CHESTER, Conn. (WTNH) — Christmas is just a few weeks away but if you haven’t started checking off that list, have no fear. There are still plenty of ways to save.
“Nobody wants to overspend on the items you’re buying for people,” said Kallie Branciforte, the lifestyle blogger behind ButFirstCoffeeBlog.com. “Obviously you want to do something special, but you don’t want to totally break the bank to do it.”
So the first way Branciforte likes to save is by making a list and checking it twice.
“Sometimes if you don’t have a list you might overbuy for one person and not buy enough for another person,” Branciforte explained.
To make sure you’re getting the best deal on an item, price check.
“There’s an app out there called Shop Savvy that makes this really easy, because you actually just scan the bar code of any item in any store that you’re in and it will show you all of the prices available for that item,” Branciforte said.
And if you’re in a store that offers price matching…
“You can just go right up to the customer service desk and say, ‘Hey, this is cheaper somewhere else,’ and they’ll give you the cheaper price,” Branciforte explained.
Black Friday and Cyber Monday may be over, but “Free Shipping Day” is still to come on Friday, December 15th.
“It’s for those people like us who tend to be last minute shoppers,” Branciforte said. “The stores will offer free shipping and they’ll guarantee that you get your item before Christmas Eve.”
Major stores like JCPenny, Kohls, Target and more are on board, and oftentimes they’ll sweeten the deal with even more incentives.
If you’re heading to the mall, stop by the customer service desk.
“Very often they have coupon books or they have deals that aren’t very obviously displayed that they can let you know about,” Branciforte said. “Also if you have a student ID you can usually stop by any of the Tanger Outlet mall offices and if you present your student ID to them they will present to you a coupon booklet just for being a student.”
Lastly, if you’ve got that hard to buy for person, consider making a donation in their name through a website like JustGive.org or WorldVision.org. You don’t have to spend much but it will still be a meaningful gift.