By now most of us know that this Open Mic post is an opportuntiy for you to ask questions, share, listen and learn from others. With the holidays fast approaching I thought it worthwhile to direct this Open Mic in the direction of the holidays. If you have questions about how to get this or that for a great price or ideas for entertaining or cooking that are cheap, but nice or any other holiday-relalted question, idea or suggestion let’s hear it.
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Your turn: What holiday-related questions do you have?
About Carrie Rocha
Carrie,
I know it would probably put more of a burden on your bandwidth and whatnot, but have you ever thought about starting a forum or message board on PYD? These open mic Thursdays are great and it would be nice to have a place to have discussions outside of your topics everyday.
How about Black Friday? Does anyone do the research on the items or take on the crowd? Is it worth it? Does anyone preshop and put items on hold and just buy them the next day?
I agree with Nate!
I found some great deals on some board games for gifts, but now looking for gifts for my teenagers. My question: is it worth it to buy now, using coupons for clothing (Gap, Old Navy, Banana Republic Friends & Family 30% off starts today) or wait and see if savings get bigger towards the big day?
Jen,
I’m not sure where you live, but I’ve heard the outlet malls (Albertville for sure) has CRAZY sales on Black Friday. I didn’t get to go last year, but I heard people were lined up mid-afternoon on Thanksgiving..the mall opened at Midnight. I may give that a try this year.
I am wondering if you think prices on toys will get a lot better after Thanksgiving. I’m tempted by some of the Target coupons and such but worry I will be kicking myself if those things get price reduced dramatically after Thanksgiving.
KJ and Nicole,
I am a fan of Black Friday but I go into it for fun and not get so wound up and crazy like many people do. Yes, there are definitely some great deals out there though!
I subscribe to http://www.bfads.net and the BF (Black Friday) ads are coming in. Target was posted yesterday for example and Kohl’s was earlier this week.
In regards to Albertville Outlet Mall, I live in St Michael and have learned a few tricks… I went about 3am last year and most of the craziness was over and the traffic was better controlled as well. (94 gets backed up so try to go through St Michael – exit 202) I got a free crystal ornament from Waterford just for walking into the store (unfortunately they closed this last year though) and many, many stores have awesome deals!!! Some stores were even opened at 10:00pm on Thursday and the deals typically go til 5 or 6 in the morning…
If you go to the regular malls and you are with other people, wear a matching hat (we use elf hats or reindeer antlers) and it helps you spot your group out easier as well.
I have never tried to preshop before so I can’t help you there, sorry!
Anyways, it is great fun but some people get very intense. Let me know if you have any other questions!
~Liz
Sarah,
As far as the Target products go, you can print multiple copies of those coupons so you could always pick something up now and if you see it goes on sale for an even better deal you could pick it up then and return your first purchase.
Some stores will even give you a price adjustment if you purchase something and it goes on sale within a few weeks. (I know Herberger’s does it for sure and I think other stores have similar policies) In those situations you just have to bring in the receipt and they will return the difference.
I use a few different stragegies to do my holiday shopping. First, I am always on the look out for clearance items that fit those on my gift list through out the year. Second, in early November, I set up a budget for my holiday shopping and how much I think I’ll spend on each person (with any ideas I have). Third, I limit how many gifts I buy for my kids to about 4. Each child gets a gift of clothing, 2 toys & a new pair of PJ’s (PJ”S are opened on Christmas Eve, so they look cute for Christmas morning photos). From this point, I buy Christmas gifts when I find them at a good deal. Many stores have already started their great sales. If I later find a better price (or better gift), I simply return the first one. I keep all the gifts in the same spot & keep all my holiday receipts and budget in a special envelope in my purse.
Side question? Does Costco take coupons outside their own coupons?
I personally would wait for the sales, unless there is an item that is a must get on your list. Because stores were burned so bad last year with the lack luster sales a lot of them have cut thier inventory shipments down considerably this year so they are not stuck in the same position last year so waiting till last minute could be a problem for a hotter item. Stores don’t want to end up like last year stuck with a ton of inventory they had to mark down to 75% off to get it off the shelves and due to a slow year overall in retail alot of stores don’t have the cash flow to tie up in inventory like they did in the past so I would anticipate we will still see some great sales but a lot fewer of the items available per store, etc.
PJ – No, Costco does not take manufacturer coupons.
Here’s a good deal on EXCELLENT toys, copied from an email
Ladies Night Out Event on Friday, November 13th, from 8:00pm until 10:00pm. As a thank you to our loyal customers, we are offering the same great savings you will find during our day after Thanksgiving sale. Yes, that’s right, a savings of 25% OFF YOUR ENTIRE PURCHASE.
Toy World is pleased to offer our 2009 Astra Best Toys for Kids Award Winners. These are top toys in every category that are sure to please one or all of your special loved ones.
We encourage you to shop locally for the most engaging, unique, safe and fun toys.
We will be closing both locations at 7:30pm in preparation for this event. There will be no gift wrap available during this time. We hope to see you here on Friday the 13th!
locations: Wayzata Toy World Chanhassen Toy World
1135 East Wayzata Blvd 820 W. 78th Street
Wayzata, Minnesota 55391 Chanhassen, MN 55317
952-249-1707 952-470-9975
On page A14 of today’s Star Tribune is a Rainbow coupn for JennyO frozen yurkeys for 37 cents a pound. Best deal I’ve seen so far this season. Too bad I already bought mine at Cub for 39 cents a pound.
I found an excellent way to save money! Buy an online code for over 2000 discounts for food and services all over the country. You can use it as often as you want in 3 months once you activate your account. You do not need to carry a card or coupon with you if you are able to access the internet onyour phone. Some discounts are 25.00 free oil changes, Target, Best Buy, Walmart, subway, AMC, and more. In addition, you get a free membership to PERKLINE Parternship for access to more than 70,000 discounts! All you do is go to http://www.dineanddiscounts.com enter code AHAH09 name Katharina
you will get a 3 month subscription for $25.00 USD
Feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns
I found that on http://www.landofmags.com you can get a 2 year subscription to All You magazine for 22.00. Is this a good price?
Sarah, Erica said exactly what I was going to about price adjustments. I just save receipts. If they won’t do an adjustment, return the item you bought, and then “rebuy” it at the discounted rate. But I’ve not had a problem with price adjustments.
Deb-
That is a good price for All You. I actually just purchased it for the same price through a school program and hadn’t found it that cheap anywhere else. (It was usually $22 just for one year) That cost makes it less than a $1 per magazine and I have found that I usually save well over a couple of dollars with coupons through each issue. Hope that helps!
Is there a way to save on shipping Christmas presents. I want to send some presents to my family and friends, but I don’t want to spend more in shipping then I did on the gift. Also any tips to save on shipping overseas?
For all of you that use swagbucks I just saw an announcement on their site that they will be cutting the prices on their gift card options in the swagstore from black Friday until new year’s. Check it out here: http://blog.swagbucks.com/2009/11/gift-card-blowout-black-friday-until.html
If you haven’t signed up for swagbucks it is a great way to search the internet and earn free stuff!
http://www.swagbucks.com
For those of you that use swagbucks listen to this great deal! I just read that they are going to be drastically lowering the “cost” of the gift cards in the swag store starting on Black Friday through New Year’s Day. Check it out here: http://blog.swagbucks.com/2009/11/gift-card-blowout-black-friday-until.html
Should be a great way to pick up some gifts!
If you haven’t already signed up for swagbucks you can check it out here where Carrie talks about it: http://www.pocketyourdollars.com/2009/06/swagbucks-earn-prizes-for-surfing-the-web/ or sign up here
I’m knitting a majority of my gifts this year. I have a lot pattern resources that I’ve saved over the years and been given a ton of knitting books, but I keep going back to Knitting Pattern Central. KPC lists a majority of the free knitting patterns of the web, and I find that it’s easier to browse the web then open thirty books to find two patterns.
http://www.knittingpatterncentral.com/
and it’s sister site
http://www.crochetpatterncentral.com/
Vanessa – I’m not sure if they apply to international packages, but USPS does offer some flat-rate boxes. You can send as much as you can fit in the box and the cost doesn’t change. You might call and ask if they offer something similar for international shipping.
Erica – thanks for the head’s up! I’ll save my Swagbucks until after Thanksgiving! I use mine to buy Amazon gift cards and use them to treat myself.
Just got the Lunds and Byerlys email with there add for the week looks good!
Thanks Erica & Karen! I was worried about the coupons because the store toy coupons expire right before black Friday (sneaky) but you’re right, I may as well buy a few things and save receipts if I need a price adjustment later.
Menards is giving free tickets to the home show this weekend at the service desk. Also the Christian fair is going on for free at the Rivercenter.
I am wondering if Dollar Tree takes coupons? I went in there for the first time yesterday and saw a few things you could get for free with manufacturer coupons, but not sure if they take them.
One more question-Does anyone know if Target will price match to Aldi?
How to save $ on the holidays? Have a budget! One of our monthly budget items is a “gifts” category that we set X amount of $ to savings each month for gifts. When Christmas comes, we have the correct sum of $ saved in that category to spend the allotted amount on each family member. So keep track of how much you spend at Christmas time – divide it by 12 and save that much monthly beginning in January.
How about doing a fun family event or give a gift of time instead? You could give a “coupon” for a dinner out with your child for each each month of the year (or lunch or coffee, etc).
Think practical? I personally like practical gifts. I know not everyone does. My husband gave me a really hard time last year about some of the stocking stuffers I bought for the kids – toothpaste, toothbrush, their favorite color socks. He thought it was silly to give them “practical” things as gifts. Well, guess what my then 3 year old daughter’s favorite gift was last year? Her 6 pack of Elmo underwear! Believe me, I reminded my husband of this often!! : ) He now trusts me to know what the kids will like!
Vanessa, If it is a family here is something I’ve done in the past…send money or gift cards to the mom of the family (ask first of course!) and tell her what you’d like to buy or let her buy for the family. Then she wraps the gifts and puts them under the tree from you. Same thing with the dad…only he shops for the mom. I have been able to give more this way as I can take the shipping fees and give it to the family to buy for gifts rather than shipping. If the kids are a little older you could also ask them to buy for each other. Even 8 year olds can pick out something their sibling would like.
Karen
http://www.blackfriday.com my husband and I used this web sight a lot last year. I love the excitement that black friday brings. I am usually in line at JCPenny around 4 or 4:30 am for the free disney snow globe. Then it is off to the next deal usually at target etc. from there. I get such an agrenaline rush. It is fun watching other people be so into it.
Vanessa, Another great idea is to order through Amazon.com & have the items shipped directly to the recipient. I believe it may be cheaper if you go to the Amazon site for that country as well. like Amazon UK, etc.
I found a great deal on a magazine subscription on Amazon today. You can get a 1 year subscription (or renewal) to Cooking Light for $5.00. I gifted a subscription to my sister for a Christmas present since the first issue will take 6-10 weeks to arrive. Offer expires 11/14.
I buy things at great prices that I know my kids really want/need, and then offer them to the grandparents for giving (they pay me!). Last week, I bought the wii games B2G1 with the Target toy coupon and 10% discount. The grandparents are thrilled to give a gift they know my kids will love without overpaying!
Don’t forget – Sunday is the last day that you can buy qualifying items for the Real Simlpe Holiday Savings promotion ($5 rebate) I can’t find a post by Carrie about this, but it was discussed by readers like us in the comments of the Walgreens list from 10/18 – Thanks Mitzie!! http://www.realsimplerewards.com/rsn/holidaysavings/index.html
I know this is the Holiday session but I am having difficulties printing coupons online. I can’t print the brick coupons and I have tried all the trouble shooting like changing the $ and making sure my printer is the default printer. I also could not print from redplum.com but I was able to print off coupons.com. If anybody has any suggestions, I would appreciate any help.
Thanks.
Katy~
I used the Aldi ad to price match the Leapfrog Tag Reader books and they let me.
Used my $3 off Tag Reader coupon too and got the books for only $6.99. Down from $13.99!!
Went to pick up a Star Tribune, Sat 11-14-09. I did not find any coupon fliers in there (Red plum, Smartsource). I check a couple of places.
Anyone else find this?
Stacy – sometimes when I have problems printing coupons, i try using my other server. Ex. I usually use internet explorer, but for some reason I can’t always print coupons. I don’t know why. Then I try Mozilla Firefox and can print them right away. Just a suggestion.
Erin – I bought a few papers too today (11/14) and none had coupons. I called the STrib to complain and they said there should be an SS and RP today so they took my info to send me a refund.
I picked up the early edition of the Star Trib and there were three coupon inserts. They are stil charging the $.75 per paper though, which I thought was supposed to be $.50.
As far as gifts go, our family makes an inexpensive ornament for each member of the family. Instead of buying gifts for one another, we donate to a charity the recipient would enjoy. We make personalized cards stating where we donated in honor of them to and a little description about the charity. This way, they still have a gift to open. We weren’t sure how well our extended family would respond to this, but they have enjoyed it…we’ve been doing it this way for 3 or 4 years now. It’s also friendly on the budget because you donate what you can afford (or have budgted for gifts) without the guilt of a price tag. I find that donating to charity goes a lot farther than what I could purchase at a retail store for our family members. Happy shopping! :)