Amazon.com: My husband loves Christmas shopping on Amazon. There is a great Black Friday section where you can snag amazing prices on different items, and there are hourly specials. We save a ton on movies and electronics last year.

Slickdeals.net: Find great deals on a variety of items at a number of different online retailers. There is also a Black Friday (and Cyber Monday) section that can help you identify some of the best deals and ads from major retailers.

Black-Friday.net: Just what it sounds like, you can find great deals on Black Friday sales and recently released ads. Plan your shopping, online or off.

DealCatcher: You can find great deals all through the holiday season (and throughout the year) with help from DealCatcher. And, as so many deal sites have, there is a Black Friday page. Print coupons, compare prices, and find the best deals in Sunday ads.

BlackFriday.fm: Find great deals and get updated email alerts on sales and more. You can also get a sneak peek at the pre-Black Friday specials that many retailers are offering this year.

FatWallet: This deal site offers you the chance to find the best deals, get coupons, and identify cash back offers. You can also take advantage of the Black Friday section to determine what specials are on their way this year.

GottaDeal.com: Find some of the best deals of the season with help from GottaDeal.com. You can easily search different product categories, and even find free shipping deals. And, of course, a good deal site wouldn’t be complete without a Black Friday section.

Cyber Monday: The Monday following Thanksgiving weekend is a huge day for online sales, and is called Cyber Monday. One web site just took the name and now offers access to amazing deals. And you don’t even have to wait until Cyber Monday to take advantage of them.

dealnews.com: You can find great deals here, all year round. Gear up for holiday shopping with great prices on a number of items. Easy to find coupons and the latest savings.

Dealighted: Find coupons, deals and more. A great place to find Black Friday deals as well, since there is a section aimed at helping you find the best Black Friday savings at a number of major retailers.

DealsPlus: Get access to the latest deals from around the web. If you are looking to do your Christmas shopping entirely online, this can be a great help.

These are great places to get started looking for the best Christmas shopping deals. You can also make use of sites like FreeShipping.org and Free Shipping Day to find deals on shipping so that you can save even more. And, if you like Twitter, you can get regular updates on great deals by following @blackfriday.

So there’s a pretty big list of places you can spend your money as the holiday shopping season kicks off this week. I’m not a fan of shopping just because there’s a deal but if there are gifts you know you’re going to buy it doesn’t hurt to check out the deals and see if you can save some money. What deal sites did I miss? Which ones have saved you money?

Do you find yourself constantly putting things off until the last minute — work projects, household chores, travel plans, holiday shopping? While everyone procrastinates occasionally, Psychology Today notes that 20 percent of people are true procrastinators stuck in a repetitive cycle.

If you’re one of them, you know the stress, guilt, and anxiety that typically accompany procrastination. But did you know that procrastinating could actually cost you real cash?

It’s hard to quantify exact amounts, but it’s safe to say that waiting to buy something until the last minute usually has its price. You may miss the low-price window (think airline tickets, coupons with a “use-by” date) or make a rushed decision that imposes unanticipated long-term costs. Here are some common scenarios and tips to help keep you from procrastinating.

The Product
Let’s say your refrigerator has been showing signs of distress for several weeks and you figure it’s time to replace it. But you put off looking into a new unit until, one day, you find a lifeless fridge full of rotten food. You run out to the nearest appliance store and pick a model without really knowing what you’re buying.

You may end up with a replacement that lacks the technical specs you desire (e.g., dimensions, capacity, storage features) and has garnered weak expert and consumer reviews. Doing some research before the old refrigerator died would have given you the information you needed to choose the best model for the price you could afford. 

The Price You Pay
It should come as no surprise that the cost of procrastination is higher on big-ticket items. Say your spouse wants a tablet for Christmas. You can either wait until Christmas Eve to run out and buy whatever tablet is left on the shelves — without the benefit of a coupon or deal that’s expired — or you can start researching now to find tablets with all the desired features and then check for tablet deals.

Staples ran a coupon in July for $100 off any tablet in stock; for a tablet that cost $250, that was a 40 percent discount. In August, HP slashed the price of the now-defunct 16GB TouchPad to a mere $99 from $499; the 32GB model dropped to $149 from $599.

With the holidays coming up, new deals are sure to appear. But before you leap, look at other stores’ prices to be sure you’re getting the best possible deal on the tablet you want. If you check prices for big-ticket items in least 3 other stores then you’ll have a pretty good idea of the going price range and how good a deal you’ve actually found.

The Long-Term Effects
Shopping procrastination can have long-term effects on your wallet. Perhaps you wait until the last minute to book travel for an all-inclusive vacation. The final cost is more than you expected because you didn’t find the time to shop around for the best deal, so you decline travel insurance. Right before your departure date, a hurricane hits your destination. Instead of being rerouted to another tropical location or receiving a refund, you’re out of a vacation and a big chunk of change.

To use another example, an Energy Star-qualified appliance uses far less energy than one without an Energy Star label. Making a rushed decision on a large appliance might mean picking a model that hasn’t earned the Energy Star, which in turn could lead to higher utility bills for years to come. With an Energy Star-qualified refrigerator, for instance, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates you could save anywhere from $165 in energy costs over the lifetime of the fridge to more than $200 a year, depending on the age of the unit being replaced and utility prices in your area.

Beating Procrastination
Even if you’re a true procrastinator, it’s possible to break the habit. The key lies in knowing what causes it. According to the University of Cambridge, people procrastinate for a variety of reasons, including anxiety about the task at hand and feeling overwhelmed by whatever needs doing.

If the number of choices, or the price, or the possibility of making the wrong purchasing decision has you dragging your feet, set a clear goal and break down the task into manageable chunks.

For a big-ticket purchase, that might mean making a list of the features you want and searching online for several models that meet your needs. Read some product reviews and make another list of pros and cons for each model. By the end of this process, the choice should be obvious. Now you can start comparing deals to land the lowest price possible on the model you want.

Raechel Conover writes for Cheapism.com, a review site that serves consumers on a budget who want the best value for their money. Cheapism’s carefully researched buying guides focus exclusively on low-price products.

1. Spending More Than You Earn
The root of most financial problems is the inability to control spending. No matter your income level, if you spend more than you earn you will be broke and in debt. Whether you have $10,000 in income or $1,000,000 in income, you must spend less than you earn.

2. Not Doing an Annual Review of Your Finances
It’s “okay” to make a money mistake for a little while if you are unaware of it. Real problems start if that mistake sustains itself for years on end. Sitting down at a specific time every year to review your finances can ward off these problems.

You might notice an extra fee on your cable bill due to a data entry error. Or you can make it a habit to comparison shop your car insurance and home internet costs in order to negotiate for the best rate. They say ignorance is bliss, but it can cost you dearly.

3. Over Paying for Convenience
It’s easy to justify spending money when it is convenient. You don’t plan out your meals and find nothing in the fridge to eat, so you go out to a restaurant and spend enough money to feed you off of groceries for a week. You need your coffee in the morning, but instead of getting up a little bit early to make it for pennies per cup you spend $5 at Starbucks. Paying for convenience is fine, but do it all the time and in excess and you will always wonder why you never got ahead financially.

4. Avoiding Tough Decisions
Sometimes life is tough. Sometimes your income goes down or disappears. Sometimes your bills go up dramatically. During those times you have a choice: you can try to finance the gap between what you make and what you spend, or you can start cutting items from the budget.

Having an argument with your spouse and whether to cut cable or not isn’t fun, so you avoid the conversation even though you could really use $100 per month to buy groceries. At the end of the day if you have the necessities of life: food, water, shelter, clothing on your back, your health, and a way to generate income to live, you’ll be okay.

5. Not Protecting Your Credit Score
A bad credit score can cost you thousands of dollars in interest. People with bad scores are seen as credit risks, there’s no doubt your credit score impacts your interest rates. It might cost you $1,000 on a car loan or $40,000 on a home mortgage to have a bad credit score. That’s a mistake when you can improve your credit score by making your payments on time and lowering your overall debt utilization.

6. Spending Impulsively
A big mistake many people make is buying impulsively. They see something they want (or think they want, thanks to clever commericals), and it is right in front of them so they buy it. A few weeks later they discover they don’t really use what they thought was so important, and have wasted money.

Before making a big purchase, sleep on it. Your emotional craving for the item should die down after a while and you may come to your senses with the realization you didn’t really need it in the first place.

7. Avoiding Preventative Maintenance
Doesn’t it make sense to spend a few dollars now in order to save hundreds of dollars later? Avoiding maintenance is one of the easiest mistakes to make because it doesn’t usually immediately impact you. You avoid some car maintenance and it saves you $300 now, but the engine blows up a year from now costing you $3,000 for it to be rebuilt.

Or maybe you live an unhealthy lifestyle and don’t exercise. It doesn’t cost you much today to sit on the couch, but when you have a heart attack or stroke earlier than you should the cost will be real. Spend the time and money necessary for preventative maintenance and avoid the major costs on the back end.

8. Thinking Everything is an Emergency
It is wise to have an emergency fund handy for when things go wrong. Having 6 to 12 months of living costs set aside really protects you from unemployment or big disasters. But even if you’ve been smart enough to build an emergency fund, you can start to think everything is an emergency. That’s a mistake that can whittle your emergency fund down below what you really need, and when the actual emergency comes along you aren’t financially prepared.

9. Letting Compound Interest Work Against You
Compound interest is a beautiful thing if you are the one with the money being lent out. If you deposit funds into a savings account, you are letting the bank borrow from you to lend to others. They pay you interest for this privilege. On the flip side if you are carrying a balance on a credit card or taking out payday loans, compound interest works against you.

10. Paying Your Bills Blind
A simple mistake to make is to simply pay your bills without looking at them in detail. Every bill you receive has a summary of the charges and then a breakdown showing what you were charged. It is easy for companies to have data entry “mistakes” that throw an extra charge in on your account. If you don’t review the bill it can easily slip past you. While setting up online billpay and automatic payments is a good thing because it helps you avoid late fees, be sure to check the actual statement to make sure you were charged the right amount.

American Express card holders can take advantage of a deal site sponsored by American Express called Daily Wish. We pointed it out as part of the credit card promotions list but this will give you a little more detail.

You can register for the site for free with any American Express credit card. Once you sign up for the Daily Wish program, you have the chance to buy gift cards and products at big discounts.

How Daily Wish Works
First, you register your American Express credit card at the Daily Wish web site. One thing to note, if you want to try for the deals on two different computer (ex: work computer and home computer) you’ll need to register your card on both computers.

There are two ways to keep up on what deals American Express is offering.  If you signup for weekly alerts you’ll get an email on Monday listing the deals for the week.  The deals are usually posted on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays.  If you don’t want the alert email, you can just check out the website on those days to see what’s available.

Here’s an example of one of the gift card deals that’s been featured on the Daily Wish site:

If it’s something that you’re interested in, click the “I Want It” button.  Each deal goes live at a certain time specifcied on the site. If you click “I Want It” before then you’ll see a message somethign like “Oops, you’re too early! We know you’re excited, but it’s not time yet! Sign up for the Weekly Alert and get sale times before they’re revealed on the site.”

Winning Daily Wish Deals
There are some pretty good deals on the site and the quantity is limited so not everyone will get the promotional deal.  Sales also start at certain times, so you will need to check with the time noted at the upper left of the deal’s picture. Sales start at different times, so you need to be prepared. There is a slideshow to the right of the main deal that shows you related deals happening at the same time.

As mentioned earlier, Daily Wish allows you to look ahead to deals that are coming the next day — and the next week. You can then ask for reminders so that you are notified at the beginning of the sale. Weekly alerts about upcoming promotions are also available. This can improve the chances of your getting getting the deal you want.

If you are able to get the deal, make sure you use the American Express card you registered with the site to pay for it so you’re eligible for the deal.

Example Deals

Here are some of the deals that have been offered in the past:

• $100 gift cards when you spend $50.
• Get $75 back when you spend $150 or more.
• $100 gift card when you spend $200.
• Products for 50% off retail.

Some of the best deals go quickly, so you have to really be fast if you want them. This is especially true of desirable and generous promotions that may only have 25 available. Some promotions are only available to the first three or four people! This ratchets up the competition.

Bottom Line
If you have an American Express card, the Daily Wish program is probably worth signing up for. After all, it doesn’t cost you anything, and you can get access to great deals.

The main commitment with the Daily Wish is the time you spend waiting for the sale to start so you can pounce on the deal as quickly as possible. This can be reduced if you sign up for alerts, and if you check for the start time of the sale on the days that your preferred products and services are likely to go on sale. With fast fingers and a little planning, you should be able to save some bucks on things you would have bought anyway.

New Deal – $20 of books for $10 at Barnes and Noble – Click Here

You’ve probably heard your friends or family members talking about Groupon deals or coupons recently – you may have even gotten a Groupon gift card for Christmas.

The local deals site is growing in popularity; Google actually offered to buy the company and similar sites like Living Social and Social Buy are popping up with daily deals.

I had been interested in Groupon and was keeping my eye out for any amazing deals. Recently, a local bowling alley offered a Groupon discount of what was equivalent to 50% off retail prices, and I bought. My wife and I will soon be enjoying 2 games of bowling a piece with shoe rental for only $10.

How can you get deals like these in your city? Read on.

How Groupon Works
For those not in the know, Groupon is an extremely popular group buying website. The company works with local businesses to offer big-time deals to the subscriber’s to Groupon’s e-mail list. (Getting on the list is free; you can also use their phone app.)

Local businesses use Groupon to offer amazing deals — only one deal per day for your area — in hopes that the massive number of users that get their e-mails will become customers.

To entice you to take the deal these businesses offer discounts in the 50% off range. You’ll see a lot of “buy a $50 gift certificate for $25″ type offers to get you to physically come in to their local location and buy something. You save money by participating in the deals that are interesting to you. The only cost to Groupon is whatever you spend on their targeted offers. There is no subscription fee.

Best Groupon Deals Nationally

Groupon specializes in offering local coupons for businesses in cities across the U.S. but it has also partnered with national brands to offer amazing deals across the country.

The biggest of these deals by far occurred last year when Groupon offered $50 gift certificates to clothing retailer Gap for $25. How big of a deal was it? Almost half a million users snapped up the gift certificates for a potential savings of over $11 million, now that’s a lot of coupons.

They don’t offer these coupons regularly but when they do you might want to try and get in on it because they’re often a good deal.

Best Groupon Deals Locally

The beauty of Groupon is it connects local consumers with local small businesses. The business is taking a chance on potentially bringing in hundreds or thousands of new customers. Even if the discounts are sold at an expected loss the business can turn a profit by giving those customers an amazing experience and earning repeat business.

One of the best local deals offered was in the Chicago area: a local spa offered massages that retail for $84 for only $20. That’s a 76% discount, and 3,200 customers purchased the coupon. The shop had to add additional staff to cope with the new demand, but the owner is considering his first Groupon experience a success.

In my local market of Knoxville I’ve seen a similar deal from a spa: a $75 service was offered for $25. That’s a 66% discount and a heck of a deal if it is a service you would use even without a deal.

How to Sign Up for Groupon

Signing up for Groupon is simple.

Step 1: Visit the website and it should automatically detect your current city. (Note: your city is probably detected based on your IP address. If you are logged in from work it may show where your corporate IT connection is located.) If it detects the wrong city you can choose from the drop down box.

Step 2: Give Groupon an e-mail address you want the daily deals e-mailed to.

You’ll start receiving Groupon deals on a daily basis. You’ll need to create an account with a password and add a credit card if you decide to buy one of the deals. You can access the same account if you have a smartphone that has the Groupon app available to it.

Of course Groupon coupons are only a good deal if you buy deals you would have bought without a discount. Just because a local business is offering a 50% discount it doesn’t mean you need to purchase something every day. But if you can maintain control of your spending it’s a interesting concept that’s kind of fun and can save you money.

Costco Discounts

I’ve become a fan of the warehouse club ever since I discoved some Costco membership discounts and became a member.  I surveyed a bunch of friends with little kids to find out what kinds of things they bought at Costco and organized them by category.

• How Parents Save Money at Costco

Worst Credit Cards

I had some fun inventing fake credit cards like Santa’s Sleigh Miles Card, Ebenezer Scrooge Charity Card, and the Rudolph Red Card for this one.  Basically I went over things to avoid in certain types of cards and suggested some alternatives. 

For the travel cards I pointed out Blue Sky from American Express and the Southwest Rapid Rewards card.  For affinity cards I suggest using a cash back credit card instead and donating the rewards. As an alternative to the Rudolph Red card, which tries to help keep you out of holiday debt, I propose using a cash back debit card instead.

• The Worst Holiday Credit Cards

Balance Transfer Dating

This was another one with a little different take – I looked at balance transfer credit cards from the perspective of the dating world.  My favorite tip was probably that no one, lenders or girlfriends, wants to build a relationship with someone who “gets around”.

• Balance Transfer Dating Guide

That’s it for the Wisebread wrap-up, if the ones next month are any good I’ll let you know about them as well.

Here are a few places to look for bargains online:

• Christmas Shopping Deals Sites
• Best Deals Sites Online
• Best Websites for Christmas Deals

When you’re shopping online that means you’re probably going to be using some form of plastic.  Check out these tips for online credit card protection to keep your money safe from hackers and scammers.  Most of us have more than one card and some are better than others when it comes web purchases.  Make sure you use the best credit card for online shopping when you do find a great Cyber Monday deal.

On top of the deals that retailers are offering today, you can also get discounts and earn cash back from the card you use.  Check out these credit card promotions for holiday shopping.

Good luck shopping!

However, for all of you hitting the Memorial Day sales, here are some articles on shopping and saving money. Our local TV and radio have been full of ads for big car sales this weekend so I included several on buying, selling, maintaining an automobile.

I also added in a few on college graduation because there are many graduation parties going on over the holiday weekend and I thought I’d point out some money tips for those graduating seniors.

Buying & Selling Cars

• We Sold Our Car on Craigslist @ Cash Money Life
• Used Car Values: How to Sell Your Car at the Right Price @ My Two Dollars
• Save Money on Gas: Buy a Scooter @ Debt Free Adventure
• Is Your Car Ruining Your Budget? @ Fiscal Geek
• Buying a Car from Hertz Rent2Buy @ Fiscal Fizzle
• How to Sell Your Used Car Online @ SquawkFox

Shopping

• Local or Online Stores: Pay More for the Personal Touch? @ Consumerism Commentary
• Why Does Amazon.com Hide Some Prices? @ Bargaineering
• Have You Tried Peapod Groceries? @ My Dollar Plan

Saving Money

• Is It Really Cheaper to Ride the Bus? @ The Simple Dollar
• Wipe Out Excessive Spending On Toilet Paper @ Money Ning
• 7 Money Saving Ideas For City Slickers @ Moolanomy
• Comparing TV Services With BillShrink @ Free From Broke
• How to Cook Cheap Meals @ Frugal Dad

College Graduation

• 9 Financial Tips for New Graduates @ Generation X Finance
• College Graduate Insurance & Credit Tips @ Money Smart Life
• Gift Ideas for College Grads for a Financial Headstart @ Money Smart Life
• Financial Advice for College Grads @ MoneyWatch

Enjoy your memorial day weekend!

Luxury items aren’t really my thing but if you lust after name brand products, some of the private sale websites may be able to get you some of the best christmas deals, high end merchandise at considerable discounts.  Below are some of the websites that the article mentions:

• Gilt
• Rue La La
• One Kings Lane
• Ideeli 
• HauteLook

I’ve never been to a sample sale, when I sold on eBay I always bought surplus and overgoods from a third party.  Based on the article, sample sales sound like a bit of a zoo, with a big line and wait to get in.  Then, once inside you dash around trying to find the best deals before everyone else does, like the sample sale scene from the Confessions of a Shopaholic movie.

The private sale websites get rid of the waiting and dashing and can still save you a good deal of money off the retail price. So if you’re looking for something name brand this year, these may be some of the best websites for luxury christmas shopping.

• Black Friday Deals or Cyber Monday Savings?
• Christmas Budgeting – Building A Christmas Fund
• Christmas Deals on eBay – Strategies for Saving Money this Holiday
• The Best Websites For Christmas Shopping Deals
• Earn Extra Money For the Holidays – 10 Ways to Boost Your Gift Budget
• Christmas Shopping Calendar – Dates to Save You Money
• Christmas Gift Cards – Choosing the Best Gift Card
• Christmas Shopping and Saving Tips for a Troubled Economy
• Christmas Deals to Save You Money While Holiday Shopping