Black Friday shopping

There's method to my madness. Always remember my mantra when you read about my weird shopping trips.

I had a plan for Kohls. I wanted to check what athletic shoe deals they had, because I refused to pay the higher prices last year (silly me. hard lesson learned) which resulted in no spare shoes for us. So I went to bed a little early and was up before midnight last Saturday, so I could start shopping the minute the sale started at 1 am. I filled my cart with items I thought might be on sale and then waited. My planning paid off. While I didn't get the prices I wanted, I got athletic shoes (the ones I found on clearance last year, were cancelled immediately after placing order). We wear a select brand and style. I've been buying the same style for years, because I have high arches and this is the most comfortable shoe for me. Not even my expensive running shoes are this comfortable. Kohls used to have this style on BF sale every year, until the pandemic hit. 

I bought 7 pairs of shoes for myself and DH. No, that's not a typo. 3 Pairs for DH. The men's shoes still had our favorite style available. I don't care that his shoes are all the same color. It's comfortable, the price was right, so into the stockpile it goes. If he decides at a later stage he doesn't want it, then I can sell it for uber $$$ because the style is now rare. Either way, it's a win-win situation.

Not the same ease with my purchase though. I bought different styles and brands. I bought this many, because I wanted to see what fits comfortably. Whatever I don't like or want, I will sell for a profit. 

I also bought a few more bras. Not really needed, but the price is too good to pass up. I'm sure most of you have heard of the new Covid strain by now. This is going to make supply chain issues even worse. Not due to shipping, but due to manufacturing. Well, that news hit after I made my purchases, so I'm glad I bought more. Got DS some sweatpants and a spare pair of gloves. 

So just how much did Kohls suck out of me this year? I was only supposed to buy shoes after all. 

I cashed out for some gcs. I stacked those with some rewards and coupons. I did multiple transactions, because Kohls now only allow 2 gcs per transaction....grrrr. It used to be 4. So on Sunday I went to RA and bought $100 Kohls gcs that earned me $16 BC (bonus cash). Bought a Macy's gc that also earned me another $16 BC. So an extra $32 in my pocket. 

Total OOP (incl gc purchase) $344.63

KC earned : $150.00 (I did a separate transaction for household items that's not included in my OOP cost. I'll use the $30 KC though)

I'll also get another $20 Y2Y/KC reward on the 1st, so that's $170 total earned

Rakuten : $2.17

Okay Rakuten is a bit of a cluster. For the 1st transaction, my computer froze as I was checking out. So I got that fixed, but had to switch browsers, then couldn't remember my Rakuten password...lol (I know my password, but it kept telling me it's wrong.ugh). So I need to submit a ticket for that transaction. 

My last transaction yesterday morning shows my purchase pending on Swagbucks. Huh? I didn't check out through Swagbucks. However, Swagbucks is paying out more than Rakuten, so I'm not complaining. 

So I spent $344.63

Earned : $170 Kohls + $32 RA = $203

The KC will be used to purchase items to resell. I'll also sell the shoes I don't want (I'm still waiting on many items to be delivered). According to my calculations, I'll be making a nice profit (I do it every year) on my BF shopping (including the household items I purchased). So to me it's basically free shopping. I just put in a bit of work and voila, we have everything we wanted. 

I wasn't planning on going to RA, but I really wanted the Planters nuts and Russell stover candy. So while we were out & about today, I told DH to stop at RA so I could grab those and the freebies (oops just noticed that one Palmolive is turned back to front).  

2 x R. Stover $9.98

2 x Planters nuts 11.98

2 x Scunci 6.00 F

4 x Palmolive 4.00 F

2 x Nestle crunch 1.00 F

2 x Russell Stover singles 1.00

Less BC (32.00) earned from gcs

Tax 0.60

OOP $2.56

Earned $24 BC

This wasn't my regular RA and I still told DH that I don't know if I'm gonna find what I'm looking for, because I know that my store always sells out of the freebies on Thanksgiving day (I wasn't in the mood to go shopping yesterday). I was pleasantly surprised to see everything in stock. I could've added other items to get to $50 and earn and extra $15 BC, but I didn't want to spend extra cash OOP. I also don't want to be stuck with a bunch of BC, because Covid is really bad in our state again. So the fewer shopping trips I need to take, the better. 

So that's my BF shopping folks. I didn't spend any other money. I'm thankful that shopping's now completely done. I can now start saving $20 a week again, to help pay for holiday gcs next year or whatever gcs get discounted throughout the year. I can also get back to saving my earned gcs again. I'm pooped. I need a shopping break...until the next sale...lol (hey that's only after Christmas...lol).

Have a great weekend everyone!