Let the spending begin

We went to our first big sale event at the local department store - Gottshalks (like the old G. Fox in Hartford). Periodically the store runs special sales on a Tuesday where if you have one of the store charge cards, plus it's a special 55+ card you get an additional 15% off all your purchases if you use the store credit card. Then on these special sale days they run deep discounts 40% to 50% off and they send you those scratch off cards in the mail for 10% to 100% off your final purchase over a certain period of time. The 55+ crowd is very attuned to these sales. We thought it would be fun to see what all the fuss is about. The parking lot was jammed and cars were circling looking for a space. There were long lines at all the cashiers. We went looking for new pillows. I read somewhere that you should change your pillows every year! So we found these $20 pillows which were on sale for 50% off plus we got the 15% off for using the 55+ credit card and stood in line for them to scratch of our card for an additional 15%! Almost free! Less than $15 after tax for 2 new pillows. It was quite an adventure and you'd never guess there is a recession on with the way those seniors were spending money.