Frugal Friday

Welcome to 'Frugal Friday', a new little feature I've decided to do given the tough times we're all facing these days. I'm a self-proclaimed bargain hunter and, while I'm no financial expert, I do know how to find a good deal. Frugal Fridays will be a tip-sharing, bargain-finding, money-saving feature that I hope you'll enjoy. So, without further ado, here's today's topic:

What is a Sale?

Okay, this is a big thing for me. Everywhere you go these days you see huge signs proclaiming sales. Never being one to miss a good deal, I am often lured in to various shops by their promise of a bargain, only to be disappointed when I discover that their so-called sale is nothing more than a mere discount. My guidelines for a sale are simple: If it's not at least half-off, it's not a sale and I don't buy it. The only exception to said rule is if I'm looking for something specific on a time line, although even then I'll search long and hard before giving in to some measly discount.

What gets me the most worked up however is the extremely popular (and highly overrated) new BOGO trend. What is BOGO you ask? Simple...it means Buy One, Get One and it's a brilliant marketing strategy to get you to buy 2 items for a very small discount. The basic principal is this, you buy one pair of shoes, for example, at full price and get the second pair half-off. Half-off...well that follows your sale rule, doesn't it? No way. The reality is, while you feel like you're getting something for half-off, you're actually only getting the items for 25% off and we all know that 25% off is NOT A SALE! Not to mention the fact that most likely you only need one of whatever it is you're buying. The bottom line is this: Just say 'NO' to BOGO!!