…for my friends (you know who you are).
…for adoption (of me into my family, of Ty into our family, of us into God’s family).
…for online shopping.
I know that last one seems shallow but if you have 3 small children, it’s HUGE. Besides grocery shopping, I pretty much always shop online. You might remember my love affair with Amazon.com that I wrote about here. I’ve even been known spend enough online just to qualify for free shipping, get to try on things in the comfort of my own home (intead of a dressing room), and then return what I don’t want or what doesn’t fit to the store.
I figured the day before the infamous Black Friday would be as good a time as any to let you in on some of my recent online shopping deals and tips.
Take the phenomenon of group buying power. Sites like Eversave, Groupon, and Living Social allow groups of people to create a deal by purchasing in large quantities. Today, Groupon (Baltimore) offered $10 off of $20 at KodakGallery.com. Combine that with Kodak Gallery’s notable Black Friday sale and you’ve got quite the deal.
BzzAgent allows me to spread bzz about new products or services like CheapToday.com. I’m excited about CheapToday.com because other power shoppers are doing the work for me 
I also love to take advantage of programs like Kidvantage at Sears and Land’s End’s unconditional guarantee to help my money stretch the farthest. These are great things if you have multiple kids and you hand down clothes. Don’t forget to check out Land’s End Overstocks for rock bottom prices on high quality clothing.
Where will you find your best deals this holiday season?
]]>2. Use dripping water to defrost meats quickly. I’m a great meal planner but I stink at looking at my plan with enough time to defrost my meat. My best friend recently divulged that you can put your meat in the sink in a bowl of cool water and let the faucet drip into it. The friction defrosts the meat in record time.
What things are making your life easier and more budget-friendly?
]]>So without further ado, let me introduce to the only wrapping paper you’ll ever need.
For gifts from the kids, I wrap the gift and then let the kids decorate it with markers, crayons, stickers, stamps, and/or glitter paint. (Ok, glitter paint only happens when I’m in a really good mood.) We make sure we write who it’s to and from, and then we don’t even need to include a card.
For more mature and stylish looking gifts, I wrap the gift and then add a pretty ribbon. Fabric ribbons are a nice touch but I’ve used basic curling ribbon in a pinch more times than I would care to admit.
One year, we made all of our own Christmas paper by rolling it out and stamping it with big, foam Christmas stamps. Can you believe I don’t have any pictures to share? Feel free to pick your jaw off the ground whenever you’re ready.
You can, of course, also use the paper for that which it was actually intended…wrapping packages for mailing. We do plenty of that, too, with the occasional Ebay sell and lots of out-of-town family.
I just realized I can buy it from Amazon.com
*If you’ve never heard of Amazon Prime and/or you’re a mom and/or you live in the middle of nowhere and/or you’re addicted to online shopping, you need to go to Amazon Prime and sign up NOW. Please. You can thank me later. What’s the big deal you may ask? FREE two-day shipping, no minimum purchase for a year for $80. Now $80 may sound like a lot until you know that you can split your Prime membership across as many as 5 Amazon accounts. I did the math for you…that’s only $16/year for FREE two-day shipping on anything Amazon sells (not things from the Amazon marketplace). Let me tell you, Amazon sells A LOT. No, they’re paying me to market for them. I’m just a little addicted to having things arrive for no shipping at my house in 48 hours. I’ve ordered everything from toys to crock pot liners
I received this in my inbox a couple days after this post…
Melissa,
Thanks for posting your story about ShopDiscover and congratulations! You’re one of the winning bloggers to enter our promotion and we’re excited to send you a $50 Discover Gift Card.
You’ll receive your Gift Card shortly by mail.
Thanks for participating and for letting us know more about your online bargain hunting and sharing the benefits of ShopDiscover on your blog!
I hope we hear more from you in the future. Keep an eye out for upcoming Discover Card promotions.
Thanks,
Suzanne
Social Media and Brand Manager
Discover Financial Services
—–original post follows——
So if you know me well, you know that I a bit of a bargain hunter. It’s not unusual for me to check multiple places to get the best deal or to show up at the grocery/drug store with as many coupons as I have items on my list or to buy 12 jars of peanut butter because they’re on sale.
I am also a frequent online shopper an online shop-a-holic. Knowing is half the battle, right?
Why shop online? Because I have three kids. Enough said. Oh, and most places will let you return to the store which means you never pay return shipping. And I can handle returns with three kids. And I usually only buy when I can get free shipping.
Anyway, I often shop through Mr. Rebates because I can get cashback in small amounts for my online purchases (e.g., Lands Ends gives 3%). I always use my Discover card because they also give about 1% cashback on all purchases.
Enter the perfect marriage of online shopping…Shop Discover. Here Discover cardholders can shop with even higher discounts (e.g., Lands End gives 10%). Then you can stretch your cashback by getting merchant gift cards (e.g., Lands End $50 giftcard for only $40 in cashback rewards). Or you can use cashback to get merchandise (free shipping!), an account credit, or personalized Discover giftcard. So many options…so little time.
Happy Shopping!
P.S. By blogging about the new Shop Discover I am eligible to win this promotion!
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