It’s finally fall y’all! Normally, this would fill me with delight. It’s pumpkin time, mixed with some hot chocolate, and caramel apples filling in any of the gaps. Fun, fun, fun! If, you can afford it all that is 😣. The economy right now sucks. So, what can you still do? Well. It’s time to see the light.
Actually, that should be several thousand lights.
Ready or not, the holiday season is officially upon us! However, we must not forget that along with all that hustling and bustling, there’s also the decorations. Several households have been getting set up since last weekend.
That means you can do what I did last night, and take a spin around the neighborhood to see what’s-what. Best of all…its all free!
The haunted houses, mickey arches, and fever dream recreations are all waiting for you to drive by and check them out. So far, only the die hard yard decorators have shown up, but there is always more that will join them in the coming weeks. To think, these areonly the Halloween decorations so far.
Good news for us, because it gives us an excuse to do it all again, and again this n the coming months.
This probably won’t come as a shock to anyone, but prices on most things today are still really high. Sure, a few items have come down a bit, but several others continue to go up, or suffer from shrinkflation. Many of us are constantly on the lookout for ways to save. So, once again various articles, YouTube clips, and memes have popped up to help. Most of the suggestions are tried and true, such as make a list before shopping, check multiple store ads before buying, or stock up when something’s on sale. All are good pieces of advice, but one other suggestion might need to be rethought, which is “do your shopping online.”
The convenience factor of shopping online is definitely a plus, so why would you ever need to flip the script on this shopping habit? Well, sadly, it’s because shopping this way might be costly you money.
First, let me clarify that I’m not advocating getting rid of online shopping. It is convenient, can be timesaving, and often helps with matching up price saving options, with products I’m buying. However, despite all of this, you might also be paying more for some items than you would if you shopped in store. Sorry me items are actually going down in price, but you can only see it if you physically walk into a brick and mortar location. For example, I recently visited a local Target, and saw that the pack of napkins I usually get had dropped in price. Great! I didn’t really need any right then, but I was happy to see that the price was reduced (Not: reduced, as in not on sale or clearance.). However, when I tried to buy it online a week later, I saw it was still listed at the higher price. In order to get the cheaper price, I had to go into the store.
Why, you might be wondering? Well, there could be a couple of reasons. First they didn’t update the website, or second, this was a reduction for that geographic location only (and web prices can tend to be less city specific in the same way). Either way, it remains true that I have to physically shop in store in order to pay less for this item.
What options are you left with then? I’d say they flipping the script we will help, but you’re probably going to need a hybrid approach, which will require you to be more actively engaged in your shopping choices. Occasionally, visit a couple of your local stores, and compare prices (sadly, most retailers these days are usually some sort of dynamic pricing, so there will be differences even between two local targets or Walmarts). Then see how prices online look. Find your acceptable balance between the two, and make your buying choices. Then, be ready to do it all over again next month. 😕
Welcome to Thanksgiving weekend. Now I know we’re all exhausted at this point, and you probably still have a ton to do. Therefore, I’m going to keep this short.
Whatever you’ve already bought, take a breath, and then reevaluate your choices. Once you’re done, get ready to take it back. Really consider what you’ve done, and why. Even if they asked for those toys, do they really need all of them at once? Could they maybe wait till their birthday for a few of them; or maybe simply do without the entire list being filled, almost as if they’d placed an Amazon order?
Make these decisions now, because getting rid of this stuff later will be so much harder. Trust that you’re wallet, and bank account will thank you later.
Practically-Green.com 