Friday Frugality...

Being a bridesmaid in a friend's wedding is always a blast, but everyone knows that purchasing that bridesmaid's dress is a bit more obligatory, rather than joyful.  Let's be honest, have you ever worn any of your bridesmaid dresses again? I mean, really?  I can't say that I have, and then there goes the $180 - $300 you spent on that dress down the drain.  (Disclaimer: I am planning on getting Sister's Bridesmaid Dress cut off at knee-length to be used as a cocktail dress.) 

So, when Mrs. Soon-To-Be-Searson emailed us our bridesmaid dresses for her October wedding, I was more than pleasantly surprised.  She picked a cocktail dress from J Crew for us to wear, and I. Love. It.  It's a rich expresso color and you will see me sporting it long after her Big Day. 

However, in comes the Frugality Lesson 101.  This dress is listed on the J Crew website right now for $180, plus shipping, giving me an overall total of around $200.  Ugh.  So what does this Frugal Gal do?  I searched ebay for it.  Yep, I'm not scared.  And lo and behold, there it was in all its glory "New with Tags" for $69.99.  Total with shipping came to $75, saving me $125! 

Now, just to make sure I had gotten the right dress, I swung by Mrs. Soon-To-Be-Searson's last night to get the Bride to double check my purchase.... and SUCCESS!!!  She did admit to laughing when I emailed her the story, but said she was not surprised in the least.  Budget Buddies 4 Life. 

So, here's what I'm suggesting, and I've done this before and had a lot of success with it.  If you see something somewhere, be it J Crew, Banana Republic, Ann Taylor (you know, those stores we all love!), before you buy it Full Price, search for it on ebay.  It'll probably be there, New with the Tags on it, in your size.  As long as you're careful and read all the information listed on the product, you can walk away (er...slide your chair away?) with some really good deals and steals. 

Here's another Frugal Tidbit... if you do shop online at regular store websites, before you checkout, Google for any promotional codes (you know, like Free Shipping, $5 off, etc.).  I'm serious.  There are dozens of websites devoted to collecting and categorizing these promotional codes.  For example, when ordering Cooper's Heartgard from 1-800 PetMeds this week (which had a Fourth of July Extra 15% off Sale), I googled "1-800 Pet Meds Promotional Codes" and found one that worked for an additional $5 off my purchase.  Try it!  You'll love it!  I can usually find a Free Shipping promo code for almost any website just by using this little ploy, which now that I'm thinking about it, Mrs. Soon-To-Be-Searson got me started on this.  Thanks Friend!