Showing posts with label Warehouse Clubs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Warehouse Clubs. Show all posts

Most 3G2S posts contain commission-yielding affiliate links. When you make a purchase after clicking a link, our family earns a small commission at no additional cost to you. Thank you for supporting our blog.

9 Money-Saving Tips for Parents


Parents are often faced with many obstacles when it comes to raising their kids, and saving money might be one of the biggest ones. That’s why today, we’re going to present 9 helpful tips that will help you to save money, but still be able to provide.

The desire to provide only the best for your kids is something all parents have, but as many can tell you, this is also an easy way to go for broke. Luckily, there are plenty of ways you can shop for the must-haves and the luxuries, while still maintaining a stable budget.

So what can you do? Here are a few tips:

1. Thrift Shops: Because sometimes the key to saving money is learning how to “pop some tags.” Thrift shops are great places where you can find items for both yourself and your kids, whether it’s clothing, toys and games, or furniture, and best of all, it’s available to you at a fraction of what you’d find elsewhere.

2. Consignment: From clothing to home décor and even more, consignment shops are great places to find high quality goods for less. On the flipside of that, if you have no more use for some of your items, you can put them up for sale for others to enjoy, while also making a little cash for yourself.

3. Make A List: It’s one of the oldest tricks in the book, and it’s still around because it still works. Before you go shopping, create a list of everything you need. This can help eliminate the temptation to impulse shop.

4. Rewards Programs: You may be loyal to a certain brand or store, so why not get rewarded for it? See if your favorite place has a rewards program set into place. Doing so makes you eligible for future discounts, exclusive promotional items, and can even sends you notifications on upcoming sales events and more.

5. Hand-Me-Downs: Have any friends or family around you with kids of varying ages? If this is the case, consider creating a system where every so often, you swap clothes. This can help you save money on having to buy new clothes once your child outgrows their old ones. Plus, if it’s still in good condition, you don’t have to feel bad about having to throw it out or discarding it.

6. Shop Out Of Season: This might sound odd, but sometimes the best times to shop for certain essentials is to buy it at the end of the season. For example, stories tend to put summer apparel and accessories on clearance to make room for their fall inventory. Likewise, fall must-haves will be discounted once winter begins, and so on…

7. Join The Club: From memberships to places like Costco or even exclusive online clubs, this is a great way to grab what you need for less. Yes, this might include a membership fee, but if you’re a frequent shopper, you will get more than your money’s worth.

8. Don’t Spend Money You Don’t Have: This might seem like a common sense tip, but you’d be amazed at how many people fall into this trap. Unless you have the money, and it’s something that tends to be more of a want or a luxury than a necessity, it’s probably best to put off buying it. Plus, eventually everything goes on sale…

9. Coupons!: Convenient, accessible, fail-safe and most of the time, they’re free! Coupons are one of the best ways that you can still shop for some of the brand name goods that you know and love while avoiding paying full retail for them.


And of course, DefinitiveDeals is your place to get all of the savings you want. Thousands of coupons are at your disposal from some of your favorite stores. Now you can save a few dollars while shopping for all of the essentials. Best of all, it doesn’t cost you anything to use them, because as we like to say, “life is meant to be enjoyed.”

To learn more, check out our official website here.



Most 3G2S posts contain commission-yielding affiliate links. When you make a purchase after clicking a link, our family earns a small commission at no additional cost to you. Thank you for supporting our blog.

BJ's Wholesale Club For Holiday Entertaining, Gifts, and Decor

My husband and I have been shopping at BJ's Wholesale Club weekly for over a decade. I was extremely happy to accept an invitation to an in-store event at one of our state's newest club stores in Waltham, Massachusetts. The goal of the event was to show local bloggers how, in addition to fresh and frozen food, baked goods, paper towels, diapers, shampoo, pet food, etc . . ., BJ's also offers everything their customers need for decorating their home for the holidays and for hosting holiday events. There is also a vast assortment of gift ideas for every single person on your list. You can really take care of most, if not all, of your holiday shopping in one visit to your local club store.

I recently wrote an article about off-price retailers. Although some of the non-grocery items BJ's offers their customers are opportunity buys, such as luxury bedding, brand name clothing, and luxury handbags, much of what they offer for gifts are specially packaged and priced for their clubs. When a vendor wants BJ's to carry their product, the buyers often ask for special gift packaging plus an additional item or items to be bundled with the product to give their customers extra value. On top of all this, they often negotiate for a better price than what their competitors are selling the same item for. For example, if you are in the market for Paper Jamz, one of the hottest toys for Holiday 2010, then you know that you can find a guitar for approximately $25 and the amp for about $15. Well, there is a special bundle available at BJ's Wholesale Club with both these items packaged together for $34.99 .


What I saw during my visit to the store . . .

Holiday Decor: LED Christmas trees, wreaths, scented pine cones, inflatable lawn ornaments, poinsettias, centerpieces, stockings, shatterproof glass and handcrafted tree ornaments, and more.



Gourmet Food, Favors, and Hostess Gifts: Fine chocolates, cookies, gift baskets, hot cocoa, coffee, and gingerbread houses. Brands include Lindt, Lyndon Reede, Harry London, Godiva, and more. After sampling them, I had to purchase a box of the Harry London Chocolate-Covered Caramels with Sea Salt so that my family could try them as well. It was $9.99 for a $15.24oz box, was beautifully packaged, and comes in both milk or dark chocolate.

(Click any image to enlarge)


Hor d'oeurves & Desserts: Shrimp platters, vegetable platters, cookie platters, a vast assortment of frozen finger foods and appetizers, cakes, cheeses, and much more.


BJ's also carries the Keurig B60 with 60 Bonus K-Cups, the Soda Stream Automatic Soda Maker Value Pack, the Rival Crockpot Trio Deluxe, cheese boards, bar sets, glassware, Mikasa Flatware and Dinnerware, and more items that will surely help you with hosting holiday events.


Electronics: Top brands in LCD, LED, and Plasma televisions, digital cameras and camcorders, mobile phones, laptops, tablets, blu-ray players, expandable phone systems, computer accessories, printers, and much much more.



Fine Jewelry: Men's and women's watches, silver and gold necklaces, rings, bracelets, earrings, and gemstone jewelry. The featured item this year is 6 versions of a Sterling Silver Key Pendant with genuine diamonds and gemstones priced at $49.99 each in-store only.



Toys and Video Games: Some of the hottest toys for infants up to adults, such as Fisher-Price Imaginext BIGFOOT, Paper Jamz, Leapster Explorer, Kung Zhu and Zhu Zhu Pets Play Sets, Nintendo DSi Bundles, Wii Console Bundles, PlayStation Move for PS3, Kinect for Xbox 360, games and accessories for most video game platforms, Barbie My Size Doll, and so much more. There are two full aisles, including endcaps, dedicated to toys.

Name Brand Clothing: Calvin Klein sweaters and jeans for men, Perry Ellis, Lizwear, Nautica, Reebok, Levis, Dollie & Me, Laura Ashley, and Polo Jeans are brands I have seen. You must keep in mind that the merchandise for these opportunity buys will vary from club to club.



One of the items that impressed me the most was this Living Home Reversible Gift Wrap. It is 400 square feet of double-sided wrapping paper for just $9.99 . Usually, one roll of paper is 40 to 75 square feet. This wrapping paper is an excellent value.


I should also mention that BJ's has gifts for the home (small appliances, furniture, cookware, etc . . . ), for dogs (beds and toys), and sports fans (licensed apparel and throws). I am certain I am leaving some things out, but as I had previously stated, I do believe you will find a gift for almost everyone on your list in this one store.

You can also shop BJ's Wholesale Club online at BJs.com . The selection of merchandise available online is limited and is often different than what is offered in the stores. I have also found that many items sold on the website have the shipping included in the price. To learn more about the products or a BJ's membership, visit BJs.com, BJ's Wholesale Club on Facebook,and @BJsWholesale on Twitter.


Although I participated in an event in which I received food and product samples to possibly review in the future along with a gift card to shop from BJ's Wholesale Club, I was not compensated for sharing this information with my readers. All thoughts expressed in this article are my own.