True Bargain Hunters

True Bargain Hunters love the post-Christmas sales. It is not unusual to see items that were costly in December reduced by up to 90% in January. Whether you go for the discounted Chrissy decorations, food items, home wares or clothing, great savings can be found almost everywhere. True bargain hunters have their strategies well planned. They know what they need/want and have a good idea where they'll be able to find it on special.

So far this year for bargains, Target has been my favourite store. I'm not usually a fan, as the Australian version of this store does not live up to the more cutting edge American equivalent. Nevertheless, if you're prepared to avoid the junk, their can be some great finds, and the discounts can be great. So far my good vibrations bargain vibe has been bubbling over.

Speaking of bubbly:

I got these great glitter plastic stem glasses and tumblers for 88 cents each. Woo hoo! They are Christmassy, but hey it's February and they still feel fine. The added sparkle and dare I say (without laughing), touch of sophistication they add to our dinner table where drink spilling is a nightly occurrence and no one under ten seems to know how to use cutlery - is sorely needed. Yes sirree, we need all the sparkly sophisticated vibe we can get!

Then I found these lovely long stemmed glasses. Yes, made out of real glass and a rich ruby red. I got four at only $2.88 each. Heck at that price, maybe I should have bought ten - can you imagine how good these'll look on the Christmas table in eleven months time!!!?

Then the kids and I spent some time trawling the 75% off Christmas food aisles. There was enough shortbread and broken confectionery to feed the 5000 (not even counting the battered boxes of gourmet jellybeans) but it was this fabulous and huge Christmas hamper that caught our eye:

We could see our favourite french jam, and chocolate - but there were no tags or bar codes for us to scan. True bargain hunters are not put off by  mere trifles such as this. So we lugged the thing (the base tin was metal and with contents, quite heavy) to the front desk. The sales guy looked resigned. "I'll have to ring the manager" he looked bored, and reluctant.
"Okay." I answered, determined to see this one through. I'd decided this would make the perfect thank you gift to take to my aunt and uncle's for our Australia Day BBQ.

Can you guess how much we paid?

"Ten Dollars" the sales guy muttered, almost under his breath.
"Sorry? What?" I replied, hardly sure I'd heard correctly.
"You can have it for ten dollars" he said giving me a half smile.
"Woo Hoo!" hollered Jesse as I rifled through my bag for the cash.
True Bargain Hunters live for these moments!

And finally, we needed new bedside table lamps. The bases we had been using for about a decade were wonky and the shades (once snazzy Laura Ashley ones that were now tired and battered) had had their day. My budget was small, ludicrously so. But this is what I found at Target:

The mercury glass base sparkles and gleams. Mercury glass is one of those Christmassy things that deserves to be around all year. I found it on a clearance table for $18 because it had no box and no shade. That was fine by me as the plain black shade it came with was pretty boring. I found this dark red shade instead, okay a tad big maybe but I loved it all the same. The floral pattern is printed on the inside so only shows up when the light is switched on. It was on sale for $9.80!! A new bedside table lamp for under $30 - woo hoo again!

Only challenge now is to get a matching base for our other table (bought the two lamp shades though) when the full price ones (normally $49) go on special. Which in Target land should happen any day now.
Hopefully they won't sell out in the meantime...
But don't worry, True Bargain Hunters stake out the shop!