This is a follow up to last week’s money post: How did I do with my Cyber Monday Strategy?
First of all, I did buy things for my upcoming trip, importantly carry-on suitcases, but it turns out that they were the wrong size, so we’re going to look into returning those and ordering from somewhere else. The problem was that we were looking for specific dimensions and the website listed the wrong size. I did also buy the headphones for me and my bf for our trip (featured in my Holiday Gift Guide). I tested them this weekend because they are Bluetooth enabled and they work great!
My other main task for Cyber Monday was to buy gifts for friends and family. My money saving tricks worked on beauty buys, specifically from Sephora and Tarte, where they were having excellent sales. Another saving money tip: I added items to my Sephora cart on my desktop and checked if there were any extra coupons through Honey or Retail Me Not that I could use. Then, seeing that there weren’t any coupons, I went to my Ibotta app, logged in through my account so my cart was already there, and ordered through Sephora.com and received cash back on my purchase! Easy money! Score!
After Monday, I belatedly ordered some prints from the Verizon Cloud app that are expected to arrive soon. I love ordering printed photos because it’s super easy and extremely inexpensive gift giving option. If you don’t have Verizon or are looking for other ways to order prints check out: SnapFish, Shutterfly, or Walgreens apps.
While I did do some major shopping this week, there are still a few other gifts that I need to get, mainly for people that I’m not buying physical gifts for, which I should have just bought on Monday, but I was delaying because all I need to do is enter their email for it to be sent on Christmas. The other gifting issue that has come up is that I might need things for gift grabs, but I’m trying to spend only a little or just re-gift something I already own.
The main thing that I wanted to take away with this post is that I am changing my buying habits when it comes to Christmas. I am only buying one thing per person, not trying to go overboard with extra little bits. Around this time I always feel like I have to shop excessively, but it’s not necessary to over-spend and ruin my budget just to make someone else happy, when they would be satisfied with the one thoughtful item anyway.
Happy spending!
Heather Allen 
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