The Chronic Consumer

The Body Shop is having another great sale right now on facial skin care products. If you buy any two selected facial skin care products, you get one free. This includes their special Tea Tree line of washes, scrubs, and exfoliators that help combat and control blemishes, as well as their Seaweed, Vitamin E, Wise Woman, Aloe, and Men’s line.

Most of the skin care products featured in the sale range from $9-$19, and though the campaign doesn’t specify, I’m assuming that you’d get the lowest priced product as your free one (that’s how the sales usually work). No end date for this campaign was listed in any of the materials I read.

This is a great time to stock up on moisturizers and toners to combat the effects of harsh winter weather, so get shopping now!

I just received an email alerting me to a pretty cool special offer at The Body Shop. For a limited time only, you can get a free tube of cheek blush with any $10 make-up purchase, either in a store or online. The gel-based cheek blush is valued at $14.50.

To receive your free gift while shopping online, simply type the code “BLUSH” during checkout. To receive your free gift at a store, you have to print out the email and bring it in. If you didn’t get one of these emails from The Body Shop but would like one, just email me at julie at chronicconsumer dot com and I’ll take care of you!

This offer is only valid until September 14, so you better hurry if you’re going to take advantage of it!

I had to go to the home center to pick up some light bulbs, a washer for the kitchen faucet, and a couple other things today. I swear I wasn’t planning on buying anything for the backyard, but when I saw some of the end-of-summer prices on garden decor and patio furniture, I simply couldn’t resist! So I also walked out of the store with some wind chimes, a cow-shaped planter, and some Malibu lights for the path from the back door to the end of the yard. Because of the sales and discounts, I spent less than $80 for everything and am a very happy camper right now!

For a limited time only, you can save $10 on any order of $60 or more at FoxStore.com by using Google Checkout as your payment method. This discount will automatically be applied when you select Google Checkout, so there’s no need for a coupon code or anything. The offer is valid from now until Septmeber 9, 2008.

I don’t know about you, but I’m always up for adding to my DVD collection, so you better believe I’ll be taking advantage of this deal myself! Check it out today!

You all know by now that I’m a big fan of personalized stationery, and I believe that Alden Grace provides some of the best around. They’re also pretty reasonably priced as far as high-quality stationery goes, but are still expensive for average people like me. That’s why I always try to take advantage of the frequent discounts and specials that they offer from time to time.

Like right now, Alden Grace is having an End of Summer sale where customers can save 25% on any order, plus receive free UPS Ground Shipping to the continental U.S. All you have to do is enter the coupon code ENDOFSUMMER at checkout in order to receive the discount.

So if you’re in need of new note cards, letter sheets, invitations, or announcements, now is the time to buy!

I’ve been thinking about joining a warehouse shopping club in order to be able to buy some items in bulk. Even though these shopping clubs require yearly membership fees, most people say that they’re able to save a great deal of money above and beyond the cost of joining, thereby making the fees worth paying.

I’ve been doing some price comparisons about the things we have to buy all the time to see where we could save by moving to bulk purchases. Canned goods are high on the list, as are personal care items such as toilet paper, shampoo, and soap.

But other things, such as sodas and snacks, are things that we should probably do without anyway, so I’m not too sure that I’d want to do actual grocery shopping at those types of places. Then there are always things that don’t make for sensible bulk purchases, such as diet pills, cold medicines, dairy products, and anything else that has expiration dates.

At any rate, I’m planning on going to a warehouse shopping club this weekend on a guest pass with one of my friends. I’m going to write down prices and quantities and then crunch the numbers after I get home. These places should offer better savings than regular stores, but we’ll see what the numbers say!

I personally didn’t choose to dress my son in name-brand clothes when he was a baby or a toddler, but I noticed that whenever I received a gift from someone, it was usually from babyGap. I now also find myself giving babyGap items as presents to other new mothers, mostly because they have such a great selection of really cute outfits at mostly affordable prices.

Right now, babyGap is having Buy One Get One 50% Off sale on jeans. The eligible sizes range from 0-3 months to 5 years, which is quite a wide variety. This will allow you to stock up on several different sizes so you’ll always have something new for your child to grow into.

Regular prices are listed as $19.50-$29.50, with most of the items retailing for $24.50. Check out the jeans for yourself and get ‘em while they’re on sale!!

… to buy things on sale, that is! Everyone knows that seasonal items are much cheaper when purchased out of season, but what you might not realize is that this adage applies to pre-season sales as well as post-season sales.

For example, there’s no need to wait until December 26th to buy your Christmas cards, wrapping paper, and gift tags for next year. Often, these types of items go on sale as early as October and November, which gives you the opportunity to save money on goods that won’t look dated because you have to wait a year to use them.

Similarly, I’m already finding Halloween invitations, costumes, and bulk candy on sale at a few select party supply outlets even though October 31st is still two and a half months away.

So there are definitely some good savings to be had by shopping early as opposed to having to wait until these types of seasonal items go on clearance after the event. Take a look around and snap up whatever you need as soon as you see a good deal!

I love audiobooks and I love freebies, so when I heard that the audio version of The World is Flat by Thomas L. Friedman is being given away for free for a limited time, I immediately signed up to participate.

First published in 2005 and updated again in 2006, The World is Flat is a bestselling nonfiction work about the way globalization has changed the economic structure of the world forever. The book is often discussed and referenced, and so has been on my “To Read” list for a long time, but I’ve never quite gotten around to tackling it yet. Now that I can get the entire audibook for free, however, you can bet I’ll be listening very soon!

To get your free audio download of The World is Flat, you have to go to http://www.thomaslfriedman.com/giveaway and simply enter your name and a valid email address. You’ll receive a confirmation email with a validation link that you also have to click. A short time later, you’ll get a link to Part 1 of the audiobook, which you can then download and load on your MP3 player.

The links to parts 2 and 3 will be sent to you in subsequent emails (I believe it’s one per day, though I’m not sure).

Anyway, this limited time offer ends on August 4, so be sure to sign up before then. Free is ALWAYS the right price!!

If you like Body Butter (moisturizer), Scrubs, Home Fragrance Oils, Lip Butters, Lip Balms, and accessories from The Body Shop, then now would be a good time to stock up. I just received an email alerting me to a Buy 1 Get 1 Half Off sale on these products. There was no indication when the sale would end, so I would hurry up and place an order just to be safe.

In addition, The Body Shop offers free shipping on all online orders over $60, so if you end up spending a lot, you could get even more savings that way.

There’s no need to enter a code for any of these savings; discounts are automatically calculated at checkout.

Enjoy!