Smart Shopping Tips for Holidays

 With only 19 days till Christmas, there are so many deals to stretch your dollar. As a woman who always looks to saving, I’m thrilled! But take heed of the savings carefully. What looks like a great buy often has added trappings that amount to being a clever marketing strategy. Here are my top picks for watching your holiday pennies:

 1. Shipping- Mailing costs can be astronomical. Your savings from an online retailer can be deeply offset by shipping fees. Some retailers will push at holiday time for “expedited shipping,” when in fact this isn’t really necessary. One example recently was on Vista print. The automatically added shipping was nearly ten dollars more than the one I selected on the drop down menu. I’ve just checked on my order placed last week, and the estimated date of arrival is December 12th- plenty of time for Christmas (with a significantly lower shipping).

Of course, the best case scenarios are retailers who offer free shipping. Before shopping, Google “free shipping” codes for whatever retailer you’re looking for. Many of these codes really work. Read the reviews, if there are any and also see how recently they’ve been posted to see how reliable they are. Be savvy about shipping by knowing how long it takes an item to leave the warehouse you’ve bought it from. Amazon, for instance, will list how long it takes for an item to leave the building. I live in Indiana and their warehouse is in Kentucky. There is no reason to pay for expedited shipping, as in stock items that ship within a day, are delivered (even on the slowest shipping) within three days. When in doubt, call the company and inquire how long it takes for your item to process and actually ship before ordering. Knowing this will save you big bucks and headaches wondering if it’ll arrive in time. Other super fast shippers, historically are Staples, Victoria Secret and Old Navy.

 2. Getting buy one get one half off, doesn’t always save. Often these look like great buys, when in fact the items aren’t a savings. You’ll do better if you shop for items that are reduced separately. Retailers count on you spending more than you budgeted by seeing these deals. Only take part of these if you really have planned on spending the extra.

 3. Use multiple codes for free products if possible. Victoria Secret, like many retailers this season offers free items with purchases. You can use several of these on one order. But you need to do a little research first. Do a search on free products or the site first and read other’s experiences. Currently, Victoria Secret is offering free slippers with a pajama purchase; $10 off select bra’s and free panties with bra purchase and free shipping on qualifying orders. You can enter all these codes in individually, but you won’t get the items without the codes. Some of the best places to find these offers are blog sites that specialize in free deals, some like Southern Savers, It’s All Free Online and others have regular updates. Bookmark these sites and check them before shopping as they give credible information.

4. Never buy a shipping or a discount code! These are plentiful on Ebay and while some may work from time to time, they aren’t reliable. Often these are expired or are rejected when you enter them. You’ll be out the money spent and will have to wait a lengthy time for Ebay to resolve the situation. In many cases, your cash you coughed up for codes isn’t able to be refunded.

To summarize- save on shipping by knowing the ins and outs of the process. Don’t let the computer automatically upgrade your shipping if it’s not necessary. Manually reset these if you need to.  Keep an eye on your budget when partaking of sales. Learn any offers in advance, before shopping. And never fork out money for free shipping or discounts.