The best $24.99 I've ever spent on something that I'm not going to use

In mid-March, Jim traveled north to visit Jerry for the annual guys' March Madness basketball weekend, and my dad decided to head south to keep me company.

The weather was really crummy, so we spent Saturday merely driving around downtown and window shopping at one of the malls in town. On a whim, I ducked into Pottery Barn Kids, just to get some ideas for nursery decor in the event that Itty Bitty was indeed a girl, as my mother's intuition was indicating.

I spotted the cutest bumper on display -- one I'd not noticed before either online or in the catalog. I picked it up off the rack, and asked a sales associate if it was a new design. It wasn't; in fact, it was a discontinued design.

Bummer.

Or so I thought.

See, it was exactly what I'd been keeping an eye out for, because I knew I wanted something pink and orange (to match our nursery rocker) and that would coordinate with green (the paint color in the nursery). This bumper fit the bill to a tee.

But even though I knew there would be no additional pieces that I'd be tempted to purchase other than the bumper, I also knew that Jim would never go for a $79.99 price tag, even if it was perfect.

(And in case you've forgotten the time frame of this event, keep in mind that we didn't even know the baby's gender at this point. Just humor me.)

As it turned out, there was only one bumper left in the store, and PBK was unable to hold it for me until we received our gender determination. (Oh, come on? What's with not honoring a four-week hold?) I figured that I could always buy it, and in the event that Itty Bitty was a boy, I could return it to the store.

Until they told me that clearance priced items were final sale.

Huh? Clearance priced? You mean it wasn't $79.99?

Nope. $24.99! For Pottery Barn bedding! Jackpot!!!

So, I bought it. Yes, fully aware that there was only a 50/50 chance that I'd get to use it.

Isn't it pretty?

Of course, we now know that our little one is a boy, and that he will share a room and bedding with Seth. So, my lovely pink and orange bumper now sits in Seth's toy box, waiting. Maybe I'll hang on to it for a couple years, just in case; maybe I'll try to make some money off it at a consignment sale/store. (After all, it's still in the packaging and it still has the original $79.99 price tag on it....) Either way, it felt really great and really sweet to score a great deal for my baby.

Have you ever made an impulse buy that ended up being a "bad decision" that you just couldn't bring yourself to regret?