I hate shopping for everyday items because…I have a problem.  You already know I’m a “tease shopper,” but tack on the more serious problem of mine, and shopping becomes a nightmare.  What’s my problem you ask?  It’s my inability to purchase something that’s not the “best deal.”

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After the rant and all the hype on redeeming my points for Amazon.com gift certificates, I get a call from the ThankYouNetwork, and the representative leaves a voicemail…

“Sorry Freedumb, but apparently we are having some problems with shipping Amazon.com gift certificates.  We should have the problem corrected in 10-14 business days.  We have credited your account back with 20,000 points.  Call us if you have any questions.”

Uhh, yeah, do I have to place my order again??  I appreciate the call I guess.  At least I know they didn’t lose my gift cards…now about the 74 cents of postage?!

I called them, looks like I’ll just have to try again in a couple weeks to check.  They did “notate” my account yet again.  Ah, well, I’ll have to postpone my purchases until next month I guess.

Evolving my original ideas of how to use your reward points, I’ve found that Citi ThankYouNetwork offers a unique opportunity to stretch your dollar even further while helping out your fellow bloggers.  That is IF I get my Amazon.com certificates from Citi…if you haven’t read my other post on why I’m a little pissed at Citi, click here.

Redeem your points for Amazon.com gift certificates.  Why?

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Just because you like the store.  If you don’t have a pet, pet ownership costs can be quite crazy at times–especially if your friend needs frequent trips to the vet, which can cost an arm and a leg.

Well, a few days ago I had a random discussion with someone about dog food, and we found we buy our food from the same place–a really small “mom & pop” type of store with great owners, a married couple.  As we talked, we both found that we no longer buy food from them because the brand of dog food they were selling didn’t work out for our dogs.  However, we both still go back to buy treats and other small things just because, well, we like them.  Similar to brand loyalty I guess?

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Have you started?  Did you set your budget?

I want to get the shopping over with already.  I really hate dealing with overly crowded malls.  Then comes wrapping the gifts.  Sunday comics anyone?

So I bought Brownie two new collars, they are Reflective Safekeep Breakaway dog collars ($40.00). I also bought him two new ID tags with more detailed information and is more durable ($15.00). Finally I bought him a new ball toy and bed ($25.00). I’ve updated the doggie costs. Total to date: $4072.79.

Alright, before you read on, please understand I’m not justifing spending all this money, I know it’s a little excessive, but I do have to enjoy life a little too.

I bought myself a new stereo/dvd deck for the truck–the Alpine IVA-W200 with bluetooth. I’ve been thinking about it for about 6 months now, and I was waiting for this specific model to be released! It costed me $1150.00–installation was included.

Next, I bought myself a new camera. This is another one I’ve been thinking about for over 6 months. I’m a camera photo hobbyist, but my SLR/digicam is a little to big to carry with me to all the places I want to go. I ended up getting the Casio Exilim S600 in blue. It was a good balance between photo quality, size, and manual control. This costed me $130.00 + $200 in BestBuy gift certificates I earned using my Citi and Chase reward cards.

I actually think 6 months is a good cut off for me. If I find myself wanting something for that long of a duration, it usually means that I would find practical use for it since it must’ve popped into my mind as something I could’ve used on numerous occassions. And hey I did buy my mom some stuff too! Must…focus…on…sa…ving.

In my post about DVDs being a waste of money, I said I would write about my luxuries, so you can criticize away…so here it is, my list of luxuries. Be nice.

- My dog. Some would argue that an animal companion is a luxury and not a necessity, but I’ll man up and say it, I love my dog.

- My camera. I like photography. I have a Nikon D70 and bunch of lenses. Nothing pro-caliber yet, but I may be considering a Nikon VR 70-200 lens in the near future.

- I like to eat out. We’re not talking Morton’s Steak House now, more like Subway and McD. I eat out, on average, 3 times a week. I work from home, so being couped up all day by myself is not that fun. I love ice cream too.

- I drive a truck, but I put on about 500 miles a month plus with the dog, a truck is just much easier for both of us, and I use premium gas in my truck.

- I love computers and other techy stuff. I have a DVR (similar to Tivo) and I have a notebook as my primary workstation. I am planning to buy a new notebook when Microsoft Vista comes out. Of course I may wait a couple of months until all the press has died down. I also have a High-Def TV, but it’s not the super fancy DLP 62″ projection TV, it’s just a 34″ CRT. It has a great feature set for the price, and the picture quality is great! I did want to get a DLP projection TV though.

- I own a Sony PS2, and I am considering purchasing a Sony PS3. But for ~$600 just for the console, I’m having serious second thoughts. I usually find myself playing games on the computer if anything anyway. And even that has become an extremely rare occurence. I used to play online games which costed around $13/month, but I stopped that last year. It just takes too much time, and you get no return! A horrible investment.

- I subscribe to Blockbuster.com.

That’s all that I can think of right now…I’ll post more as I find them. Somethings I didn’t write, I consider necessities…like the cell phone and broadband. I would consider myself a fairly non-luxurious person…Although I am considering buying some high thread count sheets, I probably never will. So criticize away! Maybe I should figure out how much these luxuries are costing me in the future…And maybe I should write a list of crap I just don’t need.

I’m a tease shopper. I go into a store, look around. I have a couple things I need…shaving gel, some pens, and maybe a magazine. I spend hours deciding between two or three different brands, comparing value, features, smell, ingredients if it’s food, quality, etc. etc. etc. I then find a few things that I’ve “wanted,” but don’t really need…put them in my basket or cart. I proceed to look around. Finally, I approach the cash register and pull a 360. I put back 50% of what I don’t need. I even go back and compare brands of shaving gel again, even though I always use the same one. People give me weird looks. But I feel good leaving the store with only the things I need. I’m a tease.

I’m also a a value shopper. This applies more to supermarket shopping. I go into a store, and only buy things on sale. I rarely buy stuff that isn’t. I don’t know why. I just can’t get myself to buy something at regular price. I like seeing “SALE” next to each item on my receipt…I feel like I won something. Then at the bottom it says, “You saved $xx.xx.” I always try to make this value bigger than the amount I actually spent…I’ve done it a few times, but it’s not easy. Oh, and I love the surprise sale / price error items! Like finding money in my pocket.

My two value shopping goals:
1. All items with “SALE” next to it.
2. My saved amount greater than my paid amount.

I’m a value shopper.

Anyway, just thought I’d share my shopping habits with you. How about you? Are you a value and tease shopper like me?

Wal-Mart saves me money…They’ve become such an iconic American success that they are now falling victim to the “Too Successful For It’s Own Good” Syndrome.

Seriously, isn’t it odd? The bigger you get, the more you get scrutinized. Okay maybe not that un-expected but still. It’s an irony. For example, all the press about Wal-Mart and whether they choose to sell something or not…Or how about their placement of Brokeback Mountain! Here’s a blog post on some protest about Brokeback Mountain…But a mom & pop shop can choose to support one vendor over another…just because they like them!

I heard some good press on Wal-Mart today, they are going to assist small business in the rural neighborhoods providing them with grants, free advertising in their stores, and, hold your breath, some literature on how to survive with a Wal-Mart in their neighborhood. Wal-Mart just seems to epitomize the good and the bad of our economy…from illegal workers, to health care for part-timers, to mad rushes during Christmas…

Anyway, I just thought about one of the odd ironies of the American Dream. Maybe I’ll buy some WMT stock for my asset reallocation…