Okay, I did a thing yesterday and I’m kind of excited. My KitchenAid mixer is currently housed in our mobile storage container, but thankfully, my sister has one at her house (where we are currently residing until our new house is built). That said, I’ve been watching the coordinating attachments that rarely go on sale actually go on sale in recent weeks on Macys.com, but haven’t pulled the trigger yet (I mean, what’s the rush? Their sale doesn’t end until 4/19). However, the current run on ground meat and pasta at our local grocery stores has had my sister and me thinking that maybe the Food Grinder and Pasta Maker attachments might not be such a bad idea to invest in right now!
What I didn’t realize was that KitchenAid itself is also hosting a sale! Thanks to those awesome browser “cookies” (#sarcasm), I saw a KitchenAid.com advertisement while doing some routine social media scrolling. I took a look at their prices and was shocked to find that they are actually less expensive than Macy’s right now and their sale ENDS TONIGHT at 11:59PM. Also, the brand website has a Pasta Press, which I like even better than the pasta maker!
Then I got really excited when I saw KitchenAid.com’s additional 10% off your first purchase offer and scooped up my items right then and there. Having spent the better part of the last decade as a retail buyer, I should have instinctively done a little more competitive shopping.
Turns out, BedBathandBeyond.com is offering the same pricing as KitchenAid’s proprietary site, AND if it’s your first time purchasing on BB&B’s website, you can get 20% off of one item. For your convenience, I’ve ranked the sites by savings potential below, although BB&B and KitchenAid could be interchangeable depending on what all you’re looking to purchase.
- KitchenAid.com: Extra 10% off your entire first order / Free S&H
- BedBathandBeyond.com: Extra 20% off single item (first order only) / Free S&H
- Macys.com: Extra 15% off at Checkout / Free S&H
So did I let that extra 20% off promotion from BB&B go to waste? Well, you see… there’s this Sifter/Scale attachment that I’ve had my eye on since before these pandemic-induced grocery shortages started. (I think you know where this is going…) I mean, I really should be sifting my flour for pasta-making and baking, so I totally need it, right? My wildly talented chef-friend would get a real kick out of this culinary novice right now (Lyndsy, if you’re reading this, I realize I probably should have consulted you about these first).
Anyway, the Sifter would technically be my “splurge” item out of the three since my “immediate need” was for the other two attachments. If I was to move forward with said splurge item, then it should only be purchased while heavily discounted on BB&B with the 20% off coupon applied — I mean how do you say no to that price? I wouldn’t know.
I placed the order and later found that BB&B also carries the Pasta Press that I had literally just bought an hour or so earlier from KitchenAid.com. Had I done my homework beforehand, I could have purchased that one with the additional 20% off instead (since it had the highest price point). That would have been an additional $12.99 in savings on my total purchases (provided I buy the other two items from KitchenAid with the extra 10%). Unfortunately, the websites of both retailers are currently overloaded and cannot change my orders. [cue “surrender cobra”]
Honestly, all of the justifications do seem pretty legitimate in my mind, and I am excited to use the attachments; but upon realizing that my little “rainy day fund” took a slightly bigger hit than it really should have, I feel like my “blackbelt in shopping” just received a demotion. At the end of the day, I saved $82.50 on the combined purchase of the Pasta Press and Food Grinder order, so one way I could look at it is: I took the savings from one transaction and squeezed a “bonus” item out of it. But hold the phone… that means I basically just suckered myself into a “buy 2 get 1 free” promotion, when I wasn’t even planning to spend that money in the first place! Is it just me, or was this an epic fail at saving money? Ugh, buyer’s remorse is the worst!
So, this post is pretty much going to serve as a reminder for future-me to not go crazy just because I see rarely-discounted items I want go on sale. It’s also going to remind me to use my new mixer attachments as frequently and as excitedly as I had intended at the time of purchase. So, get ready for some follow-up posts on how I put these bad boys to use!
Final Two Cents:
First, don’t make the same mistake I did. It’s still great to take advantage of a rare and limited time sale, but be sure to take it slow and really think through your purchase(s), especially during this time. I went into it with the best of intentions but ended up letting excited shopaholic tendencies get the best of me!
Secondly, help me put my money where my mouth is! If you have any of these attachments for your mixer at home, what do you like to make? I’m going to need ideas and recipes STAT (er… in 3-7 business days).
