Save Money While Shopping Online

Sweetie and I usually spend Christmas with my dad and step-mom (whom I also call mom, it can get confusing), my sister, my aunt and her children, and their children. It can be a full house. Thankfully we draw names each year. Each adult draws one other adult's name, and two names from the kids.

Well, this year that's all thrown out the window. Auntie is taking all the little ones to Disney World and the family has agreed that the trip is their Christmas gift. Mom said I could contribute to the bingo prizes (I said it could be a full house) and bake up some goodies for the cake walk, but that I'm not to buy gifts.

Sweetie has also begged me not to get him anything. And I was just gearing up for some serious shopping! I've got all these links saved up, with items book marked and everything. So I'll probably still be sharing some shopping stuff even though I probably won't be buying much this year.

Maybe I'll even get cards out this year since I won't have as much shopping to do. I haven't sent cards in so long I'm sure most of the addresses I have are wrong.

All online shoppers should know about the big coupon/discount code sites. If a website has a current, active discount code offer, these guys usually have it on file, FatWallet, CouponMom, CoolSavings, RetailMeNot, and CouponCabin. There are way more coupon/code sites out there. Just run a search. It's quick and involves minimal effort and can save you money.

Have you ever noticed that not all retailers charge state sales and use tax (usually just called sales tax) on your online purchases? Residents of Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire, and Oregon will have no idea what I'm talking about since your states don't collect sales tax in the first place, but the rest of do (hence our decision to make our recent camera purchase in Oregon).

Anyhow, at one point while developing the new website at work we thought we would add a retail element to it, and I had to research our obligation to collect state sales tax. Fun times, yo. The short answer is that unless the retailer (or any of it's subsidiaries) has a physical presence in the state, they have no obligation to collect the sales tax for that state.

For example, Amazon.com is headquartered near Seattle, WA and they are only obligated to collect state sales tax when Washington state residents make purchases through the site. Amazon.com also has an obligation to collect state sales tax from the residents of any state where Amazon.com has a warehouse or shipping hub.

But don't think you're completely off the hook. Tax laws for most states have a clause that requires individual taxpayer residents to self-report out-of-state purchases that would have created sales tax revenue for their home state had the item(s) been purchased there. This applies to online and in-person purchases, even if the location you're purchasing it from is collecting a state sales tax.

If we go on vacation to Las Vegas, we are supposed to report to California and pay tax on any purchases made in Nevada, and we would need to file with Nevada for a reimbursement for the sales tax we paid while there. Nobody wants to go through all of that; not you, and not the states.

Generally the states just call it a wash--plenty of out-of-state residents pay the sales tax in California and don't file for a refund and it balances out the California residents that make purchases while they're out-of-state. So states don't really spend a lot of effort chasing down revenue from individuals on out-of-state purchases. I'm not saying that you should break the law, but some states also define a threshold in this clause, for example, if sales tax revenue on out-of-state purchase exceeds $X, you must report it.

So, maybe you can save some money while shopping online by using coupon codes and not having to pay state sales taxes, but then there are the shipping fees. I've run into this several times where the shipping fees are actually more than I would have paid in sales tax dollars. I've especially noticed this when shopping at Coldwater Creek. They apparently calculate your shipping fees based on the amount of money you spend, not on the actual weight of the package. Bastards. (And if you ever have to return something, be sure you pay the shipping out of pocket and not as a deduction from your refund because you'll get smacked with that inflated shipping fee again. Bastards.)

But, in addition to the above mentioned coupon code sites, there's also FreeShipping.org. They compile all the known current and active free shipping codes for over 850 retail sites. Again, a minimal amount of effort could easily equal money saved.

Paint Party, Party of 1

We've been doing some home sprucing the last few months. Nothing as drastic as a complete gutting like Becca's family has done (I still say kitchen envy is a valid psychological condition); we've pretty much limited ourselves to painting, minor DIY repairs, and replacing old college era hand-me-down furniture.

When we first moved in I wanted a sagey grey-green color in the bedroom, but what had looked good on the color swatch did not look so good on the walls. I ended up with what I can only describe as Crayola Seafoam Green. It took about a month for me to realize I completely hated the color, which, of course, by that time we'd already put away all the painting supplies and had moved in the furniture.

So I have opened my eyes to Seafoam Green (I think the actual color swatch was called Pond. They forgot the Scum.) everyday for the past 5 - 6 years. Each morning I would inwardly cringe with the knowledge that I had no one to blame but myself because I chose the color.

We finally repainted the bedroom in July and I love the new color. Knowing that we plan to move in 1 or 2 years, we knew we wanted to paint in a more neutral color. I went back and forth between a few choices but kept coming back to a swatch called Cookie Crumb. Sweetie swears I only chose it because of the name. But I love it, and I chose it. Woot! I now wake up in the morning and smile when I see the walls. (Well, I do when there's enough freaking light in the mornings to see the walls.)

In July we also replaced the old futon with a new bed frame and mattress, the old broken down sofa with a new sofa, and purchased an entertainment center. Our local Linens n Things was going out of business in July so we took advantage of the inventory liquidation sales and purchased a bedding set, new sheets (550 thread count!), a shower curtain and liner, and new bath towels.


That's Tank and Dozer inspecting the new sofa.

All the painting and lifting and moving of furniture in July sent my back back into muscle spasms so we've been off the home improvement bandwagon for a while. We got back on today. Well Sweetie got back on. Me, I'm blogging him my emotional support.

Now we're working on the bathrooms. Again, nothing drastic. We replaced the faucets last summer and now we're going to paint and replace the rest of the hardware (which we completely purchased with credit card point rewards). Hopefully we'll do the light fixtures too. We've got those blessedly hideous fluorescent bar thingys.

Anyhow, I helped Sweetie empty out the water closet (that ridiculously little room for the shower and toilet) in the master bath, he stripped the caulking from around the shower and then I wiped down all the walls with an ammonia solution. He's in there priming the walls right now while I'm comfy at my desk with a cup of coffee.

Dude, primer stinks. I've opened all the windows and doors and have a few fans going to help ventilate. I need to go into the bathroom and check on Sweetie every 15 minutes or so to make sure he hasn't passed out from the fumes. There are no windows in the bathroom. Sweetie is so getting a meat and potatoes dinner tonight.

Once we're done I doubt anyone else will even notice we've done anything in there. But we will, and we'll be happy with it. And we'll be happy with the knowledge that we did it ourselves. 'Cause we love it when we rock the frugal like that.