- Use the power of cash.
- Don't be afraid to negotiate.
- Be willing to walk away.
- Know where to find the deals.
So...
Because we had such great success with our little 4x4 square foot garden last summer...
...this year, we're expanding! In addition to our 4x4, we're taking a little corner of grandma's field to plant corn, potatoes, yams, cucumbers, melons, tomatoes, lettuces, peas and herbies.
Garden expansion = Trip to Home Depot
We needed potting soil, compost, fertilizer, and vermiculite, so we tried out our bargaining chops this morning at the Home Depot.
We went looking for the advertised 1 cubit bag of MiracleGrow soil for $3.97 in the rows of fertilizers and compost. Lee noticed that there were rips in some of the bags as we walked around, and he decided to see if he could get a better bargain due to the damaged packaging. So he simply asked.
The nice garden center associate told us that Home Depot will sell 8 damaged bags--any type and size--for $4.08. Yes, people, that is four dollars and eight cents for a total of 8 bags of ANY bag that is torn! Holy cannoli!
Naturally, we got our 8 (four different types of fertilizers and compost). And naturally, we got the name brand stuff! It was awesome!
We hope this money-saving tip will help you gardeners out there. And we'd love to hear your tips on saving money when making purchases--post a comment and share with the rest of us!
I am totally impressed with your savvy-saving-skills!
ReplyDeleteThat's awesome, you guys! Who knew you could ask for discounts at places like Home Depot? Also, I'm going to a square foot gardening class next week. Was it tricky? We should talk about this! :)
ReplyDeleteI cannot tell you how much I am in love with Dave Ramsey! Okay, I'm not in love with him in a romantical way, but seriously he is amazing.
ReplyDeleteJared got me hooked and we listen to him all the time. I've learned so much!
And...Jared and I always ask for discounts...hence our $75 solid wood mahogany door...normally around $500-$600. Asked a guy at Lowes to give us a better deal and well...he did! We ask for deals all the time at home depot and lowes. Way to go! One day we even got some stuff free just cause they didn't have it marked. ALWAYS ask. I know we annoy people, but it's worth saving. Plus, if you're ever interested in some serious money saving, we know all the good places to go..NPS for example. Or for eye glasses: zennioptical.com. Jared got 5 pairs for $100 TOTAL. We're cheap and we're proud of it! :)
That's awesome! We're going to surprise the families with a visit in July. If you're around it would be fun to see you!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tips Winter!
ReplyDeleteThanks Winter! Benny wants to make some garden boxes and now we'll definitely look for the ripped bags. I also would never come within miles of any self-help book but Ben loves them so I'll tell him about this one. -Oriana
ReplyDeleteHere's a quick tip if there are snails in your garden. Get some chicken wire and cut out about a 1' by 1 1/2' piece and tie the two ends together with bread twist ties to form a circular snail barrier around your little plants while they're still young. If you have deer, make the snail barrier a little taller, like 1 1/2' then the deer can't get their noses into the barriers to eat the plants.
ReplyDeleteWhen your plants grow bigger, the leaves are tougher and the snails and deer don't like eating them as much. You can remove the barriers when they're really big. Save the chicken wire to use year after year.
Enjoy your garden!