Black Friday

Black Friday is a mere two days away. Stores practically open no sooner than the turkey is in the fridge. I know you fabulous bargainistas will be shopping away for great deals. Come back here to tell us about them and we'll do a whole Black Friday Bargainista post next week and relish in your fabulous finds!

Here are some sites to help you make a great plan of attack:

http://www.blackfriday.info/

http://www.blackfridayads.com/

http://www.blackfriday.gottadeal.com/

http://bfads.net/

Enjoy!

Clinique Goodies

Fellow bargainistas--I'm afraid I've mislead you. My local Clinique in the Belk store was having a special promotional gift because it was the Grand Opening celebration. The Belk in my local mall recently did a great deal of expansion including doubling the retail space. Now that the project has been completion, they're celebrating a grand opening. It wasn't too shabby either since I was wined and dined with cheese, shrimp cocktail, and champagne (among other goodies they had).

The gift came at a great time as I needed liquid foundation, concealer, loose powder, and touch base. Even after my bunco winnings I only have one lonely little dollar in my wallet. However, I did get this fabulous free gift in addition to my needed necessities:

The tall bag has handles and a zipper. It's large enough for full sized bottles of shampoo. It's great for suitcases in case your products leak. The bag was filled with lots of goodies including moisturizer, liquid facial soap, make-up remover, happy perfume, lip gloss, and mascara. In addition to all of the above, I got the cute little silver travel bag. It has three zipper pockets and folds up with hook and loop fastener. Snazzy!

I love the small goodies for my overnight bag. I keep a small cosmetic and toiletry bag packed in a my go-to overnight bag so all I have to add are clothes. It's quite handy. My toiletry bag consists of the staples: shampoo, conditioner, toothbrush and toothpaste, soap, etc. The cosmetic bag is a compact, mascara, lipstick and gloss and a few neutral shade of shadow.

Sorry for getting your hopes all up, but keep an eye out for this bonus in the future. There will be lots of perks available with Christmas just around the corner.

Visit here and here for my previous Clinique bonus-time gift.

Word on the Street

Belk is currently offering a Clinique bonus. I'll be swining by before bunco this evening to check it out. Let me know if you're local department store is having bonuses. This time of the year several cosmetic counters offer freebies with purchase. Go check them out before they're all gobbled up by Thanksgiving. (Get it? Gobbled? Oh har har!)

A Bargainista Must--Responsible Pet Ownership

Pet manners, obedience, and training classes are a bargain at any cost (almost).

First and foremost The Bargainista believes in and preaches responsible pet ownership. Even the kindest and most gentle animal may still react negatively or defensively in certain situations. Basic classes to instruct the humans on how to best interact with the animal and guide the animal during such situations are a must.

As an added bonus, the animal responding to and obeying commands simply makes your life easier and less frustrating when dealing with the animal. If your pet knows manners and obedience and how to properly respond to his human and in his environment, then he will feel more comfortable outside of his environment by following instructions from his human. Animals will feel safer hearing common commands and knowing the expected behavior.

Ok, enough with the jargon, but case in point I have a lovely little pooch. He is attending Pooch Prep Academy for a six week course totalling $110. I checked all of the schools and training classes in our area and found this to be the best deal. I was prepared with a list of questions to ask and felt that Pooch Prep offered the most extensive and best training and especially for the price. The instructor answered above and beyond my questions which gave me the best feeling about her classes.

By checking out all options in your area, you too can find the "best bang for your buck" in pet training. There are often discounts for more than one animal and finding coupons or discount offers is relatively simple. If the human is a good student and pays close attention, classes for future animals may not be necessary as you can simply work hard to do it at home on your own. Here's a pic of The Bargainista Pooch as his Prep School Class last night. What a little scholar!

Party Dress at Target (plus much more!)

Of course I bring you good tidings of great Target shopping.

I made a quick run there after my meeting and found this darling little Isaac Mizrahi dress for only $9.98! They were too big for me (that's fun to say) but I plan on scoping out a few other area Targets to find my size. This is so cute as a party dress with strappy sandals, as a dressed-up frock with boots and a cardigan, or even as a ladies-who-lunch dress with ballet flats and a tote. Retail is $39.99 and I had a friend who (shutter!) paid that last summer.

Target also has an entire collection of long sleeve shirts discounted 3o% to $6.98. They had several different colors and styles such as crew neck, v-neck, or scoop neck (shown). I think I'll go back for the orange and the berry. I'm partial to Gap brand favorite t's, but these seem to be great quality. Precious little polos for (get this!) $2.98! Yes, I said $2.98. This chocolate brown was my favorite. Could be cute with long sleeve tee under it and these shoes. Unfortunately I don't really care for how I look in polos, so I did not purchase. However for $2.98, the debate is still out.
There was also a variety of trousers, pants, sweats, and workout and lounge type clothing but I didn't have time to go through all of it. There were several rounders 30%-75% discounted.

So Go! RUN, don't walk to your nearest Target now. Now, now, now!

L.L Bean Vest

This weekend Mr. Bargainista found a fabulous L.L. Bean vest at our favorite little thrift store for a mere $7.99 and it was brand new! Plus, the thirft store is continuously giving register discounts for little games (probably because they get so much volume in donations they like to keep the stock moving) so he recieved an extra 25% discount.

I've not wrangled him down for a picture, but the vest looks much like this one (retail $59!) and is green and gray. What a fabulous deal for my casual, outdoor-loving, and handsome husband!

Bargain Bags

Here are a few of my favorite designer purses (Gucci, Kate Spade, and Burberry) bought at a consignment store and a consignment sale for an itsy-bitsy fraction of what the bags originally cost. They were bought at different times and at two different sales.

I'm not one to get caught up in trends and prefer a classic look, and these bags fit the bill. They're cute, roomy, stylish, and I get tons of compliments about them.

Never underestimate consignment stores and consignment sales. It's best to shop often so you can find the best items. Most consignment stores have a quality check so you're not looking at junk, but quality-used items.

Kitchen Cart

J and I had ogled this kitchen cart at Home Depot for awhile now. We wanted a small island type cart for extra storage and prep work. This weekend it was on clearance for 30% off. (To me thirty percent isn't clearance, it's a sale. But it was also the next to last one left). J quickly snatched it up for the bargain price of $70. Not too shabby, all things considered. The drawer pulls out to be a tray. A cutting board slides in the top as well, it has wheels that lock, and my JL cookbooks look oh-so-cute on the shelf. I'm also thinking a big bowl of fruit to make it pretty on the top when we have guests or as a cheese station for entertaining.

To add to the great bargain, we didn't pay anything for it because we still have wedding gift cards (nearly 2 years later). We hadn't used them since the summer when we added to our wrought iron patio furniture by getting a glider and chaise lounger.

A bargain and a gift card--that's a good day!

Silver Serving Tray

My husband and I frequented our favorite thrift store on Saturday morning, as we often do. We often enjoy browsing, yet buy nothing. However we've also found some great items. This weekend I found a fabulous item.

This silver serving tray has little pedastal feet, scalloped edging, and a lovely engraved design. And to make it even better, it was engraved on the back 7-31-72. I love old things so to learn that this beautiful thing is 35 years old was rather exciting. Bargain priced at only $4.99 I scooped it right up.

It will be nice for serving finger sandwiches or cupcakes as well as crackers, grapes, and cheese. I also thought about putting a topiary in the middle surrounded by red glass Christmas ornaments for a festive and fancy Christmas centerpiece. The same can be done with a topiary and fancy Easter eggs (no plastic--this is afterall silver!!!).

Patience is a virtue, especially in shoe shopping!

Remember the cute brown moc shoes I was coveting? I decided to go check them out once again armed with a coupon. I was oh-so-pleasently surprised to find them on clearance for $8! That's 60% off. I snatched them up and wore them out of the store:

These will look super cute with jeans and an orange sweater for tailgating this weekend!