Retail Shopping

I haven't been online at all this weekend. I had to get out of the house as much as possible... alone!

Do you ever feel like that? Like if you have to spend one more minute in your house doing the same things over and over, that you are honestly going to burst into flames from sheer frustration?

Ok... maybe that's just me...

I went shopping for myself, because I still had a gift card from Christmas. I ended up buying clothes for my children (on sale), and that was it. Yeah. Big spender.

What amazed me, though, was how much shopping has changed since Christmas. (I don't shop much, except for groceries, so I hadn't been out for a while.)

First, upon walking into a store, I was immediately surrounded by salespeople everywhere I went. They were telling me to please let them know if I needed anything. I'm not used to salespeople being this attentive.

Secondly, everything and I mean EVERYTHING was on sale! For example, I walked into Ann Taylor Loft, and was told every "full-priced item" in the store was 20% off, plus they had tons of clearance items. (And still I bought nothing.)

Third, the entire shopping center was practically empty. And of those few people I saw, hardly anyone had shopping bags. No, the weather wasn't that great, but still... People are not buying. It's really sad. It's like the entire country is in foreclosure.

So, if you have some extra money or need some upcoming gifts, now is a good time to get out there. There are quite a few printable coupons for retail stores.

And, if you don't feel like going out, coupon codes are fairly abundant; Coupon Cabin and Retail Me Not are two good sites to try.

If you don't find what you're looking for in any of those sites, then just "Google" it. You may get lucky. Or go to that specific store's website. They may have some coupons there.

Also, be sure to get on a favorite store's mailing list, too. Many coupons are mailed or emailed that you may not receive otherwise if you aren't on their list.