Bargain Shopping

I am the worst bargain shopper. I have friends that manage to get the sweetest deals on stuff - whereas I end up paying full price for something that doesn't look half as good as what they have...

Until today.

Unexpectedly, I ended up with a free afternoon and I decided that while I had the opportunity I should do a couple of things I've been putting off, like:

1. looking for a new flat
2. buying a much needed bookcase

So while procrastinating over lunch, I flipped through the Manly Daily classifieds and saw a couple of potential flats and a couple of bookcases for sale. I managed to dally long enough so that all the real estate agents were closed - therefore making flat hunting not an option today - but I did manage to get one woman who had a bookcase for sale.

Although I pondered putting off going to see it until Sunday afternoon - when I'd likely come up with something far more interesting to do, like paint my nails - I bit the bullet and set up a time for this afternoon.

It was about a 20 minute drive up the coast (thank goodness for my shiny new car - it really has made life on the Northern Beaches far easier...) to her place. When I first saw the bookcase, I thought 'nah' - it looked like some amateur had put it together. Then the woman told me her friend had built it for her (so some amateur had put it together..) Then she told me how much she wanted for it: $30.

Didn't look so bad after all.

Only problem? Getting it to fit it in my car. Luckily it was two separate pieces, but unfortunately, only one fit in my car at a time. So I ended up having to make two trips. The lady was so nice - she even let me drive away the first time without paying her (didn't have the right change) trusting that I would come back for the second piece, with the money. How nice are people here? I guess I must have an honest face...

Anyway - even with the cost of gas for all those trips - it was still a pretty sweet deal (considering it would cost me over $200 to buy a bookshelf half that size in a store).

And the good karma just kept flowing - I luckily kept running into people traipsing to and from the car who offered to carry the bookcase to my door for me. How nice was that? Things like that usually never happen to me - so I've managed to become quite self-sufficient - but I certainly wasn't refusing the offers of help.

Once in my apartment (sorry - flat - I keep switching back to speaking 'Canadian') I put the pieces together - kind of expecting it to look really crap - but you know what? It looks kinda good! In fact, my place is beginning to look downright homey now that I no longer have unpacked cardboard boxes in my living room..

Who'da thought that I'd ever be a good bargain shopper? The place almost looks comfy enough that I won't want to move.... Scratch off flat hunting on the 'to-do' list,

Seems procrastinating can have it rewards....