Bargain whore........

I love me a good deal just like any person. I'm a couponer, although not an extreme one, because, really, why would anyone need 47 of the same deodorant sticks? I would get bored of the scent after the second round. Lame. But shopping for the holidays is like a strategic game of getting the most bang for your buck, and while I pretty much always fail miserably at sticking to a budget, I do often have a few great holiday bargain victories that seem to lessen the blow.

For instance, I often receive coupons from JC Penney for $10 off a purchase of $10 or more. Hello, people, that's free money! Go in, pick something that's $10 and voila! Free stuff! Even if it's a little more than $10, you can still walk away with a pretty good deal. Today I bought $35 worth of merchandise for 53 cents using a coupon and taking advantage of the 70% off sale. Whee!

After Christmas I'm always broke, and I often wish I'd budget a certain amount for those amazing after-Christmas sales. I never do, therefore, I had very limited (read: no) funds with which to participate. However, I did eke out a little money to spend on some bargains at Target. The kicker? I only bought things that could be used for Valentine's day. Red heart ornaments? Yes!

I also had a $5 coupon to spend at the Eddie Bauer outlet. I don't shop there often, and there's rarely anything for $5 so I thought I'd have to spend at least $10 to use the coupon. Wrong! Not really needing anything, I found a coffee cup (the kind you put cold drink in, with a straw) for $4.99. Plus tax and I got a new, useful item for just a few pennies (taxes, bleh!).

And then there are the returns. I only had a few, but a couple of items in particular at Ross netted me two new tops. I know, I know. But it was money already spent! How could I resist?

I was also carting around a $10 off coupon for Victoria's Secret. Since Victoria has not told me the secret yet, I am generally unable to fit my curvy frame into her lacy floss items, so I purchased new undies for my eldest daughter in her favorite style and got a nice discount.

I also had the unexpected bonus of receiving some great gift cards. One to a bookstore netted me a new book and two new inserts for my Magnabilities necklace. Yay! Another, to Macy's, scored me a new pair of jeans I've been coveting (and they were on sale! Bonus!). It's like Christmas all over again, only I get to choose everything.

Tonight we used our generous gift card to a restaurant, given to us by my parents for Christmas. Our meal, plus dessert, was covered by the gift card with $2 to spare. I know as well as the next person, I'm not going to tote around a big chunk of plastic for the next time I might eat at the restaurant, so I slipped the card and the balance to a friend who happened to walk in with her family. Hey, $2 is $2.

I love the guilt-free pleasure from using coupons and gift cards and scoring an amazing bargain for things you'll really use. And I've found it's best to just use up those cards as soon as possible to avoid losing them, or forgetting about them, and having them contribute to the millions in unused gift cards each year. Just go ahead and have a day or two of indulgence and get some new stuff!

I still have a balance on my Starbucks card too. It's the little things. Especially when you're between paychecks and the money runs out. Yay for gift cards, coupons and bargains! Happy shopping!