Kitchen Bargains

Happy post-holidays to everyone!

I've been enjoying perusing all the great after-Christmas sales. Since I'm so excited about some of my finds, I wanted to share them.

This deal, I will confess, I found a few days before Christmas. Tim really wanted a grill, and saw this model at Target for $84. On the ibuybarbecues.com site, it runs for $188.95! I told him we probably couldn't afford it. THEN, he got hired as a restaurant cook! So I ran out on my lunch hour last week to get it for him. We made ribeyes last night and they were fantastic! (That's mostly due to his culinary skills though, but I will give the grill some credit) Unfortunately, I didn't realize how expensive propane tanks are! $60 later, I felt robbed. Thanks Blue Rhino!

Out at Big Lots, Tim and I found a Rival Seal-A-Meal unit for $32. After stopping at Sam's Club to buy a box of bulk rolls of Food Saver bags (you can use any brand) we were rolling. It works great, and we were happy that it's much cheaper than other units we've seen out and about. ($100 plus)

Tim has also really wanted a KitchenAid stand mixer. Oddly enough my aunt offered to buy us one as a wedding gift, but I told her that gifts weren't necessary. Hopefully she'll stick by my rule. Since we eloped, I did not want family or friends feeling pressured to buy or give us anything. Our parents have given us wedding gifts, and that's okay. But extended family members I hope don't feel like they need to do that.

During a one day Amazon.com sale last Friday, I saw this pro 600 model for $279.99. Right now on the site, it is going for $349. There is a $50 rebate, so that brings down the price to $219.99. That's the cheapest I've ever seen a KitchenAid mixer, that particular model.

It's the six quart all-metal 10-speed stand mixer with a powerful 575-watt motor. I was so psyched about finding this deal, that I spilled to Tim, even though I was hoping it would be a surprise.

The next day his mother told him she also purchased one. Apparently she's going to return it and buy us some pots and pans.

All in all, for these three items we paid $335. That's less than the regular price of just the mixer alone. I estimate that we saved about $300 with these bargain finds. I can definitely live with that. =)