When You Need Cheap, You CAN Find It in America

Last  night I was with some dear friends who just returned from Finland --- yeah, THAT country that everybody talks about when the high quality of living standards is the topic.  We concluded that it would be hard to apply the Finnish approach to America because, gosh darn, we are just too diverse. 


Take for example, Harbor Freight Tools.  America the diverse NEEDS Home Depot, Lowe's AND Harbor Freight.


I had never known of its existence until the words "free scissors" caught my eye when I was going through the Sunday paper.  It was the Harbor Freight flyer.  I later asked my son about the store. He pressure washes and might likely have been there for tools.  "Yeah, I've been there when I need something to use once. Whatever I buy there usually breaks after a few uses." Music to my ears!  Somewhere truly cheap that I had never been. "Take me there!" "Mother, there is NOTHING there you would want.'

"I want my free scissors with just one store purchase (no dollar limit noted)."

"But you do not need any scissors.  You have plenty."

He did not realize that he had just lost.  No couponer worth her salt buys on the basis of current need but anticipated.  I knew that sometime in the future we would lose enough pairs of scissors to allow for an extra.   

I won.  We drove there.  It was in a modest neighborhood with minimal signage next to a Food City.  I would have missed it if I were looking for it by myself.

Yep--cheap.  BUT SOMETIMES ALL YOU NEED IS CHEAP!!  I am so disappointed that my picture of the garden gnomes didn't turn out, because they were cheap AND cute, and great for practical jokes. (I looked for flamingos, but I didn't find any.)
  
 Below is a simple canopy.  I was intrigued with the Mustang 
-- has nothing to do with the canopy.
 I was able to do a price comparison: 
To the right is a 40 piece socket set for $3.99.  The least expensive socket set at Home Depot is $12.97 for just 10 pieces.  hmmm. I'm thinking that this is a perfect example of what my son was talking about -- one (use) and done.


What did I purchase to get my "free" scissors.  Can't tell.  It's a Father's Day gift that I reduced the price with a 20 percent off coupon.  Scissors were listed on my receipt at $4.99.