Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Don't you love a bargain?
Sometimes a bargain isn't all it's cracked up to be. Describe a time when you've believed that you made a good, practical and affordable choice. Did it turn out to be the best choice? Tell your story, complete your assignment, and be nice to Mr. R. You can find AT THE BARBER by Anton Chekov on my website, under 9th grade assignments. See you on Monday!
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When I was about twelve years old I saved up all my money to buy my first pair of UGG’s. I refused to spend the money on anything because I was determined to prove to my mom I could save my money and spend it on something useful.
ReplyDeleteIt took me awhile to save up the two hundred and fifty dollars for the UGG’s because I wasn’t successful in not spending my money the first few times. My mom took me to the store to buy the shoes and I was so excited to say I was buying them for myself.
I productively bought my first pair of UGG’s and in about a week I absolutely hated them. I thought they were a gross color and were just hideous. My mom and I tried to return them but it was too late because I had already worn them. So to this day I have a 250 dollar pair of UGG’s in my closet that I refuse to wear.
I made a good, practical and affordable choice when I went shopping on Black Friday. On Black Friday everything in stores had huge discounts.This was a good choice because I got things that were orginally expensive for just half their price. I have never went shopping on Black Friday before because I always thought there would be too many people and too much commotion, but it turned out to be a good idea because the discounts were very generous.
ReplyDeleteLast year, my team went to New York on an all day trip. We went to Ellis Island and different musuems and at the end of the day we walked to a big mall on the water front. That's where I made one of my worst bargain.
ReplyDeleteThere were stands along the street outside the mall and I noticed a table with piles and piles of new york sweatshirts. My plan was to buy just one sweatshirt and bartar with the man selling them so I could buy it at a lower price. However, for some reason I felt pity for the man and couldn't ask him for a lower price. In fact, I ended up buying three sweatshirts from his table. Later that day, I realized that was probably the stupidiest attempt of a bargain I ever had made.
My bargaining skills have gotten better since I went to new york. Although I still have three new york sweatshirts sitting in a bag in my closet at home, reminding me of that horrible bargain.
One time I went to the mall and bought three of the same sweater in different colors. They were on sale, and were much cheaper than they would normally be. I was very excited, but unfortunately, I do not wear them that often. I wasted my money on things that are not useful to me, and I did that because they were on sale. This is not the only time I have bought something useless.
ReplyDeleteSometimes I buy things that are fun, but do not help me in any way. Whenever I go to Five Below, I buy a bunch of things that I am never really going to use. I buy helmets with straws coming out of them that you put drinks in, magnets with funny things on them, and silly putty. These things are pretty much worthless to me, and I justify it because it’s Five Below and it does not cost much.
When stores put things on sale, they do it so people will buy their things. For some reason, when people see sales, they think they should buy whatever is on sale. Even if there is a store that never has its full prices up, people are drawn to that store, because there are sales. This technique is very useful, and companies make a lot more money off of sales than they would off of full prices. We do not think about why we should buy things, sales just make us think to buy it. If we really thought about what we were doing, then maybe this would not happen.
-Mollie Westrick
It's true, sometimes a bargain isn't all it's cracked up to be. One time when I was in California, my mom and I saw a stand on Venice Beach selling purses. They were really nice name brand purses; and for really reasonable prices too! We thought we were so lucky to find this stand.
ReplyDeleteHowever, the people selling the purses looked suspicious, and kept looking around and were trying to get my mom and I to pick a purse quickly. My mom didn't like the situation and just told the men that we weren't interested.
It was a good thing my mom said that because a few minutes later, the men were packing up the purses and running away, because the purses that the were selling were actually stolen! So it turns out that some bargains can be too good to be true and my mom and I definitely made the right choice by leaving.
It was thanksgiving night and after being stuffed with food, my dad and I were looking in all of the fliers for black Friday sales. We noticed in the Best Buy flier that the 13” Macbook Pro was on sale for $300 cheaper than the original price. I wanted to get there early to make sure that they would not sell out. This was a great purchase because I use the laptop at least once a day if not more. Although the computer was still a big purchase, it was definitely worth it.
ReplyDeleteTo go wait outside of Best Buy at around midnight was something my dad was willing to do but I had to fully convince him. After begging, we drove there and noticed that the line went fully around the store where the front and end of the line were near the door. The store opened at 2 that day however the flier said 12. My dad got really aggravated and I begged him to just wait with me for the extra 2 hours, thankfully he did. As time went by, we got colder and colder so my dad told me we can take turns waiting in the car and we would text one another when the line is starting to move and it would be time to go in. Something I liked about Best Buy was that they let people in by section so there was not a stampede of people barging in. Once my dad and I got in, we found the laptop, had to wait a half hour for someone to bring out the product and right after we bought it, we went straight home.
Purchasing the Macbook Pro was definitely a wise decision because I use it so often and it is capable of so many things. I’m thankful my dad agreed to wait out for almost 3 hours at Best Buy because otherwise I would not be able to own the Macbook.
Maddie Hayes
ReplyDeleteOne time i went to a Boston Bruins game. It was a good game because they were winning. when the game was finished i wanted to get a souvenir. At places like TD Garden, they tend to price things very high so they will make a lot of money.
When some salesman approached me and my family, i thought it was a great deal fo a hat for $35.
There were tons of hats to pick from, i wanted the classic colors of black, gold, and white. So i picked out my hat and bought it. later as we were still trying to get out of TD Garden, the traffic was crazy, so my dad and brother went to get the car and bring it around the front while me and my mom were in the gift shop. We passed another gift shop. so we went in because there was nothing else to do. i looked around and saw the same hat that i had just got, except it was for $15 instead of $35. we approached a employee and soon found out that the person we had bought the hat from didnt work for TD Garden, instead, he would buy hats and sell them for more money.
When all of this was done we figured out that there was nothing we could do. This "bargain" wasnt a good practical choice because i didnt even wear the hat after the first day. at the next game, we made sure the person worked at the gift shop and we made sure not to get a hat, instead i got a t-shirt.
Black Friday. One day after Thanksgiving all the stores have ridiculous prices on just about everything, and if you're a shopaholic then this is the best day of the year. Last year was the first time I ever participated in Black Friday, and I can honestly say that i'll never forget that experience. Picture this snow all over the, and lining the tops of houses and buildings. Big signs every where announcing huge prices cuts, on every road, and cars, so many cars. Cars backed up down the street, parking lots full of cars hours, before stores even open, and all because of shopping.
ReplyDeleteMy parents took my sisters and I to a shopping plaza in Maine, it was a 4 hour drive but was worth it. After many circles or driving around we found a place to park and the fun began. We started with the Ugg store, who was having a 20% sale, and we each bought a pair of uggs. Then we went to the North Face store and got up to 40% off Denalis, apexes, gloves and hats. We hit a few other stores, and everything we bought became a christmas presnts under the tree.
Going shopping that Black Friday was a good thing because we struck a good bargin with all the price cuts and sales stores were having. Alomst all the stores gave us good, practical and afforable choices. I can't wait until next year!
Disregard my last response because I didn't know it had to be three paragraphs.
ReplyDeleteI made a good, practical and affordable chocie when I went shopping on Black Friday. On Black Friday everything in stores had huge discounts of 50% or more. These discounts don't happen often so I decided to go shopping on Black Friday last year when I had never done so before.
This was a good choice because I got things that were originally expensive for just half their price. Therefore, I could get more items for a certain amount of money than I would be able to get on a regular day at the mall. I have always thought that there would be too many people and too much commotion if I went to the mall on Black Friday. There were more people than usual but it wasn't that bad.
I would go shopping on Black Friday again because it turned out to be a sucess last time I went. I wouldn't want to miss out on the generous discounts because they might never have them in stores again when I really need to buy something new.
Being young and naïve, I know all about making mistakes with money, because I have made so many. Mostly, these experiences come from trips out of state or out of the country, because I was not as accustomed to the things that I was buying, and also I was unaware of the value. For example, a few years back, I went on a cruise through the Caribbean. In the places that we stopped, there were many street vendors trying to make a living by tricking people into buying their goods, when they know that there is actually little or no value to them.
ReplyDeleteWhen in the Caribbean, people tried to sell me local goods. Because I had never seen them before, I had no clue as to what they were actually worth, so I probably overpaid for almost everything. One big mistake that I made was when I was in the Bahamas and I bought a really big conch shell, for only $5. It seemed like a great deal, and it probably was, if I was actually able to keep it. I’m not sure if that vendor knew what would happen, but when it was time for us to leave the island, I got stopped at security because of that shell. It was then taken away from me, and the thrown back into the ocean, after all $5 that I had spent on it. To add insult to injury, I then had to step off to the side for a pat down to see if I had anything else that I wasn’t supposed to be taking with me back onto the cruise ship.
It wasn’t my fault that I didn’t know what the rules were regarding conch shells. I highly doubt that the shell would be harvesting tropical diseases. I was really hoping to bring that shell home and use it as a decoration somewhere in my house, because it was really pretty, and I was pretty bummed that I couldn’t take it with me, especially since I had paid for it too. In the end, I was just left wondering how many other poor tourists that man who sold it to me had tricked into buying shells off of him, knowing that they wouldn’t be able to keep them. I guess next time I’ll just have to read more specifically on what you can and can’t bring into the country, so I don’t make such a silly mistake again.
In my family getting deals is something very important. Me, my mom, and my older sister all love to shop! One downside is that it can get very expensive. After a while we started to become very good at finding the best deals on clothes. We rarely ever buy our clothes full price now, unless its a special occasion.
ReplyDeleteOne weekend about a year ago, me and my mom went shopping. At the time, one of my favorite stores was Abercrombie. Abercrombie can be vey expensive! As soon as we got into the store we headed to the back, where all the deals are. When we got to the back me and my mom went seperate ways looking through all the piles of sale clothes. I found a shirt that I loved more than anything I had ever seen before! I showed it to my mom and she loved it as well. She asked me the price and I was anxious to pick up he tag and flip it over. When I flipped the tag over I saw the original price first. Realizing the shirt was 75$, I was dissapointed. Just as I was about to turn around I realized that there was a tag with the sale price! The tag read 30$, which still is over the limit for what I would pay for a shirt. I told my mother and then she informed me that it was 50% off redlines, meaning the shirt was another 50% off! I was so happy!
I ended up getting the 75$ shirt that I was in love with for only 15$. I do beleive that this was a good choice, considering I got the shirt 60$ cheaper than the original price! I now am a very good bargain finder and still love to shop!
I had just snapped my hockey stick that I had bought for $230. I was in need of a new stick because my backup stick was not going to cut it. For awhile, I had to use the backup stick and I played poorly. The backup stick was very heavy and the curve caused my shot to go wild. I was doing well in school so I didn't see why I didn't deserve a new stick.
ReplyDeleteOne day, my dad said, "We are going for a ride." I asked him where we were going and he said “Somewhere." The whole hour ride I wondered where we were going and when we arrived at Pure Hockey, I had a feeling that I was getting a new stick. I ended up getting the same I had before a snapped it except that it was a different color and it was $40 cheaper.
I feel that this was a bargain because I got the same exact stick I had for a cheaper price. Hockey sticks today are very expensive. The most expensive sticks sell for around $250 so to get a deal on a stick is a bargain. Since I got the new stick, I have played very well. I scored goals and my shots don't end up in the stand which is good for the people sitting behind the net. I feel that I got a good bargain for a great hockey stick.
My first bargain was in fifth grade when I got my trombone. It was the beginning of the school year and band signups were going around. I knew immediately what I wanted to play, the same instrument that my father played when he was in school. I went to Rick’s Music with my dad and asked him what trombones they had available. The man who I asked showed me a brand new trombone, with an f trigger. It was brand new and shiny. I needed that trombone from the moment I saw it but it was far too expensive. They didn’t want to spend that much money on an instrument I might decide I didn’t like. My parents told me unless I picked out another trombone, I would have to switch instruments. I really didn’t want that so I finally agreed to get the used trombone the school offered me.
ReplyDeleteWhen I saw the trombone my parents could afford to get me, I was heartbroken. This trombone was smaller, less shiny, had no trigger, and was slightly dented. It was such a down grade from the one I wanted. It played very nicely though. The sound was rich and full. When I heard it, I fell in love with it. The trombone is probably three times my age, and the wear and tear has grown. The dents are ridiculously large, the bell is bent too. The entire slide of the instrument is twisted around and it no longer plays as well. It was a good trombone…for a fifth grader who didn’t know any better. I still play but the bargain we got on the other trombone makes my parents reluctant to buy another more expensive one. Buying the school trombone instead of the 2,000 dollar one was a good bargain but now we have to get another one otherwise I will have to stop playing.
The bargain was good and practical and I’m glad I stuck with the instrument. I am, however, upset at how horrible it sounds now. I am extremely grateful for the compromise with my parents but it jeopardizes my ability to continue playing.
One summer a few years ago I made in my opinion a good bargain in the Bahamas. I was cruising to the Bahamas with my friends and family and one stop was the Bahamas. When we got off the boat and we walked around. We came across a market on the side of the street called the Straw market. In the market people of the Bahamas have souvenirs that they sell at their price. Usually each person has the same things as the others so one booth might have cheaper knick-knacks than the other. When I was there I wanted a ship in a bottle. My mom knew that we would have to bargain with them to get the best deal.
ReplyDeleteMy family and I walked from booth to booth looking for the best bargain. I saw a ship in the bottle I liked and I wanted to get it even though we saw cheaper. We asked him how much it cost and he said fifteen dollars. I wasn’t going to spend that amount so my mom told me that a few booths down it would be cheaper, knowing that he would come down. We started walking away when he lowered his price to ten dollars. I said “how about five” and he hesitated. He told me eight dollars and he would include the secret on how he makes his ships in a bottle. I couldn’t beat that deal and I got a bonus. I paid him eight dollars and we left. I walked away happy knowing I got a good deal.
Bargains aren’t always the best deals because they make you feel you could have done better. This deal in my opinion was a great deal. Once when we were having a yard sale I was selling a bike and a scooter. Two people asked how much and my Grandpa said 100, they said 75. I said deal thinking that was the best. My Grandpa explained to me that we could have made more than that. I felt I made a good decision but I realized I didn’t. That taught me that sometime you don’t always make a good bargain. Next time I’m bargaining I will try to get the most money, or pay as low as I can. This is why bargaining can make you happy or mad.
I'm always looking for a good bargain when I go shopping. My family doesn't like spending a lot of money on stuff we don't need to spend money on. The only time we usually spend a lot of money on really expensive things is on holidays and birthdays. I nmy family, it's good to look around for deals.
ReplyDeleteI scored a bargain one time when I was at Macy's. I saw this I liked dress that ended up being $50. I ended up convincing my mom to buy it, because there ended being a 50% off everything in the store sale.
When we got to the cash register there ended up being another sale if you used you Macy's card. The dress ended up being $15 instead of $50!
This ended up being the best choice to make. The dress was a really quality, and with the sales it ended up being the best dress to buy. I was really happy with my decision.
Matthew Albanese
ReplyDeleteI have made wrong choices when believing in gimmicks in bargains. A bargain is something that is supposed to be a good deal;it takes off the price down or throws in an extra item for the same price. Something to this affect, changes how people view the items that they want, and they get them. Bargains can be a good thing, but they can also be a bad thing. They can be false bargains, promising things that people won't give to you, and actual bargains that are worth it. I wrongly believed that the bargain the internet had was a good deal. Believing in a bargain is a choice that is not always good and sometimes it ends with the person who wanted the bargain hurt. Bargains are not always what they turn out to be.
The bargain that I wrongly chose to believe in was on the internet. It was a advertisement box that said I had won a chance to win a free Iphone by taking a survey. I was bored and I felt like doing something random so I was looking for surveys and found one that asked about my favorite activities. I clicked on the box and the screen got bigger. It now said I could choose between a Iphone, a Ipad, or a Kindle Fire. I stuck to what I wanted before, and clicked the button for the Iphone below the icon. Then I clicked continue, and the screen went to a raffle website. I clicked "enter raffle for Iphone" and instead of joining the raffle, my computer shut down. It sent a virus into my computer. Without thinking about the advertisement clearly, I made the wrong choice about a bargain. The bargain was not a bargain at all, because it was an unfair scam. I thought it was affordable because it was free. Bargains are not always what they turn out to be.
People who are trying to make bargains and think that they have made the right choice need to be careful. I made the wrong choice by clicking on the advertisement bargain on my computer. I had believed that it was a good choice at the time, but now all I think is that it was a very stupid idea. It was not the best choice at all. Bargains can be very good deals, if they are actual bargains. The bargain that I choose on was a scam. Scams are bargains that are fake and only give you problems other than a good deal. It is possible bargains can be a good deal, but they can also be scams. Fake bargains need to be carefully watched out for, because people need to be protected from them. Bargains can hurt people because they are not always what they turn out to be.
The first time I made a true bargain was when I was going to purchase my tenor saxophone. I had wanted to purchase a tenor saxophone for a few months but I knew they were expensive. I also knew that I wanted a high quality saxophone with a good tone. Because I was so picky, I found it hard to accomplish the task of finding a saxophone I wanted. The first person I talked to was Rick, the man who owned Rick’s Music, the place where I took alto saxophone lessons. He said he was in the middle of fixing a 1949 Martin tenor saxophone. I was very excited but because of it needed to be fixed I decided to continue my search. Eventually I had found nothing and returned to Rick’s Music. Rick said was going to finish up soon and so I decided I would want to buy that saxophone. I made a deal with the seller, along with the help of my mother. We ended up buying that saxophone, which made me very pleased.
ReplyDeleteWhile deciding whether to buy the Martin tenor saxophone, I believed I was making a great choice. Rick was a person that I trusted. He spoke to me as if I was an adult and earned my respect, leading me to believe that he wouldn’t cheat me out of any money. I had also done a lot of research about the Martin tenor saxophone, so I trusted my judgment about the saxophone. I believed that I would have known if the saxophone was a piece of junk and I thought the Martin was in great shape. My mother was there to support me as well, so I was sure she would keep me from making a stupid decision. Lastly, I believed I was making an affordable decision because Rick had brought the price down a fair amount so that I would be able to make the purchase. Purchasing the Martin tenor saxophone wasn’t a difficult decision for me, when I was making the purchase I was confident that I was making a good, practical and affordable decision.
A year later I still believe that purchasing my tenor saxophone was one of the best decisions I made. I love my saxophone. I consider him one of my prized possessions and treat him as if he is my child. My saxophone is in great condition and plays incredibly well. The tone of my saxophone is something that really impresses me, and being a band geek I know a lot about tone. My saxophone is very high quality, for being sixty-three years old it is in amazing condition. It has very few cosmetic problems and no functionality problems at all. The price that we bought my saxophone for was amazing for what the saxophone is. I would have even paid more for my saxophone but I am very glad that Rick let my purchase it for less. With my saxophone I have made many improvements as a musician. It has helped me to be noticed when participating in auditions. I made a great purchase last year and wouldn’t trade in my tenor saxophone for any other tenor!
The most highly anticipated trip any Lincoln Middle School Student could go on was to New York City. Only one of the eighth grade teams was lucky enough to go on it and it was simply what everyone looked forward to all year. From the first day of school all the teachers joked about how people only liked being on team eight because it was the team that went to New York. From there on out the trip was what loomed in the back of everyone’s mind. Throughout the year fundraisers were held with towels sold and the anticipation built its self up inside everyone one little bit of information given at a time.
ReplyDeleteSoon my English teacher would give us what he liked to call “New York Minutes” where he would talk about different points of our trip and explain how procedures would be done so that the day of the actual field trip would run safely and smoothly. Most of the tidbits of information were about how we had to be at the school at 5:30 in the morning and him trying to explain to us the boundaries of where we could go in the mall after we spent the afternoon at Ellis Island. I listened attentively to everything told to me so that I would be that one kid who messed up the trip for everyone. Well actually, the one thing I did not pay the most attention to was when my teacher talked about making bargains with street vendors. I am not a very pushy person so it seemed silly to me because I would probably not want to hackle to get a price down. Still, I kept one ear open just in case I wanted to get something on the trip.
The day we actually went to New York City was long, exciting, and very fun. My group took probably a million pictures of the city, each other and of course, ourselves. But, these pictures were not going to be the only way to keep the memory of the trip. As the day went on my group kept talking about how we wanted to find New York City sweatpants or sweatshirts so we could all get a souvenir from the day. After walking around through the mall, I came to the realization that the best deal would be from one of the street vendors and that I would have so bargaining to do. I proceeded to walk up and down along the carts bursting with bright NYC sweatshirts, t-shirts, and hats with my friend Emily so we could scope out the best deal. Eventually, we came to a man whose priced were relatively good and had the design we wanted in the sweatshirt. We both picked out the one we wanted expecting to pay about fifteen dollars apiece but then it dawned at us that we could just try to buy them together. After a bit of bold conversation we got the price of both sweatshirts down to just twenty dollars. Looking back, I think that Emily and I both made a good choice that day. Being in an exhausted stupor from getting up at 5:30 in the morning deal leave me with a sweatshirt that was a size too large though.
Myer- I have had some bargains in my life, but the one that I messed up on were my purple and green Adidas F50 soccer cleats I ordered online. I went to Dick's Sporting Goods to get a pair cleats, but they were on the pricey side. They were about 200 dollars. I then told my mom, "I know a website where I can get a different color for 150." She then said Ok, and we left the store.
ReplyDeleteI then ordered the cleats online, which took about 2 weeks to come in. Once I got them, I realized that they seemed cheaper than the one's I checked out in the store. The website, in hindsight, was not trustworthy. Then it clicked. That these are fake and that I was ripped off. I was really mad and I regretted my decision to buy them online. I was playing in them, and the sole of the cleats broke apart from the upper, and I had to get them stitched. I was really mad with myself.
The moral of the story is that no matter how expensive something is, you can always get tricked. I got tricked into buying cleats which I could have gotten for 200 and they were real, but instead I spent fifty dollars less for fake cleats. It was not a good bargain and it was not the best choice I could have made.
Jon-Luc Jarboe
ReplyDeleteBargains are great when your searching for something you want though most of the time they come with catch or problem with them. An example of one bargain is when I went online for the first time. I remember seeing a click box saying free ipod, I immediatley clicked it and it sent a nasty virus into the computer, my father had to work on it for a week before it was operating functionaly again. Though I had learned my lesson nothing is ever free and some bargains are just scams. However later in life when my mother and I were looking for a kitten we encountered a lot more bargains. Some of these scams I still remember to this day because of how thought out they were or how dumb they were.
I remember when I was eleven years old my mother and I were online looking for a kitten to get. We then went on to what looked like a nice site and saw a picture of an adorable kitten, my mother then proceded to contact the owners of the kitten through email to see if we could get it. A few days later an email came back saying your puppies will come from Nigeria in a few weeks, we then thought to ourselves and knew it was a complete scam. It was a good thing we didn't send them our credit card information or this would have been horrible. To this day I reflect on this experience and laugh because the people running the scam were obviously dumb or they would have said kitten instead of puppies. However not all scams are as obvious.
Another experience I had with so called bargains was with an online package company. When I was a kid I remember wanting a certain machine that was called a shrinky dink, it took special paper heated it up and shrunk it. I asked my parents if I could have this toy, but they did not know where to get one, until I found a packaging company online. I told my parents about it and they went and looked I was so excited that I was going to get the toy I wanted. When they came back they told me they could get the toy because the company was a scam just wanting to take our money. I was heart broken i asked my parents why people do scams. They said they do it because people are greedy and want money the easy way by tricking people. Guess it goes to show you one person wants something the easy way and so does another one.
As a young child, I always wanted things that were expensive. I remeber asking alll of my realitives for money to buy a northface jacket. This was a hiking jacket worth 250$ and it was all I wanted.
ReplyDeleteI gathered the money from different realitives from birthday presents to buy this jacket. So i did. This turned out to be an awful choice. I had just wasted 250$ on a jacket I wore once. I also bought this enourmous jacket durng the spring season. Therefore, by the time the weather was cool again , it didnt fit my growing body.
Since this purchase i have come to realize that I need to think before I purchase worthless material. I am a much better baraginer now and look for deals when I shop. With the holidays coming up, I plan on making the best financial decesion for myself.
-Maya