Search Results for: blog christmas shopping at the mall

Introducing Animalle Mundo: A Doggie Love Hotel

Christmas might be a holiday for familial, not romantic, love, but with this notice you might have the time to start planning so your pet can have its romantic getaway.  That’s right, a romantic getaway for your pet.  If you’re trying to breed your dog and you want to do it in style, consider Animalle Mundo Pet.  It’s a hotel in Brazil, one that keeps in tradition with the country’s ritzy amorous motels.  The New York Times reports. You can find short-stay hotels all over the world, but Brazil is a leader in both having them, and in making them … Continue reading →

A Very Frugal Christmas Part I

While I try really hard not to get too caught up in the commercialism of Christmas gifting, I absolutely love the magic of Christmas morning with stuffed stockings and a good number of beautifully wrapped presents under the Christmas tree.  In years past, I have purchased moderately expensive gifts for my family and thought nothing of it.  However, the current economic downturn combined with graduate student loans and a car payment, has changed my ability to buy whatever I deemed to be perfect gifts for my family.  This year we are doing something very different. Unlike previous years, we set … Continue reading →

Christmas Nightmare: Shopping with Kids

  It’s hard to play Santa when you have kids hanging from both of your arms and one of your legs. Running into a store to pick-up a handful of necessities can be a frustrating and exhausting experience when you have young kids in tow.  However, having them tag along while you Christmas shop can be a downright nightmare. No parent willingly chooses to purchase a long list of holiday gifts while their kids are present, but if you are working under a strict deadline and can’t find childcare, then you do what you have to do. Fortunately, there are … Continue reading →

Finding the True Meaning of Christmas

My 8-year-old has a severe case of the Christmas gimmies.  Unfortunately, I have myself to blame for her very unmerry malady. Whereas I am by no means showering the kid with pre-holiday presents, I haven’t been doing a very good job focusing on the “reason for the season” either. I’ve been swept into the chaotic tsunami that is the month of December.  Gifts to buy, wrap and mail; cookies to bake, decorate and distribute; cards to take photos for, write and stamp; and the list goes on and on. As a parent, it’s easy to get caught up in the … Continue reading →

Stay Merry This Christmas

 The holiday season is upon us, and if you are pregnant the mere thought of all of the shopping, cooking, cleaning, and everything else that you usually do for the holidays might leave you feeling exhausted. Fortunately, as with many things, the expectations that other people would place on you during the holiday season are likely to be far lower than those that you might set out for yourself. Here are a few tips for making the holiday season a little bit merrier and a little less stressful. First of all, make sure that your holiday schedule is realistic. Do … Continue reading →

Free Christmas Apps for Android

An easy way to get into the holiday spirit is by playing around with a Christmas themed app. Every year, there are some interesting, and free, Christmas apps for Android. They are great for keeping small children happily occupied while you are waiting in line by the registers. Christmas Games is a free app for Android. It has five Christmas themed games for children (and adults) to play. There is a jigsaw puzzle and a shape puzzle. It has connect the dot, a memory game, and a scratch game. The connect the dot game fills in a detailed cartoon image … Continue reading →

Why Smart Shopping Strategies Can Ruin Your Holiday Budget

It is usually the early bird that gets the worm, but when it comes to holiday shopping, the early bird may also get the bigger bills. People who shop the sales may also spend more than those who plan on buying items at full price. It sounds crazy, doesn’t it? But according to the American Research Group studying holiday spending, the average family who shopped early spent 14 percent more on gifts on average, and those who shopped the sales spent a whopping 53 percent more on average. what about online Yikes. Want another strange statistic? Those of us who … Continue reading →

Shipping Your Christmas Gifts for Free

I love shopping online for Christmas gift because it is so convenient. I can do my research, shop at different stores, find all of the deals and never have to deal with cranky kids and crowded stores. Well, at least if the kids get cranky, I can give them a snack and send them down to the playroom, something I can’t so when I shop at the actual retail stores. There is one thing that I don’t like about buying Christmas gifts online and that is the shipping costs that may be associated with them. Of course there are ways … Continue reading →

Swallow the Turkey and Head to the Mall

This year, Black Friday ads indicate that it won’t be so much about getting up early to head to the stores for the Black Friday deals as rushing out the door as you are still chewing the last bit of turkey. Consider this year “dine and dash,” as many are calling it. Black Friday deals are starting as early as 8 pm on Thanksgiving. I’m not a big Black Friday shopper. I prefer to get most, if not all, of my shopping done before Thanksgiving. This way I can enjoy more time spent with the family, baking cookies, playing games, … Continue reading →

Incorporating Exercise into Your Holiday Shopping

We are in the final countdown to Christmas. Have you finished your holiday shopping? While it may not be in the forefront of your mind, how about incorporating a little bit of exercise into your shopping sprees? Here are some ideas to make this happen. As you go from store to store, park as far away as you can. Not only do you get in some extra walking but you will be closer to the exits and can get out of the parking lot faster. If you are shopping at the mall, take extra laps around. Skip the escalators and … Continue reading →