Quick Tip #6: How to Determine a Good Deal on LEGO’s!

LEGO’s are one of those items that are always popular and are one of the most expensive toys you can purchase. With the holiday’s nearing I thought it was appropriate to share how to know if that price is a good deal.

LEGO’s are extremely hard to find on sale. If you ever find a set that you’ve been wanting and it is on clearance- get it! Don’t hesitate because chances are you won’t find it again. LEGO makes new sets just about every year and the sets that don’t sell will usually be on clearance at one time of the year. If you don’t get it then, you will be able to find it online but the price will be increased because that set has a sort of rarity to it since retailers have gotten rid of them in-store.

If the set you want isn’t on clearance then you have to determine how good of a discount you want to wait for. For smaller sets that are priced around $10 – $12 a few dollars such as $3 – $5 off is usually good. For larger sets that are priced $80 – $200 I would say $20 – $50 is about the discount you want to aim for. These sets RARELY drop anymore in price than that because they are larger sets with many more pieces.

Again since discounts on LEGO’s are RARE you want to save what you can when you can. So I hope this helps especially when you are all keeping your eye out on deals this holiday shopping season! 🙂

Quick Tip #4: Get rid of Old Medications in your house.

Yesterday while I was cleaning out my stockpile I came across several bottles of old medication I forgot I even had. Now as you know I have a 2-year old son and although he is unable to get to those medications it still makes me nervous to have old medication lying around the house. So I did a little research on how to dispose of unused or unwanted medications. And here is what I found…

The FDA states several medications can be thrown away in the garbage. Although they state this is safe I suggest taking proper precautions like putting them in the outside garbage away from children’s reach and taking off the labels with your name and address printed on them. Also, the FDA states some medication can be disposed by flushing it down the toilet. I’d rather not take a chance of that entering our water. The final step is taking part in your communities Drug Take-Back Programs. I think this is the best idea! You know they are properly being disposed of and they are out of your child’s reach!

So in case you would like to participate in this program, the National Drug Take-Back Initiative is September 29, 2012 from 10:00 AM-2:00 PM your local time. For more information you can call 1-800-882-9539. The site locator will be available online late August. 

You can also Visit The Drug Enforcement Administration’s Website for more details.

Quick Tip #3: Keep Store Coupon Policies with you while shopping.

I have to say I get excited when I go to a store with my coupons in hand and know I am saving a ton of money on getting great items for my family! However, that excitement dwindles as soon as I hear the cashier say “We cannot accept this coupon” or “you can’t get this item for Free”. It happens, it doesn’t matter how much you coupon or how long you have couponing it happens at least once to every couponer! The best thing to do in the situation is know the stores coupon and/or price match policy, it’s even better if you have a hard copy with you to show to the cashier or Manager. Often times there is a New Cashier that does not know the store’s policy on obtaining and utilizing coupons and sometimes even the Manager doesn’t know it. So to make things easier on you and the employees helping you with your issue just pull out your policy and explain that they do allow the coupon you are trying to use or whatever your situation may be. I’d say the majority of the time this works and hopefully you have helped the next couponer have a smoother transaction who gets that same cashier or Manager.

Very rarely that doesn’t work and in that event, you can always NICELY contact Corporate and explain to them the situation. Explain you talked to a Manager, showed their policy and your issue still was not resolved. The company wants to know what is going on in there stores and will want to fix problems they may have because in the end they want couponers to shop at their stores and don’t want to loose business to other companies.

To help you out I have already compiled a list of Coupon and Price Match Policies Here. Print them off and place them in your coupon binder! Enjoy!

Quick Tip #1: Always take Screen Shots of Freebies, Giveaways, Prizes, Etc.

In other words, keep confirmations of your winnings! I have personally had problems with winning a prize or giveaway or I get the message that I won a Freebie but never receive it. When I contact a company with my issue, almost always they ask me for some sort of confirmation of my win. Well I am sure glad I take a screenshot of my wins! I gladly send the company a confirmation and they usually will get back to me in a few days informing me they are sorry for the inconvenience and my item or freebie will be shipping soon! I understand things happen and sometimes giveaways can get sort of crazy so it’s always nice to have confirmation of your wins!