Monday, August 16, 2010

Bright Idea/Epic Fail #938383

In which I 'save money' by trying to find  something locally (to save on shipping, you know) and end up spending way more than I would have if I had just shopped the internets. /sigh

Case in point #1:
Just Cross Stitch October magazine (the one with the Halloween ornaments)
There are no local needlework shops within a hundred miles of here (slight exaggeration but anything over an hour away ceases to be 'local', yes?) so a' trekking we went to find it because I didn't want to spend $6 shipping on a $6 item. I didn't find that issue but I found the Xmas ornament preview one so that's good but we drove here (Michaels), there (quest for a craft store listed in Google but seemingly invisible to the naked eye in real life), and everywhere (Barnes & Noble, ding ding ding! winner!) for it, spending more in gas than the shipping would have cost? lol  And now we have to go back to Barnes & Noble for the issue I ACTUALLY wanted at some later date. *head slap*


Case in point #2:
Trek to the (yayyyy!) local yarn shop for a new circular needle because I didn't want to pay $4 shipping from Knitpicks on a $5 item. Shopping locally is good anyway, right? Sure it is. Until you go in for one circular and end up walking out with 1) a circular needle that cost twice as much as the Knitpicks one and 2) with 2 skeins of yarn. /sigh

I couldn't resist the sherbert-y colors of the Zino striping and the Malabrigo skein is something I already have ONE skein of, which is great for socks, but now with TWO skeins I can whip it up into a great big ole scarf (or shawl) instead. (And with a side-by-side comparison, they seem to match pretty well, which is lucky! If it didn't match up, I was just going to alternate skeins. There are no hard color changes in this colorway so I figured it would work out either way.)

Wallet: Empty
Me: Failed but happy because LOOK AT THE PRETTIES! WEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

12 comments:

Margaret said...

lol, Melanie! Now you've made me feel better. I tend to order things online thinking it's safer than going out and finding other things I want while looking for the things I came out for. You have proven my point. :D I was feeling guilty about the shipping I was paying. But now I feel better, and hey -- you should feel good too with the lovelies you picked up!

valerie said...

OMG...so true! You totally want to support 3/50 but it's hard when you take gas, bridge toll and the hike in price into consideration. It's a lot less for me to order online even though I try to support my LNS. It's $6 in gas and $4 in bridge toll...and that's before I even start shopping! Don't feel bad...you tried!

Pretty Things said...

I'm the same way, except for me, "local" is 40 minutes away! With a toll!

Laurie said...

Ordering online is the most dangerous thing of all for me. One of these days I'll learn...

Beautiful yarn!

Meadows08 said...

Hubby and I drove all over Seattle and area trying to find the JCS Ornament Preview mag a couple months ago. Didn't find it, and I ended up ordering it when I got home. Online. $6 for shipping. Oh well. :)

Love the sherbet-y colours in the yarn!

Dani - tkdchick said...

Funny!

Julie said...

Thanks for stopping by my blog Melanie and your lovely comments.

There is no shop locally that does the JCS here, such a shame!

Loving that serberty coloured wool, i seem to have a thing about wool just lately, got to get my head back into the stitchy mode

Michele said...

happens to me too, but I have found in the past the my local Borders carries JSC .. Barnes and Noble don't carry it anymore. Of course when I order it online, I have to order more stuff so the shipping is worth it! lol

If I find one I'd be more than happy to send it on to you :)

Unknown said...

Mel, it is such a delight to read your blog each time...always entertaining! LOL! And, been there, done that, have the T-shirt...but, isn't it fun to get new stash in the process of "trying" to save money!

BTW-love the new halloween beads you posted last time...meant to post about it then, but got distracted *damn ADHD* LOL!

Thanks for the sweet comment on my blog too; I am so happy that people actually read my drivel from time to time!

HAPPY STITCHIN'
Terri

Anonymous said...

Looks like it was all worth it. The yarn is beautiful!

Carol said...

Oh, that is so true, Melanie! I really resent paying $6.00 shipping when it probably costs under $2 to actually ship it! Luckily, we get JCS at the library where I work so I just use that one. (You may want to check your local libraries to see if they subscribe for future issues)

Pumpkin said...

Hey, what I say, if it made you happy, then it was worth it ;o)