Sometimes It Pays To Be Early

...And to have an Old Navy card for that point.  Here's the deal, literally speaking.  Old Navy does this thing called Stuff & Save for it's card members.  Normally, you save 20% off anything you can stuff into a bag.  Lately, they've even been giving you a free reuseable bag (how ecofriendly of them).  Well, this time, my stuff & save invite comes in the mail, only this time it's for 30% off.  I marked the date on my calendar that it started and put the card in my wallet.  I really didn't read much else or think anything about it.  My iPod alerted my Thursday night that the sale started the next day.  After browsing over my schedule for the day, I decided the best time to go would be before Owen's class Halloween party, basically right as it opened. 

As I walked in the store with 3 kids, I noticed a woman standing there waiting to greet me.  "Hhmm, that's odd," I thought, "I guess they're upping they're customer service tactics."  The the lady speaks, "Do you have an Old Navy card?"

"Yep, sure do," I replied, "I'm here to use my Stuff & Save."

"Well, you're #46. Here's your free bag & 50% off coupon."

50% off?  I felt like I just won the lottery.  Come the think of it, I vaguely remember reading that a certain number of people would get a higher percentage rate, but since I'm rarely able to to get any where when I want to, I just ignored it.  Turns out, trying to squeeze in a "quick" run to Old Navy with three kids was the best decision I made that day.  It sort of went down hill from there.

From that point, I felt like I was on Super Market Sweep.  I'm grabbing here and snatching there, shoving anything that would fit any of the 5 human beings in my house into the bag and moving on.  Then I saw it.  The sign said, "Extra 50% off all clearance."  Oh man, I had just walked into an oasis of good deals, plus I got to add my 50% off coupon to it.  Mostly I bought for the kids, $.50 shirts here, $.27 flip flops there.  It was seriously a paradise.  It didn't even bother me that my 4 year old was running around wreaking havoc through out the store.

All in all, I got over $500 worth of clothes & accessories for $100.  Not too shabby, huh?  Lesson learned, always be early!  Now if only I could convince my kids of this.