Long Term Planning iPod Purchase?

Every three months or so, Costco (which I am a member but not a stockholder) sends out to members a "coupon" book of upcoming deals.  If you have a long range goal of getting a HP iPod 20-GBs (currently just under $299) between Mar. 7 - Mar. 13, 2005 they are going to throw in with every purchase a Belkin Accessory Pack (headphones, battery, & carrying case).

I don't think most geeks or IT pros plan this way on gadgets (I think I had all my Christmas shopping done for myself in Nov?), but I guess the up and coming mainstreamers that are becoming more and more digital do more long term gadget planning.

Speaking of Costco,  Doc Searls had an interesting pointer a couple of weeks ago from Forbes on Costco business model ... and I noticed in the latest print version of Wired (13.01) that they did some "pricing" of expensive products using Costco as the lower price alternative (no url).