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