Holiday Shopping Stress!

This is year seems more stressful than others in regards to shopping. Everywhere you turn you are being bombarded by sales, discounts and pressure to BUY NOW!

I don't know if you are being sucked in. I tried doing a pre-Thanksgiving sale on a household item that seemed like a great price. And guess what, the same vendor marked it down 2 days after it was delivered to me!  So guess what, I bought it again to save $40.00. All the shipping was free, so when the 2nd one comes in, I will take it back to the store with the big bull's eye on it!

Thanksgiving sales, Black Friday, Cyber Monday...and my mailbox is full of everyone offering me Cyber Monday prices now, on Sunday!  What is a girl to do?

At some point, I will just stop looking after I get an item that I feel is a pretty good deal. After all, who wants to try returning Christmas gifts during this hectic shopping season anyway?

I hope everyone else is having a less stressful shopping experience.  And remember, if you are shopping online, shop through any portals you belong to, like AAdvantage Shopping or Upromise so that you can earn miles or cash back, use your cash back or points credit card for the purchase, and always, always check RetailmeNot for coupons and discount codes for any vendor!

Ta ta for now...save money!

My Black Friday

I spent a relaxing Black Friday at home, doing laundry, putting away the last of my Thanksgiving dishes and shopping online. At Barnes & Noble I scored 30% off one item (I always check RetailMeNot.com for discounts) and by using my daughters membership received free shipping. I also bought some funky t-shirts at BustedTees.com and found a buy 2 get one free for Christmas code on their own website (I found a free shipping code from RetailMeNot). Bam, 3 more gifts, free shipping! 

I did venture out at around 3 pm to do some regular shopping, and just in case I took my Target coupons with me. I bought myself a pj set on sale for $10.00, plus I had a $3.00 off coupon. Sold to the lady over fifty, for $7.00 dollars! I had other good coupons, but nothing I saw was interesting. Of course the cool offer was a $25.00 itunes card on sale for $20.00, but I realized too late that that was one of the doorbuster, get out of bed in the dark and go in your pajamas sale items. Oh well!!!

My day ended at Ralph's looking for their brand of soda water. Now there's where it looked like black friday! Big gaping holes on the shelves where product should be. I got the last litre bottle of club soda, and the last 3 bags of sugar free mint patties for my husband. With the candies, I got the last one in the display box then stood on my tipi-toes where I saw 2 more bags loose, way back on the shelf. I must have looked pretty silly standing on my toes, using the box as a grabber to pull the candy to where I could reach it!

Now I am home and I will set my alarm for bright and early Saturday morning. I will actually venture out to several stores to check out their sales. Big Lots has two cute, but poorly made, chairs that I would like. I hope to find some deals at Michael's so that I can earn a $25.00 credit on my American Express statement. If I spend exactly $25.00, it will all be free. I hope people like getting crafty stuff for Christmas! If I am still awake and not too tired, there is a As Seen On TV warehouse sale that should prove to be very interesting. If the prices are lower that what I have seen at Walmart, I will be  picking up some gifts there as well.


So, the shopping begins. Hopefully I will be done soon so that I can relax into the Holiday Season!


Ta ta for now...

Black Friday Shopping

Are you gearing up for that Magical Black Friday where we are supposed to find the best bargains and prices for our Holiday Shopping!  Well if you are, here are some websites to check out to get a jump on those sales!

TheBlackFriday.com 

bfads.net

blackfriday.fm

tgiBlackFriday.com

BlackFriday2011.com

slickdeals.net

Also, there are apps to keep you up to date while you are shopping:

ShopSavvy for scanning barcodes and finding lowest price

iSLick for the iphone

and BlackFriday

Ta ta for now...

BURP!

Thanksgiving was great, but the day after was even better. I slept in, had a leisurely morning, fixed myself a huge chocolate latte and read the newspaper. After going online to price items I went to the movies with my husband. We saw Megamind and it was really cute. Afternoon movies are better priced, so along with his senior ticket, my free soda from loyalty points and our large popcorn we shared a great afternoon for a little over $20.00.

I also did happen to go out to Target on the dreaded Black Friday. But guess what? I went at 3:30, there were no crowds, I got the parking space and the best part? I scored a Christmas wii game at 45% off! That's all I bought, I left and now have one more item to remove from the Christmas list.

Bargains on my terms!

Ta Ta for now...

Black Friday - Cyber Friday

Count me OUT! I will not be setting the alarm for o'dark thirty, looking for parking spaces or  fighting crowds. I will be watching pricing intently online and in circulars, but with the economy as bad as it has been, I expect sales and bargains to be around all the way up to Christmas!

I have had boxes arriving from my earlier online purchases, and so far I am very happy. I still have a few more ideas to come up with, but I already feel comfortable with my purchases and will not beat myself up if I happen to see something now being offered for less. That can drive a person crazy! I was already very careful to hunt for the lowest prices on PriceGrabber.com and Google shopping, and then combined that with coupons and discount codes found on RetailMeNot. I did my due diligence.

To those of you who love the hunt - God Speed and safe shopping!

Ta Ta for now...

Black Friday

With Holidays around the corner, and every store vying for our hard earned dollars, the push to sell has begun!  Every week there is some new holiday, some new celebration that the stores are using to gain our business.  I started following "Black Friday" a  couple of years ago out of curiosity.  Now there are abundant websites that advertise all of the supposed deals out there, even posting the actual store ads for quick viewing.  

Black Friday is the Friday following Thanksgiving Day in the United States, which traditionally signals the start of the Christmas shopping season.  I personally would not care to brave the malls on such a day, or stand or sleep in a line to purchase some beholden item.  I did notice however, that there were some fantastic bargains offered online.  Now that would appeal to me.  I think it would be smarter to have an item in mind that I would like to have, vs getting caught up in buying stuff I don't need just because it was priced well!

This year, if I see something being sold at an unbelievable price, I will set my clock and race to my computer!

Ta Ta for now...