festive shopping without the stress

I have to confess that although Chinese New Year falls in February and I should have ample time to get all of my shopping done, it’s not the case. With the kids’ extended hours and increased extra curricular activities, my entire schedule has been thrown out of whack. I admit I’m a little disoriented and haven’t been able to focus on preparing for Chinese New Year. Not that it’s a big deal but still there’s lots to be done.

I’m so glad I found Offers.com and that’s where I’m going to be doing my online shopping this year. They’ve pulled together all the best deals from thousands of stores and dealers into this one place so that’s going to save me sorting through thousands of promos & deals myself.

It’s also going to save me going to the mall which is nothing short of madness this time of year. It took me one whole hour to get to the gym this morning, so how long do you think it’ll take to me into a mall, find a parking spot, buy everything I need and to get home? Okay, truth is I don’t even want to think about all that stress and time wasted.

no choice but to compare prices

Visiting two grocery stores today means I get to compare prices, something which I don’t normally do for the sake of convenience. But if the price of food items is going to go up, I guess I have no choice.

True, I’m not buying industrial hand wheels so it’s not like it’s going to save me thousands. But if I can a little here and then, it’s eventually going to add up in the long term, right?

At the first store, I paid $4.20 for a pack of pasta. I bought 3 packs. At the second store, the same pasta was selling at $3.70. If I’d bought my 3 packs of pasta there, I’d have saved $1.50. See how quickly it adds up?

shopping everything all in one place

Sure the shopping frenzy might be over for now but don’t tell me you won’t shop again till Christmas. Between now and then, there are still the birthdays, anniversaries, school breaks and lots of reasons to shop! Well, we still have to eat, don’t we?

So yeah, being the busy mom that I am, I’m constantly on the lookout for easy ways to shop. Between home, business and kids, I honestly don’t have a lot of time to be shuttling between stores looking for stuff that I need and comparing prices. Do you have any idea how time-consuming that is?

If there’s a site like Offers.com that gives me an organized list of the best offers around, all in one place, and saves me money and the hard labor of sorting through thousands of promos and deals, then I say, let me at it!

I have only 24 hours a day and quite frankly, most days it seems like those 24 hours go in the blink of an eye. And sometimes when kids need something for school or a birthday party, they don’t tell you till the last minute and then where am I going to find that stuff at a moment’s notice.

quieter this year

I’ve noticed that the malls seem to be quieter this year. Could it be the bad economic situation we’re having that people are perhaps in less of a mood to celebrate?

Whatever it is, I think it’s really up to the mall management to hire business plan consultants to ensure they keep everyone’s spirits up. I don’t know but isn’t that the way it’s supposed to work?

Instead the malls seem to be doing their best to drive customers away by turning down the air-conditioning to cut cost (when it’s 100 degrees outside), having ‘real’ sales (not hyped up ones) and more attractive promotions.

like the backs of their hands

I’m told shopping malls are gyms for old folks who are retired and have nothing better to do. Most malls depend on weekend business so for the most part, they’re pretty quiet on weekdays which is perfect for the old foggies to stroll around in, have a bite to eat and just sit and chat in air-conditioned comfort.

The old folks themselves say that just walking the length of the mall is their exercise for the day. When they get tired, they stop and rest at the benches scattered throughout the mall. In fact, some of them know these malls like the backs of their hands. If you ask them where some obscure implant dentist Plano is, they’ll be able to point it out to you. Yes, that’s how well they know the layout of the malls.

I can’t say whether the mall provides real exercise but I know it’s a great place for old folks to hang out and stay active.

go find a new hobby, peeps!

Ever since I received an email years ago about peeping toms in fitting rooms, I’ve been wary of trying out clothes . Crazy as it may sound that anyone would actually install video surveillance equipment in the fitting rooms of stores just to get a cheap thrill, it’s entirely possible.

I have friends who continually remind me about checking out the room for hidden devices which takes the joy out of shopping, know what I mean? Have you read any news lately about stuff like this?