Planning to do any Amazon shopping this holiday season? Have I got tips for you.
“10 Amazon Shopping Tricks to Save You Tons of Money,” over on the Grandparents.com page, actually features 10 categories, some of which have more than one tip involved. For example, did you know that Prime members get a half-hour head start on Lightning Deals?
That a tool called PriceJump will compare Amazon tags to those of 5,000 other online merchants? That Amazon-specific sites will do the best-price legwork for you? Or that if you haven’t spent quite enough to get free shipping a site like SlickFiller.net will find the 39-cent bolt or 79-cent cup hook that will push you over the $35 threshold?
If you’re a big fan of Amazon shopping, check out the article. You may learn new ways to save. (Another, of course, is to earn Amazon gift cards from the Swagbucks rewards program. That’s how I’m paying for a bunch of my shopping this holiday.)
Another time-honored way to save is the topic of another of my posts, this one on Mary Hunt’s Everyday Cheapskate. “Pay with discounted gift cards to save even more” explains how to pay less for everyday necessities and fun stuff alike. I do this all the time; gift cards recently helped me save more than $100 on a home improvement project.
If you know where you’re buying certain gifts this holiday season, order some discounted gift cards now. Why pay retail if you don’t have to do so?
The ghost of Christmas presents
I’ve also put up two more articles at Money Talks News:
“Cheap car fixes that will easily pay for themselves” is a reminder that a funny noise or a “check engine” light is your car’s way of screaming for help. Ignore these entreaties at your peril. Take care of routine issues, too, or you may wish you had. For example, failing to change the air filter now and then could result in being stuck with a $400-plus repair bill.
Ever gone into a warehouse store for milk, cereal and canned goods but walked out with a trampoline? It happens. “7 secret tactics warehouse stores don’t want you to know” gives you a rundown of the psychology of Costco et al.
And speaking of shopping, my current post at Retail Me Not provides tips on holiday buys. “What to buy in November: Gobble up deals during the ‘5 days of savings’” is a rundown of some upcoming hot deals, including links to top-toy lists from three major merchants.
“Five days of savings” references the fact that sales begin on Gray Thursday (the holiday formerly known as Thanksgiving) and continue through Cyber Monday. You can start planning now with leaked Black Friday ads, or leaf through the fattest newspaper of the year while you digest all that turkey.
Although some of those Cyber Monday deals will be well-nigh irresistible, don’t let your gift list interfere with your workday. A 2013 survey from CareerBuilder indicated that 54 percent of workers planned to shop online at work that day. However, the survey also noted that 22 percent of employers have fired someone for non-work-related Internet use. (Here’s hoping your boss is more lenient and/or that the best deals take place during your lunch break.)
It’s essential to determine how much you can afford to spend. No deal is really a deal if you can’t afford it. Otherwise, the ghost of Christmas presents will haunt you come January, in the form of credit card bills. Ho, ho, NO!
I only buy gifts for immediate family members. And I keep them simple. I feel badly for parents at this time of year, though, as the pressure on them is ridiculous.
Agreed! A part-time hairdresser (and single mom) I know was talking about buying $50 kiddie tablets for her three kids. And that’s just ONE gift! Yikes.
I suggested the four-gift rule to her: “Something you want, something you need, something to wear, something to read.” But I have a sneaking suspicion she will overbuy.
I love that saying!
Thank you, Donna for this excellent article on moneysaving tips. I learned a lot of new saving tips for Amazon that I will definitely use. However, I spend Black Friday and Grey Thursday relaxing in front of a roaring fire, eating Thanksgiving leftovers, and watching the shopping bedlam on the news. I will have already done all of my Christmas shopping (a lot of it free because of gift cards earned with surveys and Bing).
My husband and I do like to venture out on Saturday to a high end mall that has choirs, bands, and musicians throughout the day. We sip hot chocolate and maybe pick up a stocking stuffer or two for our son. I’m not knocking frugalistas who are able to snag great deals on these days. I certainly understand the thrill of the hunt. It’s just that at my stage in life, I would rather skip the chaos.
My favorite part of Thanksgiving dinner: the leftovers. Days and days of them.
I’ll be doing Thanksgiving Day at Walgreens, looking for some free-after-rebate deals. Last year it was pretty quiet:
http://donnafreedman.com/2013/11/28/the-loneliest-drugstore-in-the-world/
Probably won’t have a whole lot of competition this year, either. But I’ll still be there when the doors open, just in case.