By: Lindsay Finch

Winter is here, and not only is everyone putting up decorations and bringing out those winter boots, but also holiday shopping season is approaching. It can cause a ton of stress to the already overwhelmed shopper when it is supposed to be a fun, joy filled time!

     The Squire decided to research the best way to get the cheapest deals with as little amount of stress as possible. After interviewing Eisenhower’s Family Consumer Science teacher, Mrs. Alexander, The Squire gained many great tips about successful holiday shopping.  The first, and perhaps most beneficial, is that to save money you should coupon shop. When you get your local newspaper, go through the ad section and clip away the items you want to save money on. To really save the most money possible, look for double-up coupons where you can use more than one on multiple items.

Mrs. Alexander also shared that you can find good buys when you shop at big box stores. These stores, include Sears, Walmart, Amazon, and Target. They purchase in mass, which means that they have a ton of stock in a sale item, but, once they are gone, they don’t get anymore! So, hurry and pick up that $10.00 waffle maker for Aunt Sue! While you’re waiting in those long lines, get on your phone and scroll through websites that have online coupons if you don’t have your paper ones. Cricket search engine and apps such as RetailMeNot, Flipp, Coupons.com, and Target provide quick savings. If you are looking for the best time to shop, Black Friday is a hectic, but fun way to snag the best for less. However, if crowded aisles and late nights aren’t your thing you can wake up mid-morning on Saturday and shop around your town for Small Business Saturday while supporting local families.

If leaving your house at all is something you don’t want to do, then you can participate in Cyber Monday. Starting on Monday morning after Thanksgiving at about 12 a.m. you can search your favorite stores’ websites for the best buys with just one click. Mrs. Alexander shared her take on Cyber Monday, saying, “Stay home, keep toasty, and let the computer do the work.” Since you also are on a roll with saving money, if you shop online then you don’t waste gas driving to stores. Many websites have a filter option where you can sort items by color, size, style or cost. While using this feature, set the filter at “low to high” price so you can find the exact item you want for a low price. If you missed Cyber Monday, no worries, many websites carry their sales specials through much of the holiday season.

The last advice Mrs. Alexander gave us was to shop smart and go with a list. By shopping smart and comparing prices, you will know if you are over paying for an item that you could’ve purchased cheaper. When using a list, you will know exactly what to get without picking up any extra things you probably don’t need.

So go out and snag those deals, without putting a snag in your holiday sweater!

Picture: https://www.shopify.com/retail/store-signs-and-red-signs