Shopping This Christmas

Right… I don’t know about you but I practically live IN the internet. The Internet is my home. The internet is my work. The internet, cough, is my friend. I love the internet!  And I do marvel about how we ever survived without it (I remember boring and dreary sifting through of encyclopedias to find very basic information.. going to libraries only to find they don’t have the books on just what you need.. and now… yes, all at the click of a button. Hooray).

The other GREAT thing about the internet is ONLINE SHOPPING.

My kids LOVE going to the (real) shops, basically, because it is such a novelty factor for them. We NEVER EVER go to real shops. Everything is done online: our food shopping, my craft stock piling, the kids gifts and my clothes. I just can’t stand the time it takes to go to the shops. I can’t stand the queues and I can’t stand the disappointment of not finding something. And don’t get me started on those changing cubicles. Uggh indeed.

So yes, for me, online it is. Occasionally, I will make the effort to support my local retail – put some money in a non global company, but that too is rare (I say ashamedly).

The upside of course, is that if I do have to take the kids shopping, the love it and are impeccably behaved (save for the obligatory “can I have this please”).

Christmas this year, will all be “done” online.

Are you for or against Online Shopping?

Check out this debate on Shop Talk



The other big thing for me at the moment is reward systems. There is a UK Pharmacy that I used to do very well with on rewards when the kids were small. But of course getting rewards there, was limited to using your rewards points there. I do avoid being “tricked” into buying “more than I need” based on a store card or a reward scheme. But if you shop normally and “savvily”, I think you can still collect good rewards.

The key is to finding the right reward scheme.

I like Rewards Schemes

I love the sound of Barclaycard’s Freedom Rewards scheme – I like that you collect rewards EVERY TIME you spend (irrespective of where) and that double on UK Supermarkets and petrol stations (I can still get my supermarket loyalty points and on top of those get the double Barclay card points too.. clever… like it).

The second attractive element is where I get to spend these rewards. And the Freedom Partners are quite broad – I can get free Cinema Tickets or save them up for a trip to Legoland. I can go for a simple coffee or buy vouchers on Amazon. What isn’t there to like.

What would YOU spend your Freedom Rewards on?

I love the idea on this video – of saving your rewards to pay for all those “Birthday Party presents” you have to get as your children are invited to parties throughout the year. Genius. The whole party season thing is one of my pet hates and this is a great way to manage at least the present aspect of this modern day dilemma…

If you enjoyed the Shop Talk videos, you can see all of them to date here.

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