It Has Begun

Mark this date, November 24th, I listened to my Barenaked Ladies Christmas album.

I liked it.

My sister has her tree up already.

Stores have been leaking their Black Friday ads for a week now. (trivia: Does anyone know what "Black Friday" means? Answer at the end of this post.)

So it's not just me getting into the season. Actually, it's really hard to get into it right now in Minnesota. It's been in the 50's! It snowed the first of October, everyone was pissed and now, everyone is so happy it's still warm! (I just jinxed it, didn't I?)

Anyway, with the season, comes deals. Lots of deals. And you just gotta know how to find them and make them work for you. Yes, you can get a toaster for $3 at Target. Is it really worth hauling your butt outta bed at 4:30am, stand in a loooooong line, 30 degrees out, rush in and find the toasters are gone? To me, no. My time is valuable.

Online shopping is the way to go. Here are some tips on how to get the most out of your money this holiday season.

Never pay for shipping. Amazon always has free shipping and many other sites are offering free shipping on orders over X dollars. Visit retailmenot.com for coupon codes and free shipping codes to popular retail sites.

Speaking of Amazon, they are taking Black Friday to a new level. It's Black Friday all week this week! I think I see a bread machine I want (looks like it's gonna be cheap too!).

Wanna earn free Amazon gift cards to purchase gifts? Have you heard of Swagbucks? Basically, you earn Swagbucks periodically as you search (they combine the best of Google and Ask.com). You can earn between 1 and 100 Swagbucks each time you search. You cash in Swagbucks for a variety of things like gift cards, clothing, electronics and more. I just cashed in 180 Swagbucks for a $20 gift certificate to Amazon. All I did was search like I normally do!

You can also earn Swagbucks by searching for Swagcodes, promoting, downloading widgets and more. So you don't have to just search.

(45 Swagbucks can get you a $5 Amazon gift card so it's easy to get started!)

Another way to make your dollars stretch even further is ShopatHome.com. If you're gonna shop online, why not get cash back? Search through thousands of online retailers, click and go directly to their site, shop, complete your transaction and receive a cash rebate of up to 30% of the purchase price, discounts, coupons and/or free shipping promotions.

I shopped Old Navy and The Body Shop and received 10% back from both stores. Once you hit $20, they send you a check. You can also use online coupons (provided by them), so not only are you getting a discount with coupons, you get cash back! (Just some of their top 10 stores are Target, Wal-Mart, Dell, Victoria Secret, and Kohl's)

Right now, get $5 just to sign up!
Click here------->

(Like that shameless promotion? Hey, who doesn't want free money?)

Think outside the box. While you may not need to get your baby a train set up this year because he's only 6 months old at Christmas (*cough* JUSTIN *cough*), something like that may go on sale the day after Christmas. Pick it up when stores are clearing out merchandise.

So don't go blowing your budget this year. And don't say I didn't get you anything.

(Trivia answer: Going from being in the red (no profit) to being in the black (making a profit), which usually is because of this day, the busiest shopping day of the year.)