Shrewd #Shopper & #BargainHunter

I love Big Lots and TJ Maxx. They have such great bargains. The trouble is, you have to hunt for the treasure among aisles and piles of merchandise that's not for you. I wish I had more time to shop, but I don't have time for exploration and discovery in the jungles of clothes trees.

When I shop, I usually have a list. I also plan to hit more than one store in the same area to consolidate my trip and save time. Like today, I have to get my oil changed. I also have to go to the mall and get my ring inspected (every six months). While I'm out, I added a few errands in the same area. I've got great coupons for Old Navy and a list of domestics for Target. I like to save time and money!

I also recommend shopping "off-season." You can find the best deals on shoes and clothes when the stores are changing over their merchandise for the upcoming season. Right now (early Feb), winter is out and spring is in! I just got a great pair of boots for $30! (I love shoe shopping! DSW is my fave & Famous Footwear is top two because it's close) I also have a list on my phone of certain items I know I need soon, which helps me focus in the shoe wonderlands! And I never neglect the small Sale sections, where I find most of my bargain treasures!

lunch & girl talk with Sherry Ellis

But once in a while, I make plans to have lunch with a friend and we stroll through stores with no lists or goals. Those kind of shopping trips are necessary. Chatting and sightseeing and possibly finding treasure we didn't know we needed. It's a great adventure and the company is priceless!

What are your favorite stores? How do you shop? Spontaneous or Serious? And where do you find bargains??

Black Friday

This is the day that American store owners make the biggest chunk of their yearly profits pulling them out of the red and into the black...hence Black Friday.

Best of luck to all you hardy shoppers and stressed out retailers. 

May your deals be many and your pay be over time.

Whoever said money can't buy happiness simply didn't know where to shop. 

-Bo Derek

                                                                                                   

Win or lose, we go shopping after the election. 

-Imelda Marcos

Shopping is cheaper than a psychiatrist. 

- Tammy Faye Bakker

We always hold hands. If I let go, she shops. 
- Henry Youngman

I like my money right where I can see it. Hanging in my closet. 
-Carrie Bradshaw

If the show fits, buy it in every color. 
-Unknown




I shop like a bull. I charge everything. 
-Unknown

Anyone who lives within their means suffers from a lack of imagination.
-Oscar Wilde. 

Bountiful Baskets

Welcome back Shelly Brown and her...

Bountiful Baskets!

How does my family eat healthy? PRODUCE! So much produce.

How does my family get produce? Co-ops. Bountiful Basket to be precise.

I’m sure that many of you have heard of grocery co-ops but there is a chance that a reader or two is ignorant to the value of such organizations.

Be ignorant no more.

Grocery Co-ops have been around FOREVER. Like I’m sure one caveman claimed to be good at gathering berries and another had an eye for walnuts and they decided it would be wise for them to share. See! FOREVER! But they have had a recent resurgence in the past 10+ years.

Co-ops are volunteer run, non-profit, member-owned organizations. The idea is that you put in your time and money then there isn’t a store that pockets a profit and the savings can be shared among the ‘owners.’ It sounds complicated but most of them have this down to a simple science.

People like the idea of eating local, organic food and cutting costs as well. Why wouldn’t you? But usually with a co-op you can have two of the three of those awesome things. If you have a co-op that is able to hit all three then feel free to mention them in the comments because that deserves some accolades. Bountiful Baskets, the one that I use, is really good at costs and organic but not so great at local.

There are minuses to using a grocery co-op as well.

• They usually have a small ordering window and a small pick-up window. If you are busy during those times then you don’t get produce that week. 
• The pick up locations can be ANYWHERE. Our baskets are on the floor of the local fire station. That might weird some people out. 
• They need you to volunteer. Not every week but it wouldn’t work if nobody helped. 
• And one of the biggest concerns for most people with Bountiful Baskets (and some other co-ops) is that you get what you get and you don’t throw a fit. The produce that comes that week is the produce that you take home. Do you have a family that hates brussel sprouts? Don’t know what to do with jicama? Well they were in your basket so…eat them, share them, or toss them. But they’re yours.

Personally I love this problem. It forces us to eat our rainbow. If my family only ate the produce that I typically bought from the grocery store they would be stuck with boring staples every week. I’m grateful for the opportunity to find out what a diakon is how to prepare it. Maybe I’m weird that way.

If you’d like to explore co-ops available to you CLICK HERE

If you’d like to explore Bountiful Baskets CLICK HERE

Shelly Brown is a mother to five crazy kids, caretaker of five crazy chickens, and wears the hat of children’s book writer at least 5 days a week. Her debut children’s book Ghostsitter comes out October 1st  but you can preorder today on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or your local independent bookseller.

5 Tips for Surviving Cyber Monday

A TV worth braining Granny for in the UK last year.
Courtesy Daily Mail.com

Did everyone survive Black Friday? If you're reading this, I'm assuming you haven't fallen to the zombie hordes during a fight over portable electronics or accessories.

And if you are one of the lucky ones who made it out alive (and with some remnants of currency left in your pocketbook), then you're probably already embarking on the joy and terror that is... *enter Rod Serling impersonater* CYBER MONDAY.

Even though you'll be doing it from the relative safety of your a computer screen at work or at home (possibly even in your jammies and you lucky SOBs know who you are), there are still plenty of perils to be avoided and on this spendiest of weekends. The biggest of those perils is too often overspending. Just because it saves you $100 now doesn't mean you really NEEDED that combination Roomba/Coffee Maker/Wine Decanter, right? So here are some quick tips to help get you through Cyber Monday with sanity AND money intact:

1. BUTCHER THE HELL OUT OF YOUR LISTS. Make lists, check them twice, then ditch anything you don't really need. Now think about everything you just hauled off to Goodwill during your last cabinet and attic raid and remember how excited you were to get those gadgets on sale. NOW go through the list again and try to imagine how long before you shove this year's gadget of your dreams to the attic... and then to the Goodwill pile.

2. STAY ON TASK. Those ads, those beautiful colors, the flashing lights... all telling you how much you need this multi-function foosball/ping-pong/air hockey/puzzle table to reinvigorate your family game nights. Ooooh! Or this at-home soda maker with healthy and all natural additives, and some nearly natural colors. DON'T GET DISTRACTED *whiplash*. If you go into your Cyber Monday shopping knowing that you need a Star Wars present for little Becky, vacuum for Mom, or to replace your threadbare towels in the guest bathroom, stick to it. No buts, just do it.

Edina and Patsy are fabulous, but
probably poor choices.

3. DON'T SHOP ALONE. There's no shame in admitting it - it's hard to police ourselves. If nobody sees us cheating on our diet, or splurging on that little item, it doesn't count, right? Wrong. And we know it. That's why this tip is true for every day of the year - don't even go to the grocery without a watchful eye if you can help it.

4. PICK A RESPONSIBLE SHOPPING BUDDY. It should go without saying, but make sure that the person you choose to help keep you honest this shopping season isn't a shopaholic fashionista in faux-Target slacks.


And last, but not least...


5. DON'T SHOP HUNGRY. Did you think that was just for grocery shopping? Heck no. As any Snickers commercial will tell you - hunger makes you crazy. At the very least, hunger can make you rush decisions and react more negatively to situations that normally wouldn't ruffle you, like when the website inevitably crashes and makes you start over just as you're buying the shopping cart you painstakingly filled. (ah, technology...) Make sure you start your Cyber Monday on a full and happy stomach, otherwise you'll be adding a monitor to your list to replace the one you just threw out the window.

Until next time - HAPPY SHOPPING!

Surviving Hump Day...

...Let's just hope you did a better job of this than me. You want a wellness tip? Some chick that opened a "Cat Cafe" in D.C. says kittens lower blood pressure. Yeah. You know what lowers my blood pressure? Saving money, so have this coupon.com app.

What? Were you expecting a real post? I already told you I barely survived today. In fact, the last 15 minutes of school, the kids started shushing each other. "Her hair is getting all crazy. You know that means she's mad." Apparently they gauge their discipline level by how fast my curls are bouncing. I can't make this stuff up.

Ready to get schooled?

It's already that time of year? Nooo! It's still summer!

But I do love school supplies. I savor the smell of fresh paper, erasers, and pencils. Notebooks, scissors, and crayons - oh my! I picture a musical where kids and moms are dancing around the aisles, swirling carts, and waving colorful folders and rulers in synchronized formations...


School Shopping Tips:

• Wait! Before you shop, did you save any supplies from last year? Check your list. My kids never use all their paper and we have become good at recycling some items - especially backpacks. Don't worry, I'll remind you at the end of the year for next time!
• Most of the off/store brand products work just as well as the big name brands, except for dry erase markers, EXPO is still the tops for that.
• If you can't find it in the special school supply section - check the store's regular office supply aisle. Not as many people and you might get lucky.
• And pay attention to TAX FREE SHOPPING days. Many states do this toward the end of summer each year and includes it clothes and shoes. Many were this past weekend, Aug 7-9, but some states aren't done yet. Here's a good list of dates.

Go get your school supplies on!