I Have Officially Begun Christmas Shopping

Okay with my title, some of you are going to think I'm nuts.

But I'm not.

Well, not entirely anyways.

Today I have started Christmas shopping!

I used to be one of those people who was frantically searching for any gift in December, working through the crowds, being grumpy and miserable along with everyone else around me.

When we moved to a small town 3 years ago, shopping became more difficult. There are only a few small stores here, of course a Sears catalogue center, among a few other locally owned stores. So not much selection, and the prices are outrageous.

When we go to the city for a day trip, we make our usual stops; Costco and Walmart, along with any other pressing issues we need to address, and then we visit with friends or family for the remainder of the time. It doesn't leave much time to browse stores or find good deals around town.

So that is when I discovered the joys of online shopping! It is so easy, there are no lines, no grumpy people, I don't have to drag my children around with me and I can find some fantastic deals!! I now shop throughout the year to find great deals (and then it looks like I'm spending more than I actually do!!) for friends and family.

Last year I actually started Christmas shopping in March. It disgusted even me, a little bit, because, seriously? Who starts in March? But I guess I did. The deal was really too good to pass up. I'm not crazy, honestly!

Today I discovered the great finds at the Toys R Us clearance section. I didn't realize until today (maybe you are smarter than I am!) that anything with the notation "Save an additional 50% on clearance items", means that it is 50% off the last price! I am kicking myself for not understanding this in the past, but I'm thrilled for today! So stuff that was normally $39.99 and is marked down to $29.99 will actually be $14.98 if it says that it is 50% off. Isn't that awesome?

I bought some stuff to give away as gifts for birthday parties, Christmas presents, and some stocking stuffers too! Yippee!!

I should also mention that if you too, want to get some great deals from TRU, you can first go through Air Miles Shops with your collector number and collect Air Miles at the same time. I am all about the deals!! There are lots of stores that participate with Air Miles online and I always go through here first. We don't collect a lot of miles, but every little bit helps.

So I wanted to share my great finds with you today...maybe you will find something that you like too.