I'll toast to that!

My mom is an amazing shopper. If there is a sale or a bargain to be had she will find it. She's that person that sees something for 30% off, takes it to the till just to be told it's another 50% off that! She's always finding great deals and I like to think a little of this luck has rubbed off on me. Well yesterday it definitely did!

I was out shopping for a new toaster oven as our toaster died last week and we decided to replace it with a toaster oven because of it's additional functions. We gave ourselves a $50 budget as really it may just end up being a glorified toaster and it's not like we need anything fancy. While in the neighborhood I went to Zellers (as I refuse to shop other places) to see if they had something for that price. I was looking at a few toaster ovens that were $49.99 and as I was figuring that one of those would be sufficient I saw it. Laying on the top of a box of a much bigger, shinier and fancier toaster oven was a sale sign. The price was regularly $79.97 but it was marked down to $35. Wahoooo I thought! I looked the toaster oven over and was impressed by it's far superior capabilities and quickly picked up a box to put in my cart. I looked back at the sign to make sure I had the right toaster oven before I took it to the till. Sure enough it was the only Black and Decker toaster oven priced at $79.97 so it had to be the right one. That's when I noticed that the dates for the sale were Dec. 1 - Dec. 28. My heart had only a second to sink before I thought of every shopping tip my mother has given me, one of which included - "If a sale sign is left up they have to honor the price." With her confidence and my own assertive attitude, I took the toaster oven to the till and sure enough it rang up at $79.97. I kindly told the cashier about the sign I had seen and after a phone call to a less than helpful department clerk, the cashier and I went back to the toaster oven aisle to further investigate the situation. The department clerk wanted to argue the toaster oven I had wasn't the right one... the staff stocking shelves had mistagged the boxes.... and on and on. The cashier was on my side the entire time and I just stuck to the policy that if the sale tag is left out you have to honor the price (which the cashier herself had already said). It was a short debate and soon I was back at the till purchasing a $79.97 toaster oven for $35!! I SAVED more than I was originally going to spend!

I brought it home and it looks so pretty on my countertop. We made toast for breakfast and I'm making dinner in it tonight, I'm pretty sure it's my new favorite thing.