Learning at the Feet of the "Master"

Anybody with a teenage girl getting ready to go to the prom knows how expensive dresses can be. Lauren went out this past Saturday to look for a long prom dress. After an hour or so, she found one that she really liked. I had her put it on hold and on Sunday, I went to the store to take a look, give it my final inspection and pay for it.  I had a coupon for 25% off that I was able to use. The dress was originally $108.00, marked down to $79.99, so it brought the cost of the dress down to $59.99, so I was already happy :) When I pulled out my store credit card to pay for the dress, since it had been so long since I had used that particular card it was no longer valid.  The clerk said, "hey, do you want to reopen the account and get an additional 20% off?"  I was like, "sure!"  Who doesn't like to save money?? The dress ended up costing only $47.99.  Lauren was telling me that she was going to go to school, show her friends a picture of the dress and have them guess how much it cost.  The dress is beautiful and easily looks like it cost triple what I ended up paying for it.

I then told Lauren, "you can tell all your friends your mom is a bargain hunter!"  She then remarked back, "well, I did pick a dress that was already on sale!"  I said, "I have taught you well, you have learned at the feet of the master!" Lauren was also telling me that when she was out looking for the dress that she wanted to find one that didn't look too "prom like" so she could wear it again for a special event sometime in the future. Lauren has known for a long time that I will not pay for a dress unless she will be able to wear it a minimum of two times. She now needs to find a pair of shoes to match the dress.  The first words out of my mouth were, "I have coupons for Kohl's, JC Penney and Payless!"