Shopping Tips Online

As summer comes to an end, you can snag some really good bargains online. If you know where to look and what to look for, you will find yourself saving money and wondering why you haven’t been doing this for years!

What’s on sale right now?
Most of the things you’d use in the summer are on sale right now including swimming pools, pool supplies, bathing suits, summer clothes, outdoor entertaining items(picnic items, gazebos,etc.,) outdoor toys, and bikes.

Why buy now?
Buy now for either next year or gifts for the holiday for tremendous savings. If you can find shorts for your kids at 75% off, buy up a size for next year and you’ll have 75% savings on their summer wardrobe next year. Does Santa like to bring new bikes for Christmas? Check out Target, Toys R Us and some of the other outdoor stores online for deals on bikes and outdoor riding toys that you can stash away for the holidays. If you have space, pool accessories will certainly keep until next summer in storage as would summer entertaining items. You can probably get a fabulous deal on outdoor furniture right now!
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Amazon is having a gigantic Toy Sale yet again! You’ll find some unbelievable deals. They even have some children’s furniture(tables, toyboxes, etc) at good prices and you won’t pay extra to ship them!

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I’ve mentioned using coupons online in previous blogs, but you might be wondering how you find those coupons. Obviously you can use one of the many sites out there with coupon codes or you can do a Google search for them, but there’s also another way to find these sometimes exclusive coupons.

As you’re browsing online at your favorite stores, look to see if they have an email newsletter. Chances are, they do, and if they do, they probably send out their special offers and deals in that newsletter. Once you’re on the email lists for your favorite stores, you’ll find yourself getting advance info about sales, specials and deals.
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Did you know you can get all kinds of free samples online? You’ll save yourself some time and money just by filling out a few forms online. Plus, it’s fun to get something in the mail besides bills, right? Click here to get a free sample of Dove Pro-Age Shampoo or Deodorant!

Get a free sample of Olay Total Effects Cleansing Cloths just by filling out the form here.

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Sometimes you’re not sure where to start when looking for an item online. When that happens to me, I hit Google Product Search. Formerly known as Froogle, Google Product Search is a price comparison site that can steer you in the right direction. Just enter the name of the product or item you’re looking for and hit search. Once the results pop up, you can sort by price, most relevant and a few other options. It’s a very useful tool!

There are other price comparison sites out there, but I’ve found Google’s to be the most reliable. Many of the others allow merchants to advertise and place their products higher in search results, but Google doesn’t and that is evident from their indexes.
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There are certain online stores that I absolutely love. Zappos is one of them. Zappos is arguably the largest shoe store on the web. If you can’t find what you want there, most likely, they don’t make it. They offer free shipping and free returns on all their products.

The coolest thing they offer though is their 110% Price Guarantee. To put it simply, here’s what it means. This is from their web page.

If you find an item for a lower price on another web site or in a retail store, we will refund you 110% of the difference between the lower price and our price. We’ll even refund the difference if we lower the price at Zappos.com!*

You can click the link above to see exactly how this works, but basically, you can save a bundle by shopping around, finding the shoes you want and then letting Zappos know if you find them cheaper. The price-matching process is painless and you get shoes at an amazing price! What more could a shopaholic want?

Many online stores now have the option to pick up your online orders in the store. When you’re shopping, look for something that says “ship to store” and you can save money on shipping charges.

Stores such as JC Penney offer reduced shipping charges if you pick up at your local stores, but others, including Linens ‘N Things, Sears, and Best Buy offer free shipping on most items if you order online and pick up in the store! Even Wal-Mart now offers in-store pick-up in select areas. You’ll have to check their website for availability.

Some stores such as Sears and Circuit City even have a time guarantee for when your order will be available. Sears will give you a $5 coupon if your order is not ready when they say it will be!

This is just another way you can save a few dollars and a lot of time by shopping online. Just surf to your favorite store, pick out what you’d like to buy and order it. You save time by not having to browse in the store and lug around heavy items. Another bonus for using in-store pick up is that you’re usually able to use online coupons for your orders. You wind up saving time and money. What could be better?

Whether you’re new to online shopping or a seasoned veteran, you know that shipping charges can sometimes be outrageous. With the price of postage seemingly going up all the time these days, you really can’t blame stores for charging realistic shipping.

However, as a savvy shopper you can do a few things though to make sure you’re not being over-charged on shipping. For one thing, you can look for stores that charge flat rates for shipping. For instance, Overstock.com charges a flat rate $2.95 to ship your entire order. Once in a while, they offer $1 shipping. You can get a new bed shipped for the same price as a pair of sandals. You gotta love that! Try getting your local furniture store to bring you a mattress set for $2.95! They’ll laugh you out of there!

Amazon.com will ship most things for free when you spend just $25. They also have something called “Amazon Prime” that you can join and get everything shipped 2 - Day service! Yes, you have to pay for that though.

Another site that offers flat rate shipping is The Children’s Place. They’ll ship your entire order for a flat $5. Sometimes they even offer a coupon to give you a really great deal!

Many sites also offer coupon codes for free shipping on a minimum purchase. If you search online for a code, it often makes more sense to spend $30 and get free shipping than to spend $25 and pay $7 to ship. I’d rather have $5 more merchandise than spend it in shipping!

If you do your homework when shopping online, you’ll spend less on shipping and get more for your money. You don’t have to pay outrageous shipping charges if you know where to look!

shopping, shipping

I love shoes. Some people might call it an obsession. Heels, flats, boots, thongs, mary janes, tennis shoes, hiking boots, ballerinas, mules, pumps, my awesome Chuck Taylor® Converse All Stars – you name them, I love them. I have quite a selection.

But here’s the thing:

I keep all my shoes in their original boxes.

Despite the ribbing I have taken about this over the years, I consider this one of my best time-, space- and money-saving tips.

• It saves time. Years ago, like a lot of people, I threw my shoes on the floor of my closet, and lost precious time every morning trying to locate two shoes that matched.
• It saves space. Boxes stack easily on a closet shelf or the floor if need be. You can also stack by style, color and season.
• It saves money. That may seem like a stretch, but think about it. Taking care of your shoes keeps them newer looking longer. They keep from getting scuffed because they are safe in their boxes. Stuffing the toes with tissue helps absorb any oils that can eventually cause the insoles to deteriorate.

If for some reason a box breaks down and I’m forced to throw it away, I replace it with a clear plastic shoe box with a lid. Although I usually remember what shoes came in what box, I try to stack the boxes with the label side out, which frequently has an illustration of the shoes, so that makes it easy for me to scan for the pair I want. I personally like the box system better than hanging shoe bags. I have tried them and find that they take up too much hanging space in my closet, and my shoes tended to get scuffed or squashed too easily.

I have a passion for my shoes, and I want to keep them looking good as long as I can. I encourage you to try this and see if it doesn’t help you save time, space and money in the long run!

Shopping, Shoes, Chuck Taylors, Money Savers, Time Savers

Irish or not, 96.3 million people celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. The majority of people (82.4%) will put on something green, and then celebrate in a bar or restaurant (24.7%), and most likely raise their glasses with an Irish drink or some tasty green beer. Last year it was forecast that Americans would spend around $2.7 billion on St. Paddy’s day, which was up from only $1.94 billion in ‘05.*

If you’re going to spring for something fun for St. Patrick’s day, but you don’t want to spend your entire pot ‘o gold, here are a couple of ideas.

Old Navy has a field of green tees, but I particularly like these cute green flip flops. Retail was $4.50, but they’re on sale online for $2.50. Buy a pair for everyone at your party – how cute would that be!?

If you’re throwing your own party, pick up a dozen of these fun and silly hurricane glasses from Oriental Trading Company. They’re regularly $17.95 per dozen, but they’re on sale for a little over a buck apiece, $12.99. While you’re there, grab some “pot of gold” confetti. A 2 oz. package is only $2.95.

If you look around, you’ll see that it’s easy to celebrate St. Patrick’s day without spendin’ too much ‘o the green.

*Source: National Retail Federation

St. Patrick’s Day, Green, Pot of Gold

Saving 10¢ on a can of green beans isn’t worth my driving across town. Or is it?

An article in yesterday’s Chicago Tribune sites experts and studies that suggest that comparison shopping is worth every minute spent, but that most of us buy from the first store we go to.

In a 2003 study, researchers were shocked to learn that cherry-pickers–consumers who shopped multiple supermarkets to capitalize on good grocery deals–weren’t cheapskate fanatics.

Their savings more than made up for their investment of time, according to the study’s authors, Stephen Hoch, a marketing professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and Edward Fox, a marketing professor at Cox School of Business at Southern Methodist University.

The article points out that we consumers tend to overvalue our time, and that a little time spent can lead to big savings. Suggested comparison tactics were to use the Internet, check out retailers price guarantees, and to consider even the small savings to be significant.

Here’s my take on this.

For most everyday items, I don’t bother to compare prices. In my mind, if I spend an extra 10¢ this time, I’ll might save 10¢ next time.

I think it’s a matter of the amount I’m spending compared to the amount I could save. For instance, I know that a bottle of my favorite moisturizer is $19 at one store, but $17 at another. So in my mind, it’s worth the trip to that store to save the two bucks. For big ticket purchases, I always price shop. I definitely use the Internet to research big purchases, and it also gives me a frame of reference for pricing. Furniture and appliances, in particular, I find I can save quite a bit by shopping around, and even negotiating a lower-than-advertised price in some cases.

There is more I could do to save money. And I do LOVE to save money. This article gave me some ideas for things I can do that would be simple to fit into my routine, so I think I will try comparison shopping for even my everyday items and see how much I save. You?

Comparison Shopping, Online Shopping