House & Garden Stuff
the Discount Diva
House & Garden Stuff
Four Giftable Gadgets that Give Back
Men are the hardest to shop for. Do you agree? Since I can never think of anything creative to give the guys in my life -- hubby, dad, brother, father-in-law -- for the holidays, I usually result to a gizmo or gadget (i.e. an electric window scraper that plays music) that I know they'll be jazzed about...at least for a day or two.
This year I'm not going to deviate from the gadget gifts they've come to expect from me, but I am going to be smarter about my choices. Here are four little devices that will actually save my recipients money -- something that EVERYONE wants for Christmas.
1.)Filtered Water Bottle for the man who spends money everyday on bottled water. Katadyn Micro Bottle Water Filter, $30
2.)Spice Grinder for the man who likes buying spices in bulk -- now he can grind up his own! Krups GX4100 Electric Coffee and Spice Grinder, $30
3.)Self Cleaning Electric Shaver for the man who spends his loose change every week on razors and shaving cream. Braun 7526 Syncro Self-Cleaning Electric Razor, $100
4.)Espresso/Cappuccino Machine for the man who likes his java on the go -- and pays for it! Self Cleaning Electric Shaver for the man who spends his loose change every week on razors and shaving cream. DeLonghi Espresso/Cappuccino Maker, $78
It's a Wrap
I went to stock up last week on boxes of tissue (my hubby has already started sniffling) and was drawn to the decorative/stylized name brand options. Why not? They'd match perfectly with the very different color schemes in our apartment -- one room is bright blue and fire engine red, another is hunter green and khaki. I piled six of them into my cart before I saw the price tag. $5 each! Yeah, right.
A light bulb went off in my head as I stacked the name brand tissues back on the shelf and dumped six of the store brand, kind-of-hideous tissue boxes into my cart. My total was $5.
At home I pulled out my stash of wrapping paper and covered each box in a different pattern. I can honestly tell you that I've never seen a prettier box of tissues in my life!
Rainy day? Try it.
Into the Black
Black Friday. It sounds scary, because it is scary. If you're unfamiliar with this "monumental" day of the year, let me fill you in. Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving when the Christmas shopping season officially starts and stores offer deep end-of-the-year discounts on some of their hottest items. People usually camp out overnight (yes, overnight) to be one of the first to get in the store, then they run (yes, run) through the aisles to stake claim of their possessions. People can get nasty, too, swiping things from other folks' carts or dumping the entire shelf stock of DVD players into their cart (tell me again, who needs that many DVD players?).
I went Black Friday shopping with my mother ONCE. She loves it, but I vowed that I would never subject myself to that kind of frenzy again. For me, who prefers strolling down the aisles, enjoying the store music and thinking about my purchases before I buy them, my first Black Friday was a traumatic experience.
But, thanks to BFAds.net, I may have to give this out-of-control shopping day another chance. The site provides the public with the inside scoop on Black Friday deals in big name stores like Best Buy, Sears, Ace Hardware, etc. before they even happen.
So, here's my plan of action: I'll use the site to create a shopping list; a week or two before Black Friday I'll hide the items I want in random places throughout the store; then I'll stroll into the store an hour or so before the sale ends to make my purchases. Fingers crossed, the sales clerks don't go around checking for hidden items the night before!
*What's your Black Friday plan of action?
Bedding Fit for a Queen
I've come to the conclusion that no matter how messy (clothes on the floor, books falling off the shelf, garbage overflowing) your bedroom really is, it looks 100,000 times better after the bed is made. Which is why no matter how late my husband and I are running in the morning (and no matter how disgusting the rest of the room is), we make up the bed -- smooth the shams, straighten the bed-skirt, fluff the accent pillows...the whole nine. Oh, and since the bed is the focal point of the room, it's imperative that everything matches.
Instead of collecting cute little gnomes or thimbles from across the U.S., we fill extra closet space with bedding. Okay, okay. I'll admit it: We're a little over-the-top.
To feed our obsession, I was happy to find DesignerLinensOutlet.com where everything to outfit your bed (bed sets, sheets, quilts, memory foam, etc.) from big names like Liz Claiborne, Nautica and Hawthorne are sold for 50-70 percent off. No gimmicks, no catches, no fine print. Now, that's the stuff that sweet dreams are made of!
Better Late Than Never
This past weekend one of the streets in my neighborhood hosted a stoop sale block party, where residents pulled out all of their unwanted wares to hawk on their stoops or front lawns. A whopping 30 houses on the block participated and I was ready to shop! The plan was to get up early, run a few errands and then be the first one there.
Of course, my plan completely backfired -- I woke up late and I didn't finish my errands until 4pm (the sale was ending at 5pm!). I managed to make it there just as most of the stoop sellers were packing up.
Being late turned out to be a good thing. As I sulked and gave puppy-dog eyes to the stoop sellers packing up their leftovers, I stumbled over a pair of Steve Madden black slingbacks sitting on the sidewalk with a sign that read "FREE" beside them. I picked them up to check out the size. Eight and a half -- that's my size! I shoved them in my bag and kept walking, with a little more pep in my step now. Then I came upon a corner house. The stoop seller was busy packing up, but I noticed there was one little table he hadn't gotten to yet and on it was a bunch of costume jewelry -- rings, chunky bracelets, and necklaces. The sign said $1, but when the homeowner saw me looking he yelled, "They're a penny now!" Score! I bought them all and it only cost me $0.50.
The moral of the story is this: A sale is not over until it's over.
about the blogger
Ayren
Ayren Jackson-Cannady has yet to find a bargain or sale she didn’t like. It’s a good relationship for her wallet, but not so much for the dwindling closet space in the apartment that she shares with her husband, John and her cat, Shiny in Brooklyn, NY.
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