Frugal Catalogue Shoppingby Mary Ann Romans | More from this Blogger 20 Oct 2009 04:22 PM Do you do any holiday shopping through catalogues? They are very convenient. You can pick and choose items at your convenience, and you can shop early. Shopping through catalogues can also be better than shopping online simply because for the most part, the print photos tend to be large, more detailed and more true in color (especially important when you are shopping for clothes or home decor). Here are some ideas for doing your catalogue shopping the frugal way. Keep it organized Corral those catalogues in one place, so you don't wind up in chaos. You want to make it easy to compare prices, coupon codes and deals. Get a file box to hold your catalogues. Include a pencil, some note paper and a calculator, too. Add a manilla envelope to the outside of the box to hold printed receipts and shipping invoices. This way you have it all in one place, if you have to make a return. Take advantage of free shipping offers Right now there are a lot of free shipping offers, as the retail stores start to gear up for the holidays. So far, I've seen free shipping for stores from Eddie Bauer to Oriental Trading. The nice thing about taking advantage of these offers now is that you can get your shopping done early, and you can take advantage of all of the summer and fall clearance items! Consolidate the orders This is especially important if your favorite stores don't offer free shipping. Shipping charges can be less or made free when you reach a certain number of gifts. Shopping for multiple gifts from one catalogue will also save you on trips to the post office to pick up your packages, if your local mail carrier doesn't deliver the packages to your door. Make a list and check it twice Believe it or not, you can make impulse purchases when shopping from a catalogue. That is why it is a good idea to have a master gift list with ideas for the people you are gifting. Yes, of course we sometimes need to look through a catalogue to get ideas, but having a general idea before you look can help. You can also vow not to actually order until your master gift list is filled out and the gifts all meet the right budget amount. You can read more blog posts by Mary Ann Romans here! Favorite Deal Websites: Related Articles: Almost Free Gifts You Can Make Now Tips from the Grocery Discount Rack Learn more about Mary Ann Romans  Mary Ann Romans is a freelance writer, wife and mother of three children. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, the kids and a 16-pound cat. Relevantfrugal tags User Comments No comments on this article yet. Be the first to comment! Discuss this article
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