Opinion: #BlackThursday

This past week “Black Friday” ads have been leaked for large retailers announcing their Black Friday sales, except they aren’t opening on Black Friday but instead on Thanksgiving. I personally got into Black Friday about 6 years ago when my Aunt who had gone forever basically recruited my cousins and I to help her with her shopping. She had a tradition to go to JCPenny’s whenever they opened to collect these Mickey Mouse Snow Globes they offered to the first X number patrons. I could of cared less about these snow globes but went along because I knew it meant a lot to her. I got hooked on Black Friday shopping from then on out. It was the perfect holiday for me….cut-throat deal shopping…sign me up! Every year since I have gone with my family first to of course help my aunt with her globes but then to go off on our own for special items. In the past two years I have seen more stores opening earlier and earlier and it was no more waking up to be at a store for 3am, or be there for midnight but it has creeped into Thanksgiving.

All week I have been listening and reading people talk about how horrible it is retailer are opening up at 6pm on Thanksgiving and I agree, but the only way that this trend will end is by consumers doing something about it versus complaining. If Black Thursday has little attendance I bet your bottom dollar these stores will push back their opening times. Consumers need to band together and send a message they want their holiday back and realize that these “deals” come at the sake of others missing time with their family and friends. What is the next step? Having stores open all day Thanksgiving?!?!

While all the major retailer stores will open at 6pm on Thanksgiving, I have decided to opt out of that nonsense this year and only start shopping at midnight- on the REAL Black Friday. Yes, I will miss some “deals” and probably some items will be gone but at least in my conscious I will know I am not supporting the time change and interfering with others holidays.

Do you go Black Friday shopping? What is your opinion about the stores opening sooner? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Liebster Award

Young, Thrifty & Fabulous has been nominated for the Liebster Award by 20 Something Syndrome (awww thanks so much) and I didn’t realize it till now so now I will go on with the protocol. 

If you are nominated for a Liebster award this is what you should do:
1. Post the award on your blog
2. Thank the blogger who presented the award to you and link back to their blog
3. Answer the questions given to you by the nominator
4. Nominate 5 to 10 bloggers with less than 200 followers
5. Create 10 questions for your nominees to answer
6. Notify your nominees by posting on their blog

My answers for Heather:

1. What would you do with your day if you knew it was your last day to live?

I would probably spend the day with my family and friends eating as much ice cream as I could while watching my favorite movies.

2. What is your definition of an ideal friend/companion?

Someone who accepts you for all of your weaknesses, pushes you to succeed in live, and helps you when you fail.

3. What is your favorite form of fitness?

Oh, for sure my favorite has to be swimming! It is so much fun you don’t even know you are working out!

4. What would your perfect meal be?

Ice cream and spaghetti. Not spaghetti flavored ice cream but who knows that might be fun too!

5. How do you manage your budget?

I calculate what I need to pay each month for bills and other monthly expenses and then I see where I can cut corners. If I want to save up for something I plan ahead, like my friend’s birthday is coming up in a month so for about 2 months now I have been putting $5 here and there away so I can get her a nice present. Planning is everything.

6. What is your favorite way to relax after a long day at work?

Oh a big glass of white wine please!

7. What is the best gift you’ve ever received and why?

Probably when I was 12 my dad took me to my first basketball game to see the Sixers and I ended up on the jumbo screen. It meant everything to me.

8. What ability or skill do you not currently possess but hope to one day obtain?

Oh that is a tricky one. I want to learn Italian, I was never good at learning languages in school but I hope to learn it one day so when I travel back to Italy I will be able to travel easier.

9. What is your favorite part of the city you live in?

I love living in Philadelphia because there are so many things to do but you don’t have the overwhelming feeling you might get in NYC. I love the museums, concerts, nice restaurants, and of course the sports!

10. For what in life are you most grateful for?

I am most grateful for having supportive family and friends in my life. It is easy to forget how fortunate we are when it comes to that because some people do not have others to call on in times of need. I am very grateful.

My Nominated Blogs:

1. Meghan at DivineDeals

2. The Crazy Coupon Lady of OC

3.Amber at Generation Frugal

4. Grace at Makeup According to Grace

5. Diana at DianasAdventures

My questions for my Bloggers

1. If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you travel and why?

2. What inspires you to keep blogging?

3. How do you manage your budget?

4. If you could only eat one food item for the rest of your life, what would it be?

5. Is the Loch Ness Monster real?

6. What is something you do in your spare time to relax?

7. What is one of your most fondest memories so far in life?

8. Why is it important to you to be financially savvy?

9. What is the best and worst movie you have seen recently and why?

10. If your life was a movie who would you want to play you?

Bi-Weekly Deliciousness- Graze

When I was studying abroad last year in London I came across this company that would send you a bi-weekly box of healthy snacks for a certain price. My first one was free so I decided to give it a try. I will tell you all I fell in love. In each box you get 4 snacks and they vary from fruits, chocolates, nuts, pretzel mixes, to all different things in between. Every time it arrives is a surprise to what you will get and if you like something just rate it high so it can be sent to you again! Strawberry shortcake, Korean Chili Rice Crackers, Dark Rocky Road, and Triple Berry Smoothie are calling your name!

The best part is there is no commitment and you can stop anytime. If you sign up through my link you will get your first box and fifth box free, that’s awesome! Let me know what you think if you sign up!

https://www.graze.com/us/p/TARAT8PZU

The Importance of Checking Your Receipt

When you are shopping it is always important to check your receipt after a transaction. Many times when I go shopping I will be paying with several coupons, both manufacture and store, etc and sometimes it can get a little hectic. It’s always important to review your receipt afterwards to make sure the right amount was taken off at the register because sometimes accidents happen. 

Recently I was at Target and I was using manufacture coupons, Target store coupons, mobile coupons, AND the Cartwheel (so there was a lot going on!) and afterwards I checked my receipt and something did not add up correctly. I had bought a crystal light drink mix that was on clearance for $1.74 and used a manufacture coupon for $1 off. The drink mix rang up not as the clearance price but a completely different price of $4.34 and did not take my $1 off coupon! Well I sure as heck was not going to be paying almost $5 for any kind of drink mix haha so I went back into the store and talked to customer relations. We were able to sort it all out and I was able to get my refund and only pay $0.74 for the drink mix. 

The moral of the story is if I hadn’t checked my receipt I would of paid almost $5 for something that was not necessary versus less than a dollar. It’s not the cashiers fault nor mine, it’s just always best to double check your receipt every time to make sure all coupons are used properly and clearance prices match. 

How I Scored At Twice

Yesterday I wrote a post about Twice and how awesome it is to use. Well since I had basically $30 dollars to spend for free I decided to stretch it as much as possible! I thought I’d share a snapshot of what I bought yesterday.

That’s right I got a a beautiful striped blue button up shirt and a cheetah (I love cheetah) sweater from Urban Outfitters for a total of $10.90 out of pocket including shipping! So that comes to $5.45 per shirt…..ummmm you can’t beat that.

So what are you waiting for? Sign up for Twice.

Poshmark who?

Everybody has been talking about Poshmark and how great it is but I stumbled upon a new website and app that is also the bee’s knees when it comes to buying and selling clothes. Twice is a website and app that you can use to either sell or buy gently used clothing. Send your items in a prepaid bag or print out a free shipping label and they will access your clothes and make you an offer to buy them. If you are buying clothes (which I suggest more than selling- because they are cheap with what they offer) the prices are cheap for the name brands they are offering.

Right now you can receive $10 in credit by signing up for an account here.  You can also download their app after you signed up for an account and receive another $10 in credit! 

For a limited time only use this coupon code ( SURVEY10) at checkout and take $10 off your order!!!

So if you have been paying attention if you do everything I told you you could get a total of $30 off your first order, that could be a cute sweater!

Sign up for Twice account.

Target Alert!

So the other day I was doing my normal go to Target and check out everything on clearance trips and I found that in the accessory department they marked down several cute things! My Target near me marked down cute belts, purses, sunglasses, and clutches. They were marked down only 30% so that means they have the chance of going down further, normally I wait to buy something once it’s at least 50% off unless I HAVE to have it but who knows. The items were not on an end cap nor in a special section and the only reason why I noticed it was because there were so many red clearance stickers sticking out! This is a lesson that you should always keep your eyes peeled for clearance items even in the normal isles!

 

 

Free Magazines

In a past post about Freebies I mentioned you can get all sorts of samples for free but I didn’t stress the amount of popular magazines you could receive for free. On I Crave Freebies website they post new magazine promotions that if you fill out a survey you can receive a particular magazine for free. Generally the subscriptions are for a year unless otherwise stated and you are asked no financial questions, nor are you ever billed…because it’s FREE!

I have 12 subscriptions that are being delivered to my home on a regular basis with anything from Sports Illustrated, Natural Health, Town & Country, Shape, and US Weekly.

Currently Teen Vogue and Oxygen Magazine are interesting subscriptions being offered.

App Thursday: Ibotta

Probably one of my new favorite apps is Ibotta. This app allows the customer to be rewarded with cold hard cash for making everyday purchases. There are more than 50 retailers that participate like Walmart, Target, CVS, Dunkin’ Donuts, Best Buy, and AMC Theaters (yeah, that’s right you could be paid to go see a movie!). Choose what store you want to go shopping at and then browse the offers available at the store, complete the tasks (they are not hard), once purchased take a picture of the receipt, and wallah! cash to be redeemed to your PayPal account or gift cards.

Why I use this app:

1. I love Target and make several of my weekly purchases there and if there is an item as an offer that I normally would buy that is available at Target, heck might as well buy it and be rewarded!

2. It’s easy to use with step by step instructions.

3. There are several retailers participating and different categories.

4. The tasks are not hard and you can pick and choose which ones to complete or not.

Embrace Freebies

Major companies will mail you samples of their products in order to entice you to purchase their product over a competitor. What type of samples can you get? A lot of hair product companies, magazines, and feminine care companies. How do you get these samples that I speak of? I mostly use I Crave Freebies website that post several freebies daily. You follow their links and then enter your mailing address and you receive their sample 4-8 weeks later. The benefits of doing this? You get to sample a product before buying and the majority of the time they also send a coupon with the sample so you can use it on future purchases.

Not only do I have a stockpile of different shampoos and conditioners one girl could ever need I scored big on my last sample with Essie. Like you know Essie is a super cute nail polish company but they are little to pricey for my cheap butt at 8 dollars a bottle this thrifty girl is not paying for that. Also they never go on sale or discounted. So I signed up for a sample of their cuticle oil and with the sample they sent me a $1 off coupon for any Essie product. Score! If I ever decide to splurge on nail polish I got a way to get their cute colors for cheaper.