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Catherine Gacad

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Perfect Gifts

IMG_3841We are thankful for any wedding present we receive—no matter what it is.  In fact, my favorite gift so far has been a photo album.  My cousin pieced it together with pictures that she had taken throughout the weekend.  It was really cute and well-done.  It obviously came from the heart!

More recently, we received two Williams-Sonoma gift cards—again, we are very appreciative.  I went to the website and scanned the categories: cookware, cooks’ tools, cutlery, electrics, bakeware.  Yikes!  We do not cook.  We nuke.  We radiate.  We do not bake, we do not grill, we do not marinate.  Cooking is so foreign to us.  I considered another approach.  I tried to find something on the site that was not cooking related.  Like the doormat.  $50 for a doormat?!  Or a kitchen stool.  $180 for a kitchen stool?!  Totally ridiculous.

So I did what I do best—barter.  I posted an ad on Craigslist and immediately received emails from people who were interested.  The first emailer offered to send money directly to my PayPal account.  Rather trustworthy of him.  But he sure did.  He bought both of my gift certificates at a slight discount (which would have been the sales tax I paid on any Williams-Sonoma item).  I went to the post office today, shipped it off with delivery confirmation.  Simple, easy, and done.

Found someone selling his brand new, unopened iPad that he got for working a tradeshow for $500.  I have been eyeing these beauties.  They cost $560 if you live in California because of the hefty sales tax AND they stiff you with a recycling fee—which they don’t charge other states!  So I save $60.  Hooray!  He met me at my work lobby, we did the exchange, and all is good in the world.

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07.13.10

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Welcome to my site, derived from an advice column I wrote while getting my MBA. I live in the San Francisco Bay Area. I give helpful, opinionated advice based on my own experience and from the expertise of my extensive network. For more, click here.

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