Zannee’s Blog at BargainsLA.com

Like most people, I like saving money without having to work too hard. But unlike most people I will work at it when required. I will wait to pounce at a sample sale, drive out of the way to get a great deal on an appliance, gadget or piece of furniture. Do what ever it takes in most cases. Where I am at my weakest is grocery shopping. Though I will look at the price and compare, I tend to buy what I like to eat. Prices be damned!

I do know enough not to shop when I am hungry and to buy in volume and pounce on store discounts, but use coupons…. No way. My husband is the king of coupon shopping, consistently saving near 50% every time he shops. That’s why he does the bulk of the grocery shopping.

However the king is out of town with a tour for a couple of weeks leaving me to blow the family budget! I promptly went out and bought items I knew I’d like: Pesto sauce, mushrooms, zucchini, wine, breads, yogurts, cottage cheese, elaborate salad ingredients and such. Yummy, healthy stuff. A grocery bill that would normally run my hubby $50 is $80 when I grocery shop.

But the “piece de resistance” was when I blindly went in to buy large round Globe  grapes for a Halloween Haunt at my daughter’s school… $2.99 a pound at Ralph’s ended up being $35 for 4 bags of grapes. I was too dumb founded to object at the register and walked out of the store mumbling to myself.

I have failed grocery shopping 101. I hadn’t planned ahead, I hadn’t compared grocery ads…. I hadn’t done anything to insure I wasn’t overpaying. I just went and mindlessly bought.

The Bargain Queen’s crown is all a-twitter.  I’d better come up with some spectacular bargains to return to my normal self. I’ll keep you posted.

When you’re holiday shopping sometimes planning your purchases is the best bet… especially if you tend to buy things for yourself.

I have a great Marshall’s and TJ Maxx near me and I pop in monthly to rove for bargain gifts. On one foray, three weeks ago I found these cool shirts by Max Studio for $29. They fit me beautifully and looked great, but I only I got one since it wasn’t a planned purchase. I didn’t find any gifts that thrilled.

This week I popped in again on the hunt for goodies for the family and I found more of those little Max Studio gems on sale for $22 instead of the $29 I originally paid. So, I got one more and I also found my favorite English tea at 50% less and another cool tee for just $5.  Again no gifts were purchased.

Two visits and I personally scored 4 great buys, but my gift list has remained the same.

I gave the Christmas shopping another try at the LF Warehouse Sale. This time I stuck to my guns and spent the first hour snatching up stellar buys for my persnickety tween. As I sorted through the $5 hats, $6 XS tees, $12 sweats and $8 fun skirts I found a bunch of items she should adore. I even tried talking another shopper out of the last remaining tote bag for my fashion forward daughter.

It was only after I had scored goodies for her that I looked around for myself. I ended up with a great pair of Jeffery Campbell booties for $10 and a nice cocktail dress for $15.

It’s hard not buying for yourself while Christmas shopping. Still, I’ll keep trying till I get it right.

Like most parents, I think my daughter is amazingly talented. Though both my hubby and I knew she didn’t get any of my dance genes, she did get her vocal genes from his end of the family. She came out screaming at birth and has had an amazingly loud, beautiful voice ever since. This week she landed a singing role in a small local kid’s production of The Wiz and I have to get her dance shoes for rehearsals.

Normally I’d expect to pay $30-$50 for a decent pair of jazz dance shoes for kids. But since this is only a 2-month affair and she is still growing, I am heading over to Danny’s Warehouse to look for a pair for just $10.

Shopping in his warehouse is always like walking into my daughter’s room…. Very chaotic! But it’s worth rummaging through the chaos with the huge savings he offers on yoga, dance, skating, or gymnastic wear. His prices are easily 60%-90% below retail everyday. Since Danny’s handles name brand clothing and shoes in closeouts, discontinued and some damages.  This is opportunistic shopping; re-orders aren’t possible and you pounce when you find something.

We found boxes loaded with jazz leather, split sole, slip ons by Dance Shuz. These discontinued shoes are not the top of the line in Jazz shoes, but still would normally retail around $40. We got ‘em for just $10. Perfect for anyone just starting out in dance or theater.

I also saw a bunch of Dance Shuz character shoes, but most were in narrow sizes. They did have one in a medium width in my daughter’s size, so I picked up those just in case. If I was wrong and she didn’t need them I’d lose $10. If I was right and she did need them, I’d have saved another $40… plus gas and time.

Danny as always was there helping guide you through his warehouse. We were in and out in under a half hour.  I spent $20, but saved near $70.  Now, that’s my kind of bargain shopping!