Being Cheap…But Doing It In Style

Shopping Tips On Clothes From A Cheapskate

Monday 19 January 2009

By: Jim Brown

For many of us, we may have noticed that expenses for apparel eat up much of our budget. The reasons for this could vary. There may be some of us who won’t settle for anything less than designer labels and brands. These types of merchandise can cause an arm and a leg for ordinary earning citizens. It could also probably be the fact that although you don’t purchase expensive items say for example a blouse that would cost more than a hundred dollars but then you also buy six or ten blouses that cost $20 each. Another probable reason would be your habit of impulse buying. This can make a big dent in your wallet especially if you purchase items that you don’t exactly need and would just end up accumulating dust in your closet.

A great way to enjoy great savings would be checking out clearance racks. You can find here a load of merchandise that is even up to 90% off its original price. Try to get to know the sales individuals working in these stores and ask for information on when certain items will be sold on clearance.

Waiting for sales is also a great option. You will discover many great buys during sales. Usually winter attires are sold when winter is ending. You could always wear the items you bought next winter. The same goes for the other seasons. Clothes for a particular season usually go on sale when that particular season is almost at an end.

A great way for you to make money would be to sell your good old used clothes at a consignment shop. You could use the proceeds of the items you sold to purchase new clothes for that matter. If you do not mind wearing clothes that have been previously owned by another, consignment shops is also a great avenue for you to find good quality used clothes at a fraction of the cost. If you are such an avid buyer, you could even ask the shop owner to pre-select for you certain styles and sizes before they hit the racks.

It is important that when you buy clothes you always go for quality, comfort and afford ability (if price is a major concern for you). Make sure that when you decide to purchase a tee shirt for example that you will really use it. Select attires that you could mix and match with the clothes you currently have at home. Don’t buy so much on trends or fads for when that particular fashion is no longer in season the clothes you may have bought will just end up occupying valuable space in your closet. If you intend to invest on good clothes go for the classic styles, designs and colors that never seem to go out of fashion.

Author Resource:

Article Source: Jim Brown writes about Dresses Cocktail Coupons, Jackets Fashion Coupons and Online Fashion Apparel Coupons

The 10 Steps to Giving Up Your Designer Handbag Addiction

Saturday 17 January 2009

By: Mezera

If you can’t open your closet because it is so stuffed with designer handbags that if you even turn the knob, a tidal wave of purses will turn your bedroom into a mess, you need help. If you are trying, unsuccessfully, to curb your designer handbag addiction, here are 10 steps to help you give up your designer purse curse.

Giving up your straight-up Handbag addiction!

  1. Unlike with a lot of self-help programs, you don’t want to try and go cold turkey and stop buying handbags altogether. If you are addicted to handbags it won’t work. The first step is to realize that you can’t stop your addiction suddenly.
  2. The second step is to make a budget. You aren’t just going to make a budget for your handbags, listing exactly how many Marc Jacobs you can buy versus Coach bags. You are going to make a budget for everything in your life including rent, utilities and car insurance. Yes, it’s a drag, but you have to do it.
  3. Now that you have your budget in hand, you are going to limit how many purses you purchase. If you only have $100 extra in your budget, and the Marc Jacobs Clutch costs about $400, you will now know that you can afford to buy one every three months, instead of buying the green leather one and the black one at the same time.
  4. If you are having a problem keeping your willpower to not buy a designer handbag, you are going to want to prevent a rash purchase. 20 years ago you would just put the money into a bank, which would have pretty much prevented you from buying a handbag, but with shopping online and ATMs, you are going to want to literally freeze your plastic. Get a big container, fill it with water, put your credit cards in it, and stick it in the freezer. That way, if you want to make a purchase you have to wait for the money to thaw out.
  5. Try to avoid temptations. Throw away the tabloids or just don’t purchase them to avoid seeing handbags. If you look in some of these rags, you’ll see that every week a new celebrity is carrying around a different designer handbag. Sure, it’s nice to see who has the same bag that you want, but it’s just too tempting to buy the latest it-bag.
  6. If you are feeling a bit depressed about not having the latest bag, organize your own collection. Even if you only have a couple of purses, you can spend the time that you would normally spend shopping doing a bit of work on them.
  7. If you are sick and tired of carrying around the same handbag, you may want to take some of your older bags out of retirement. Sure, they may have been popular couple years ago, but that doesn’t mean you still can’t carry them around today. A good handbag will always be a good handbag.
  8. To get something new into your wardrobe, you may have to trade or borrow. Hey, it’s won’t cost you a lot of money, and no one has to know it’s not yours.
  9. Handbags are expensive things to collect, so you may want to start on another collection. Why not start a stamp collection? Stamps are only $.49 so you could literally buy hundreds of them (if not thousands) for the price of one handbag.
  10. If it is that tough to give up your handbag addiction, you may just want go ahead and buy one. You’ll be disappointed in yourself, but at least you will have the satisfaction of carrying around the latest bag!

Author Resource:

Article Source: Casandra Brooks is a designer purse enthusiast, always willing to talk Designer Handbags or almost anything designer orientated. On her spare time Casandra researches Designer Purses.

Value Shopping with Online Coupons

Friday 16 January 2009

By: Michiel Van Kets

Everyone has used discount coupons at some point, whether posted through the door, torn from a magazine or collected with your weekly shopping, they save you money off products and services. Online coupons are even simpler with many of the world’s leading brands today offering them as rewards for customers’ loyalty and because of their proven effectiveness in attracting new customers. Internet shopping allows you to buy practically anything you want online, just carry out a quick search before you shop to locate any online coupons to save you precious pennies, perfect if you are on a budget.

Online coupons offer a discount to the buyer that encourages them to try a product or a website retailer that they may never have shopped with normally. With discounts anything from 5% to 50%, the offer means the customer is more inclined to try the product out due to the reduced price. The advantages are that the customer has the opportunity to try out a new product plus an Internet retailer they might never have shopped with otherwise and knows where to return for a reasonable deal when further similar further purchases.

Online coupons are very simple to use, without leaving the comfort of your home you can go shopping and get a discount! Using the Internet to find coupons gives customers the potential to save money on just about any product or service at any kind of store. This could mean savings of only a few dollars or add up to a large amount. With a quick search, online coupons can be found for clothes, food, software, books, toys, furniture and just about every kind of goods. There are a few methods to how you can receive a discount from an online retailer. Say, for example, you visit an online clothing store and either make a purchase or register on their website, the company might then email you a coupon or voucher for $5 that you can exchange at the online store when you spend over $20. Coupons can also be exchanged in return for free shipping or to receive a free item when spending over a certain amount of money. Many online coupons will have a code attached to them that the customer then enters on the store website when they reach check out and entitles them to a percentage discount or money off.

Check out the internet for online coupons that will save you money, your local websites will also issue coupons for businesses in the areas near to you. Although online coupons are offered by the retailers as part of their marketing plan, you will also find there are many referrer websites that offer retailers online coupons. These sites list current coupons available and organise and keep track of them, so if coupons are about to expire or new coupons have arrived these are sorted in categories on their site making the whole procedure of searching and locating coupons easier and convenient for the online shopper. To find online coupon offers just type in ‘online coupons’ as keywords in the search box or the name of the retailer or product you want and heaps of results should come up.

Author Resource:

Article Source Michiel van Kets provides articles for Tim Benson who is The owner of Shop By Coupons. The website has coupon codes, online coupons and grocery coupons, from all famous stores.