Shopping With Someone Else's Money

So a couple weeks ago, I was told (among with other teachers) that we each had $400 to spend on our classrooms.  My idea?  A projector...

I think most people think of a projector as something you watch a movie on, but it's so much more.  Besides powerpoint, you can show anything that you could show on your computer-from youtube videos, presentations, pictures, etc.  Visual thing do make a lot of difference in the classroom, and while I don't have a smartboard this year, I can definitly inspire to make learning more fun and more creative.

BUT....$400 is stretching it for a projector.  I searched for a whole week, in all places I could.  I did find a few tips with the searching:

• as much as you think checking things repeatedly would be a waste of time, it's not.  I found that items did change daily and specials changed daily on major sites like Bestbuy and Future Shop.  I probably visited these sites each day looking for a deal.
• ask friends where they have seen deals and what's been their experience with different places...
• last, just because we're in Canada, don't be afraid to look at American sites as they will ship to Canada and the savings can be huge.  Sites like overstock.com are a great place to start.

So, where did I find my projector?  Well, I almost gave up, and then I remembered yahoo.ca.  If you go to yahoo.ca, they have a tab for shopping.  Click on it, add what you're looking for, and the site will automatically find different items and price it from various places.  So one model may have five different prices from five different locations. 

I found an incredible projector that almost seemed teacher made and it was only around $360.  The same model ranged over $75 more on other sites. 

It made it so easy-you found the price you wanted, and you were sent to the site.  Literally, I found it in minutes, whereas all my other searching took me hours upon hours...

Try the shopping tool at Yahoo.ca...you'll love it!