10 Tips For Financially Savvy Holiday Shopping

holiday-shopping-cartSo you missed Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals. No worries – there are still plenty of ways to save on your holiday purchases. Check out these top 10 tips for financially-savvy holiday shopping.

1. In the market for books, the Book Cellar at the Webster Library on the Upper East Side should be your go-to destination. Great selection of used and rare fiction and non-fiction books; adult, YA and children’s books. They’re all there on well-organized shelves, with informative and helpful staff and prices that will make you wish you had your own library. A few years back, I got the whole Harry Potter series for less than $10. It’s only open Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, and the hours vary by day, so call ahead.

2. One of my favorite stores when the boys were younger was Family Dollar, where I picked up toys, stocking stuffers, PJs, and pretty natty outfits (mostly in the summer but some for cooler times). Had the boys not outgrown their racks, I’d still be making pilgrimages. (As with any purchase at dollar stores, be aware of comparable prices so you’ll know what’s a deal and what’s just masquerading as a bargain.)

3. Not only are Costco and BJ’s great places to pick up lox for Christmas morning, but their toy, electronics, and book aisles (not to mention kids’ clothing selection) are enough to make a kid call Santa. We’ve found Hot Wheels, walkie-talkies, games, books, building blocks, and other toys we’ve long since passed on.

4. While the artisan booths at the likes of Union Square, Grand Central, and Bryant Park aren’t screaming deals, their unique presents can be a great value. And it’s a fun way to spend a few hours if you can stand the cold.

5. Join Facebook groups like Manhattan Moms, UES Parent Connection, and a myriad of other groups not only for notices about pop-up sales, trunk shows and other deals but for unused clothing and accessories that parents are selling for less than retail.

6. I love discount stores like Lot-Less Closeouts, Deals, Jack’s 99 Cent Store, and Closeout Paradise. You can load up for if you hit it right. Some stores (even full-priced siblings like Duane Reade) have designated Giving Tree areas with $5 and $10 toys, so you can buy stock up—for your own kids but also contribute to the Toys for Tots box.

7. One of the best things about living in a city with small apartments is that parents are forever cleaning out closets—and thrift shops and consignment stores are the handy redistribution points. It’s not like you’re giving your kid a drooled-on stuffed puppy with gnawed off fur. Much of the furniture, clothing and toys are perfectly good, often unused. The pickings are particularly good for old-school games like Trivial Pursuit but also books, electronics, and little trinkets that little girls love—until their moms recycle the Elsa figurines to Housing Works for the next generation of “Frozen” fans.

8. Should you tire of shopping for things to dust, check out Groupon, LivingSocial, or other flash sale sites for bargains on experiences like massages and trips.

9. It doesn’t qualify technically as a discount, but we like to add to our kids’ Kiva accounts so they can make micro-loans to entrepreneurs around the world. The boys lend as little as $25 to businesspeople they select, getting repaid with interest. (While there is always the danger of not being repaid, we’ve never had an investment go bad.) So, in the end, they end up with more money than we put in, which I guess does qualify as a good deal.

10. And a bonus tip – shop after-Christmas sales for holiday cards, wrapping paper, and Christmas poppers that you can sock away for the next 364 days.

Editor’s Note: Click HERE for more family shopping tips about using a family gift registry.

Hillary Chura blogs for New York Family about family-oriented money-saving tips. Follow her on Twitter at @hillarychura.

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Child's Play NY Virtual Classes

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Class culminates in a movie montage featuring our original scripted work from the session.</span></p> <p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"> </p> <p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"> </p> <p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><strong><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration: underline; text-decoration-skip: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Create Your Own Class</span></strong></p> <p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Make your own custom group to support social-emotional growth and play. Child’s Play NY provides a dynamic teacher and their lauded curriculum that puts peer-interaction at the front and center. Custom classes are a special way to nurture what your child loves most and share that excitement with their friends, in-person or online.</span></p> <p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"> </p> <div style="caret-color: #222222; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Playwriting (Grades 4-6)</strong></div> <div style="caret-color: #222222; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Students will use their creativity, compassion and confidence to build a story they can carry with them for the rest of their lives. Individually, each student will craft a play, and together they will workshop their scenes, exercising their acting, directing, and most importantly, imagination skills. 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They work alongside professional performers with years of experience bringing their passion to children. Class culminates in a movie showcase of scenes and songs.<br />Join for the full session, or enroll as a drop-in!<strong><br /></strong></div> <div style="caret-color: #222222; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </div> <div style="caret-color: #222222; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Shakespeare Scene Study (Grades 3-5, 6-8 and 9-12)</strong></div> <div style="caret-color: #222222; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Young people become confident with Shakespeare’s world, language and characters as they learn how to interpret a role with technique and courage. Classically trained professional actors assist the players in their physical, vocal and emotional transformations. All Shakespeare teaching artists are classically trained professional actors and have performed Shakespeare both on and off Broadway and in regional theaters across the country.</div> <div style="caret-color: #222222; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Students jump into the worlds of Shakespeare in this robust mash-up of improvisation and classic text scene study class. After learning the plot and characters from several plays, they rehearse and memorize scenes from the original text. New material, devised by the cast, adds a contemporary through-line to their show and highlights the universality of Shakespeare’s themes.<br />Class culminates in a movie showcasing their work.</div> <div style="caret-color: #222222; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </div> <div style="caret-color: #222222; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>The Big Twist: A New Musical (Grade 1-4)</strong></div> <p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"> </p> <div style="caret-color: #222222; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In this acting class, students get to perform a brand new musical based on The Wizard of Oz.<br />The Wicked Witch of the South wants to return Oz to a time when WITCHES reigned supreme, and all was evil. Summoning a dark magic Tornado, the Wicked Witch of the South sends Oz hurtling into an alternate Oz. With the Yellow Brick road destroyed, the Wizard left powerless, and the citizens of Oz scattered to the Wind, our heroes are forced into unlikely partnerships to stop the Witch and restore the world to order. The Wizard of Oz meets The Tempest.  Class culminates in a premiere of a movie starring the students, filmed over the last few days of the session.</div> <p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; background-color: #ffffff; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"> </p> <p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"> </p> <p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-57c50323-7fff-79ce-175a-5e25408c0e29"></span></p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-84ebe141-7fff-03c2-24cf-fead86e88df2"></span></p>