It's time to start thinking about Christmas shopping--and if you have friends and family that want something nice, something brand name or something from a mall store, you can STILL get it for less.
Gift cards are the way to go. When you decide what you want to get, give yourself plenty of time to buy it and then look for coupons online. Many times you will find 10-20% off coupons for almost every mall store, whether it be Bath and Body Works or any of the other chic places to buy gifts.
Start on Google and look for free coupons. Then head over to eBay to get the gift cards. Remember to buy a gift card for UNDER the amount you want to pay, or you are going to have a balance left and that isn't a savings.
Combining gift card and coupons will allow you to get the hot gifts for less.
Also, January is gift card month on eBay; people who got gift cards that they didn't want for Christmas are going to put them all up on eBay, so if you have birthdays coming up or even if you want to prepare for next Christmas--you can get some good deals.
One of the best buys in gift certificates is for Home Depot. I have always been able to get one for less than the value left on the card, and with my house being a constant work in progress, it sure helps.
Beware of $1000 ONLINE SHOPPING SPREES, they are scams. The way they work is by charging cash for the shipping, with the shipping based on the price of the item. When it's all said and done, you haven't saved a thing by using the $1000 shopping spree. I have had several over the years given to me, but when I went online, I found that the cheap made-in-china items that they are selling were actually less on eBay than they were to just pay for the "shipping."
When buying gift certificates on eBay, I use Gixen, the
eBay Sniper
. You can put a group bid out, which is really cool. The way it works is that once you decide what item you want and the price you want to pay for it, you can bid on several auctions by using Gixen, and, once you win one of the auctions in the group you selected it stops bidding on any of the other ones.
If you get to buying in time you can be assured of getting all of your shopping done for less than anyone else without having to compromise on quality.
And of course, I can't stress enough the greatness of eBay when it comes to gift shopping. Go and find what you want to get in the malls and then write down the specs and item name or number, then when you go online you can compare apples to apples and get the exact item you want without having to blow your budget or skimp on gifts.
For instance, I wanted to get someone a nice pen from a high end pen manufacturer. I really wanted to get them a $150-$200 pen, but I didnt want to spend anywhere near that much. I wanted something classic, yet classy, something heavy and with the type of writing mechanism that the person preferred; so with much searching, I landed on a brand I wanted, and a style and color. When it was all said and done I got a $195 pen (which is price controlled by the manufacturer) for only $50, and even though the pen didn't say it came with an expensive $10 gift box, by wording an email to the seller perfectly, I was able to get him to throw it in for free.
Now someone is going to get a fantastic pen that will last them the rest of their lives for only $50--can't beat it.
Make your decisions later, do your research earlier. This will make sure you have the most information before making your final purchase decision, and if you are an old pro with bargain hunting, you will be able to identify deals that have to be grabbed on the spot.
Happy Bargain Hunting.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Friday, November 13, 2009
The Internet: Now Half Off
In today's society, it's hard to get by without the Internet, but that is no reason to overpay for it!
Home Internet
If you already have a phone line, it's time to ask yourself "Why?" If it isn't easy to defend, then answer these questions: Is there any reason I can't just give out my cell phone number to the people that have my home phone number? Do I have an alarm system that relies on the phone line? Do I use pay-per-view movies and don't want to have to call-in my movies over the phone?
If the answer is "No" to all of those questions, then you can just get rid of your home phone line.
Personally, I do have satellite TV service, but I don't use pay-per-view; I have an alarm system, but it connects through an on-board cell phone; and I never did have home phone service, but I still have DSL Internet, and a wireless router. I have it unlocked, in case my neighbors or passers by want a WiFi hotspot.
If you go through AT&T, you can get Internet a la carte for $20 a month (inc. taxes or fees) and if they ever change your billing schedule (which they generally do after about a year) you can call up and complain about it and get one month for free!
If you are getting a bundle deal, it's time to ask yourself if it really is a deal.
Look at what you can get without bundling them all together and chances are you are going to pay much less (like I do.
I pay $50/month for my cell phone, $20 a month for home Internet and $30 a month for satellite. And that pretty much covers it.
On the Road
If you travel a lot, like I used to, it is very convienient to have the Internet with you wherever you go.
Wifi Hotspots
They aren't free anymore...or at least not everywhere.
Here are a few places that you can find free Internet: public libraries, places such as Krystals (a burger joint similar to White Castle)and certain hotels such as La Quinta. (But try to stay out of sight while using the Internet, as they don't appreciate people sucking off their internet for some reason.) There are websites dedicated to telling you where free hotspots are. But if you want to get Internet literally anywhere, you are going to want wireless internet from a cell phone company.
If you already have a smart phone with Windows Mobile, Pdanet, or the Google operating system, then there is no reason to pay the extra $25-$60 a month for wireless Internet on your computer. You can use PDAnet From June Fabric.
You install it on your computer and hook your computer up to your phone and install it there as well. This will allow you to have internet in places that you couldn't before. The drawback is that PDAnet can be buggy when used with certian versions of Windows and needs to be re-connected often in some cases. However, that does not stop me. I am using it right now!
In the mall where I have my store, their WiFi is a joke. It works about 8% of the time, so my G1 (Google phone) is connected to the computer and provides me with an internet speed that I can live with.
It's not enough to seamlessly stream video, but then, I usually don't use it for that in any case.
Home Internet
If you already have a phone line, it's time to ask yourself "Why?" If it isn't easy to defend, then answer these questions: Is there any reason I can't just give out my cell phone number to the people that have my home phone number? Do I have an alarm system that relies on the phone line? Do I use pay-per-view movies and don't want to have to call-in my movies over the phone?
If the answer is "No" to all of those questions, then you can just get rid of your home phone line.
Personally, I do have satellite TV service, but I don't use pay-per-view; I have an alarm system, but it connects through an on-board cell phone; and I never did have home phone service, but I still have DSL Internet, and a wireless router. I have it unlocked, in case my neighbors or passers by want a WiFi hotspot.
If you go through AT&T, you can get Internet a la carte for $20 a month (inc. taxes or fees) and if they ever change your billing schedule (which they generally do after about a year) you can call up and complain about it and get one month for free!
If you are getting a bundle deal, it's time to ask yourself if it really is a deal.
Look at what you can get without bundling them all together and chances are you are going to pay much less (like I do.
I pay $50/month for my cell phone, $20 a month for home Internet and $30 a month for satellite. And that pretty much covers it.
On the Road
If you travel a lot, like I used to, it is very convienient to have the Internet with you wherever you go.
Wifi Hotspots
They aren't free anymore...or at least not everywhere.
Here are a few places that you can find free Internet: public libraries, places such as Krystals (a burger joint similar to White Castle)and certain hotels such as La Quinta. (But try to stay out of sight while using the Internet, as they don't appreciate people sucking off their internet for some reason.) There are websites dedicated to telling you where free hotspots are. But if you want to get Internet literally anywhere, you are going to want wireless internet from a cell phone company.
If you already have a smart phone with Windows Mobile, Pdanet, or the Google operating system, then there is no reason to pay the extra $25-$60 a month for wireless Internet on your computer. You can use PDAnet From June Fabric.
You install it on your computer and hook your computer up to your phone and install it there as well. This will allow you to have internet in places that you couldn't before. The drawback is that PDAnet can be buggy when used with certian versions of Windows and needs to be re-connected often in some cases. However, that does not stop me. I am using it right now!
In the mall where I have my store, their WiFi is a joke. It works about 8% of the time, so my G1 (Google phone) is connected to the computer and provides me with an internet speed that I can live with.
It's not enough to seamlessly stream video, but then, I usually don't use it for that in any case.
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