Go shopping!

Even if you go to a store and don’t spend any money, you are “shopping.” Actually go on a fact-finding mission to a store. This is when you will be able to see the prices for certain items and see the quality of the items.

In order to know if you are really saving money or getting a good deal you need to go to different places. At times you need to go into a traditional store to see an item and see if it is good quality before you decide what you want.

I saw a picture of a leather journal that had refillable pages and could be used for years. I went on a “shopping” trip and saw it in person. When I touched it and felt the quality I was not excited about it at all and took that off of my Christmas list.

You never know until you actually see some things. In order to make your shopping trip successful you need to dress the part. If you are going to a high end store just to get some ideas for wrapping or decorating, you can’t look like you can’t afford to shop there. Be honest, say you are “just looking.” Or as I said yesterday when I was in a store: “I’m just looking around to get some ideas for Christmas gifts.” No one blinked or looked at me twice when I used that line. It was true.

Besides, you need to look around in order to get some ideas and see if your Christmas shopping plan is in line with what you can actually spend. You may try to get a wool sweater for $5 and have to work really hard to get one, but it may not be a good quality sweater if you can find one. If you are budgeting $25 for a person and can’t seem to find a thing that will suit the person, then you might want to get a gift card.

One way to make your shopping less of a challenge, is to make a list and give it to people or ask for something you would really use. Kaboodle is a site that allows you to make personalized lists of things that you like as you go trolling the internet. You can share this list with other people and make comments. Let’s say you really want something that is expensive. Tell all of your friends and relatives to give you a gift card for the store and you can use that toward the gift. If you are telling all of your friends and relatives what you want via technology then you are shopcasting. Another site with similar features is ThisNext. These sites are similar to Amazon’s wish list feature except you can add items from all over the internet, not just one store.

I really like gift cards because most of the stores that I go to often, send me coupons for future purchases. So my gift giver’s money will go much farther than just the amount on the card when combined with a coupon or when used on a sale item.

To be frugal you need to know what prices are so you can save. If you are lucky enough that your gift recipients share with you what they want then you can rest easy this holiday season.