Zannee’s Blog at BargainsLA.com

Some of you may have noticed that CVS took over Savon. In my neck of the woods that takeover has been a shopping nightmare starting with my prescription which I had filled there for the last 4 years. Suddenly they were out. I had to take it up to Rite Aid to have it filled. Next problem, my hair shampoo & conditioner was no longer on the shelves. This was followed by the disappearance of my skin scrub and tooth whitening paste. This store had none of my favorite items and it was a waste of time to even shop there.

Fed up and rather irritated, I spoke with the manager who agreed with me on every complaint. Damn, I hate it when I’m right and they agree with me. I was geared up for an argument.

A few weeks ago they had re-done the store and had started rolling out some special savings. Hubby got me a savings membership card even though I said I wouldn’t go there anymore. He went on and on, on how cool the store was now and how good the layout was.

So I went back.
Yep it was a good layout with a better selection than most other drug stores. Huge banners hung from the ceiling saying they were 1000’s of lower prices. Oh yeah? I picked up some favorites. 39 cents more for my hair care products. 39 cents more for cough drops, 79 cents more for rubbing alcohol. What the *^$&%#%!!!

As I checked out and paid more for these items than I did before, I told the clerk that there are laws against false advertising and that I just paid $1.50 for the same items than I did last month. So where were the savings? What came out of his mouth was not discernible English. Oh I get it…. They must have lowered the wages of the workers.

If you’ve had a different experience, let me know.

Can you imagine constantly going into great discount stores and not buying anything?

I hit new stores and malls every week to stay on top of the trends and manufacturers. The frustration… the control needed not to buy when the pricing is soo good, is enormous! But this last month has proved too great a temptation. After all, I am human. All the sample sales, all the warehouse blowouts… all the bargain Holiday goodies before me!

I figured if I was to succumb I’d get it out of the way, do it early and at a great sale. I hit the LF warehouse sale with a girlfriend. We worked the sale like pros, systematically going through each area, bin and table picking up choice pieces. Not only did we pick up goodies for ourselves, but we also loaded up on present as well. I bought 2 full trash bags full of cool duds for $198. Retail would have run me near $1800. I was on a total shopping high for over a week!

That shopping spree had to hold me over. For the next two weeks I worked like a lunatic getting out the best sales and inside scoop in our newsletter, Bargain Alerts and Hot Sales page. Though I did some gift shopping, I didn’t partake of any shopping just for fun. Though I uncovered the Mortise & Tenon outlet, I didn’t succumb there either. Just looked over the product, asked a bunch of questions and got the info I needed.

Stupefying exhaustion hit on 12/20. After several moments of bad behavior and 12 hours of sleep, I needed a fix. So I wandered over to It’s a Wrap in Burbank and tried on everything in my size. It’s funny how when you allow yourself to shop and buy, the items are not as attractive as when you can’t buy them. Three hours later I only came home with a Bebe dress jacket and great pair of Ya Ya pants for $70. I could have bought more but didn’t. I used my Shoppers Club Card and got an additional $7 off. I was still so out to lunch and goofy that the guy behind the counter had to remind me I was a member. DUH!

Christmas and fun shopping done, I probably won’t hit any of the cool after Christmas sales… That is, unless I get some gift cards as Christmas presents. Then the whole extreme shopping adventure may happen again. Look out! I could be a woman on the loose!