Queen of the Deal

Please note this photo has no relationship whatsoever to the story that follows.

My mission, my life's work, is to buy exactly what I want at the price I am willing to pay (although it may be necessary from time to time to adjust my definition of what I want or how flexible the budget is, but that's a lesson for another time). Paying retail is for wimps and sissies. I spit on paying retail. Phtphht! Phtphht!

I will patiently stalk a deal like a cheetah tracking a wildebeest thru the Serengeti plains until the perfect moment to strike presents itself, then I pounce! and in one swift movement cut my prey from the rest of the herd, grab it by the throat and wrestle it to the ground, then I dispatch it with one deadly bite to its throat. Then I return home victoriously dragging my bargain booty in my teeth to share it with the other cats in my pride. Or something like that. Point being, I get a thrill from a deal.

Anyway, until now my personal best effort was to score the fancy $1,800 two drawer dishwasher that I absolutely couldn't live without for a mere $695 including the optional stainless steel panels (you can read about it here, scroll down till you see the post called "The Love of my Life).

And you may remember earlier this year when I filled my entire SUV with plants for $10.

But the deal I got yesterday....My. Best. Work. Ever.

The prey I've been stalking lately involves the renovation we're planning for our outdoor kitchen. We love cooking out there in the summer but it is starting to look a little tired and in need of some TLC (I'd show you a photo of it but I'm at the lake today so you'll just have to take my word for it).

We thought about replacing the wood doors on the cooking island with stainless steel like in this photo, but the cost was going to be brutal--just one set of doors would cost about $400 and we needed several sets.

So yesterday I was killing time waiting for an appointment with the eye doctor when I spotted my prey--an outdoor living boutique going out of business.

And it was the last day before they closed. And they were motivated and willing to damn near give it away entertain reasonable offers.

And they really didn't give a rat's ass what the stuff sold for as long as they didn't get stuck with any of it.

I shifted into Cheetah mode and moved in for the kill.

And to make a long story short, I walked out of there with $2,000 worth of stainless steel doors, drawers, bins, trim kits--everything we need to renovate our outdoor kitchen. For $116.

I am indeed the Queen of the Deal. All hail.