Guest Post: Cyber Monday: What to Buy & How to Save

by

Andrea Woroch

While Black Friday gets all the headlines, Cyber Monday quietly steals the show as the biggest online shopping day of the year. In 2014, the event pulled in over $2 billion in e-sales and became the heaviest day of online spending in history. Comparatively, Black Friday pulled in 30-percent less in online sales last year.

With an overwhelming number of online deals, knowing where to find the best prices and tracking hourly sales is tricky. Here are some tips to get the most use from your digital dollar.

Best Cyber Monday Buys

• Apparel: Look for free shipping offers plus site-wide savings of up to 60 percent from a host of apparel brands including Express, Carter's, Joe's Jeans, Kenneth Cole, J. Jill and more.
• Shoes: Like apparel, shoes are a popular Cyber Monday deal with stores like Famous Footwear offering the deepest discounts of the year. Look for free delivery as well as BOGO savings from online shoe stores.
• Toys: Experts agree toys are a better buy after Black Friday, with brands like Mattel and Fisher-Price offering delivery deals and site-wide sales of up to 30-percent off.
• Beauty Products: Stock up on cosmetics and skincare items at a discount for yourself and as gifts. In addition to deals from specialty retailers like Sephora and Ulta, look for savings from specific beauty brands like Clinique.
• Travel: An oft-overlooked deal on Cyber Monday, hotels, airlines, booking sites and other travel companies woo customers with discounts. For example, Starwood Hotels and Resorts is already offering savings of up to 50 percent on over 1,00 properties (blackout dates apply), while Red Roof Inn is offering up to 30-percent off stays through March 31, 2016.

Cyber Monday Shopping Tips

• Shop Safe: Never use public Wifi for online shopping as hackers can easily steal your payment info. Check the reputability of the sites you're shopping with at ResellerRatings.com or BizRate.com.
• Take Advantage of Early Savings: Walmart is launching its Cyber Monday deals starting at 8 p.m. ET on Sunday, Nov. 29, while Target is continuing its 10 Days of Deals through Dec. 1. Start browsing on Sunday and snag early-bird deals. Plus, fill up your cart with coveted items and store payment info for quick checkout.
• Know Price Histories: Like brick-and-mortar stores, online retailers will often inflate the original cost of an item to make their CyberMonday discount seem like a steal. Use Pricespider.com to ensure you're getting a good deal, and try CamelCamelCamel.com for price histories of products sold by Amazon.
• Compare Offers: Find a comprehensive list of Cyber Monday deals and promo codes at sites like CouponSherpa.com which aggregates top deals all in one spot for fast reference.
• Think Fast with Doorbusters: If you've got an online doorbuster on your list, don't let it languish in your shopping cart while you browse for other products. It might be gone when you're ready to check out. Buy it immediately, then head back to shop for other items.
• Review Return Policies: Review return policies so there's no surprise fees if you're dissatisfied with a purchase. You can snag free return shipping when you checkout with your PayPal account, or enjoy a no-risk money guarantee plus free shipping both ways from eBay.

Andrea Woroch is a money-saving expert who transforms everyday consumers into savvy shoppers by sharing smart spending tips and personal finance advice. As a sought-after media source, she has been featured among such top news outlets as Good Morning America, Today, CNN, Dr. OZ, New York Times, MONEY Magazine, Consumer Reports, Forbes and many more. In addition, Andrea's stories have been published among leading publications and sites such as Yahoo!, AOL Daily Finance, CNN.com, Huffington Post, LearnVest and New York Daily News. Check out Andrea's demo reel or visit her website at AndreaWoroch.com for more information about booking an interview or requesting an original written article. You can also follow her on Twitter or Facebook for daily money tips.

Guest Post: 10 Ways To Combat Escalating Food Prices

by  Andrea Woroch

Watching cashiers ring up purchases at the grocery store is becoming more painful every day. Unfortunately, things are about to get much worse, particularly for low-income consumers who don't have ready access to discount supermarkets.

According to the United Nations, global food prices hit a record high in February due to upward-spiraling gas prices and stockpiling by importers. These factors are hitting the already volatile cereal markets. Wheat, corn, sugar and edible oils have seen the sharpest price increases in the last six months, with a relatively smaller increase in rice. Produce has already skyrocketed, with prices expected to rise by roughly one-fourth to one-third in the next year.

Such price increases and the resulting extreme poverty are partially credited with recent public unrest that toppled leaders in Tunisia and Egypt and sparked further unrest in North Africa and the Middle East.

So what's an American consumer to do? Here are 10 ways to combat rising food prices.

1. Shop Warehouse Stores
Not all prices are better at membership stores, particularly if you tend to go overboard, but there are some really good deals to be had. Look for great buys on perishable items and shop towards the end of the day, when department managers want to unload extra inventory.

2. Use Coupons
Now's the time to get in on the extreme-couponing trend, particularly since there are so many ways to access them these days. You'll find coupons online in both Internet-code or downloadable (IP) form.. Mobile coupons are as close as your cell phone. CellFire is a great source for grocery savings.

Don't overlook the coupons that print out with your receipt at the register. Known as Catalinas, these coupons are targeted towards the purchases you've made that day. Some stores, like King Soopers, also allow you to stack manufacturer and store coupons for additional savings. Not all supermarkets allow you to stack, however, so check first.

3. Hit Dollar Stores
Whether you cruise the narrow aisles of Dollar General or hit one of the smaller chains, dollar stores offer "ka-ching" savings on boxed, bagged and canned goods. Make sure you check the expiration dates, however.

4. Use Grocery Store Rewards CardsThese loyalty cards have become a necessity to access store sales, but they also have another benefit; You can download online coupons directly to your rewards card and the savings will be taken off at the register. Visit the rewards-card pages of such supermarket websites as Safeway and Food Lion to find these manufacturer coupons.

Some rewards card also provide gas savings when you buy groceries. At times, King Soopers has taken up to 10-cents off each gallon you purchase at their pumps when you spend $100 or more in their store.

5. Buy Generic
By and large, store-brand generics can be much cheaper than manufacturer products with the exact same quality. In fact, generics come off the same assembly line before being slapped with separate labels so skip the brand name items.

6. Use Discount Gift Cards
Shop websites like GiftCardGranny for discount gift cards from Kmart, Walmart and other major chains that sell food goods and produce. Paying just a portion of the card's face value gives you an instant savings on your grocery needs.

7. Make A List
Avoid impulse purchases by making a list before you leave home and sticking to it when you hit the store. Knowing specifically what you need also helps avoid duplications of products you already have at home.

8. Plan Your Meals
It's a lot easier to make a list when you have a plan. Creating a weekly menu also helps you avoid quick trips to the supermarket that end up costing you more in many ways. For last minute meals, create a gourmet dish at a deep discount by buying meats, produce and other food items that are on sale at your local grocery store.

9. One-Stop Shop
Save gas, time and money by shopping stores like Target that allow you to buy everything on your list within one visit.

10. Avoid Out-of-Season ProduceTo every vegetable and fruit there is a season...and a better price. Squash are cheaper in the fall while asparagus can be a bargain in the spring. Wait until prices are at their best and plan your menu around seasonal produce to save big.

About the author:
Consumer savings expert, Andrea Woroch,  has appeared on ABC News NOW, NBC's Today Show, FOX & Friends, MSNBC and has been quoted by SmartMoney, Kiplinger Personal Finance and many more. See Andrea's recent interview on NBC Today Show.