WHEELING AND DEALING

To be strictly correct, there wasn’t really any wheeling involved in what I've been doing, but where I come from that’s always the way you say it. Wheelin’ and dealin’. To say you’re dealing has a different connotation entirely.

Don’t you just love the English language?

In any case, I just finished a little high-finance over on Amazon.

Needed some more rechargeable batteries, found some there that sounded like what I wanted. Granted, I can buy regular batteries very inexpensively at the 99 Cent Store, but I hate throwing them away all the time. (They don’t last very long in my Wii remote.) The rechargeables are a better deal all around. So I put my chosen batteries into my Amazon cart, and I was $7 away from free shipping.

Now, this free shipping thing is probably a gold mine for them. I suspect that most of us start shopping immediately for another item or two so we can get that free shipping. I admit it, I sat here at my computer trying to think of something else I needed. Or really, really wanted. Because you know me—it has to be something pretty vital for me not to wait to find it on someone’s driveway.

The interesting thing was, I couldn’t think of anything! Of course there are books I'd like to have, but I'm a librarian for heaven’s sake. I have over 2 million books at my disposal any day of the week, for free. Thought about that 10” springform pan I've been looking for, but they were way more than $7 and it's the kind of thing I like to handle before I buy. All bakeware is not created equal. I'll just keep checking at TJ Maxx until the springform of my dreams appears. It had to be something I'd really enjoy that cost as close to seven bucks as possible.

Finally had a brainstorm, and started looking at magazines. Yup, lots available to subscribe to, and they count toward your free shipping. Of course many are pretty pricey too, but I had recently checked out an issue of This Old House and quite enjoyed it. The price was $12 for a year—but they’ve got this special deal going and there was a $5 discount. Bingo!

So, if I had bought just my batteries and paid for the shipping, the total would have been $22.04. The batteries plus the subscription with free shipping and minus the discount came to $23.75. So as far as I'm concerned, my subscription cost only $1.71.

Wheelin’ and dealin’.