Firearms Friday: ‘Tis The Season For Deals

This time of year it seems that everything is on sale. While some deals are better than others, you are pretty much guaranteed to receive some kind of discount on whatever you order. And these sales are not just limited to the national retail chains or products with general consumer appeal, there are even deals to be had for those of us that enjoy the shooting sports. Having written about this before, in one form or another, you can basically consider this as the annual lock and load post.

As many of you have experienced, especially over the last few years, some retailers have better deals than others. While I won’t call out any websites or stores, we all know which ones to avoid. However, there are always great prices on a variety of items with some being sent to email subscribers, Facebook followers, and others exclusive to club members or existing customers. There are also great sites such as Slickguns that make it easy to find the prices that are just too low to pass up. Keep in mind that these sites usually don’t include local gun shop deals.

Over the past couple of months there have been a number of deals that caught my attention with the majority of them being discovered first in my email. Here are a few examples of the tempting products with retailer, item, and sale price included for reference:

• Palmetto State Armory (Daily Deal) - 7.62 x 39 Complete 7.5” Upper (with BCG and Charging Handle); $269.99

• Sportsman’s Guide (with Double Discount coupon) - S.W.T 30 Round AR15 Magazines: $5.59 - 30 Round Beretta 92 Magazines: $11.99

• Delta Team Tactical (Black Friday / Cyber Monday) - Crosshill Tech / Davidson Defense Right Side Charging AR15 Upper Receiver (with BCG): $239.99

• Damage Industries (50% off sale) - AR15 Short Barrel Muzzle Break and Sleeve: $34.95

• Amazon (Flash Sale) - Stack-On PDS 500 Drawer Safe: $31.99

Basically, anyone who is looking to build an AR has had a heck of a time and saved a lot of money recently. Some of these are more recent than others but not all of them were Black Friday / Cyber Monday prices and that is the most important point that I can make in this post. Sometimes the best prices are not during the holidays, they can really happen at any time. The key to finding a good deal is waiting (and getting to know your local shop owner) but sometimes, especially recently, the deals seem to just happen and if you’re paying attention, and didn’t spent too much somewhere else, you can take advantage of them.

A New Furniture Experience

The last time my wife and I bought new furniture was shortly after returning from Israel just before we moved into our apartment in Bala Cynwyd. At that time we didn’t have anything and the selecting was more about what was the best price rather than the quality of the items. In the end we were actually pretty lucky and we were able to find some decent quality pieces for clearance prices at JC Penney.

This time around, our decision to buy furniture was more of a luxury than anything. While many of the items that we already owned still had plenty of life left in them, we wanted to find pieced that we really liked and while we had a budget this time around as well, it was a completely different shopping experience. With a few ideas in mind we stopped at a couple of stores before we ended up at Raymour & Flanigan where we spent hours finding the furniture that would last us for many years and fill our new home.

That was also another driver in our decision to go furniture shopping. We were moving into a much larger place. Bigger than any other place that we have shared since we have been together. It wasn’t about a couple of pieced here and there like our last rental, we had to fill rooms. After all, we were going from a 3 bedroom townhouse where one of the bedrooms served as my wife’s office into a 5 bedroom home with two additional spaces we planned on using for our respective offices. We definitely had our work cut out for us.

What worked in our favor was the fact that we could easily divide our old bedroom furniture to fill two of the guestrooms and with our son taking one of the others and the last one being converted into a playroom with the old family room furniture, we were able to reuse the majority of the furniture we already had. What remained was the new family room, the master bedroom, the kitchen (just a table and chairs), and, after some convincing, my new office. It was a manageable list once we sat down and figured everything out.

We knew what we wanted to get. Well, we at least had a rough idea. And, budget in hand, we worked with one of the sales people at the Exton location and found all the pieces and filled all the rooms with the furniture that we wanted to see in our new home. After picking everything out and finding everything we needed our budget was looking to be in danger but after some friendly haggling we were able to fill our dream home with our dream furniture while staying on budget. It really was the final piece to finally finding our home!

Holiday Shopping

Because I haven’t had enough to do lately, I have also been looking around and taking care of some holiday shopping. In addition to the “Black Friday” and “Lightening Deals” that are found all over now, there have also been some moments over the past couple of months when better deals were found. And some of those discounts didn’t even require haggling like at Raymour and Flanigan. At this point, because we started so early, we are basically done our holiday shopping. We have either already ordered or picked up gifts or we know exactly what we are getting for some people.

Of course, that has only been half of the purchasing equation lately as many of our orders haven’t been for others but rather for things that we need around the house. Furniture obviously being the biggest of these expenses which would have cause a coronary had we not known the total beforehand and certain death had we not negotiated a decent discount. Most of the other exciting things have been replacements for what was obviously worn out and we had been putting off purchasing until now.

While there is a little more of a sense of immediacy in these orders, especially for our kitchen, I was still able to wait on a number of items and get really lucky on others. Most of the effort was actually in scanning through the Amazon “lightening deals” while keeping a slightly open mind as to brand and style. We managed to get a lot of the things we need for a significantly lower price than we were expecting to pay and, in most instances, the quality of the product was much better too.

With all of this said, there is a word of warning that I would like to share with you. While most of you are aware of this fact, the reality is that Black Friday and Cyber Monday aren’t always the best days to find deals. I spoke with one retailer who specifically said that those days might be the worst times of year to find deals as they already know people are going out to shop so they specifically offer a smaller discount compared to other holidays throughout the year (President’s Day was mentioned as an example). My response to this and my advice is simple… keep shopping around, track the prices of what you are looking to buy, and never be afraid to either price match with another retailer or haggle them down beyond the sale price.

We are all watching our pennies and, like taxes, why pay more than you absolutely have to… a good rule of thumb is to never accept a discount less than 40% during Black Friday sales. This is the generally accepted bar for a good deal. If you take your time, shop around, get to know some retailers and salespeople, and sometimes price match, you can get the best deal no matter what time of year no matter what you are buying. It really is that simple.

That Plan Didn’t Work

It is pretty obvious to my coworkers, neighbors, and anyone who reads this blog that I do a lot of ordering from Amazon. The selection is good, prices are reasonable, the shipping is usually fast, and I have never had an issue regarding the occasional return. I have had a solid overall experience with Amazon over the years which is why I was interested in the Subscribe & Save program. Pretty straight forward… select a few items that you would like to receive on a regular basis (i.e. coffee, paper towels, dish soap, baby formula, etc.), set the delivery date, and have them automatically show up at the door on the date you specified. At least that is how it is supposed to work.

A couple of weeks before we left on our Virginia vacation, my wife and I put a list together of the items that we would been upon our return. We could just as easily pick them up from the grocery store the following day but this offered a convenient and cost effective alternative… it is also nice to have all the bulky items on the doorstep rather than my wife having to pick them up while shopping with our son. So I logged into my Amazon account, selected the items, and adjusted the delivery date for the Monday after we got back.

When we pulled into the parking lot and approached the front door, we could see that there was a note left for us. Before we had a chance to open it, our neighbors stopped us and let us know that they moved our packages inside their house so they wouldn’t get wet. I wasn’t sure what packages could have arrived as the deliveries were scheduled for tomorrow, nothing else had been ordered from any other website, and our mail was on hold until the following day. When they emerged with a rather large box in hand I knew that Amazon screwed up at least some part of the order (I double checked later to ensure that it was their mistake and not mine).

When I went to the post office before work the following morning I found the rest of the items that we put on order. Not one thing was delivered on the day specified so now I am wondering if it is worth the aggravation to keep the subscriptions active. While normally it wouldn’t be an issue we almost had a serious problem… imagine if the baby formula were sitting out the in 90+ degree sun for nearly a week? Thankfully, this time, there were no sun baked boxes. I really have to think about this for a while but it just goes to show that sometimes you can be too fast with your shipping. After all, no one likes premature packages.

Note: Amazon customer service is of little help with this issue offering not explanation or honest apology (of course I could only understand about half of what they were saying).  

Black Friday Turning Grey

Every year the same pattern persists as Thanksgiving all too quickly gives way to the consumer holiday shopping spree also known as Black Friday. More so than any other year, the emails came heavy and soon filled my inbox with deals. Actually, the digital deluge began on Monday as pre-sales and teasers streamed across the screen. However, the fact of the matter is that the deals are not nearly as good this year as they have been in the past.

A few years ago I was one of those people who, eager to fill a few holes in what we needed for our new apartment, ventured out on Thanksgiving night to try and stretch our money as far as I could go. That trip was a success as lower prices combined with a few coupons I had on hand allowed us to completely furnish our place as well as check off most of the people on our gift list for the season. With the economy still recovering the discounts were deep especially for those of us who took the time to put a game plan together and leverage every discount available to us. This allowed me to get everything done all while not waiting in a single line.

This year was almost the exact opposite as there was nothing being sold that offered the same kind of bargain. Don’t get me wrong, we still spent a few dollars but not like the flurry of activity from just a few years ago. Everything has pointed to a resurgence in the retail environment and the lack of discounts reflects that change… although that fact didn’t seem to stop people from filling the stores and clogging the roads.

So this year my wife and I did exactly what the stores didn’t want us to do… we stayed home and kept our money in our pockets. The few things that we were keeping an eye on just in case didn’t seem to change much in price so why would we buy now? There is plenty of time for us to look for those things at a later date and there are definitely other things on which we can focus our attention. Maybe part of the equation is that we have changed and our priorities have shifted but at the same time if the deals aren’t there it is not worth the time or the money.

So Long Harvest…

While I don’t read as much as I used to I still enjoy opening the pages of a book when I have time and furthering my informal education. The greatest resource for any avid reader is a great used book store and for the last 15 years my wife and I had access to one of the best, Harvest Book Company in Fort Washington, Pennsylvania. Unfortunately, this weekend was our last trip to the warehouse as the store is closing its doors to daily shoppers and transitioning to a completely online storefront.

Over the years, my wife and I have made countless trips to both buy and sell books, DVDs, and CDs at Harvest and not being able to swing by the store on the weekend for some inexpensive entertainment is a little disappointing. I guess we are going to have to find another outlet that will be able to come close to the $2 per book that we are used to spending. While I am confident that we will be able to meet the price, I doubt that we will be able to meet the quality and selection to which we have become accustom.

Harvest was the place we would go to find items for ourselves, gifts for one another, as well as gifts for friends and family. All of this while being greeted by a staff that recognized us when we walked in the door and knew us by name. That may be a bit old fashioned for some but it is a hugely important to me and something that I am finding in fewer and fewer places as stores change, towns evolve, and online commerce becomes more prevalent.

That seems to be the trend lately as I have noticed more and more places changing around me. Buildings are being torn down, storefronts are changing, and some of the places that I remember going to years ago are long gone. Of course with books no longer containing paper, Wal-Mart discounting just about everything, and Amazon providing greater selection than could ever be found in a brick and mortar location I can’t say that I am really surprised by all the changes happening around us.

But, until this weekend, we still had Harvest where we could go and pick up those bundles of bound paper, movies, and albums at prices that couldn’t be matched online or in any of the major retailers around us. Now we will be forced to wait until the occasional sales when they will open their doors again. But no more spontaneous trips to Fort Washington and picking up those last minute inexpensive gifts. Things change but that doesn’t mean that I like it.

Keep Your Debts To Yourself!

Well, with her new book being released, it should be no surprise that Hillary Clinton was in the news again this week. Something else that should not be surprising is that fact that, once again, she is backpedaling to ‘clarify’ the statements that she gave to Diane Sawyer. One thing that you have to keep in mind when this happens is the fact that it is more than likely that all of the questions that she was asked were vetted and responses rehearsed for weeks prior to the two women sitting down for their conversation.

I am sure you have either watched, read, or listened to Mrs. Clinton expounding upon her hardships upon leaving the White House in January 2001 with particular focus on the financial ‘struggles’ that the Clintons’ faced reentering private life. As was reported by CNN, “Mrs. Clinton said she and former President Bill Clinton were "dead broke" and "struggled to piece together the resources" for mortgages in pricey Washington and the New York suburbs and their daughter Chelsea's tuition at prestigious Stanford University.” Yeah, even CNN is calling BS on this one.



Be careful what you say, your face might freeze that way!

I know, it must have been hard struggling to find some means of gainful employment so they could keep paying their mortgages, resolve their debts, and scrape together the pennies to cover Chelsea’s college tuition. Obviously, she had no other choice but to take advantage of the bountiful ‘limited’ opportunities at hand. She didn’t really want to but she had to force herself to make millions of dollars in speaking fees. How else was she going to pay off her millions in debt, keep current on her mortgages, and pay for her daughter’s schooling? It’s not like she could simply move to another state and swipe a Senate seat.

Maybe if Chelsea were in college now Hillary may not have had to work so hard to pay for her college tuition. It seems as though this administration wants everyone to have a college degree that they don’t have to pay for, at least not at full price. Now, I agree that higher education has become outrageously expensive and I am always for getting a discount but I am offended that we, as taxpayers, are going to have to pay for that discount. Where did you think that money was going to come from? If you are going to offer money for education we should, at the very least, give the funds to people that have earned that money and funnel the additional funds into the GI Bill. Oh wait, that's right, you already screwed up the VA.

I don’t know about you but I already have plenty of personal debt that I am trying to pay down without taking on someone else’s burden. I struggle every month to find that little extra so that we can make progress. Slowly we are inching closer and closer solvency but every time a new tax (which is what this whole scheme will end up being) that is a little less each month that I can apply toward solvency. So stop telling me how hard you had it trying to make payments on your numerous homes and the struggles you faced when you were forced to earn millions talking to the mindless throngs of sheep. And, most importantly, stop spending my money on things that don’t make any darn sense and are an insult to financial responsibility.

Quick Trips Are Rarely Quick

 

Have you ever noticed that a quick trip on a weekend never ends up being a quick trip? That was the case today as my car was due for its 10,000 mile oil change. In the past I have gotten lucky and it would only take about 30 minutes so I wound up waiting for it and killing time by either making a call or reading a bit. However, as soon as I called the Armen service department I knew that wasn’t going to be the case. So, what I was hoping would originally be about 30 minutes was now at least going to be 90 minutes (this is not a criticism just a reality).

Whenever you call a place to have any kid of service done if they hesitate before telling you that there is time today, it is almost definitely going to be a longer wait. Having been told that it would take about an hour and a half, my wife and I decided to go out for a lazy lunch to pass the time. And if we are going to head out for lunch we might as well have some company so I gave my mom a call to invite my parents to lunch. Just like many of my weekends, my dad was working so it was just the three of us who would meet up at Dujour after we dropped the car off at the dealer.

After an excellent time with my mom chatting over lunch we started walking back to the car when the phone rang to let me know that the car was ready. At least our timing was pretty good. However, going straight to the dealer would just make too much sense and since we were out we thought that we should take care of another errand by looking for some boots for my wife across the street from the dealer at DSW. I wasn’t going to stand around while my wife was looking at shoes so I headed to the clearance section to find a replacement pair for the shoes coming apart on my feet.

I found a nearly identical pair of brown shoes the only different really being that they were a different brand. When checking the price I was a little thrown off because the price tag was in yellow and not in one of the usual colors (i.e. red, purple, green, and blue). In another example of great timing, the shoes that I picked out (the only pair out which happened to be the perfect size) were on sale for 80% off the discount price. Perfect replacements for just under $12.

Of course, my wife also found a pair to pick up so after checking out we parted ways as my wife headed home and I walked across the street to pick up the car. An oil change, tire rotation, and a few dollars later I pulled out of the parking lot and, instead of heading home, drove over to the post office and lodge to check the mailbox and the office. Quick trip but one that is going to be a new part of my weekend routine. As I pulled into the parking lot back at my apartment building it was obvious that the quick trip today was anything but quick having taken nearly three hours to get back to where I started.

Can A Hedge Fund Have A Heart?

(L-R) President Elect Sean M. Teaford, Guest Speaker Deepta Hiremath, President Dr. Sherman Leis. Photo by Past President Richard M. Trivane.

Anyone who has ever watched Shark Tank can recognize when someone has it and when someone doesn’t. Even with a great idea the entrepreneurial spirit is not always present. As soon as Deepta Hiremath began presenting yesterday at our Rotary meeting I could tell she had it.

Our guest speaker two weeks ago who spoke about the mortgage market and the potentially drastic changes on the horizon and how the process for people to get mortgages in the future will differ from today’s market. However, that doesn’t address the distressed mortgages and struggling families that are already in the marketplace and are trying to find a way to get their heads above water. This is where the focus of our discussion was yesterday.

Deepta owns and operates a real estate hedge fund by the name of King Peak LLC. While that term has fallen from favor in recent years there are still people out there running hedge funds that exemplify the four way test. Those people are not focused solely on the bottom dollar but are also looking for a mutually beneficial arrangement that is fair for all parties concerned. While the objective of any business is to be profitable it doesn’t mean you can’t help people along the way.

It is no secret that as a result of the crash in 2008, over-leveraged banks have been selling off second mortgages at drastic discounts in order to recoup guaranteed money which can be funneled back into the capital reserve. Who buys these mortgages? Debt collectors and entrepreneurs like Deepta.

While credit collectors will commonly flip the paper using high volume deals without any thought given to the lives and livelihoods that those mortgages represent, Deepta invests more than her money into these transactions. She invests her time, her energy, and her heart. Deepta focuses on the mortgages that commonly have the most devastating impact… second mortgages.

Due to the steep discount at which she purchased the paper, it opens up the opportunity to help and try to work with homeowners so that they can remain homeowners. She evaluates many of these mortgages on an individual and very personal basis and tries to find the best solution for everyone. Given the margins and the huge number of buyers, Deepta is almost guaranteed a profit. She doesn’t need to take the extra step but she does because she knows that what she holds in her hand is more than just paper.

It is part of the American dream to have the spouse, the house, and two and a half kids but sometimes we all need a little help to maintain that reality especially in these still trying times. As Rotarians we try to do right by others and ourselves every second of every day and while sometimes we may falter and show our human shortcomings it helps to have a business plan which helps us to live those principals. We can learn a lot from Deepta as well as other intelligent and driven entrepreneurs like her which will not just help to reinforce the Rotary principals but also as a reminder to ourselves of what can be done when we embody those principals.

Friends With Benefits

When trying to keep a budget and cut costs there is a small group of friends that are always there to help me out… membership cards and coupon. Whether its groceries or office supplies, oil changes or admission fees, I am always looking for ways to reduce the price of items and services. Sometimes I am able to save a little, sometimes I save a lot, and occasionally I can either get something for free or make money purchasing it.

No, I am not one of those extreme coupon people on TLC although I do get a kick out of watch that show. I simply take about 20 minutes each week and go through the circulars, mailings, and emails that I get, clip or copy them, and put them in an envelope. That’s it. It doesn’t take much effort at all and that basic process, combined with the free membership cards, usually averages about a thirty percent savings at the super market every week.

Over the course of the year, with regard to total dollars, that is the most significant chunk of my savings. However, there are other areas where I can save a significant amount at a much higher percentage. The most common of which are office supplies. Thanks to Staples, I am able to save anywhere between 50-75% on anything ranging from printers to paper to bottled water. This is also the place where they have paid me to buy supplies.

Again, this is very simple and requires minimal effort. What usually happens is that they will promote a 100% rebate offer for a product (most recently it happened to be 4x6 photo paper). So, if you are willing to wait a month for reimbursement they will essentially give you the product for free and credit your rewards account for the purchase. But you can take it a step further. By utilizing a coupon that takes a percentage off your total purchase (rebate items are not sale items so they are not exempt) you can essentially get a rebate back for more than you paid for the product.

Of course, as I have previously written about, sometimes I come across free items and free contests. If it’s free, and I don’t have to set aside time to do it, I am definitely interested. No time, money, or effort is a great, and rare, combination.

The other side to this cost saving equation is where some effort is definitely required. Usually, this is when you are looking for a specific item or brand and you have to shop around to find the best price. There is a simple way to ensure success: know the price match policies. You can look around and think you found the best price but, sometimes, you may forget to check a certain store or maybe that item goes on sale the following week. It’s a great safety net that can put money back into your pocket.

One last thing to remember is that while the savings on any given day or on any particular item may not seem like much it really adds up. Keep track, a rough estimate is fine, on how much money is left in your pocket by taking the time to pay attention to prices and using the system to your advantage. You would be surprised how quickly the dollars add up by simply investing a little effort and even less time. Or think about it this way… how much are you saving during an average week? How much time are you putting into this? With those two figures in hand, what is the hourly rate you are getting paid?

Let me, and all who happen to read this, know of your experiences. How do you save money? Where do you find the best deals? What is the best deal you have ever gotten on an item?