Shopping By Skinflints

I was ready to plunge into the nifty tidbits my favorite little girl sent my way when the title stopped me in my tracks.  Skinflint is an interesting word, or was to me, at least as I saw it up there on the monitor.  I'm always amused when my fingers do something that my brain doesn't recognize.  Reading the Phaedo for class this week I'm considering everything in terms of recollection; how did that get up there, anyway?  Saved, as always, by the interweb, I found the Online Etymology Dictionary  which quickly demystified the whole thing.   Sadly, it's just word soup.... someone who would skin a flint to gain an advantage.  Now, that is being tight with your money.

Many of us are feeling skinflint-ish these days, I fear.  It's hard to buy extras when necessities might be a struggle.  Random gifting, unnecessary trifles, the times call for more than that, I think.  Nurturing those thoughts but not sharing them, I whined to Little Cuter this morning that I was suggestion-less.  I can't find the picture for the post I wanted to write, and without it there's really no point.  Super-Girl to the rescue, Little Cuter offers you these sites and suggestions, as relayed and edited by her ever grateful maternal unit.

Seems like, these days, it's taking a village to write a blog post.

http://tinyurl.com/3zmfaha

First, LC sends you to ebay for their Daily Deals.

I've just spent a delicious half hour wandering through Tools, and Tech Deals Under $20, and Gifts and Gadgets.   It is quite possible that someone in my family may receive something like this in December.

But if you are trick or treating on Monday and it's going to be cccccold outside, perhaps this might be an acceptable way to stay warm while begging at doorsteps.

In her own words, Little Cuter will tell you that every day they post awesome deals for almost half off really cool merchandise that you might actually want to buy. Most of the time it's free shipping, too.  


I'm interrupting this post for an important message: there's a really good point in that first sentence.  I no longer spend time on sites that tempt me to spend money on foolishness.  I can be separated from my money by a pretty picture and a well-written spiel; I stay away to stay solvent.  Finding a site with merchandise that you might actually want to buy at a price that is much lower than anywhere else, that's the place to shop.


Next, I introduce a new-to-me site which, were I working and in need of wardrobe replenishment would be, I think, the only place I'd go. Shop It To Me refers to itself as your free personal online shopper.  You fill out a quick form letting them know which designers and brands (ranging from Eileen Fisher to UGG) in which sizes are of interest to you and they do the rest.  Of course, to me, the rest includes deciding and purchasing and paying and gift wrapping and card writing and USPS shipping of the completed item, but in this context it refers to the emails they send you when they find sales on your stuff on-line.  I'm already planning how to spend the time I'll save by using this. 

Little Cuter wants to remind you about GAP and Old Navy, both of which email exclusive deals to members from their websites.  If you're reluctant to buy frivolities, how about a new pair of jeans?  I don't imagine there are many in my readership who wouldn't appreciate that.  A quick trip to the closet for the size and style number of your loved one's favorite pair coupled with the discount offers ought to be just right for someone on your list.  I usually like to shop those stores on December 26th, since everything is so drastically reduced.  But if you want something for under the tree or after the candles are lit, these old faithfuls may be where you want to look.


Finally, having already weighed in on the value of experiences as gifts, my girl would like to remind you to look at GroupOn and Living Social for experiences and the like.  Is a salon offering a deal?  Buy two and take your girlfriend for a mani/pedi together.... and if that girlfriend is 9 or 10 and you think of Christina-Taylor and me, why that's okay, too.  Sometimes the simplest things put the biggest smiles on a person's face.  Buying tickets to a children's show or a museum event and passing them along is another way to save money and share the love.  If you take the kids and give mom and dad an afternoon off, even better, don't you agree?


I'm going to look for that picture and post it next week.  For now, as we come closer to November, let me remind you that our goal is to be finished by December 1.  Have you ordered your cards yet?