Boring Groceries & Exciting Woot! Find

Let's start with the boring and mundane:

Yesterday I made two separate stops at two different grocery stores.  After a morning appointment with a roofing guy I made a quick run to Natural Grocers -- $28.54. The Son has finished off the milk the night before (he did ask first) so I bought a gallon of Horizon 2% for $5.19 (why is the cost of milk so gosh darned high?).  I also picked up a large bottle of fiber caps ($19.39).  I know the capsules are more expensive than the powder and the powder really isn't all that bad but the caps are way more convenient.  I also indulged in an Odwalla Strawberry C Monster ($2.49) -- I've cut way back on these treats but they were on sale and it sounded good.

Later in the day, after picking up The Son from art class, we stopped for a few "essentials" at Krogers -- $15.08. We were down to our last bit of chocolate milk so I bought two half gallons ($3.79/ea.).  We were also out of Breyer's chocolate ice cream ($4.99).  The Son chose a Hungry Man frozen dinner ($1.99).  In the checkout line we grabbed an commemorative Inaugural issue of the daily paper ($0.50).

Now on to the more exciting:

I don't remember to check Woot! every day but, to my delight, I did check it yesterday.  I scored a brand new (not refurbished) Polaroid DVC-00725F High Def 720p Digital Camcorder for $134.99 (including the $5 shipping charge).

The Daughter had listed a camcorder high on her birthday wish list (just under the "own car" wish) but after the cost of her Jonas Brothers movie/pizza party/sleepover, I wasn't thinking a camcorder was very likely.

The interesting thing is that I did almost no research on the product before buying it.  This is very unlike me -- to buy anything, much less an electronic device, without thorough consumer research is just not my style.  I did check to confirm the video output format (.avi) and I did confirm that I can play that format on our new Macs (I actually have some camera movies in .avi format already on my iMac).  And I did cast about quickly for reviews on CNet and Amazon (none existed).  I called The Husband to get his opinion/okay.  But mostly it was a seat-of-the-pants impulse buy based on a few facts -- she wants a camcorder, we don't have a camcorder, I've thought about buying one for at least the past year, it was $100 less than the next best price, and it uses SD card for memory which is the same format as all of our digital cameras.

I figured at that price, even if the camera doesn't last very long, it would still be worth the purchase.  As long as the footage that it captures is passable, the benefit of adding to our collection of home video footage in a format that won't require any additional equipment will justify the cost.

I've missed not having a camcorder and was disappointed to come home from last summer's family reunion with only still photos of the action.  In the past, the kids had a barrel of fun with our old Sony camcorder before it gave up the ghost about two years ago. I'm counting on them having fun with this one too.  Also, The Son's being confirmed this spring and his Grannie, an aunt, and several cousins will be coming in for the event.  If we're really lucky and the camera holds up, there will be The Daughter's senior play and her graduation in 2010 to capture for prosperity.

Most of all, The Husband and I are happy because we feel like we stayed within a reasonable budget while making all of The Daughter's 17th-birthday dreams come true (well, okay, everything but that her-own-car dream which simply isn't going to happen).

Related posts:

1. $$: Panda Express, Groceries, a Book & a Shirt
2. Day 162: Food and Shakespeare
3. $$: Co-Pay, Fees, & Groceries
4. $$: Gifts, Meds, and Groceries
5. Day 210: More Groceries