Hello, and welcome to another rousing round of Saturday Steals, where what you see is what you get and what you get is cheap or free!
To participate, simply:
1) Steal a steal.
2) Write a post about it on your blog, mentioning that you’re participating in Saturday Steals (you can steal the above image if you so desire), and
3) Add the link to said post to the list at the bottom of this post.
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Way back at the end of September I lived through my twenty-fourth birthday. I say “lived through” rather than “celebrated” because ever since moving to Canada, I have been a little homesick on my birthdays. Poor Kyle isn’t a huge acknowledger of birthdays (mine or his or anyone’s), so I find myself missing all the birthday traditions made with my own family growing up.
It is sad to be far away from home on one’s birthday, this is true. However, after experiencing four such days in the last five years, I feel qualified to propose that there is one good thing about living far away from my family and friend every time my birthday rolls around, and that one good thing is this:
Most of my family and friend don’t make it to the post office to send presents or cards until well after my birthday (or in some cases, even if they send presents in advance, the packages get held up at Customs, thanks a lot, NAFTA). (Actually I don’t think NAFTA has anything to do with long waits at Customs.) (Okay now it’s killing me—exactly which government institution do we have to thank for delayed packages every year…anyone?)
At any rate, the point is that with my birthday on September 25th, and the undeniable hassle of getting to the post office (no blame, I hate that chore too), I usually have the good fortune of receiving presents well into November, sometimes even December. It’s a solid three months of birthday joy!
Just today I went to the Mayberry Watering Hole and what to my wondering eyes should appear—a package from Chelsie*, the dearest of dears! Included in her birthday present was my favourite car air fresheners, my favourite chapstick, fancy hair product…
…and an iTunes gift card.
And finally, I can get to my point, which follows:
Does anybody else have more trouble spending gift cards than regular money?
Don’t get me wrong—I am a HUGE supporter/appreciator/utilizer of the gift card. I have never subscribed to the absurd school of thought that gift cards are too impersonal or whatever else. I give them with gusto and receive them in like manner.
My problem with gift cards is that I’m scared of not buying the right stuff with them—I don’t want to blow my opportunity to get something awesome that I wouldn’t normally justify buying with my own cash.
Give me a twenty-dollar bill and I can spend it without incident—almost without thought (Spendthrift McGee, that’s what they used to call me)—but give me a gift card and I will torment myself for weeks with the fear of screwing up.
Just a few weeks ago I had no problem spending $10 to buy an iTunes album that I’d been thinking about for a long time (Joseph Smith the Prophet by Rob Gardner, because I needed something spiritual for my hour-and-a-half weekly commute to the temple, and also because I am a glutton for making myself homesick for Mesa), but now that I’ve got a gift card I am making myself sick over the items left in my wish list:
Wailin’ Jennies? Couer de pirate? Matt Costa? More Avett Brothers?? Which album will I like best? Which one will keep me entertained longest? Which one has the most songs on it? (Gotta get Chelsie’s money’s worth.)
It’s killing me.
And I can’t do it anymore.
So I put it to you, readers. I need your input. If you had $15 to spend on music right here, right now, what would you buy without a second thought?
Please help me make the best of my wonderful steal.
*I also acknowledge my parents, grandparents, and in-laws for the money, my mother for the necklace, my sister for the sweet flat iron, and Poor Kyle for the heated blanket which his mother purchased on his behalf and for which he still has not reimbursed her. I’m warm under it as I type this post.
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Now it’s your turn! What have you stolen lately?
Add your steal to the link list below. It will be open from now till Sunday at 11:59 p.m.
p.s. This will be your last chance to participate in Saturday Steals for a month—until the first Saturday in December.
7 Responses to Saturday Steals: I can’t help myself.