Frugal….not cheap!

This morning I was looking for a jumper for my sons birthday party.  You know those big inflatable houses that kids can get inside and jump in.  We have not had a party at the house for two years.  Last year it wasn’t financially impossible and we opted for a small family party.  This year, because of my freelance writing, we were able to do a full fledge house party per my son’s request.

I found the business card for the company we used before.  Several years back they had just started in the busines and you could get a large jumper for $75.00 and they would bring it in the morning and leave it all day.  They were about $20.00 cheaper than everyone else.   The first year we rented from them, my husband met the guy at his warehouse and picked it up.   I decided to look at the website before I called to check their prices and saw the company had grown.  They were offering cotton candy machine and velcro walls that you could rent.  I was blown away when I saw that the large jumper was $175.00 for 4 hours.  As you know, I am particular how I spend my money.  $175.00 for a PSP is a value.  $175.00 for a bouncer is not.  I started searching on the  internet for other places and they were all charging the same amount.  Of course, they all proudly announce they clean and sanitize their jumpers, which, frankly never even crossed my mind tell they brought it up, so I guess that’s why the price had tripled in 3 years.  They needed to pay for all the Handywipes they are using.  Anyway, I was about to give up when I remembered craigslist.com.

I did a search for jumper and sure enough three ads popped up.  I could get a jumper next Saturday for $59.00.  Hmmm…  $175.00 minus $59.00 = $116.00 savings.    As I read each of their ads, they all said that they clean and sanitize their jumpers, too.  I guess they were getting their Handywipes by the carton at Costco and could pass the savings to their customers.

I called and reserved not just a jumper, but a 3 combo jumper and slide for $109.00, that they leave at your house all day.  The other companies wanted $200.00 plus for rent and it’s for 4 hours.

By not giving in or giving up, by counting my beans, I was able to get a jumper.  If I had opted for the jumper instead of the combo, I would have paid $59.00 for one for all day.  That would have been a $15.00 reduction over what I had paid 3  years ago.

p.s.  I’ll be doing a review of the company next week and you can read about it in my column.