I consider myself a very frugal shopper and can always find a bargain. Whether it’s grocery shopping or school shopping for the kids. If there is a cheaper price I will find it. I don’t care if I have to clip coupons or drive two cities, I’ll get the cheapest price. Thus begins my journey to find cheap blinds for my guest room.

It all started because I decided to repaint the room a light Mojave Red. The blinds on the windows were light green and just didn’t match, well at least according to my tastes. I wanted an inexpensive set of blinds that would complement the red but also match the off-white accent trim and off-white door. I had a small self-imposed budget for the room because it was just a spare room. Paint ate up most of my budget, so I had to find the cheapest widow cover I could find. My first stop was the local mega housing center, which I won’t name, but you can probably figure out what it is.

They had a great selection and can only be described as cheap blinds. Now they had another section that had all kinds of window treatments including roller blinds, wood blinds, blinds, and some remote controlled blinds. Way out of my price range, after all, I was on a budget and all I wanted was something to hang in the window.

The selection was decent and after spending twenty minutes I found what I was looking for. It was an off-white set of simple mini-blinds. Nothing fancy, just a typical cheap blind that would complement the color of the walls and keep me within my budget. Now all he needed was some help. There was nothing there in my size, so everything had to be cut. I finally managed to find help and all they had to do was cut the cheap blinds and I was on my way. Well, that turned out to be more than a little challenge. The woman had no idea how to cut the blinds and she went looking for someone who knew how to do it. Ten minutes later she returned with another woman who knew what she was doing. She had those cheap blinds cut in a couple of minutes. The only problem was that she cut them two inches too short. No problem, I’ll buy another set and have them cut, or so I thought.

There weren’t any other cheap off-white blinds that came close to what I wanted. Now I am faced with the problem of what to do. Do I settle for another color? If I get a different color then I have to repaint the trim and door. You could buy the cheap white blinds and accept that it won’t match. You could find a cheap blind that matches the walls and not the trim. So many decisions to make and so little time. I decided to just get the blinds white and call it a day.

This time they were cut to perfection and I was on my way home to hang them up to finish the room. I’ve managed to stay just under budget and even had a little left over to change light switches to match the freshly painted walls. All he had to do now was hang them. I got my little stepladder, a screwdriver and a portable drill. I installed those cheap blinds in less than thirty minutes. They didn’t match the room like I wanted, but it was under budget, who cares? Well, it turns out that the cheap blinds were very, very cheap blinds. When I went to pull the cord, the blinds did absolutely nothing. They did not go up and they did not go down. At first I thought I had done something wrong, but I noticed that the cable was now in my hand. It was no longer attached to cheap blinds, but was perfectly positioned in my hand as if to say “I told you so.” Now he had a new set of cheap blinds that were about as useless as prescription glasses on a blind man. Instead of getting angry and putting the blinds back up, I closed the door and walked away happily. After all, it was below my budget.