Despite the slew of dot.com deaths, shopping online can still offer some great deals. The difficult thing is juggling all the different coupons, rebates, and miscellaneous secrets to yield just the right bargain. Normally, I'm quite the impulse buyer. Something I like? Buy it! Something I'm not happy with it? Get rid of it and get a new one! Felix, however, is a bit more prudent and is often more willing to do the weave and dance to get a better deal. Take my recent cell phone purchase, for example. I had a Samsung flip phone, but the flip wasn't so good anymore. As a call came in, I'd flip it open, only to discover that no one could hear me or I couldn't hear them. But, ah-ha! This is what I'd been paying $4 a month for over a year for - the Equipment Replacement Program. So I call the customer service folks, and $35 later, I have a new phone on its way to my home via UPS.

But how come I have to get the SAME phone? I'm not down with the flippy phone anymore; I want something else. Wouldn't any normal person assume that you can trade a phone in for any model of equal or lesser value? You know what happens when you assume...

Enter eBay - the great equalizer. I discover that my Samsung sells for $50-$70. And the Sanyo I want sells for $80-$100. So. Let me think here. No, nevermind, I'm not big on math. I bid my way to a winner for $100 bucks, and justify my purchase to Felix with tales of my scheme to sell the new Samsung phone that's on its way from the insurance company. See? I didn't actually spend as much money as it seems I spent. Right?

Then my brother Tom calls. Amazon (who is offering $100 rebates on new cell phones and $50 off purchases over $100) has accidentally shipped him TWO phones. He's got a free one up for grabs, if I want it. But...it's a flip phone. And I've already paid for my eBay phone. Felix steps in with his own scheme. We can sell the phone I just bought, sell the insurance company phone, change his phone (which is not flippy) into my phone, and make Tom's free phone into Felix's new phone. Huh? I'm not big on math - did I mention that yet? Felix, engineer and data whiz, insists that this is the best deal yet.

Two dollar figure charts and several explanations later, I'm still confused. The stubborn woman in me takes over, and I declare that I don't care what's a deal and what's not. I bought a phone. It's on its way. And I'm going to activate it and use it. Happily, I turn over the rest of the sell, resell, free, not free mess over to my honey. He is, I tell him, more than welcome to squeeze out the other dollars on his own. Me? I got more online shopping to do.