Family & Pets
We've got the LOZO on how to save on everything you need for your kids, your pets, and things around the house. Learn how to find the very best discounts on clothing, shoes and jewelry, save money on school supplies, and more!
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If you just have to have the new fashion before it goes on sale, work the system. At the beginning of a season it can be hard to find a discount better than 20-30% off. Buy from a store with a...  If you just have to have the new fashion before it goes on sale, work the system. At the beginning of a season it can be hard to find a discount better than 20-30% off. Buy from a store with a liberal return policy - try for 90-180 days. Hold onto your receipts and when your clothes are 50-70% off at the end of the season, go back to the store and ask to do a "return and rebuy." This way they will return your original purchase (at the price you paid before) and let you "rebuy" it at the new, lower price. The result for you? A credit back to your card, or store credit for your next purchase.
Another option which your store may allow: buy the item at the clearance price, and come back another time with your original receipt (from the first purchase) to make a return. Just be aware not all stores allow this practice, and some don't allow returns on clearance items, so be sure to review the policy first. Many store clerks don't mind helping you get the best deal so just ask them for advice. 
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Shoppers who have The LOZO know to always try to use coupons whenever they make a purchase. Some stores are quite stingy with the coupons they offer, so you're happy to get your hands on any of them.... Shoppers who have The LOZO know to always try to use coupons whenever they make a purchase. Some stores are quite stingy with the coupons they offer, so you're happy to get your hands on any of them. But some stores are known for frequently issuing coupons with various discounts and minimum spend thresholds, so you might have several available at your fingertips. So the question then becomes, " how do you maximize your coupons to save as much as possible?" LOZO has the answer!
Most stores have a policy that you can only use one coupon per transaction, so to get the best discount you'll have to split up your purchases. If a store is not busy they are usually happy to ring up the transactions separately at the register, one after another. In other cases you might need to take separate trips or go back in line. Once you figure out what the extra savings will be worth, you can decide whether to go through any extra hassle.
The first thing you need to do is assess the value of each coupon to figure out which is worth the most. That's easy to do when you are comparing coupons like $5 off $25 vs. $10 off $25, but harder when the coupons are in different "flavors".
LOZO recommends first adjusting everything to the equivalent "percentage discount" so you can compare apples to apples.
Then you start by trying to use up the best coupon first. There are a couple of cases when this approach might not be the best strategy for you, so we recommend double-checking before you checkout!
Click on this tip to read more details and see some real examples in action.
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You've probably seen offers that look something like this: 20% off $25 in merchandise OR 30% off $40, OR 40% off $60. The industry term for this is a "tiered offer" since you have... You've probably seen offers that look something like this: 20% off $25 in merchandise OR 30% off $40, OR 40% off $60. The industry term for this is a "tiered offer" since you have different tiers you can climb to get to each next savings level. Generally speaking it is very worthwhile to try to get to the top tier of these promotions, because your savings rate effectively multiplies on the extra items you add to your bag to hit the tier. For example, the extra $20 in items to get to the highest tier only ends up costing you $8 more -- that's like getting 60% off the extra items! Now it's generally not a good idea to buy something just because you have a coupon or other type of discount. But it helps to do the math so you at least know what the real cost will be for the extra items. In cases like this the extra 60% savings might be too good to pass up. It can be a good opportunity to add an item to your basket that you were going to buy at some point anyway, or one that you know you might have to return. Typically if you return an item in an offer like this, you won't fall back into the lower tier. So if you bought $60 in items and got the 40% off, then decide to return half of the order, you still end up with 40% off the items you hold on to. Check with your store as to whether this violates their policy but traditionally this has been an allowable practice. So how much can you save by maximizing the tiered offers? Suppose you shop three times in Tier 1 (20% off), each time with $75 in your basket. You'll end up paying $60 for those items over the three trips. If you instead buy all $75 at once making you eligible for Tier 3 (40% off) you'll pay just $45 for the same items. That's a 25% extra savings! If you spend $300 annually for you and your family with offers like this, that extra savings adds up to $75 per year!
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You can rely on big discounts on toys during the week after Christmas, when retailers try to get rid of extra inventory, and of course Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving). However in an effort... You can rely on big discounts on toys during the week after Christmas, when retailers try to get rid of extra inventory, and of course Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving). However in an effort to boost sales throughout the year, toy retailers have started popping up good sales on certain key toys every few weeks or so. Stay on top of the sales by reviewing the weekly circulars for places like Walmart, Target, Sears and ToysRUs (in your Sunday newspaper or at Shoplocal.com). Amazon.com has some great cheap toys available every week but only for a short time, so you have to act fast if you find a deal you like. Keep an eye on the LOZO deals section for the latest bargains.
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Another week, another trip to Staples to save money on back to school supplies! This week, we’ll show you how we got over $50 worth of stuff for about $3!
SUMMARY
The Store:... Another week, another trip to Staples to save money on back to school supplies! This week, we’ll show you how we got over $50 worth of stuff for about $3!
SUMMARY
- The Store: Staples
- What We Got: $50+ worth of school supplies
- What We Spent: about $3
HOW WE SAVED
Identify what you need: As we mention in our recent article, Back to School: 12 Easy Ways to Save Money This School Year, we recommend creating a list of all the supplies you need. With that list in hand, you’ll be ready to prowl for the best deals!
Check the weekly circular: Look at the Staples weekly circular in your paper or online to find the latest deals. See which deals match up with an item on your list and then…
Shop! Based on this weeks circular and the items on our list, here are the back to school items we found that were on sale, available for a rebate or were otherwise a good deal:
- 2 packs paper clips = $0.02 (sale price)
- 10 pocket folders = $0.10 (sale price)
- 2 packs chalk = $0.50 (sale price)
- 6 packs pocket tissues = $0.06 (sale price)
- 2 reams of paper = $13.98 ($2.00 after rebate)
- 3 packs of crayons = $1.50 ($0.50 after newspaper coupon)
- 1 pack Avery inkjet labels = $4.99 (FREE after rebate)
- 2 packs Photo Supreme paper = $29.98 ($2.00 after rebate)
Cost before coupons & rebates: $51.13 + tax (and, if you were paying full retail prices, this would be even higher at $63.50 + tax!)
Add coupons: The coupon in the local circular was $5 off a $50 purchase (and you’ll notice we bought just enough to eek by that threshold… yes, we’re sneaky like that and we recommend you do the same to maximize your savings!). We also had a newspaper coupon on the crayons which knocked off another $1.00. Updated cost: $45.13, before tax.
Use your rewards card: Normally, we'd use our Staples Back to School Savings Pass to save a bit more. However, this week we've skipped it to be fair to our readers who don't have one. If you shop at Staples a lot, we'd recommend picking one up. It'll cost you $10, but you'll save 15% on most Back to School items. In this case, on this particular shopping trip, it would have saved us a couple more bucks, but the savings without it are still really great. Cost after coupons & rewards: $45.13 + tax ($48.29 in my home state of NJ)
Submit rebates: Get a whopping $44.95 back in rebates!
Total cost: $3.34!
That's right, we got $50 worth of great back to school stuff for just about 3 bucks. Not too shabby, eh?
So, that’s how we saved money at Staples this week and we hope it’ll help you save money too!
Finally, we’d love to hear from you too. Tell us how your back to school shopping is going. Leave us a comment here, on Facebook,
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Read this article to see how we got $30 worth of great back-to-school products for free and actually got $2 back! We'll show you how it's done.
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It seems like summer has only just begun and, yet—believe it or not—it’s time to start planning so you can get the best savings on all your back-to-school supplies. Since it is summer,... It seems like summer has only just begun and, yet—believe it or not—it’s time to start planning so you can get the best savings on all your back-to-school supplies. Since it is summer, though, we’ve tried to make this as easy as possible for you by compiling all of the best back-to-school tips right here, in one place. So, grab yourself a nice cold glass of lemonade (or iced tea or beer or whatever floats your boat) and get comfortable… we’re about to make your back-to-school planning as easy as it gets.
Oh and a quick note: this article focuses on getting the younger ones ready for school. If you’re looking for money-saving tips for the college-bound kids in your life, check out our education section.
Ok, have you got your beverage of choice? Are you comfortable? Good. Here we go:
- Separate the “Must Haves” from the “Nice to Haves”: First things first, make a list of what your kids actually need. Now, the emphasis here is on need. If their sneakers are in tatters, sneaks go on the list as a “must have”. If they’re just a bit worn, list them as “nice to have”. If you’ve got the budget to get new ones, great. If not, you’ll know that these can wait until next year (or even later this year) if you need to. The same goes for school supplies too. Hopefully, your children’s teachers will give you a list of supplies that are necessary. Even better if they identify the items that are needed versus those that are optional. If a teacher hasn’t done this, don’t be shy about asking.
- Create a budget: Ok, I know I’ve probably lost some of you on this one. You’re probably saying, “Wait a minute? Didn’t this guy just tell me I should relax?! How am I supposed to relax when he’s talking about budgets?!” Take a deep breath. Take a sip of that lemonade. And now, let’s ease into this. Creating a budget doesn’t need to be painful. Honest. Give yourself some leeway and keep it simple. Step 1: quickly rattle through your list and jot down what you think each item will cost. Don’t worry if you’re right or wrong—all we need right now is a ballpark, so take your best guess, jot it down and keep moving. Step 2: Add up all the items on your list and see how the cost compares to what you can actually afford to spend. Step 3: Re-visit that list and see where you can scale back (for example, maybe you can find those boy’s sneakers for $19 instead of $25). Ok. At this point, some of you are probably within your budget. If so, congrats! If not… don’t worry about it for now! Put the list aside and keep reading. The rest of these tips will help you get those costs down to something more manageable.
- Take advantage of amazing back-to-school doorbuster-quality deals (without getting suckered into the not-so-amazing deals): Most of the big brand stores—whether it’s for clothing or for office and school supplies—will run weekly deals leading up to the start of school. Here’s their trick: they advertise a HUGE deal each week, such as 1 cent pencils and 10 cent notebooks. These deals are so good, the store actually takes a loss on the sale. Why on earth do they do this? Because they plan to entice you in with the HUGE deal and then get you to spend the rest of your budget on the not-so-huge deals. Don’t fall into that trap! Instead, scan all the weekly listings and hit the stores that have the best prices on the items you need. You can stock up on most items for next-to-nothing. We don't recommend incurring extra expenses for gas or wasting a lot of time, but if it's convenient, hit these stores every week and stock up on all of the inexpensive items and pretty soon you'll have covered just about everything on your list without spending much at all. If you see other good deals along with the huge deals, go&
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Ordering groceries online can be a great convenience, and can also means savings for savvy shoppers. Take advantage of being in the comfort of your home to carefully analyze prices and look to... Ordering groceries online can be a great convenience, and can also means savings for savvy shoppers. Take advantage of being in the comfort of your home to carefully analyze prices and look to stock up on the best deals. Most stores will also offer a range of specials you can only get when ordering online, potentially yielding greater savings than the cost of delivery (especially when you factor in the savings on gas!).
Don't worry about missing out on using your valuable grocery coupons as most stores will still accept them for delivery (the only difference is that you might have a slight processing delay before you get the money credited back).
If you are new to online shopping take advantage of first time buyer deals like these:
And don't forget to check Amazon.com which has a wide selection of groceries and many special coupon offers every month. Read this article from LOZO to learn how to triple up on savings when you shop there.
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ShopLocal's compilation of weekly ads and online circulars at stores in your area
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About.com collection of tips from parents on how to save money on baby, toddler and kid's expenses
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About.com guide to getting more from your kids' purchases
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Shopping.com price comparison engine for clothing, shoes and accessories for women, men, kids and babies
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 From Beauty Made Easy With Dezi: "Today I am going to do a comparison between some selected MAC products and some store brand or beauty supply brand products, and you tell me if this isn't the look... From Beauty Made Easy With Dezi: "Today I am going to do a comparison between some selected MAC products and some store brand or beauty supply brand products, and you tell me if this isn't the look for less."
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Lisa Mahar at About.com: "Toys can run up a pretty big bill if you let the spending go out of control, but of course you don't have to break the bank on them. Learn some smart ways to save money on... Lisa Mahar at About.com: "Toys can run up a pretty big bill if you let the spending go out of control, but of course you don't have to break the bank on them. Learn some smart ways to save money on toys."
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About.com: "Laundry may be a pain in the neck, but it doesn't have to be painful for the environment as well. Learn what simple steps you can take to reduce energy waste and make your laundry greener... About.com: "Laundry may be a pain in the neck, but it doesn't have to be painful for the environment as well. Learn what simple steps you can take to reduce energy waste and make your laundry greener and more natural."
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Howcast.com: "You don’t have to compromise your looks to economize – you just have to know a few tricks."
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From Buxr.com on 05/18/13 OfficeMax Crawley High Back Executive Chair features gas lift, tilt lock and tilt tension.
Black PU and PVC
Height adjustment
Tilt tension with lock
Material: Faux... From Buxr.com on 05/18/13 OfficeMax Crawley High Back Executive Chair features gas lift, tilt lock and tilt tension.
Black PU and PVC
Height adjustment
Tilt tension with lock
Material: Faux Leather
Seat Dimensions: 20-7/8"W x 21-1/4"D x 4-3/8"H
Overall dimensions: 26-1/8"Wx29-7/8"Dx43-3/4~47-1/2"H
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From Buxr.com on 05/18/13 OfficeMax Crawley High Back Executive Chair features gas lift, tilt lock and tilt tension.
Black PU and PVC
Height adjustment
Tilt tension with lock
Material: Faux... From Buxr.com on 05/18/13 OfficeMax Crawley High Back Executive Chair features gas lift, tilt lock and tilt tension.
Black PU and PVC
Height adjustment
Tilt tension with lock
Material: Faux Leather
Seat Dimensions: 20-7/8"W x 21-1/4"D x 4-3/8"H
Overall dimensions: 26-1/8"Wx29-7/8"Dx43-3/4~47-1/2"H
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From Buxr.com on 05/17/13 Take $20 off a $40 or more purchase with coupon code at checkout.
Exclusions may apply.
TOG Shop makes it easy to shop for brands you trust,
including Foxcroft, Leon... From Buxr.com on 05/17/13 Take $20 off a $40 or more purchase with coupon code at checkout.
Exclusions may apply.
TOG Shop makes it easy to shop for brands you trust,
including Foxcroft, Leon Levin, Koret, Alfred Dunner, London Fog and more
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From Buxr.com on 05/17/13 Save an Extra 40% off Sale Styles with coupon code.
Sale styles already reduced up to 70% off. Discount applies to $0.97 styles only.. How to Get the deal: Free... From Buxr.com on 05/17/13 Save an Extra 40% off Sale Styles with coupon code.
Sale styles already reduced up to 70% off. Discount applies to $0.97 styles only.. How to Get the deal: Free Shipping on orders over $50
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