Tuesday's Topic: TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE DEALS

I know we hear this all the time and I think as we get older it just seems to get worse, but I can’t believe it’s already Tuesday. For that matter I can’t believe it’s November 2010. I swear we JUST did the holidays a couple weeks ago, didn’t we?

I guess since it’s holiday time again, that means it is time to really get serious about Christmas shopping, huh? Come on now, don’t flinch and go running, or trying to deny it, it won’t stop the inevitable, it really won’t. Christmas is coming. I have to admit that I don’t fear it (well not like I use to). I LOVE the holidays. I LOVE Thanksgiving and I LOVE Christmas. They really are my favorite times of the year. I love being able to get together with family and sharing in the time during both holidays. Enjoying great homemade food (lots of it, probably to a fault) and watching my children enjoy the magic that Christmas always seems to have in store for them.

So, what has us all freaked out?! Yep – the financial aspect, huh? I know, I know – I really do! I have been there a million times over. My husband and I have had our fair share of financial difficulties over the 10 years of our marriage. I just think part of it has been due to being unlucky living in the kind of economy we seem to have inherited. And, being truthful, another part was our own doing. However, this year I am not dreading Christmas, any part of it. Why?

Let’s just say this year I have started planning since July. Yep, I have and this has taken a LOT of pressure, financially, off our shoulders. I have been purchasing items on sale from great daily deal sites or in stores. I need to go through all my receipts but after a rough estimate I have purchased well over $400 worth of Christmas presents this year – BUT I have only spent around $120-$130 out of pocket.

I have said this over and over again, and will continue to say this over and over again. The items I have purchased are high quality items from brand names we all know and trust, but with some frugal ways, conscience shopping, and a little extra bargain shopping on my part I have managed to save 68% on my Christmas shopping thus far.

I have still have plenty to buy, mostly for my kids. The past several Christmas’ we have had to limit who we can buy for, and usually it is pretty mutual from all family members, so no guilt ever involved, but this Christmas our family will be able to give a little something to everyone.

So, how did I do this? It’s a bit easier than you might think, three simple things you can do to SAVE big time during Christmas:  

- Follow Along: You will constantly find me posting about great ways to buy presents at bargain on this site. Be sure to check in at least once a day and read through the blogs I have posted. They are usually short and to the point, and should only take a little bit of time out of your evening to do so. If you think about it this way,  just by taking an hour at most out of your evening you can save yourself hundreds of dollars just by finding all the great deals on this site, essentially you are making money (at least keeping it in your wallet) by reading and clicking through a few sites.

- Join Daily Deal Sites: there are several daily deal sites that I post on here, nearly daily. A lot of these sites offer incentives just for joining, and for referring your friends. These incentives are in the form of credits, or money that can be used towards your first purchase on their site. These sites offer HUGE discounts on brand name products everything from kitchenware, to clothing, to jewelry, and everything in between. You can easily save up to 90% or more on brand name products, so join them. I don’t post these because I like to ‘listen’ to myself write, I do this because I have saved BIG TIME and want you to take advantage of the exact same deals as I do.  I have a list of them at the bottom of my blog called “$7 Dollar Date with My Hubby”.

-Read Sales Ads: get in the habit of reading through all the sales ads in the Sunday paper. When you are in the habit of printing coupons, as often as you should be, which should be almost daily, you’ll start keeping a database in your head of coupons you have seen. While reading through the ads you’ll find items on sale and realize you remember seeing a coupon at one point for that item. Take advantage of gift card deals if they are worth it. I consider GC deals worth it when you can save at least half or more for items after getting the gift card. NOT all GC deals are worth purchasing, but quite a few are. These can then be used on future purchases, and rolled on to other great deals.

That’s it. I do most of the work for you by trying to keep you as up-to-date as possible on all the amazing bargain deals there are out there. And I would like to think I am not wasting my time, that I am helping all of you out by giving you the best deals possible. TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE DEALS J You’ll save, I promise!

What’s holding you back from not jumping on the deals? Tell me I want to hear from all of you. If you don’t let me know your questions or concerns I can’t help, and that is why I have created this site. To help all of you to Spend Less - Save Abundantly - & Have More.