The Texan that dished out discounts...

If there is one thing for certain, in the midst of this recession thing we have going on, there are at least a truck load of ways to save money.  The one's I am best at, involve the kitchen place.  From making large quantities of loaves of bread for freezing to canning the harvest from your own garden to making certain not to pay full price for the gadgets we need to stock our kitchens. 

I have shopped at Ross Stores for well over a decade now...one of my best Ross stories goes like this:  One morning, I arrived at the Ross store in Santa Fe, just as the store had opened.  As I entered, I noticed this tall guy walking around with a tailored suit on, giving commands to the staff in a big Texas drawl.  Scenarios such as this are far from the norm in a Ross store, at least in my experiences.  I had been to a whole lot of em too!  (when I traveled for a software company out of California, whichever State I was in, I made certain that I headed for the local Ross store if there was one).  Not to stereotype, but the average Ross employee doesn't really want to give out assistance.  They are usually just stocking more stuff on shelves, or causing long lines at the check out stands (but the savings are worth it)

So on this day of the suited texas man, I head back to the kitchen department as usual, looking for big oversized dinner plates.  Immediately these cool oversized hand painted rust colored plates catch my eye.  There is a stack of eight, I turn one over, no price tag.  I turn over another no price tag...not a common thing in a Ross Store...(those employee's are always using one of those price sticker gun things too...)  Suddenly the suited man walks by and barks out in his drawl "can I help you buddy?" When I got over my shock, I held up one of the plates and said "these must be free...there is no price on any of em." I did my best to keep a humorous tone.  Then the texan says "How much you want to pay for those...how bout a couple bucks each?"  I snatched all eight up into the cart, then as he was standing there I noticed the two matching serving platters...please have no price tag on the bottom I thought as I flipped one.  No price tag.  "Same price on these platters too?"  "You got it!"  Ok...so then I thought...is this some crazy disgruntled employee or something.  Turned out, this guy owned all the Rosses in Northern New Mexico and a few  more in Texas.  He just liked to do hands-on visits to his stores now and again.  Those dishes could easily go for 15 to 20 dollars each!  Eight large 13 inch dishes with two huge matching platters came to 20 dollars total.  Hard to beat that deal except at estate sales I suppose. 

I haven't paid full price for Kitchen stuff in years. Both of my stainless steel pressure cookers came from Ross as well as my pasta machine and numerous utensils.   Very recently, TJ Maxx Stores have impressively stepped up their game in their Kitchen departments and they are actually outdoing Ross in quantity and selection.  Tuesday Morning stores are interesting.  They are like a "high end" discount store.  They stock a lot of kitchen appliances but, you will pay a tad more there than the other stores. Recently, I picked up a 7 quart digital crock pot there that was real cheap...I think it was because it was red.  I don't include Target in this group of stores except for in one area.  Target has amazing end cap sales always going on. I get the feeling it's their quick solution to clear shelf space for new inventory. I picked up two extremely cheap electric fondue pots, that were at the time still selling in other stores for a great deal more.  Check out these end cap shelves around the kitchen wares department, Target too, has stepped up to the plate with the quality and quantity of selection. 

If  you have already joined the ranks of the discount store shopping club, you already know all of this.  There are rules to follow in scoring with the savings:

1)  You must be sure to visit these stores at least twice a week.  A nearly empty shelf one day can be overflowing with pasta machines the next.
2) If you see something that you just won't be complete without, SNAG IT!  Don't wait on it, many of the things you see there are one time only items and it will be gone as quick as you blink an eye.
3) Don't be afraid to ask for further discounting if something is obviously damaged but usable, such as the time I found a huge enameled cast iron dutch over, but the outer paint had a few chips in it.  I got an additional 20 percent off the already low forty five dollar price.
4)  Find the final clearance aisles were sometimes the savings are almost scarey, but sometimes the things you will find in these aisles are downright scarey!
5)Try to go just as the store opens, you'll have a better selection.
6) Look for the tall texan in the suit  : -)

happy savings y'all

robert