So I broke down and purchased a new dress for my son's Bar Mitzvah party. I saved $40 to $330 -- depending on the "base" price (see below) -- and received several compliments about my party outfit. Here's how I spent less:Boutique Adventure: My trip began at a small South Beach (SoBe)-style boutique. I saw a cute two-piece outfit. The problem: the top was $144 and the skirt was slightly higher. Bottom line: Rather than pay about $300 for the outfit, I went to Loehmann's.
Loehmann's Experience: I purchased an asymmetrical black and gold dress. Through a series of markdowns, I cut costs. Here's the math:
- "Advertised" price: $390
- Store price: $99.00
- Yellow tag price: $79.90
- Cash register discount 20% off -$16 = $64
- Loehman's frequent shopper discount 10% off -$6.40 = $59.60. Note this program was free to join. I enrolled at the register and immediately received a 10 percent cut on my bill, which the saleswoman had already rung up. (It was fun to see the bill drop still lower.)
Final price: $59.60
Savings vs. original store price: $40.40
Savings vs. advertised department store price: $333.40
Savings vs. SoBe boutique outfit: $230.60
Of course, I know that I didn't really "save" money. I just spent less. The real bottom line: I had a good time at the celebration and the dress was just a small fraction of the event.
4 comments:
Congratulations to your son...and to you for "saving" so much!
I think you make a really important distinction that a lot of people fail to make - you didn't actually save, you spent, you just spent less. I always hate it at the market when the cashier says, "You saved X dollars!" I have to bite my tongue so I don't say, "No, I didn't. I spent X dollars less than I would have spent without coupons and sales, but I still spent Y dollars."
And congratulations and happy birthday to your son!
I know I'm obviously a little late on this, but I started following your blog recently (I only just signed up too gmail and blogger), and really liked what you had to say in here. Especially because I've shopped at Loehmann's and have recieved some of those same deals, so it's fun to find someone else who knows. I'll be following you!
Great job of explaining the break down of your Loehmann's Discount fashion shopping.While you might not have "saved", spending 60$ is sure a better feeling than spending 300$.
For more examples of happy Loehmann's Shoppers go to the Loehmann's Blog here (http://blog.loehmanns.com/?p=39)
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