For those who want to update their closet with the latest trends, but don’t have the time or the patience to go and skim through the shops, then there is one viable option for you: go online shopping for your clothes. With the fast-paced technology right at your fingertips, you can easily browse through different shopping portals that gives you great previews and help you check out clothes accordingly.  Zoom it in or zoom it out, discover the details of the design and compare colors—meticulously looking at your purchase is now much easier with online shops. Furthermore, these items have descriptions and easy-to-navigate pages, with available filters to sort out the clothes you’d like to buy.

Tips for Shopping Clothes Online:

The Advantages of Online Shopping

1. No more waiting. The long lines in stores can drive even the most patient consumer crazy. With time as important as money, one can only be thinking of what they can be able to accomplish if they were not spending fifteen or more minutes standing in line. Many people tend to lose their patience while waiting in line so shopping online can be their best choice.

2. Home delivery. Nothing is more convenient than having your own items delivered right to your home. There’s no need for you drive, get stuck in the traffic or find a slot in the parking lot just to buy a few goods. With online shopping, you can have as many or as little purchases brought to you without the hassle.

3. Tracking receipts. Any busy person can find it hard to track down their receipts, which is an unfortunate situation especially when they end up with products they did not plan to buy at first. Having an electronic receipt is easier to keep and one can track down their purchases to discover how their transaction went.

4. Comparing prices is a breeze. With new e-commerce website platforms, you can easily weigh prices against one another and end up with a more practical item. Comparing prices and websites helps smart shoppers pick the best product and price they are most comfortable with.

5. No more buying on impulse. Shoppers tend to “strike while the iron is hot,” especially when there are items on sale. However, most of the time, they discover that the products they bought aren’t really necessary or even wanted. One can avoid the impulses of buying by looking over at online stores. They can put a desired item under their wish list, which they can go back and buy whenever they have the money to spare.

Some Shopping Tips for the Smart Buyer

Before you sit down and browse in your favorite store to start your wardrobe hunt, it is important to observe a few tips when it comes to online shopping. Take note of these reminders before finalizing your purchase to avoid future hassles:

1. Always get your measurements first. When shopping for clothes, it is always crucial to check your measurements so you’d know if the items will fit. Things to measure are your chest, shoulders, waist, hips and feet. Make sure to list these down accurately so that the clothes you will order will fit you well and there will be no need of returning them because of the wrong size in the future.

2. Buy from credible shopping sites. You might be tempted to go to the new store you’ve seen advertised on the internet, but it is always best to go with reputable shopping sites. There are many cases of fraudulent sellers online and you would not want to have your hard-earned money being swept away by these suspicious dealers. Find out testimonies and opinions on review sites and see how an e-commerce site fares.

3. Look at the shipping terms. Reliable sites will always be honestly upfront with their shipping costs. This allows you to be prepared for the entire purchase and delivery of the clothes.

4. Payment modes. It is popular and convenient to use Paypal and other third-party payment options for online shopping. This is a great choice to use, especially if you are paying via credit or debit card. Make sure that the site is encrypted with SSL and its payment systems are secure.

5. Return policy. There may be a chance that the clothes you bought does not fit you; see if the store has a return policy that allows customers to ship back the item in exchanged for another with a better fit.

6. Discount and deals. It would be best to find a store which offers seasonal markdowns and frequent discounts. These promos can help you save money which you can use for purchasing another item or keeping it for your future purchases. Some sites offer discount coupons to slash a percentage off an entire purchase with a distinct code. One example would be JC Penney’s current offering: 10% off at JCPenney – Promo Codes are available for shoppers to use. Get this code by visiting this website and see more available codes for you to use!

What are your Tips for Shopping Clothes Online?

Guest post submitted by Christina.

How many times have you finished off a loaf of bread, only to have an empty bag and the plastic tie left? Chances are, all of the time!

You can’t seem to avoid those plastic little tags when buying bakery products, as they are the perfect little tool for keeping your bag closed and your product fresh. Did you know plastic bread ties have some other fun and frugal uses?

They sure do! Take a look below at 7 creative uses for bread ties that you may not know about. These uses will cause you to pause and think twice before ever throwing one away again.

7 Creative Uses for Bread Ties:

1. Banish cord confusion. This is one of the most common uses people seem to use bread tags for, and it is no wonder why. If you are tired of getting your electronic cords mixed up and unplugging the wrong one, just take a marker and write directly on the tag the name of the electronic it goes to. Then, clip the tag right on. No more confusion!

2. Make some seedling markers. While your seedlings are young , you can write the names of each plant on the bread tie and place right around the stem of the plant. When the seedling grows you may need to remove it and place it on another stem or shoot of the plant, or, just glue it to a popsicle stick and stick in the ground for identification.

3. Let the kids get crafty. You would be amazed at what kids can do with these little plastic wonders. Give them some colorful bread ties and let them create mini charms. They can add glitter, color them with markers, or add any embellishment you choose. Then, give them string or wire to clip the tie onto to create their own custom jewelry.

4. Keep your food fresh. If you have non-zip sandwich bags (which are usually less expensive than Ziploc bags) hang onto your bread ties to seal them shut. They will keep your food items safely inside and even keep the food fresher.

5. Dish out some dish scrubbers. Do your dishes have hard to remove grit on them? These little ties can really help you get down and dirty with your dishes. Just pinch one between your fingers and scrub away bakes on food. You can also scrub hard to remove grit and grime from counter tops or other hard surfaces. You can only do a small space at a time, so it is ideal for smaller jobs that you don’t want to use a whole scouring pad for.

6. Create a learning game. Once you accumulate ten or so ties (this will not take nearly as long as you think) take a marker and write numbers on them from 1-10 or counting by 5’s or 10’s. Have your child arrange them in numeric order or use them to create math problems. Their small size makes them fun to manipulate.

7. Never wrestle with tape again. This trick is super cool. Never wrestle with finding the end of a roll of tape again. Instead, when you are done ripping off a piece of tape, stick a bread tie under the end. That way, when you are ready to rip off a new piece, the end will be stuck to the tie and not the roll of tape.

Next time you finish off a loaf of bread, hang onto that tie! Give one of these many fun and frugal uses a try and see how easy it is to give those ties a second life.

Sometimes its nice to know how much you saved at the grocery store as a percentage. I don’t know about you, but I’m always trying to achieve 60% or higher. Often, your receipt will tell you “You saved 67% today!”. Farm Fresh and Kroger receipts are that way, and its always fun to see how much you saved. Sometimes though, its not as easy to tell. Here is a quick way to calculate your saving percentages off a regular receipt:

How To Calculate Coupon Savings as a Percentage: 

Saved Value ÷ Total Value = % Savings

1. Saved Value: To find this number just check your receipt! Most receipts have a line somewhere that reads ” Your Total Savings” or ” Today You Saved” (Harris Teeter’s say “Coupons Tendered”)

2. Total Value: To calculate this number you add the “Amount Paid” for the order to the “Saved Value” number from above. This “Total Value” is the actual value of all the items you purchased before coupons and sales.

3. % Savings: To calculate this number, just divide the “Saved Value” amount by the “Total Value” amount and that gives you your “% Savings”!

So, if your receipt looked like this:

{PIN IT}

Amount Paid + Saved Value = Total Value. 
($8.58 + $39.77 = $48.35)

Then just plug the numbers into your formula:

Saved Value ÷ Total Value = % Savings
$39.77         ÷      $48.35         =        82%!

Are you as much as a nerd as I am?! Its OK if you are! I hate math, but I just LOVE spending less on my groceries 😀

Happy saving!

Make sure to read How to Read your Harris Teeter Receipt since Harris Teeter’s receipts are a bit different from other stores.