You know that mom at 10:30 in the morning frantically searching for a birthday gift for a birthday party that's happening in 30 minutes? Yeah, that's me. And the crazy toddler two aisles over screaming something about Star Wars, that's my kid.
I'm a procrastinator. A proper procrastinator. I save everything until the last minute, and I mean EVERYTHING. From what we're going to eat for dinner, to buying gifts to getting my work done. everything.
But now that I'm a parent, being a procrastinator is ultra difficult. Saving things for the last-minute doesn't always work when you have a toddler who has BIG plans for you during those last few minutes. Or worse, you have to take the toddler with you to buy dinner or gifts.
Needless to say, my procrastinating ways are changing.
I've started writing out a dinner menu for the week, and actually trying to shop for it all on a Saturday or Sunday-- I go at the ass-crack of dawn, because I'm already up anyway, to beat the morning mom rush. I've also started prioritizing my work, gardening, cleaning and appointments, just to make sure I actually get them done.
But one big change to my procrastination, has also turned into a huge money-saving thing. I'm buying gifts and even holiday presents now. Just so you know how big this is, I'm also that girl at "The Walmart" on Christmas Eve trying to shop for her entire family.
While I will always look back fondly on those Christmas Eve adventures, I can't do it anymore. I also can't stand anymore of those 10:30 Target runs to find a gift for a kid I don't even know.
I mentioned this to a friend, whose also a mother of two, and she gave me those most amazing piece of advice, "Always scan the clearance section where you shop for cute gifts. Then store them until you need them."
GENIOUS.
For the last few weeks, I have been scanning clearance sections for more than just things for me. After all, I ALWAYS shop clearance, but never thought to do it for future gifts. Now, I'm getting things at like 70% off and I have them ready to go before the party. It's absolutely amazing. I',also scanning Groupon early, just in case something fabulous comes up 70% off there!
And then, there's Groupon Restaurant deals! FTD and I rarely pay full price for dinner when going out, thanks to the Groupon Local restaurant deals, 40-50% off at hundreds of local restaurants.
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There's a directory of businesses, including thousands of restaurants.
FYI: On each restaurant page, you can view:
You can even "Request a Deal" when your favorite restaurant doesn't currently offer any.
When we can't figure out what we want to eat, we go through, choose from one of the deals then go right to the restaurant! There's no wait! So, this holiday season, I will have bought all of our present's on clearance, AND our meals out with family on Groupn.
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Bottom Line: Sticking to Clearance shelves for awesome gifts and Groupon Restaurants Deals for HUGE savings at favorite local restaurants, will net a 50-75% savings over the holiday season.
Holy crap.
#Score
If you're not doing this, DO THIS!
