The Thrill of A Bargain —

I ALWAYS love a good deal!  Every season is “hunting season”, because half the fun of shopping is the thrill of finding and bagging the perfect treasure!  With holiday shopping underway, the stakes are even higher for bargain hunters like me. So many Ads, so many promotions, so much stuff in my InBOX, how do I make sense of it all?  I am constantly wondering how do I know if this is the best price? There must be tools out there to help me up my game.  This good food for thought encouraged me to do some research.

The cold Thanksgiving weekend with it’s constant threat of freezing rain provided the perfect venue with an abundance of sofa time.  Armed with my laptop and summoning my favorite assistant, Google, I discovered several useful tools that I have actually tried. In the spirit of gifting, I’m sharing the best with you, because as my mother always said, “Money doesn’t grow on Trees.”
Happy Shopping — Every Season is “Hunting Season”!

Discount Gift Cards: Gift Card Granny
http://giftcardgranny.com
Gift Card Grannie is the ‘Google of Gift Cards because they do the searching for you.
Using discount gift cards is one of the easiest ways to save money at all of your favorite retailers and restaurants. The site is a reliable resource for buying gift cards for less. With over 50,000 gift cards available from hundreds of different merchants, you won’t have any trouble getting great deals anywhere you want to shop.

Check Prices In The Store: RedLaser Bar Code Scanner
http://redlaser.com/application/
Shop.Save.Relax.
Shop smarter and Compare prices for brands and merchants you love most.
In the store use RedLaser, a pre-comparison app that tells you the cheapest price available online and in stores nearby.
Download the app for your phone – available for both Apple and Android devices

Shop Smarter for Everything: InvisibleHand (MY Favorite)
http://www.getinvisiblehand.com

A web Browser Extension. Also available as an iPhone App.
InvisibleHand gets you the lowest price on shopping, flights, hotels & rental cars – Automatically!!!
It’s a browser extension which discreetly notifies you if the product or flights you’re shopping for is available at a better price from another retailer or travel site. The notification provides a convenient button that links you straight through to the relevant page on the competing website. InvisibleHand stays hidden until it finds something, then it provides a link directly to the lowest price.
100% free, No Adware, No spyware, No Malware. Recommended by Google

Get your money back when prices fall: Paribus
https://paribus.co
Paribus gets your money back when prices drop, effortlessly. Stores often guarantee that you will get the lowest prices. They even promise to price match. But they don’t follow through unless you work for it. Paribus changes this — it does the work for you and automatically gets your money back when: PRICES DROP, YOU MISS A BETTER DEAL, or YOU MISS A COUPON.
No success, no charge — you have nothing to lose. If Paribus succeeds in getting your money back, they get paid 25% of what they earn for you.