{31 Days} Clothes Shopping Made Cheap & Easy

Somewhere in Time…

…grocery store prices were still reasonable, clothing was cheap, and a young, hunky Christopher Reeve was frantically searching for me as I shopped store after store.

OK, so maybe not the last part.

But wasn’t it just yesterday that prices were fairly reasonable on goods and products?  Now, it seems every time I go to the grocery or clothing store, prices have gone up!

I’m here to help.  Think of me as the old lady with the pocket watch, helping you get back in time to a more affordable era.  (Are you scratching your head, wondering what I am talking about?  So, you haven’t see the movie, have you?  Well, I forgive you and love you anyway.)

I have to assume you are a coupon cutter for a moment.  (If not, email me or FB friend me or tweet me.  Let me teach you the ways of the force, Luke.)

Now, it’s time to take it to the next level, you savvy shopper, you.  It’s time to get free money for clothes.

I am an oxymoron myself.  Sure, some just call me a moron.  But I will leave it up to you:  I almost only buy my clothes from Nordstrom or Nordstrom Rack.  Not because I like taking out a second mortgage to afford the swankiest sweatpants, either…no, it’s because I can do it for sooooo much cheaper (yep, you hear me right, girlfriend) than at Kohl’s or Kmart. 

1.      Get a junk email account.  (Say what?)  Well, this is not essential, especially if you have friends you want to impress.  Sign up for some of my below suggestions, and have it go to your main email account, especially if it is tied to your mobile device that “dings” each time a new email arrives. Then, with all of the new dings you’re gonna get, you can impress your friends, who will think you are wildly popular.  You choose.  I got a junk email account myself, but if you don’t get one, only you and I have to know your secret to your newfound popularity….DING!  (Oooo. Is that your email again?  I am impressed already.)

2.     Sign up for your favorite store’s emails and, if possible, its card as well.  Pick the 2-3 stores you shop at the most for clothes.  Know their policies!  Know their systems!  Nordstrom has a credit card (DANGER, Will Robinson!) and a debit card (yes, they do!  They really, really do!).  They award points with each purchase.  And then, I only shop Nordy (usually the Rack) on double and triple point days so my dollars go the farthest.

3.     Never shop online without first paying yourself by earning a reward.  Sign up for some company that gives you money for going through its site first before buying online (use that junk email address that we talked about here).  There are several:  Ebates, MyPoints, just to name a few.  (What does your new BFF Rebecca Rejoices use?  I thought you’d never ask. I use MyPoints first, then Ebates if my store is not available through MyPoints.)

a.     Here’s how it works:  instead of going to, say, Target.com directly, you FIRST log in to MyPoints, click on shop, find Target, and THEN shop at Target.

b.     MyPoints will give you a certain amount of points for everything you buy at Target.

c.     Once you have earned enough points, you can redeem them for free gift cards nearly to everywhere – including getting a Visa card if the store you want is not listed (like, hmmm, Nordstrom, perhaps?).

d.     Don’t shop online much?  You can still earn…see next bullet point.

a.     f you sign up for MyPoints and if you have time, complete the surveys they email to you and earn points.  Personally, I delete all of the survey emails, but you can earn points this way if you have tons of time on your hands with nothing to do.  (You can also scrub my oven.  That offer is always open.  Just trying to help you find something to do.  I am your BFF, after all.  Just thinking of you, hon.) 

b.     You can also open My Points ad emails to earn points.  They send about 2-5 a day. They are usually worth 5 points each at MyPoints and are clearly labeled so they are easy to find in your junk email list.  Frankly, I often open these while on the treadmill (now THAT’s multi-tasking…though I have visions of me losing my balance while holding my phone in one hand and my water in the other.  A MyEmbarrassing MyPoints MyAccident, if you will.).  

c.     You can earn by referring friends (P.S.  If you sign up for any of the above, ask on your Facebook page if anyone has an account.  Friends don’t let friends sign up without referral credits!). You can also download their search engine, and get points every time you search for something, like “Where can I rent Somewhere in Time?” (just to give you a totally random example).

Once you are in the rhythm of this, you will find it takes very little time before you have earned enough money to buy (for free, using points) those parachute pants, Madonna-inspired rubber bracelets, and neon pink T-shirt.  Don’t forget to pick up some Aqua-Net hairspray for the Bangs Wave and you, too, can be somewhere else in time.

Make those purchases on the days of the big sales at your favorite stores, and you will walk out a winner!

Found a penny dated 2011 in my pocket, so I gotta run…my own version of the (not-so) young, (but definitely) hunky Christopher Reeve is calling…