’s has some incredible bargain – and really who can tell the difference between a dress for twenty-nine dollars and one for a hundred and twenty-nine dollars – as long as they don’t look too closely.) For you it’s wine, for me it’s chocolate. Also, I love nice sheets – we are supposed to spend one-third of our lives in bed (if we’re lucky). So go ahead and buy the expensive wine. You deserve it!

  • Reply
    CJ Burright
    February 3, 2014 at 5:34 pm

    I’m not a wine expert by any means, but I rarely spend more than ten bucks for a bottle of Riesling or Muscato or Gewurtzemeiner. Maybe wine is cheaper in Oregon since we have so many wineries? Or maybe I’m cheap and don’t know it? I don’t ever buy wine in a box, pinkie-swear.

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