CheapTweet Blog

Thanks to our Twitter followers, here are some great inexpensive gift ideas, perfect for the holidays or any other gift-giving occasion. If you have other suggestions, please leave a comment.

• Fun eco-friendly products, plus a holiday promo & $2 shipping from @guffly
  
• Gifts under $25 from Gifts.com via @NatGold
• Gifts from bustedtees.com, 6dollarshirts.com, thinkgeek.com via @joelkodner
• Reusable water bottles (such as Camelbak and Platypus) are less than $10 via @DuhKeeks
• Pashmina scarves from @AsraiStyle would be perfect gifts for women
• Blue Avocado has bags under $25 for the stylish eco-shopper via @yarnmaven
• @CookiePie0402 has a dessert cookbook for less than $20
• Fireplace DVD, Digital Photo keyring, USB SD card reader, restaurant gift cert., manicure kit, makeup travel case via @NatGold
• Gifts with aloha, under $10 via @KrisBordessa
• @Shopping_List provided a list of inexpensive gift ideas
• @tangerinekitty sells handmade keyfobs, aprons, and pouches that are perfect for women
• iPod/iPhone accessories are available for less than $25, as are iTunes gift cards and DVDs via @saronoff
• Cute shopping bags from @niseema
• @pumpkinpetunias has free printable stationery, so you just need to add envelopes and a pen
• Tasty treats for under $20 via @princesskitten
• RedEnvelope.com via @niseema
• @robynsart says almost everything in her shop is under $25
• @theviolincase has Mini Violin or Cello is $19.50  and beautiful STRAD posters are only $16
• Gift cards to grocery stores, gas stations, salons, or a bottle of wine via @ItsThaTarheeLdy
• Jewelry and accessories from @FidesFashion

Between mid-November and early January, many of us will attend and host a number of holiday parties. Throwing a holiday party can be a stressful and thoroughly un-festive experience – managing scheduling, guest lists, food, drinks, budget, decorations, and everything else. So, as we move into the main holiday party season, we want to help you in the best way we know how – saving you money.

To get things started, do you have any suggestions for throwing a memorable but affordable party? We’d love to hear your thoughts and tips for hosting a party without spending too much money. Please share your ideas in the comments!

Today marks one week until Thanksgiving. This means Black Friday and its online companion, Cyber Monday, are not far behind. But, don’t worry! CheapTweet has you covered.

We have found thousands of Black Friday sales and Cyber Monday discounts already. And since we scour Twitter for all mentions of savings, we also have links to ads, articles and blog posts about Black Friday and Cyber Monday. CheapTweet.com can be your all-in-one holiday shopping stop – from planning and research to shopping and purchasing.

And if all that is too overwhelming for you, you might prefer to search for exactly the sales you’re looking for. We can do that, too! Just type what you’re looking for in our search page, and you’ll see only the deals you want.

To make it even easier, below are a few of our more popular Black Friday searches. Also, our sponsor DealTaker has done a terrific job rounding up some of the top Black Friday ads.

• Walmart
• Toys R Us (be sure to check out all their holiday deals here)
• Target
• Amazon
• Best Buy
• Sears
• JC Penney
• IKEA
• GameStop

Happy shopping!

Note: This post is part of our holiday sponsorship by Best Buy. Though this is part of an official sponsorship, the experience and this write-up are completely our own.

At CheapTweet, we only partner with brands we think will provide value to you, our users. We absolutely will not promote a retailer if we wouldn’t shop in their stores ourselves.

So, we thought we should check out Best Buy’s value proposition. Our goal was to see if we would feel comfortable encouraging you to do your holiday shopping at Best Buy. So on a recent rainy Sunday, I visited the nearest Best Buy retail store. Specifically, I wanted to learn more about Best Buy’s price match guarantee and their employees, otherwise known as the “Blue Shirts.” Here’s what I found out.

Price Match Guarantee

Best Buy offers a price match guarantee. I wanted to know how that price matching works and in what situations.

I spoke to several Best Buy employees. The way the price match guarantee works is simple: If you can find a lower price on the same item at a nearby store, Best Buy will match that price. That offer only extends to other physical stores and does not include websites like Amazon.com, unfortunately.

To see how the price match guarantee works, I talked to a Blue Shirt who helped confirm competitor prices (we called Fry’s and Conn’s) of a couple HDTV models I was looking at. Only in one case was the HDTV priced lower at another store, and the Blue Shirt said he could sell me the Best Buy HDTV for that price, eliminating my need to drive or even call around to other stores myself. It only took a couple minutes, and I was confident knowing I could save $40 on that TV. The other thing to watch out for is that the lower-priced item needs to be in stock at the other store for Best Buy to price match it. Some other limitations apply (more details here about the price match guarantee).

Blue Shirts

I also wanted to test out the customer service at Best Buy. The store was pretty crowded (it was a Sunday afternoon, and lots of people were out shopping). It took several minutes before I could get a Blue Shirt’s attention; they were all busy helping other customers, so at least I wasn’t being ignored. Once I got a free Blue Shirt, I started asking questions about HDTVs.

The Blue Shirt I talked to – Devin – was quite knowledgeable about the different kinds of HDTVs. For example, this Best Buy store had a big display with some of the new, ultra-thin LED HDTVs and I was curious what he thought about LEDs versus LCDs. He was honest – they’re a fairly new product line – and encouraging – they save more energy than other HDTVs and have great picture quality. He even told me about a customer who had come in that morning and saved $200 on the 46″ LED TV with a price match. He also shared his opinions on which TV brands he liked. He said Samsung is their best-selling TV brand, and he really likes Sony electronics. We discussed price and size, and what would work best for my needs and my home.

The store was packed, but Devin took the time to really explain my options. He did not pressure me at all (he said he does not work on commission) and he seemed honest and helpful.

Product Selection and Value

Best Buy certainly has a large selection of HDTVs. While I was browsing, I used my cell phone to check the prices at Amazon.com for certain models. Though they weren’t having an advertised sale at Best Buy, a number of models were marked down between $50 and $500, which made them competitively priced to Amazon. For example, a 32” Samsung LCD HDTV at Best Buy for $549.99 and at Amazon.com it was $534.00; that’s a difference of only $15. The 40” Samsung LED HDTV was the exact same price at Best Buy as it was on Amazon.com and in some other cases, Best Buy was even cheaper than Amazon.

Best Buy also offers a number of in-home setup options and warranty plans. Devin said that, for a fee, Best Buy technicians can even test the light in your home and adjust your TV’s setting for the optimal picture in your space.

So, after this exercise, how do I feel about Best Buy? I feel good. They offer a ton of different products at excellent prices, and their employees are courteous and helpful. I tested out the price match guarantee, and it works. So on that note, I feel confident we can recommend that you do your holiday shopping at Best Buy.

Have you noticed the new categories on CheapTweet?

We’ve added a number of new, more specific categories to help you find exactly the deals you’re looking for. We now have the following categories:

• Fashion & Beauty
  • Apparel
  • Jewelry
  • Shoes
  • Health & Beauty
• Tech
  • TV & Video
  • Computers
  • Video Games
• Home & Family
  • For the Home
  • Baby & Kids
  • Toys & Games
• Food
  • Restaurant & Bar
  • Grocery
• Entertainment & Travel
  • Travel
  • Music, Movies & Books
  • Sports & Outdoor
• Holiday
  • Thanksgiving
  • Black Friday
  • Cyber Monday
  • More coming soon!

If you’ve waited until the very last minute to plan your Halloween costume (like a certain someone in the CheapTweet office, but I won’t name any names), we’ve gathered up some ideas for you. These are fast and inexpensive ways to get in the Halloween spirit. If you have other suggestions, please leave them in the comments!

Ghost. This is the old standby. Just cut eyeholes out of a white sheet and you’re done, Charlie Brown-style (pictured to the right). Make liberal use of the word “Boo”.

Zombie anything. Dress in any kind of outfit (e.g. prom queen, business person, pajamas), paint your face with white makeup, use gray and purple makeup to make bruises under your eyes, and cover yourself and your outfit in fake blood. Now you’re the undead. Be sure to moan about brains all night.

Yourself from another time. Dress up in an outfit appropriate for another decade (past or future). Fix your hair and makeup as appropriate for that decade. Now you’re you from that time. Thanks for the idea, @JenHarris09!

A friend or family member. Borrow clothes from a friend or family member and dress and act like that person. This is particularly funny if that person doesn’t look or act at all like you, and if you’re going to a party where many of the guests know both of you. The key here is to do a good impression – pick out one or two unique mannerisms or catchphrases and repeat them throughout the night.

We asked our Twitter followers for other ideas. They had some great – and funny – suggestions:

• @jayv: I grabbed a werewolf wig, cut out the sideburns, and got cheap eyeliner. Voila!!! I’m Robert Pattinson!
• @Goodgoth:  Bag of jelly beans – make bag of clear plastic around torso – stuff with colored balloons
• @LSUCait: saftey pin dryer softener sheets to your clothes and you can be static cling
• @Goodgoth: Tea Bag Halloween costume – sheer fabric formed into bag around yet torso – stuff with leaves – make cardboard “tag” hat
• @MetzyMom: Eddie Munster: Black pants, white shirt, a stuffed doll, makeup. Herman Munster: Black shoes, wrinkled suit from thrift store, black shirt, green makeup, silver makeup for bolts in neck
• @LollyBopBaby : A tutu!
• @couponbootcamp: Quick easy costume: monkey backpack harness, put on a safari hat and khakis = zoo worker
• @pumpkinpetunias: This skirt from Children’s Place makes the perfect witch skirt and can be worn again!

Here are a few more lists of creative, but simple and cheap, Halloween costume ideas.

• Scary cheap last minute Halloween costumes
• Last-minute quick costume ideas
• 10 cheap last minute Halloween costume ideas
• 50 last minute, easy Halloween costume ideas

And though it’s too late to do your Halloween shopping online, this year’s leftover Halloween merchandise will be deeply discounted starting on Sunday. Check out all the Halloween discounts and sales on CheapTweet.

Have a fun and safe holiday!

Shop.org published a report yesterday about their expectations for the holiday shopping season.

There’s good news for those of us looking for deals – it looks like we’ll see tons of free shipping deals this holiday season (more than 79% of retailers plan to offer free shipping at some point this season).

The report also says they expect shoppers will do more of their shopping online this year. And, shoppers will be using social sites like Twitter and Facebook more, to assist with their shopping. The reasons they cited for the increase in online shopping are interesting (emphasis mine):

Reasons behind why people will spend more online range from the ability to shop at all hours of the day (41.9%) to shoppers feeling it is easier to compare prices (34.0%) to Americans’ insatiable appetite for free shipping (33.1%). Others said they will spend more online because it’s simply more convenient for them (32.4%), they don’t want to fight crowds in stores (24.9%) or because it’s easier to find items (16.7%).

In addition, the reasons people don’t – won’t – shop online are interesting for other reasons:

The small percentage of people (5.7%) who plan to spend less of their holiday budget online said that they’ll pull back due to expensive shipping charges (22.8%), because they like to see or handle items before they buy (12.5%) or because they prefer a store experience (10.8%). A fraction of shoppers said they hesitated to shop online due to concerns about security (1.1%), credit card theft (0.6%), privacy (0.1%) or concerns about retailers tracking online activity (0.1%).

What do you think – will you do most of your shopping online or in stores? Why do you choose one or the other?

Halloween is a few weeks away, and it’s definitely time to start thinking about what you’re going to do to celebrate. We’ve already seen tons of Halloween deals on CheapTweet.com. Here are a few resources to help you save some money this Halloween.

Amazon’s Halloween Store is filled with savings on costumes, candy, accessories, decorations, and more. There’s still plenty of time to order and have your items delivered before the 31st.

And be sure check out all the Halloween deals and coupons in our special CheapTweet Halloween section. We’ve found more than 4,000 discounts on Halloween items over the past few weeks, and we’ll find lots more before the holiday’s over. Before you buy anything online or in-store this season, do a quick CheapTweet search first to see if you can find a coupon or discount for it.

WalletPop has a useful list of ways to save money this Halloween, including buying candy in bulk and making your own costumes. And Deal Seeking Mom has some other good ideas about how to save money on costumes.

Speaking of making your own costumes, here are a few of the funniest and most adorable homemade – and cheap – Halloween costumes (this post is fine, but the site has a few links that are NSFW) we’ve ever seen.  We completely support making costumes at home, as it allows you to be creative and save some money, and we especially support it if your kids look as cute as these kids do. My favorite is the little lobster in the pot.

Thrifty Mommy has a list of tips on how to save money on candy. For example, stay away from chocolate; other candies are less expensive and just as tasty.

So, what are you doing this Halloween to save money? If you have any tips, we’d love to hear about them!

This week, we talked to Tara Roark (@couponbootcamp), Founder of Coupon Boot Camp.

Tara is the author of a weekly newspaper column, Cutting Corners. She resides in southwest Ohio where she also facilitates seminars with her husband of nine years. Mother of three, Tara developed Coupon Boot Camp to train others how to save on their everyday shopping. Since then she has been featured on three local television stations and made several organizational speaking engagements to share her cost saving ideas and techniques. You can find her on her site, her blog and on Twitter.

Tell us a little about Coupon Boot Camp. How did it get started?

A friend of mine had taught me a little about couponing and I began saving BIG immediately, like getting 20 boxes of Kellogg’s cereal for only $17.60. I was sharing this savings and photos on my Facebook page and many of my friends requested that I teach them how to do it, stating that they would gladly pay for a class. I had been doing home training with another business, Computer Help, and was familiar with creating comprehensive manuals and training so I thought I would give it a shot.

I did some additional research and before I administered my first training class.  I ran it by my best friend who I knew would be sincerely honest and thorough in reviewing. She was someone I refer to as a “Coupon Backslider”. She used to use coupons and save but for whatever reason had gotten away from it. She had several challenging questions for me. Two of her main concerns were actual savings and time. Once I was able to show her that she could get name brand groceries cheaper than her off brand and how to manage the whole coupon process with minimal effort, she was once again happily clipping! I then polished the manual and offered classes to the public.

My first class was in January 2009 and I had sold out bi-weekly training classes of 20 – 32 attendees each. Many of my trainees have written, spoken to or called me excited to share their savings and appreciation.

Why do you think coupons are so important?

With this economy, I think it is vital that we save in all areas of our family budgets and with manufacturers eager to win our loyalty by offering coupons and sales, it would be a shame not to take advantage of the great savings!

What would I learn if I enrolled in one of your classes?

Let me tell you, the reason I titled my series Coupon Boot Camp is because, much like any other type of boot camp, it is hard core! In a six-week military training, for example, they have a short period of time to condition recruits mentally and physically so that they are prepared for battle. In my training courses I have a short period of time – two hours for Basic Training – to prepare consumers to win the war against high prices!

How do you market or promote Coupon Boot Camp?

Through my weekly newspaper column Cutting Corners in the Wilmington News Journal, handing out brochures when people behind me in the store check out comment on how much I saved, word of mouth from previous trainees, TWITTER!!, my Facebook page and EVERY area I can! Whenever I see a news story about saving money, shopping, etc.., I go to that website and tell them about myself.

How do you use Twitter to help with your business?

In a short period of time, Twitter has become a HUGE valuable tool for me. Through it I recently earned a newspaper interview and FRONT page article in the Cincinnati Enquirer!  I have so many new followers and sales are beginning to generate from that!

Do you have any tips or advice for someone just getting started with his/her business?

Work it! Work it! Work it!! Self promotion should be a HIGH priority!! Don’t be afraid to tell people who you are and what you do. Be proud of your accomplishments!

I know, it’s still August. But, it is almost September and as ridiculous as it always seems, that means we’re heading into the holiday shopping season. Summer has blown by, and fall probably will, too.  December will be here before we know it (and as of today, there are only 119 shopping days left before Christmas).

For shoppers, it probably is a bit early to be thinking about buying holiday gifts. Or is it? Bargain hunters know that to find the best deals, you need time. The longer you can spend looking for the right item at the lowest price, the more money you’ll save. Besides, wouldn’t it be nice not to have to rush around at the last minute? Between now and the end of the year, we’ll be posting all kinds of tips to help you with your holiday shopping, as well as sharing the best deals we can find. We know this will be a tough season for a lot of families struggling to find extra money to buy gifts, travel to see loved ones, and host holiday dinners and parties. So we’re going to do all we can to help you save some money this year.

For retailers and sellers, now is the time to be thinking about your holiday strategy.  What special discounts will you offer to attract customers? What kinds of promotions will you run to drive traffic? How will you use Twitter and other social media tools to make sure shoppers find you and your products? Throughout the fall and into the winter months, we’ll be sharing our thoughts on these topics to help sellers of all sizes make the most of this shopping season.

At CheapTweet, we want to help connect retailers and customers.  We do this in several ways:

• Our free service, where we find every deal, coupon, discount and special on Twitter and put them on CheapTweet.com for anyone to use, whether or not they have a Twitter account
• Affordable advertising on our site, based on an advertiser’s Twitter profile
• CheapTweet Stores, a customized portal for a brand’s e-commerce Twitter activity
• The CheapTweet blog, where we post on topics ranging from saving money, using Twitter to promote your small business, shopping ideas and specific products we like, and much more

We’re going to be working hard this holiday season to make sure shoppers find the best deals on the products they want. So stay tuned, and please let us know if you have any questions or if we can help you in any way. Finally, we’d like to be the first to wish you “Happy Holidays”.