The Post-Holidays Shopping Spree
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After Christmas, bargain shopping is a given. Normally, my family does not fall into the hype, but this year we fell right into the hole. It isn’t to say that we can’t afford the occasional toys and clothes (since we all carry little debt). It is just enough to raise a concern.
- Dad: He has been stalking the price of a particular headphone since Thanksgiving, which was $199.99 at the time. It dropped to $169.99 and I found a $20 off coupon so I ordered it in a hurry.
- Mom: She was supposed to go on a 10 day vacation to an old friend’s place in Oregon but the snow ruined the plans. Now she spends her days shopping for food and clothes EVERYDAY. She claims, “I’m trying to help the U.S. economy”. Hah!
- My sister: Clothes, clothes, and more clothes. Enough said.
- Me: At home I have no workout equipment or gym memberships. So, I bought some dumbbells and a bench off of eBay for about $190.
Of course, each of us was shopping for deals when we spent all this money (though it is nothing compared to many other American families). Aside from my mom, the rest of us used two essential smart shopping practices for large ticket items:
Wait 2 days before actually buying.
This is the perfect method deters the urge to spend impulsively. It allows time for reconsideration of whether or not we really needed something. We get to do more research about wheat we want to buy and we have time to look for better options or better prices. In my dad’s case, he waited five or so weeks.
Look for coupons or discount codes.
Firstly, much thanks to RetailMeNot.com and FatWallet.com. A quick minute on RetailMeNot.com resulted in a nice $20 off coupon at Musician’s Friend for my father’s headphones. And then, for both my father’s and my own items, I purchased through the links at FatWallet.com to give me 6% cash back on the headphones and 3% cash back on my workout equipment.
Everything was delivered on the same day and the UPS delivery guy said as they gave me the packages: “Whoohoo… Merry Christmas all over again”.
Photo credit: lrargerich
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2 Comments on this post
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Alberto said:
You have to get every deal you can find when you’re in college and struggling, although those who are penny pinching in tough times will find this information pretty useful. Nice post.
January 11th, 2009 at 7:16 pm -
Rick Vaughn said:
I’ll tell you what I was at the Apple Store yesterday you could not tell that their is a recession in this country. Some good tips in your post.
January 11th, 2009 at 9:13 pm
