Being Thrifty

My husband’s company Christmas party is Sunday.  He’s only been employed there a week, so it will be a good opportunity to get to know his fellow employees.  In addition to the food and drinks, there is also a gift exchange.  I’m not exactly sure how it’s going to work, but every employee that brings a gift gets one in return.  It’s not mandatory, but my husband got the feeling that if he didn’t bring a gift, he’d be the only one not participating.  So, today I went out to find something suitable.  The only stipulation was that it had to be $20 or less.

There aren’t a lot of places to shop in this town, outside of Wal-Mart and Kmart.  There’s a lot of boutique and local shops, but anything decent there was out of the price range.  This close to the holidays, I will not go to Wal-Mart, even on a dare.  That place is too crazy when it’s not the holidays; I can just imagine what the store here would be like now, since there’s not a lot of other choices without driving 30 miles.

So, I went to Ross’s.  They don’t have Ross’s where I come from, so I wasn’t sure what to expect.  For those of you who aren’t familiar with Ross’s, it’s sort of like TJ Maxx or Marshall’s.  I think I did pretty well there.  I got 2 pillar candles, a package of 4 votive candles, a package of 12 tea lights, a crystal triple tea light holder, a votive cup, and a glass pillar plate, plus a gift bag and tissue paper, and I spent $19.79.

I would have spent at least $15 for the pillar candles alone anywhere else, including Wal-Mart.  I didn’t spend much time looking at what else they had, but they seemed to have really good deals on their clothing and accessories.  I will definitely be going back when I have more time to spend.