Black Friday came and went and now it’s Cyber Monday. I’ve heard several news reports saying that because people are planning to cut back on their holiday spending this year more merchants are going to be offering great deals today. Things like free shipping...I always like that. And buy one, get one free. I’m going to be surfing the Internet to see what I can find. I do have some coupons I pulled out of magazines, one for Coldwater Creek, one for Chico’s. I already checked out Coldwater Creek and found they have an online outlet. I did see some jackets, blouses and jewelry that look like potential gifts.

I also receive newsletters via e-mail from a few companies like Borders and ELF; both have sent discount codes for shopping on their Web sites.

Speaking of ELF I saw they now sell mineral make up which seems to be the hot trend right these days. I’m in the market for some new foundation and blusher and I think I’ll give their line a try. They also sell body lotions and hand creams that look like perfect stocking stuffers.

And if you like free stuff, well almost free, check out the deal at Annie’s Homegrown, makers of my favorite cheddar bunnies. If you buy two Annie’s products and send $1.95 with the UPC labels you get a copy of Kimberly Lord Stewart’s Eating Between the Lines. Very interesting book and a good read if you want to know everything about food labels and what to look for when you go grocery shopping. I couldn’t see any information about it on their Web site, which by the way is www.annies.com but check at your local supermarket. Mine had a display with the macaroni cheese packages and a coupon on where to send for your free book.

Happy Cyber Shopping!

For money saving tips visit www.gardenandhearth.com/Bargain-Shopping.htm and www.gardenandhearth.com/EatingWellonaBudget.htm

Sales and gift cards...combine the two and you’ve got some bargains. I used my $10 Kohl’s gift card that arrived through the mail to buy myself some new jeans. They were no sale and the final price after using the $10 card was just $4.96. They even have a really nice looking belt I can use on other pants and skirts.

After shopping at Kohl’s I stopped at Michaels craft store, which was holding a week long sale on knitting yarn. I’ve been knitting blankets for shelter animals for the Snuggles Project for a couple of months and thought this would be a good time to stock up. I got four skeins of yarn for just $7.98 that will probably yield about eight blankets. Check out the Snuggles Project at www.snugglesproject.org.

And I made a second shopping trip to Trader Joe’s at the weekend. I’ve shopped there once and was really impressed with the food and prices. Shopping at any store is already starting to get a bit crazy. They’d run out of carts and I couldn’t even get near the refrigerated section. It did teach me a couple of things, you can really save money if a store’s crowded and you take a basket versus a cart. Maybe carts do force us into buying more than we need.

After the trip to Trader Joe’s we decided to be brave and do a little browsing in the stores. It looks like just about every store is selling the same stuff that makes me think they’ll be more after holiday sales than ever this year. The Bombay Company store is going out of business and having a clearance sale. Their Web site has already closed but if you want to find a store near you, visit www.bombaycompany.com/locate.htm. Who knows you might find a great gift there. My guess is after the holidays you’ll really find some good buys there.

Happy Thanksgiving and hope all you Budget Smart Girls find some bargains this Friday.

For money saving tips visit www.gardenandhearth.com/Bargain-Shopping.htm and www.gardenandhearth.com/EatingWellonaBudget.htm

You can’t escape the Holiday Season now. The stores are filled with Santa and all the goodies he wants you to buy this year, and you can’t even turn on the TV without seeing holiday commercials every few minutes. Even our local newspaper is filled with advertisements for after Thanksgiving Day sales. Our local mall even made the news by announcing it will be opening at 1 a.m. the day after Thanksgiving. I don’t know who’s going to be brave enough to hit the stores that early. I think they’d have to offer the deal of the century to get me out of bed and to the mall at that time of night. In fact, I can’t ever remember doing my holiday shopping on Black Friday.

Yesterday I did get a head start on my shopping and found this site www.couponcabin.com. They didn’t have any coupons I could use for this particular purchase, but I’m going to check back every time I buy something. I did receive a $10 gift card from Kohl’s last week. It’s good until November 17th, so I might just head in there tomorrow. I usually buy my mom’s gift at Kohl’s because every year blouses and jackets are on her wish list and so far she’s loved everything I’ve bought there.

After writing the Budget Smart Girl’s Guide to Jeans I thought it was about time I bought a new pair. I received the Chadwick’s catalog with a 40% off coupon and found a pair for $19.99. With the discount the final price was $11.99. Not bad, only problem is they’re out of stock at the moment.

Sorry to say I was a not a Budget Smart Girl last week. I thought I’d wash my car before we turn off the outside taps for the winter. My husband walked by the car and noticed how flat the tires looked, especially the front ones. Okay, I’d been a bit lazy and hadn’t stopped by the gas station to pump them up. And yes, I did deserve the lecture he gave me about how under inflated tires wear out more quickly and cause the car to use more gas. Yes, I’ll admit when it comes to car related stuff I’m not always the most budget savvy, but I promise to do better from now on. I’ve even put car maintenance on the list of upcoming topics for the Budget Smart Girl’s Guide.

For money saving tips visit www.gardenandhearth.com/Bargain-Shopping.htm and www.gardenandhearth.com/EatingWellonaBudget.htm

Space bags...I’d seen them advertised on the TV and in catalogs for years but never thought about buying one. That was until my local DIY store had them on sale for $6.98 a box, with a $2 rebate. As I’m about to reorganize the closet I thought I’d give them a try.
This particular store offers weekly rebate deals on various items. You don’t get the rebate in the form of money, but in store credit. For me that works out perfectly as we...or at least the house, always seems to need something they’re selling.

I was reading the Dollar Stretcher newsletter last week and saw an advertisement for a Web site called www.mygrocerydeals.com. Everyone must have been checking it out because it was at least a couple of days before I could get onto the site. If you haven’t visited it yet, do so. You type in your zip code and the site gives you a list of all the supermarkets in your area and what’s on sale for that week. As we no longer get the Sunday newspaper I don’t get to check out flyers so this will be a big help when I’m putting together menu plans and grocery lists. You can also sign up for a newsletter, and check out the coupon gallery. I usually find the online coupons are a waste of time, but I found plenty of good ones here. Best of all, you don’t pay a penny to use any of the features.

The holiday catalogs are appearing in my mailbox faster than I can say Santa Claus. One was from L.L.Bean, they’re offering free shipping until December 21st, and best of all you don’t have to spend a certain amount to qualify.
Every year I keep saying I’m going to do all my shopping online, but there’s just something special about heading to the mall during the holiday season.


For money saving tips visit www.gardenandhearth.com/Bargain-Shopping.htm and www.gardenandhearth.com/EatingWellonaBudget.htm