I thought it only fitting with Thanksgiving coming up next weekend to take a moment to talk about something near and dear to many of our hearts…shopping 🙂 !!! Today my sister-in-law texted me the title of today’s blog, “Online shopping gives me a reason to live for another 3 to 5 business days,” and I busted out laughing. Oh my gosh it feels so true sometimes.  I love it when I have ordered something online and I see it arrive on the porch. It is like Christmas morning every time a new package arrives.

“I love shopping for things online because when they arrive it’s like a present to me, from me.”

I buy so much online that one day the UPS guy told my husband, “Your wife needs to settle down.” When I found out he said it I wanted to run outside and yell at his truck “Hey if it wasn’t for people like me you wouldn’t have that delivery job of yours Mister!”  After all, as I see it I am creating all kinds of delivery jobs for the economy by doing my online shopping, so he should be thanking me really 🙂

Just as an fyi, the National Retail Federation is expecting that 140 million plus shoppers will hit stores or retailers websites Thanksgiving weekend. Let me tell you that I for one will not be one of those people hitting the stores. Websites, definitely, but stores…no way!  I cannot think of anything more miserable than fighting a massive crowd of sweaty, anxious people through aisles and checkout. To me, that would be the definition of misery.  I cannot handle shopping with crowds. I avoid the malls at all costs during holiday shopping season and prefer to instead buy everything I possibly can online.

One thing I have learned is that I can save a tremendous amount of money by buying the bigger purchases I need online during the month of November and December. For example, when we were furnishing our new home I was able to purchase some of the items I needed for as much as 40% off plus free shipping.  It saved me a fortune. Whether you need to buy dishware or silverware or appliances, it is not a bad idea to make those purchases during the crazy online sales offered over the holiday. I am pretty certain the retailers assume you will just buy normal gift items during that time of year when they offer the big percentage discounts but because they don’t have a limit on the percentage off you can really save big dollars by purchasing your big ticket items this time of year.

One other tip is this – The Wall Street Journal did research on last year’s shopping prices and found that the biggest price drops of the year happened THE WEEKEND BEFORE THANKSGIVING!  That’s right!  That means this weekend is when you will actually see the biggest price drops! Not next weekend during black Friday deals.  This weekend!! So I would get on the web this weekend and check for good deals.

Have an amazing weekend everyone and HAPPY SHOPPING!

~Amy