This is my favorite topic. Cause I love shopping. Like saving makes my LD happy, shopping for deals makes me happy.

1. Electronic deals. I don’t buy because there is a deal. I shop for a deal once we discuss and find that we need something. For example recently we needed a lightweight laptop for me to read and write for Huaren etc. I went to http://www.salescircular.com to check the best local deal on laptop and then bought Compaq V2615 and printer for $499 after rebate. I know it is not the best laptop on the market, but it is the lowest cost that fit my need as the 2^nd laptop.

2. Car deals. Do research first from http://www.edmunds.com/?mktcat=trademark&kw=edmund&mktid=ov16157828

Find invoice price and add $250-300 and minus all kinds of rebate or incentives, then negotiating, negotiating and negotiating. My car was bought at over $1000 lower price than a friend. If that’s not impressive, this is - her car is a V4, my car is a V6 plus ABS - which means $2000-3000 price difference for same brand same model. Of cause it took a whole day and 2 MBA friends’ negotiating but it was worth it.

3. Home deals. Research online first. Yahoo and www.realtor.com are good resources. Then drive and see the surrounding area. Sometimes the dream home is a little distance away and we just need to go there to find out. We searched in a different place for months without finding an ideal home so we gave up. Then we went to my friend’s daughter’s birthday party and passed a famous college. It was so beautiful that we started search in this new area and our dream home appeared soon after that.

4. Fashion deals. That’s the only small deals I care. But since I shop a lot, it adds up. My trick is buy brand name basics. Because you’ll wear your basics for years. I still love my BCBG white pattern T-shirts, or balck or flower skirt. Or my Ralph Lauren black zip jacket and pants. Or my Dana Buchman blouse and pencil skirt. Or my Tahari white trim swearter and eyelet white blazer. Or my countless AT cashmere sweaters. Or my Cache and Lillie Rubin embellished jeans. All these basics I can wear to work or to a friend get-together. So the frequency of wearing will offset the price, and I didn’t pay original price for any of these. For seasonal fashion, I buy less expensive brands like Bandolino, AT loft. So I don’t mind the style change next year. And for home clothes I don’t mind searching Macys, Strawbridge, Boscovs or JC Penny’s sales rack to get $4-8 a piece so I can get different colors. And I like their return policy - as long as you know which credit card you possibly used, no receipts required, no expiration date.

[此贴子已经被icyscorpio于2006-6-8 1:11:47编辑过]