Bargain Bits

How Thrifty Are You?
A friend once gave me a book called "The Secret". Its about the power of will and being able to control your destiny and daily happenings by willing them and putting it out there. I enjoyed the book but what I seem to use it for the most is my shopping trips. Don't laugh at me.... it works. When pulling into a parking lot I will look at the sky and say," Ok universe, how about a decent parking spot" and 9 times out of 10 I find one. Even during the biggest shopping seasons I will find one. Ok, so you think its silly but to me its a fun tradition and now my 14 year old daughter is in on the gig. I have also applied this trick to my joy of thrift shopping.

Old Navy Coupon-

Lookie what I found! Ill give you three guesses where we are headed this afternoon and the first two don't count! Old Navy Coupon

Price Angels!!

I am loving the sales that this store throws at me! I would use these for so many more uses than anti-fog clearing. I wonder if they work on the fog in my head today?

Bargain Bits

Q:Is the Kohls sale really a sale?

I have lots of friends and family that swear by shopping at Kohl's. They wait until they get that coveted 30% off ticket in the mail and then run down to the store to buy their great sales and come home feeling accomplished because not only did they get 30% off of the 50% off items but they also walked away with $10 in Kohl's cash. Now Im not perfect as I have also run down there to get something with my 30% off tag but when I get home I always have a feeling of buyers remorse because they realize that the sweater they would not have paid the $95 for the sweater that they just got for $20 in the first place. How is paying $20 for that same sweater that you would have bought in the first place a bargain?

Free Greeting Card!

Do not forget that this is only the first 10,000!!! I also believe it may start at 9am so if you are having issues getting it to work, click the link after 9am EST. Click here for a Free Card from Cardstore.com. Exp 1/15/12. Valid in US and Canada only.

Im BAAAAAAAACKKKK!!!

Well so that was fun! My visit to the Bargain Shopper Lady site was great and I learned a lot but what I really learned was that I have a lot to share, a lot to offer and a lot more to say besides letting people know what the latest coupons are. Granted I will also be able to offer those too but now I will be able to throw a bit of advice, sass and do it about my favorite things- Disney, Discounts, Dealing with kids and Discovering that you can survive life regardless of what life deals you! Oh and best of all "I'll do it MY WAY"- ;)  So watch out world.... Reanne is ON FIRE!!

Bargain Bits-

Sales Secrets of the Stores-At one point in my life I had worked for a mall jewelry store and the first thing they told me when I was hired is that everything is ALWAYS 30% off but nothing was officially on sale. This sales strategy really made me question and wonder just what is the store looking to make on everything they sell, how much has it been marked up to begin with and at what point will I really be getting a discount? As a bargain shopper, of course I signed up for sales notifications from my favorite stores.  I had them filtered into a sales file in my email automatically so I would not be tempted to shop every day. The first thing I noticed when cleaning out that file was that almost all of them ALWAYS had at least 10% off - if you waited a few days you could get 10% off AND "FREE SHIPPING" but if you waited one more week after that, you would get an email for 20% off but charged for shipping and in the last week it would be 20% off and "FREE SHIPPING" if over $50-$75. Granted by the end of that month you also had limited inventory and they were preparing their sales blast for the week after that to say "Exclusive Peek at Newest Stuff" - so when is the best time to actually buy?

Bargain Bits-

Bigger is NOT always Better-Today as I was shopping at my local grocery store I was looking for the bulk meats because normally they are cheaper to purchase and then I will break them down into smaller parcels and freeze in the chest freezer for later. Today I saw that the boneless chicken breast was not cheaper to buy in bulk but the cleaned and trimmed chicken was the same cost and was already packaged into smaller portions. Make sure you check the prices of different things before you pick them up. Many times they might be offering the smaller portions at the same price as the family pack so it never hurts to check quickly. Today my savings was in the purchase of the freezer lock baggies that I did not use.Another thing to keep in mind is when you go to use a coupon, bigger is normally not better.

Bargain Bits-

"Clip the coupon right away- wait a week and save the day"One of the things I have noticed with coupon clipping is that you get the coupons on Sunday but that same week the items you have coupons for may not be on sale. HOWEVER it also seems that one week later a lot of the items you have coupons for will go on sale a week after the coupons were released. This is not the case all the time but why not wait a week to see if it goes on sale instead of buying the item full price minus the small coupon. You have nothing to lose but a better discount.

Bargain Bits-

"Clip the coupon right away- wait a week and save the day"One of the things I have noticed with coupon clipping is that you get the coupons on Sunday but that same week the items you have coupons for may not be on sale. HOWEVER it also seems that one week later a lot of the items you have coupons for will go on sale a week after the coupons were released. This is not the case all the time but why not wait a week to see if it goes on sale instead of buying the item full price minus the small coupon. You have nothing to lose but a better discount.

Bargain Bits-

I went out on Friday to get some things and ended up stopping at Walmart. SCORE! If you live near one you should stop by just to see what has been marked down because I found that although the holiday decor was still only 50% off, the bath and body gift sets and makeup gift sets were 75% off. I was able to pick up character toothbrushes with a small tube of Colgate toothpaste for .86 each. I also bought a makeup gift set that came with bottle of Secret body spray, a lip gloss and mascara by Covergirl and a one year subscription to Teen Vogue Magazine all for $2.50. 

Bargain Bits-

Today's bargain bit is about my notebook. How many times have you gotten to the store and looked at an item and thought that you saw it cheaper somewhere else? How many times have you found that even with the coupon you did not get the best deal? What I started to do when my husband was first laid off back in 1995 was keep a notebook of prices listing the things I tend to buy all the time. I track all of the weekly things like milk, bread, cheese, meats and such are always bought in the same quantity and consistently. 

Bargain Bits-

to know when its a great sale and how to stay organized in the process.One of my biggest pet peeves is finding out that what I thought was a great deal wasn't or if I pay full price for something only to find a coupon or sale the next day. So my first Bit of advice is going to be about my coupon binder.

Back from the MAUL!

Well, I broke down and took my teenaged daughter to the Mall today to see what deals I could find and she could spend the gift cards that were burning a hole in her pocket. I have to say that I am not only less than excited but that I noticed that most of the sales were not really sales at all but rearranged prices that were the same prior to the holidays. Instead of a lower price I found just a lot of flashy signs pretending to offer a better deal. No matter how you look at it though buy one get one free is the same as 50% off. In some cases it even seemed that I had spent LESS prior to this week.

Bargain Bits-

Day after shopping tips!
When it comes to the "day after" or "return day" shopping there are a few things that I keep in mind.

Don't be the first one to return. Many lines and many headaches later you could be walking out of the store miserable and empty handed.
Take your return in the form of a gift card rather than exchange. This way you can come back later when the store has been either restocked or what you want has been lowered again in price.
Make sure you know the return policy before getting in line. There is nothing worse than waiting forever to get to the desk only to have left your receipt in the car or id in a jacket with someone else. Also, many stores have a max dollar amount you are allowed to return. this happened to me at Target when I had to return a lot of things for a messed up baby registry and then during the holidays I was blacklisted on returns. It is always helpful to bring someone else with you just in case this should happen.
Know how much your gift card is worth before getting to the register, there are a few of them out there that will not work unless you type in the exact amount. This can make you highly stressed if you have to call the customer service from the register with a pile of people crabby behind you.
The best sales will be found a week from now not today. You might not have the same inventory to choose from but you will have better sales because after the new year, stores will be more anxious to clear the shelves. They are all banking on people shopping while on vacation this week. It is better to wait if you are truly looking for the best sales.
Be very patient with and friendly to the sales associates. It can be very beneficial to you in the end because they will be more eager to wait for you, help you find something or sometimes even excuse something that might be missing like a receipt. Sometimes it works but in the end it just makes their day brighter and that will always come back to you in the end. Happy Hunting!