Bargain Blog

Better late than never huh   Sorry that I haven’t posted anything in a while, but this is worth the wait!

Portmans is offering 40% off full price items (excludes already reduced items) – pretty good saving.  Great opportunity to buy those more expensive items that you have been wanting

Simply click on the link below, print on the voucher and take in-store.  Offer valid until Tuesday 25th May.

http://www.portmans.com.au/newsletters/PO1005_exclusive.htm?utm_source=PO1005+exclusive&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=webversion

Have a great day!

Sarah

CD WOW has a massive sale on (ends Thursday 25 March 2010)!  Not only are the products significantly discounted, but shipping is currently FREE as well.

http://cdwow.com.au

I have bought from CD WOW a couple of times and have been happy with each purchasing experience.  They do ship from overseas so delivery can take a bit longer than usual (check their delivery terms & conditions for more detail). 

If you are purchasing DVDs, make sure that you check the region code.  There is nothing worse than eagerly awaiting the arrival of your new purchase only to find that it will not play in your DVD player.

Again, I have to emphasise the opportunity here to plan ahead & SAVE!!  Have you got any birthdays coming up? Do you have any gifts that you need to purchase?  If you don’t think ahead of time, then you will be left shopping at the last minute and will likely end up paying full price.   So use sales like these as an opportunity to save on items that you were going to purchase regardless of there being a sale…  Of course you may want to spoil yourself as well

Have a great weekend!

Hey everyone,

Just a quick sale update!!

Order before 22nd March to receive 50% off your Photo Canvas at http://www.bigwphotos.com.au/. 

*Excludes home delivery (but instore pick up is free), mini photo canvas with easel and licensed charater products not included. 

Also, personalised 8″ x 8″ photo books are  practically half price – only $9.98 (save $9.86).

Shop away

Saving money on grocery items can seem minimal, insignificant and a waste of time, but if you consider how often you shop for food, these small savings can drastically affect your yearly budget.

I get on a bit of a mission when grocery shopping and work my shopping list around what is on sale for the week.  Obviously there are some standard items where branding (because of taste, dietary requirements or environmental reasons) may be important.  For me, ‘non-negotiable’ items include Omo Sensitive washing powder, Lites choc chip cookies, Nuttlex margarine spread & Vegemite.  You need to figure out what your ‘non-negotiable’ items are and which items you can be flexible with. 

Get yourself organised, shop ahead of time (and in bulk where possible) based upon sales and savings.  If you can’t be flexible, you will find it difficult to make savings, so this may take a change of habit and mindset

How to save:

1)       Have a grocery budget and stick to it!

2)      Create a shopping list before you leave home (or order online) based upon what you have in your fridge and pantry

3)      Go through the grocery sale brochure for whichever store you intend to shop at (if you don’t have a brochure, most major grocery stores have their brochures listed online) and find as many sale items to fulfil your shopping list as possible.  Mark the brand & price on your shopping list

4)      Add significantly reduced sale items from the brochure to your shopping list even if you don’t need them immediately.  This can be tough when sticking to a budget but you will find this is where you can save the most $$.  If you buy expensive items such as washing powder, quality toilet rolls & nappies when they are marked down, you will see your grocery bill reduced in no time, but you must be prepared to shop ahead and make sure these items don’t have short expiry dates!

5)      Watch your grocery items when they are being scanned at the checkout.  I know this can be tedious, but quite often I see items scanned at full price then they are marked as discounted.  You have no choice but to stand and wait at the checkout anyway, so use that time to keep an eye on the register and speak up if something doesn’t look right.

6)      Monitor your grocery spending to ensure you are sticking to your budget.

Good luck shoppers!

Do you normally go in store to print your photos?  You can save time & shopping stress by uploading them & ordering online.  Kmart’s Online Photo Centre (partnered with snapfish) is currently offering 20 free prints to new customers.

http://www4.snapfish.com.au/login

The catch – it can take up to a week for your photos to get printed, so if you are in a rush it would be safer to go in store.

I have used Big W Online Photos before and the customer service has always been excellent.  They have been more than happy to reprint when I wasn’t happy with quality and they also let me keep the faulty product (which was a personalised hard cover photo book costing over $70).

I personally recommend sticking with the larger companies that have an actual physical store (e.g. Kmart, Big W, Harvey Norman) when ordering online.  I am never afraid to make a complaint if I feel my purchase is poor quality, but if you are less confrontational than me, you are likely to find it easier to obtain a refund or reprint from a store that already has standard policies in this regard.

Please note that delivery is not included in the ‘free’ offer, however in-store pick up should be free (you just select your local Kmart Store when checking out).  You will get a phone call when your photos are ready for pick up! 

Love it!

I am a firm believer in quality when it comes to swimwear and undergarments.  A worthwhile investment for shape and support!

A friendly tip off led me to this online sale…  http://www.zodee.com.au/Specials/Clearance-Sale/

I haven’t purchased from Zodee before, but I do love purchasing online.  Shopping online can help shoppers to stay focused, avoiding pushy sales assistants and other distractions like drastically discounted (but useless) items.  The main thing that I love about online shopping is saving the time (and petrol) that would have been spent driving to and trying to find a park at the shopping centre. 

The downfall of online shopping is that you cannot physically see or touch the product.  So you do need to know what you want, as testing and fitting is not an option.  I like to purchase some of my standard beauty products online like Revlon Colourstay  foundation.  I already know the quality of the product and I usually save up to 40% on the purchase price.  It is important to factor in the delivery price when calculating your actual saving!  There is normally a ‘delivery’ menu at the top of most online store websites and generally you will find a delivery calculator allowing you to enter your postcode to find out the cost.

If you do find an item online that you love but are concerned about sizing or quality, carefully read the returns policy on the relevant website.  If it was my potential purchase, I would contact the store via phone and clarify their returns policy (taking note of the salesperson’s name that you spoke to) as often sales items are not exchangeable or refundable.  As a rule, I wouldn’t deal with an online store that does not provide contact number.

Please note that if you are considering returning or exchanging an item, you will generally have to cover the delivery cost for returning the item.

Happy online shopping!

Two posts in one day…. Well, I HAD to let you know about this one, seeing as going to the movies is a serious expense these days!

Event Cinemas (previously known as Greater Union Cinemas) are offering pre-purchase tickets for just $7.50 during the Event Cinema’s Sale Period ending midnight Friday 5 February 2010.  Come back online before March 24 to redeem your pre-purchased tickets to the movie of your choosing.

https://www.eventcinemas.com.au/online-ticketing/friends-and-family/

Tickets are generally $15 – $20 per adult at most Event Cinemas so this is a saving of at least 50%.  Well worth the pre-purchase if you are a movie goer!

*Check the terms and conditions – but they are pretty standard & fair.

Sarah

Hey everyone,

I will keep this one short and sweet!  Just a recommendation to pop into your local Myer store as there are some incredible sales to take advantage of!  In most departments throughout the store, they have racks or tables with 25% off, 50% off or 75% off.  These discounts are taken off the lowest marked price.  And best of all, being a department store, Myer has everything!

BUT be careful… don’t go overboard   Go with a list and a budget.. otherwise you could spend more than you have and on items that you don’t really need. 

Stay focused my fellow shoppers!
Sarah

So you are possibly wondering what I am on about?  No I am not talking about bread & butter or cans to store away for end times.. I am talking about clothes, home wares and gifts that perhaps you don’t need immediately but, if you purchase them ahead of time and ‘out of season’, you could save a lot of $ and also a lot of unnecessary rushing around when you realise you need something immediately!

I consider staple items to be things that you use every year and are not affected significantly by fashion trends like basic clothing items (e.g. singlets, plain coloured shirts, Levi’s jeans, underwear), engagement/wedding gifts (e.g. white towels, dinner sets, cutlery), school needs (e.g. stationery, lunch boxes) and the list goes on….

For example… today I popped into Cotton On Kids to get my little boy some new thong sandals.  They had two racks of items with a “50% off sign”.  Be careful to read the fine print when being drawn in by massive SALE SIGNS, for example:

“UP TO 50% off” – means that some items are not actually on sale at all

“50% off ORIGINAL PRICES” – not 50% off the marked price

“50% off THE SECOND ITEM” – means that you have to buy two items and only get a discount off the second.

ANYWAY… The sign did say “50% off the original price” which is a pretty good sale, so I had a look through the racks.   It is important to not waste too much time looking through because often,  you will find nothing… have a quick scan through, grab a few items and always ask the sales person to scan and confirm the price (More often than not, sale items are cheaper than advertised).

So what were my staple items?

A boys UPF50+ swimwear sun-shirt for my son (RRP $24.95) – Sale price $10

A girls UPF50+ swimwear sun-shirt for my daughter (RRP $19.95) – Sale price $5

A gorgeous pair of audrey pant jeans for my daughter (RRP $29.95) – Sale price $10

A warm funky knit cardigan for my son (RRP $39.95) – Sale price $10

A pair of grey & white stripe tights for my daughter (RRP $12.95) – Sale price – $6.50

And of course the thong sandals I initially went in for (RRP $9.95) – Sale price $5.00

TOTAL RRP: $137.70 / TOTAL COST TO ME AFTER DISCOUNTS: $46.50 / TOTAL SAVINGS: $91.20

Now some of you may be thinking I don’t have $50 to spend on kids clothes right now, but if you can plan ahead, you can save big time.  For me, these are all standard items that I would be buying this coming winter, or the following summer anyway, so it was well worth it!  

On a side note…. don’t load up your stroller with so much shopping that it tips over backwards…. with your child still in it

Sarah

And so with much encouragement…. my blog begins….

I have a passion for saving money (as all of my friends would loudly confirm) but I don’t have an abundance of free time to waste.  I have to confess I do become somewhat like a wild-natured predator on the hunt for the latest discount… but I have learned that there is a point at which the value of the time spent searching for that bargain will exceed the saving on the purchase…

And so this blog will be a space to share my latest hunting lessons, greatest found sales and tips to shop smart.   I hope you enjoy and are able to save some $$ to use elsewhere!  Stay tuned for my next post!

Sarah