2.28% Sure Ain't Much

Those of you who know me know that some of my finest achievements have come in the arena of bargain shopping. I go to bargain stores - the Marshall's and TJMax's of the world - not to find particular items, but to ferret out the TRUE deals.

Over the years, I've streamlined my bargain shopping process to maximize efficiency and minimize cost. I've established the following steps for successful deal-making:

- enter store
- proceed immediately to women's designer label section
- quickly flip from one hanger to the next looking only for label
- locate clothing bearing label of interest*
- then, and only then, zoom in on product
- first search for retail value on original price tag, if available. what is the actual value of product and how much will be saved with discount price?
- evaluate the item by asking the following: at first glance, do I like the look? if yes, proceed. is it my size? if yes, proceed. do I like the hue? if no, search for same item, different color. if yes, proceed to dressing room.

Repeat until completion of women's size M rack.
If desiring a true bargain, execute process on Clearance rack.

* BCBG, DKNY, Max Studio, Tahari, Kenneth Cole, etc.
_________________________________________________________________

Last night, during a quick stop-n-search at the local Ross Dress for Less, I hit my crowning achievement in bargain shopping. Whil executing the steps, I came upon a pair of Tahari slacks (a rare find at Ross).

At first glance? Very very stylish. Were they my size? Yes - women's 8. Did I like the color? Yes - a subtle plaid made of deep browns and olive green and burnt red. I proceeded to dressing room, slid on the pants (the fabric is unlike the cottons and polyesters I am accustomed to), and looked in the mirror. Fabulous. It was as though these slacks were MADE for me by Elie Tahari herself, except or the extreme length (an indicator of quality clothing and the need for a hem job). Do I need such an item? Yes - they fill my large void of professional wear.

One problem: the pants had been stripped of the Ross price tag. This can become a monumental issue at the Ross Dress for Less because, often, there are no similar items for price comparison. Such was the case last night. I thought I was going to have to leave the perfect pants behind, but a wonderful hard-working floor clerk searched for 20 minutes for another pant for price scan. The stand-in price tag was found in the Clearance section. The cost of the clearance pants? $5.43. When she said this, I was overcome by the buzz that only occurs with very very good deals.

In conclusion, I bought a pair of pants that retails at $238 (Nordstrom) for $5.43. I paid 2.28% of retail cost. I have outdone myself.