This morning I left the house to go to town to run errands. I had several things I needed to do which were: get a haircut, purchase a few new vacation clothes, drop off dry cleaning, get a new bass rod and reel (I broke one this week that needs replaced), buy Thompson deck water sealer from Home Depot and price some travel golf bags.
I definitely had my work cut out for me so I planned a route in my mind that was the most optimized and headed out. After getting my hair cut I stopped into the Golf Shop to price some travel bags. Next week we are heading to Orlando, Fl for vacation as well as Tech Ed and I wanted to golf some. But, I don’t have a travel golf bag.
I walked into the store and the one I liked which you see pictured to the left is the Bag Boy Hybrid HCX Wheeled Travel Bag/Cover that retails for $129.99. I looked at some other bags that were not hard shelled and the least priced one was $69.99. The other bags they had were vinyl bags where you put your existing golf bag into it. Not bad and definitely cheaper than $129. However, I liked the hard case idea protecting my clubs. I didn’t purchase anything and instead left the store to think about the purchase. I drove to the sporting goods store down the street which has golf, fishing, guns, etc. Their golf selection is lacking but I thought I’d stop in since I had to go in there anyway for the new fishing rod and reel. I checked and nope, they didn’t have one. Onto the fishing rod and reel.
I stirred around the mass selection of fishing tackle moving from rack to rack, carefully looking at different brands etc. Just when I thought I had things figured out I saw this sale rack in the corner hidden and tucked away. Something I would have definitely missed if I was in a hurry but I wasn’t. It was Saturday and I had all day. Over to the rack I went. They had Mitchell 300 rod and reels. Great all around reels and really versatile (bass or catfish). Coincidentally my father gave me one when I was a boy that I cherished. The one he gave me lasted me almost 20 years. A great reel for the money. Turns out the rod and reel were on sale for $29! Normally the combination was $79. What a deal. I jumped on it.
Dollars saved so far: $50
I left and grabbed a bite to eat and then decided I would stop into a local store called Hudson’s. Hudson’s is one of those stored you can literally spend an entire day in once a week. What they do is buy close out deals or storm damage, or going out of business goods or whatever. Basically you have no idea what they will have but whatever it is will be at least %50 off retail value and it is all name brand stuff.
I walked through the store for about an hour working my way from isle to isle checking things out. Some things I didn’t *need* at this time but were great deals like a 14 feet limb trimmer that was regularly $80 for $25. I was about ready to go when I saw a guy with a golf club in his hand. I asked him if they had golf stuff and he said, yeah, a bunch. Go this way. Jackpot! They had bought out a whole golf chain and there were gloves, balls, cases, clubs, shirts, shoes, you name it. I saw a similar bag that was not hard cased and was perfectly happy saving 60% but I kept digging.
I walked through the isles and about 10 minutes later I found the same Bag Boy Hybrid that I saw at the retail golf shop earlier. I picked it up and sure enough it was the same bag but it didn’t have the top cover with it. I immediately started combing the area looking for the top cover. If I could find it, home run. Fifteen minutes later while I was digging in another area looking at some other hard case travel golf bags I found the cover. How I found it I have no idea. It was by sheer luck.
Dollars saved so far: $50 (reel) + $52 (golf bag) = $102
Several minutes later I found some other miscellaneous items that I needed as well that I had been putting off. I even picked up a couple of golf shirts.
Dollars saved so far: $102 + ($30 * 2 for golf shirts) + ($25 for misc stuff) = $187
Savings per hour: $62.33 ($187 / 3 hours spent shopping)
My rate of return is I made $62.33 per hour shopping rather than just running in and buying the first thing I saw. The moral of the story folks is if I had been in a hurry and just rushed to town I’d spent a lot more money and would have had a lot less to show for it.