Give Yourself the Gift of Organization
I spend a big part of the month of January getting organized for the year ahead. It may take a little time upfront, but then the rest of the year is less complicated with trying to remember what I forgot! I am big on lists or what I like to call logs. One of my favorites is my Special Occasion Gift Log. This simple log with columns is a perfect tool to tell us who, when and what!
Start out with a log that you can either, download from the internet, create as a computer spreadsheet or use a ledger that you can purchase from any office supply store. You want a column for the name, date, occasion and a column for recording information such as sizes, wants and needs, favorite colors or things collected. I also like to keep a column for cards.
Plan Your Trip to the Grocery Store
Consider the following tips when shopping for groceries:
• Shop with a well planned list.
• Eat before you leave for the grocery store which prevents impulse buys.
• Carry a small calculator with you to figure unit prices. Bigger is not always better—it may not be the best price.
• Check the dates on perishable foods. They usually place the freshest towards the back of the case.
• Before taking the first item from the shelf, check behind for lower prices and newer expiration dates.
• Reweigh produce and meat that have been pre-packaged. You may find a discrepancy in weight that will affect the price. Request that it be remarked with the correct weight and price.
Save Money on Sales
The fall holidays and Christmas are behind us. The lights and decorations have been taken down and packed away. The last thing we want to think about now is NEXT Christmas. However, now is the time to take advantage of some incredible deals.
I have tried to explain to my husband, with very little success, that shopping the after-Christmas sales for the next Christmas is one way of saving a lot of money. He thinks that I would save a lot more if I didn’t go shopping at all. OK, maybe, BUT why does anyone want to pay full price for things like wrapping paper and ribbon?
Gift Shopping List
Guest post by Regina:
When going to “sales” by myself or on a shopping trip with friends, it feels so good to have a needs list—that is, a list of things I’ll be needing in the coming months:
- for myself and my life style, and
- as gifts for family and friends.
Ship Early
Many of us have family and friends that live in another state. Mailing a package becomes another consideration when gift giving. You have spent your time and money on a nice gift, but now you have to ship it. We all know just how expensive that can be, and if your loved one is out of the country, well that can be even worse. In some cases, you could spend as much or more mailing the package than you spent on the gift.
I don’t know about you, but this part of the gift giving process drives me crazy and I will avoid these costs like the plague. I know that in many cases you are left to the mercy of the post office or one of the shipping services and you can do nothing about it. But, with a little planning, we can cut our shipping costs using these services only when we have to.
Shop Til You Drop
OK ladies, start your engines. You have a big day ahead of you so you will need to roll out of bed at the crack of dawn if you want to get in line for all those early bird specials and doorbusters. Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving) is well known as the biggest shopping day of the year. All the stores offer huge deals and giveaways to get you into their stores. Do your homework–you will need an idea of who you want to buy for and possible gift ideas.
Before getting to bed (early) Thursday night, you will need a strategy. Peruse the myriad of sales papers you will find in the Thursday newspaper or search websites such as www.black-friday.net.
I Forgot to Save Again!
In my last post Get Into The Coupon Game: Clip, Organize, & Save!, I discussed getting into the coupon game, and I gave some suggestions on how to organize yourself to best utilize your coupons for grocery shopping. But there are other types of coupons that we don’t want to forget about.
During the week in our newspapers, magazines, and mailers, we have access to coupons to restaurants, services for things like car repairs or dry cleaning, and department/misc. stores. Unlike the grocery coupons, we need to keep these coupons with us at all times. I labeled three of the coupon holders, one for Restaurants, the second for Services and the third for Stores (other than grocery). I keep all three with me in my purse at all times. You never know when you may need one, and you don’t want to miss an opportunity to save money!
