I'm starting my shopping early this year

I have to start early since we all know the holidays will be here before we know it. Generally I only bought a couple of gifts and I was done. Now both of my nieces have children and I won't get them anything as usual. However, you have to buy for the kids and I'm sure pocket door lowes are not at the top of their lists. But I'm quite sure zhu-zhu pets or some other furry toy is.

Of course while I'm buying stuff for them, I'll look for myself as well. I can always look for cheap radiators for my car. An even better bet is to look for sandbags for sale. I plan on using them for my new yoga regime. They're not expensive at all and I'll be able to put it to use right away.

The best part about shopping is that I can go to one website and find everything that I'm looking for. If for some reason I can't find it all at one place, I can find somewhere that carries it and I can find out what stores do carry it.

Now I'm debating whether or not to buy this radio that I just saw for my workouts. Oh wait, I'm supposed to be buying for the kids. I guess shopping for the holidays is going to be harder than I thought.

I need a fall jacket

I did not expect to need a new jacket in mid-September. But the past couple of days have only been in the 60's and I don't have a light jacket to wear. I have a mid-weight jacket and my heavy coats and that's it.

Every year I realize I need a jacket in early Fall and late Spring when it starts getting nice. I think I'm just going to go ahead and spring for one next week when I get paid.

My cousin wants to go on a shopping trip

And I'm scared!!! I'm not a big shopper and I never have been. My cousin on the other hand loves to shop. What's scaring me though is she's very label conscious. If I see something I like but I wouldn't normally buy, she'll encourage me to buy it, especially depending on who the designer is. If it's a big designer she'll be extremely gung-ho. Anyone else and she'll waffle.

Before I make any plans I'm going to sit down and make my budget. Then I'm going to decide what I can and can't afford and stick to that budget like glue!

I need new boots

I don't have any snow boots. I do have a pair of dress boots that have a block heel that keeps my feet off of the ground in the snow and I don't slide. I can't continue to wear them though because they're only man-made materials and of course they're starting to crack. As it stands I can't wear them as anything but snow boots but pretty soon I won't be able to wear them for that either.

I guess I need to start comparison shopping to see who will give me the best deal.

Surfing my day away

I haven't really been busy at work all day. I do have work to do but I have to wait for other people to get done with their parts first since they're group projects. All I've been doing is surfing the internet.

I've found some great stuff too. I wasn't really looking for anything but I did find a great pair of earrings at holsted. It's a website that sells a lot of cutting edge jewelry that's not sold in stores. That's pretty important because it means that every piece and every look is unique. It also means that I won't walk around looking like everybody else.

Now I just have to decide which piece to buy.

I did lose some weight

I've been fighting this battle of the bulge for a while. I'm getting serious with trying to lose weight this year. I don't have a number goal in mind though. My goal is determined by how my clothes fit.

I've been looking online for dietary aids and I've found some at a medical supply company. They have dietary supplements (which I'm not taking - yet), exercise equipment and even stuff I don't need like syringes and Pediasure. It's good to know that if I need to buy something that I've found somewhere to get it.

Losing weight is hard and I need every advantage that I can get.

I'm trying to save myself a trip to the mall

We have a new upscale mall here in town. Actually the mall itself is not new at all. They did go in and add a ton of new stores that we didn't have here. Some of these stores are not anywhere else in the state. Of course the mall has been drawing people from all over and it's ultra-crowded.

I've had my eye on a piece of jewelry for a while now but I didn't have anywhere locally to buy it. Even with the upscale mall I can't get the piece because it's been marked up for profit. I found Holsted Jewelers which sells Discount Jewelry online and I think I'm going to go with them. Discount doesn't mean cheap or poor quality. It just means that you get a great value for your money. Who doesn't want to save money and get a great piece of jewelry at the same time?

With all of the money that I'm going to save, I could actually afford to spring for 2 pieces. Now I just have to decide what to get.

My back is killing me

I have bad posture so my back is always hurting me. I try to stretch it out while I'm at work but that only provides temporary relief. One of my friends suggested that I check out allegromedical.com. She said that I could find a wedge pillow that would support my back for a really good price. They sell all kinds of things there too. Things like outdoor gear, maternity and/or baby stuff and that's in addition to their regular health care products.

I'm glad she recommended the site. I need to check it out and see what I can find. Especially since they're offering discounts or specials to anyone who signs up for their ecatalog. I am so there.

It's already time to think about Black Friday sales

It's 60 degrees in Pittsburgh today. That's really warm for this time of year. It's hard to believe that it's already November when it's this warm. I could understand it more if I lived in California or Florida but it's very unusual for Pittsburgh. I have to put the weather out of my mind and start thinking about those cyber monday discounts. Cyber Monday starts the unofficial Christmas shopping season. You can find all of the Black Friday sales in advance and get even better discounts by going online.

I have already signed up for an email alert to find out when new deals are posted. I'm especially looking for Babies R Us. One of my coworkers is having her baby 2 weeks before Christmas. She also has a 17 year old son so I know she needs a lot of stuff. I already have a idea of what to get her. I want to get her some stuff for the next size up as she already has a bunch of 0-3 month clothes.

That's only one person. I also have to shop for my Mom, my brother and a few other relatives. I need all of the sales and discounts I can get.

What's your favorite piece of jewelry

I don't have a favorite piece right now. I do have some earrings that I really love. They're plain diamond stud earrings. I also love my tennis bracelets, they're both 1 carat. One is a XO design and the other is a "S" design.

I bought the XO designed bracelet myself. The other was a gift for my birthday. I wonder if they went to holsted jewelry to get that bracelet. It definitely has the "Wow" factor going for it. It's sparkly with crystal clear diamonds. I absolutely love it and wear it pretty often. I should go look to see if I can find any deals on matching pieces for it.

Considering I don't foresee me getting any rings as jewelry, I may need to buy one for myself. I surely don't mind that. At least I'll get exactly what I want.

I'm going to need all new furniture

I'm not moving until next year but I'm already counting down. I'm graduating school in April and by the end of June I plan on being gone. I'll be celebrating the 4th of July in my new city, whichever one that may be. As of right now it's either Orlando or Jacksonville. But something strong is pulling me towards Miami.

I am not taking any of my furniture when I leave. I plan on going through and purging everything starting a month before I leave. Basically whatever doesn't fit in my car doesn't go at this point. I only care about clothes, shoes, important papers and of course my laptop. Everything is getting trashed.

I knew that when I bought that furniture though. I purchased it with the intent on only having it 5 years. I had just forgotten how expensive furniture is though. I've been looking at everything from couches and love seats to quality kitchen sinks and refrigerators. I know that some places don't provide a frig so I'm looking at everything now. I'm already comparing prices so I know what to budget for. I also need to know when something is a good deal and is something I should jump on.

I'm really getting excited for my move. I really can't wait.

People are already buying Christmas stuff?

I was talking to a coworker last week and she was complaining because Halloween stuff is already in the stores. I thought that was crazy until I heard that some stores already have their Christmas stuff coming in. I knew it would come in early but I figured it would be at the end of September, not in August.

I don't worry about what I'm going to buy people for Christmas. I just wait until places like blackfridayscans.com put up the sales flyers for Black Friday sales. Then I decide what to get people depending upon what's on sale. I don't play full price for anything if I don't have to and that includes Christmas presents.

That doesn't mean that I'm a cheap skate or that I buy people crappy gifts either. I get most of my family pretty nice gifts actually. I just don't pay a lot for them. There's a art and a science to getting deals and I'm all over it. I guess when you don't have a lot of money to spend you learn how to look for the best deals.

The site www.blackfridayscans.com puts the sales flyers up before they hit the newspapers. So you can see what's on sale and make a action plan as to what to get and from where. If you don't want to constantly check the site, you can sign up for their email alerts and they will let you know when the deals have been posted. That's a cool feature because who really has time to keep looking to see if things have been posted or not? I know I sure don't.

I know I'm not looking forward to buying presents this year. All of my cousins have grown up and I can't get away with kiddie toys and baby dolls anymore. But you can best believe I won't pay through the nose for the presents I do get.

Buying glasses on the cheap

I need new glasses. I don't like spending a lot of money for them though. It doesn't matter to me whose name appears on my glasses, I'm not a name snob. Good thing I found zennioptical.com which sells glasses from only $8.00 per pair for prescription glasses. That's a steal! Since they sell all of their frames directly to the public, there is no middleman to profit. That means the savings get passed straight to the customer. Cool with me.

For $8.00 do I want to stop at one pair or do I want color coordinating glasses for every day? Decisions decisions.

Camo pants are everywhere

Everywhere I look all I see is camouflage pants. I've seen capris, jeans, and even skirts and hats. If I wanted tactical pants I would probably buy them from the police store. They look more authentic for one thing. They also fit me better. I'm not that tall but I have long legs so I need a longer length pant.

Most of the people wearing these pants are only into a fad. It's not like they ever served in the military or joined a police force or anything. Sometimes it looks really silly because they overdo it. I do love when the athletes wear them though. Actually I love anything the athletes wear.

Splurging on me

Sometimes you just want to splurge on something for yourself. Something nice that you wouldn't ordinarily consider. Like a nice iwc watch or even a great pair of earrings. I like the watch but I'm not a watch person. I generally use my cell phone to tell the time. I don't know why. I guess it's because I would rather buy great jewelry instead.

As far as jewelry goes, I'm really a traditional kind of girl. It's usually diamond studs for me. But browsing around this website I see all kinds awesome earrings. They're really out of my price range or a range that would make me feel comfortable. But that's why they call it a splurge. It's something that you wouldn't ordinarily buy but you saw it and it was fabulous!

I've decided that I would rather splurge once in a blue moon on a great piece of jewelry than buy inferior jewelry more often. For instance, I saw this great 18k gold bangle bracelet that I really like. I won't even look at 14k jewelry anymore. I like the richness and beauty of 18kt. My last pair of diamond studs are 18kt even though they're small (1/4 carat). I would really like to amp those up to 1/2 - 1 carat. But as they saw, all good things to those that wait.

I think everybody should splurge on themselves once in a while.

I'll be shopping this weekend

Check out that chair. It looks so comfy. It would be perfect for John's living room. We need to go out and furnish his whole apartment. I can't believe he gave away all of his furniture when he moved out of his last apartment so he needs everything. I saw some great office furniture that would fit perfectly with his apartment's theme. His colors seem to be black and cream with a little bit of burgundy thrown in.

I guess we'll be spending all day Saturday surfing the net to get the best deal.

Shopping for new furniture

John is moving into a new apartment soon. When he moved in with his ex-girlfriend he gave up all of his furniture. Now he's moving on Monday and he needs furniture. He needs everything from bedroom furniture to living room furniture. He also needs a new computer desk and chair. We were looking for beds and we found this website OvernightMattress.com/Real-Reviews while we were comparing costs.

We found out that we can buy a foam memory mattress online 2-3 times less than buying it in the store. This manufacturer just started selling their mattresses direct with free overnight shipping. We're really looking at this company so we can save money. Buying enough furniture to furnish a whole apartment is pretty expensive. And we really can't afford that right now.

Looking for furniture?

The holiday weekend is always a good time to go furniture shopping. Almost every major furniture store has sales on everything from a sofa and loveseat to living room furniture and more. I saw a leather sectional couch on the site for $2500. That's about the same price as you would find in the store. Plus they have sales on the furniture making it an even better bargain.

If you're moving to a new home, you need everything from a kitchen set to a bed and everything in between. You can search online and find everything that you could possibly want or need. And you can do it from the comfort of your own home. You can't get more convenient than that.

John's birthday is coming up

I've been looking for John's birthday present. I love shopping on the internet and I use sites like CouponChief.com to find coupon codes to help me save money. I'm thinking of going somewhere like Buy.com to get him some dvds. I could also buy him computer accessories at Buy.com because he's always on his computer. But I don't want to give away the surprise. Actually I haven't decided just yet what to buy.

I gotta keep him guessing!

Decorating my boyfriends apartment

Decorating an apartment is hard work. John just moved into a new apartment and we have been running all over town looking for things for his apartment. We've gotten 2 different sets of blinds because the first set didn't fit right so we had to get new ones. Then we went looking for bathroom stuff. We ended up getting fabric shower curtains with plastic liners for the bathrooms. He has 2 bathrooms in his apartment. I like this curtain with the moon, stars and a dark blue background. I like it so much because blue is my favorite color.

I'm kinda jealous, he only pays $50 more than me but has 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. Plus he has huge walk in closets in the bedrooms. So we have a lot of rooms to shop for. I know I'm up for it.