To be honest, I’ve been a little underwhelmed with Cyber Monday shopping this year.  Many online deals started on Black Friday, and most of what I saw while browsing the web or checking my inbox were deals similar to what I see on a weekly basis anyway (25% off plus free shipping and the like).  The upside is that these offers are lasting longer than just one day in most cases and all the smart folks that analyze this stuff say the online deals will get better as the month progresses!  Any Cyber Monday deals you found you couldn’t pass up?

Couponing addicts will be disappointed this week.  There will be no inserts in most of your paper’s this week.  Very limited zip codes will received a P&G insert, so enjoy the online deal hunting and couponing this week!

In the spirit of holiday shopping, don’t forget about Small Business Saturday. Take the opportunity to re-visit and even discover great shopping in our smaller retailers around the Valley this weekend.

Best Buy stores open at 5 am.with doorbuster sales on items including a Toshiba satellite laptop for $189.99 and a Nintendo Wii bundle for $169.99.  

Target opens Friday at 4 am, and sales last through Saturday. Target is giving away 100 $25 gift cards per day. To enter, visit Target on Facebook or Twitter.

Walmart opens at 5 am Friday with specials on electronics, video games, clothes and toys.

Gap opens at 5am with 50% off EVERYTHING until 10am.

Kmart stores open Thanksgiving from 6am – 9pm and Black Friday doorbusters begin 5am – 11am on Friday

HHGregg will be open at 4am with doorbuster sales on items including Sony 80 GB Hard Drive Handycam Camcorder – $199.99, TomTom 3.5″ GPS – $69.99 and 4GB MP3 Video Player – $14.99.

Dick’s and Gander Mountain are both having doorbuster sale items as well with some early shopping starting Thanksgiving morning.

This obviously isn’t a full list of every retailer having sales tomorrow, so please send in your comments with anythin I’ve missed.  And just in case you were wondering, Valley View Mall will be opening doors at 5am, Tanglewood at 6am.

Do not miss out on the inserts in today’s paper, they can be instrumental in planning your strategy and finding coupons to use with in-store deals.According to CNN Money, if you’re not in the Black Friday shopping spirit, you can find the same deals online as in store at the following retailers:

Best Buy: Starting Thanksgiving day the same products promoted in the Thanksgiving ads (including doorbusters) will be available on BestBuy.com. Free shipping is also available through December 21 on almost all products.

Macy’s:  Doorbusters will be sold online and in store on Black Friday.

Amazon:  Offering free shipping AND matching other retailer’s doorbuster prices.

Toys R Us:  Mystery Deals previewed online will be available in stores from 10pm Thanksgiving day until 1pm on Black Friday.

Wal-Mart:  Offering online only specials on Thanksgiving Day and free shipping with no minimum purchase.  Doorbusters are in store only.

Target:  Online deals start on Thanksgiving Day with free shipping on orders of $50 or more, but doorbusters are in store only starting at 4am on Black Friday.

Sears and Kmart:  Online discounts up to 40% off on Thanksgiving Day, but up to 60% in store on Black Friday.

With the official start of holiday season being right around the corner, it’s time to think strategy.
Here are a few tips and tricks that will help navigate the path:

Make a list.  As simple as it sounds, following a list is a major help in staying in control.  Don’t forget small things like host/hostess gifts for holiday parties you know you’ll attend and any other gifts you may leave to last minute buying.  I try to start a list early in the year when I hear the hard-to-buy-fors on mention something they want or like.

Have a budget. Until this year I had a set amount to spend per person on my shopping list.  This year I re-thought that strategy and decided to get each person or couple something I knew they would enjoy as long as it didn’t go over my normal spending limit.  There’s no point in buying random stuff to fulfill a dollar number!

Plan ahead.  The more specific the better.  Make sure holiday shopping fits within your normal monthly budget.  Look for sales and bargains, comparison shop and map out a plan with dates and stores based on your findings.  If you can get it all done on Black Friday/Cyber Monday, great!  But don’t buy just because the deal is hot.   

Check back here bright and early Thanksgiving morning for a list of Black Friday opening times and last minute deals.

If you haven’t noticed this week, Samaritan Inn thrift store has been closed for remodeling since Friday, November 19.  You can learn more here and here about the services they provide to our community.  The store will be opening again on Black Friday, just in time for holiday shopping (for a good cause)!

There will be only one insert in today’s November 21 Sunday paper, SmartSource.  The content is similar to last week’s with several coupons that can help in your Thanksgiving meal planning.

BUT. . .the coupon booty gets better later in the week.  Thanksgiving day is set for the largest insert schedule of the year with even more inserts than last year and will give you a heads up on all the doorbuster sales happening the day after (or in some cases starting Thanksgiving night!). 

Also, next week’s Sunday insert is set to be major, so don’t miss out!

Minted.com is having a 20% off sale through the end (11/18) of the day on  recycled paper holiday cards.  So cute!  Just enter GOGREEN20 at checkout.

Christmas shopping can easily get out of control as the list gets longer each year with family, friends, co-workers, kids’ teachers, kids’ friends, that random person you know somehow that always gets you a little something for the holidays and you feel the need to reciprocate. . . Two of the most frugal options I’m seeing this year are do-it-yourself gifts and deep discount hunting online.

Of course the DIY option is present every year.  Cookies, candies, cakes and the like as well as handmade, homemade gifts that have been knitted, stitched and crafted have made a comeback due to practical penny pinching.  It’s not like I can pull off a craft Christmas though.  So I turn to the web.

The world of online shopping has made holiday shopping easier than ever and now group buying sites are getting noticed as frugal gift giving options. For the non-DIYers, our own Daily Deal offers amazing deals on potential gifts every day, not just during the holiday season.  And, until recently I hadn’t thought of group buying as a gift buying source!  

Married to a golfer?  Sign up for the Daily Deal and see which courses and gear show up in your inbox!  Turned your wife into a golf widow?  The Daily Deal lets you score great spa and dinner options too!  I’m not sold on giving an actual coupon to anyone besides my spouse though.  I mean really, who would appreciate the bargain shopping prowess besides the person with whom you share a checking account?  Jasmere, another group buying site has already been a source for my holiday shopping this year, and at 70% off!  As the holiday season progresses I’ll be highlighting these throughout the weeks.

Update [2:30 p.m.]: Turns out the Starbucks offer is good from Nov. 18-21! Thanks for the comment, Ed.

Today, Talbots is offering 40 percent off full-priced jackets (excluding outerwear) both online and in stores. The sale takes place between noon and 3 p.m.

For online purchases, use promotional code JACKET at checkout. Plus, shipping is free.

On Thursday, Nov. 18, buy one holiday drink and get one free from 2 to 5 p.m. at any Starbucks store.

Hope you get a good deal!

The fun stuff first!  Toys R Us is still offering the free $10 gift card with qualifying purchase of $75 or more.  In addition, you can get a free $5 gift card when purchasing any one of qualified DVDs and on Tuesday only get a $20 gift card when you buy one qualifying game for PS3 or Xbox 360.  All these offers are in store only.

Now, the fun stuff for me. . .Kroger has a couple of inserts beside the weekly specials this week that include coupons on Starbucks VIA, Lipton Green Tea, Crisco products, Juicy Juice, Private Selection ice cream and more.  The weekly specials this week are centered around Thanksgiving with at least two brands of turkey, Gwaltney ham, pork loin, rolls, frozen pies and several of the fixings for sides (like broccoli, potatoes, cheese, celery, spinach and onions!) and cornbread stuffing on special.

And finally, Big Lots has me kicking myself over a recent Christmas tree purchase.  For this week only prices are cut on pre-lit Christmas trees ($100 for a 7.5 ft tree is not too shabby!), plus some lights, ornaments and outdoor decorations are experience price cuts this week.

I’m seeing several version of the Sunday insert from Red Plum and SmartSource this week as well as a General Mills insert.  I can’t be sure how they’ve been distributed throughout our area, but from the blog world I’m reading that some zip codes have received more than one insert from each vendor.  Below are some of my favorites.

Red Plum has over $100 in coupons:

$0.50/1 Hellmann’s product

$0.30/1 Shedd’s Spread Country Crock

$0.40/1 Lipton product

$0.30/1 Q-Tips product

2- $0.50/1 Suave products

$1.00/1 Vaseline product

$1.00/2 College Inn broth or stock

$6.00/1 8 lb. or larger Bone-In Half Ham at Honeybaked Ham

And I could go on. . .moving on.

SmartSource:

$0.50/1 Sister Schbuert’s product (YUM!)

$1.50/1 Goodnites underwear

$0.50/1 Pam Baking Spray

$0.75/1 Marzetti dressing

$1.00/2 Nabisco crackers

$1.00/2 Ziploc brand (including holiday limited edition) bags

$0.75/2 Fisher Chef’s Naturals products

Again, there are so many more than I’ve listed here that will be useful for holiday cooking and baking.  Let me know your favorites and how you plan on pairing them!

It seems like every day this week a major retailer has announced some sort of twist on their holiday shopping.  Sears is opening Thanksgiving day to get a jump start on Black Friday sales. Target has already released their toy catalog and the pre-Thanksgiving sale starts on November 21. And yesterday Wal-Mart started offering free shipping on over 60,000 items from their website. 

What do you think, are consumers ready to dive into holiday shopping already or do we need a turkey day come and gone before catching the holiday (shopping) spirit?

Most of the time I discourage buying perishables in bulk, but the exception is when you have a freezer cooking session planned.  Buying proteins in bulk can be a great way to save a little money and stock your freezer.  The most versatile meat I’ve found for freezer cooking is chicken, but no matter what you choose, make sure you can make several dishes using it (and try to find it on sale too!).  

A freezer cooking day with chicken can look like this: chicken pot pies, chicken quesadillas, chicken and broccoli casserole, roasted red pepper Asian chicken bowls, chicken noodle soup and just simply chicken with sauce that can marinade as it unthaws.  Setting out my meals in the morning and only needing to cook a couple of fresh sides when I get home is a big time saver and takes a lot of the guess work out of dinner.  Depending on how long you want your freezer cooking session to carry you, and how convincing you can be to get your family to eat the same thing more than once a week, you may want to do more or less main dishes.

To be fair, the downside to freezer cooking in bulk is the time it takes.  Usually one full day a month can cover shopping, chopping, cooking, packing and storing.

Last month, I started a three-parter on the guidelines I use for grocery budgeting.

The first step is knowing what you spend money on. The second is knowing where you can cut your spending.
The last, and most difficult step, is to stick to a plan. Whether you’re trying to establish a routine of meal planning or cutting out unexpected mid-week take out, stick to it! 

To help, The Roanoke Times has a weekly meal planner that runs in the Sunday Extra section incorporating ready-made and homemade meals, which is a bonus to working families. And so far, all the recipes I’ve tried have been delicious.

There are also countless sources online like relishrelish.com (my personal favorite), e-mealz.com, mealmixer.com and yourmealplan.com that range from quick and easy to gourmet.  Most of these sites are fee-based. All are good sources in my opinion, but after looking at sample meals and selections, you’ll have to decide what your family eats.  I took advantage of free or discounted trials at various sites to determine which site(s) were worth the membership fee.

There are freezer cooking resources online too, a few of my go-tos are 30daygourmet.com, menus4moms.com and onceamonthcook.com.  If the thought of freezer cooking — where you prepare dishes in advance that can be frozen — is daunting, these sites offer insight and tips on making it manageable and organized.

Also, freezer cooking can be a time and money saver. A deal is only a deal when it’s something you’ll use. Freezer cooking can happen as often as once a week, or just once a month, and is a great way to save time (and money) while still eating home-cooked meals.

Check the Shoptimist blog at blogs.roanoke.com this week for a few freezable recommendations to start a freezer-cooking habit and a more thorough walk through of my favorite meal planning site.

You’ll be seeing some freezer cooking tips and tricks around the Shoptimist this week, and feel free to leave your own in the comments!

One of the most important things to keep in mind when freezer cooking is: what will freeze well, and what won’t.  It’s not a great feeling when you’ve found a deal, prepared frozen meals then as they begin to thaw you see texture changes and the taste just isn’t exactly right.  Below is a list of some of the things I’ve found that freeze well and not so well.

Ground beef, other red meats and pork: meatloaf, meatballs, spaghetti, lasagna, chili and the like.

Pasta: freezes well, but can get overcooked when warming.

Poultry  and seafood: pork,chicken and turkey, I typically freeze recipes containing poultry with the vegetables and keep any sauces or pasta frozen separately.

Beans and rice: soups, sides and almost anything containing beans and rice freeze well and retain good texture as they thaw.  Again, if there is a sauce that goes with the recipe, I typically freeze it alone and add in when warming.

Butter: some texure issues can arise, so if you’re planning to do baking or other cooking that requires smooth texture freezing may not be the best option.

Dairy: not the best to freeze, cheese can get crumbly but is very use-able, yogurt can get a little unsmooth and milk can separate.

Fruits and vegetables:  most don’t freeze well due to getting mushy.  Apples are easily freezable and pre-cooked is optimal when working with these ingredients.  Potatoes also freeze well but discolor if you freeze them uncooked.

Eggs: I’ve never tried these, but know that eggs in recipes work well and I’ve read that raw eggs, out of the shell can be frozen.

Any favorite freezable foods in your house?

Here’s an idea for Christmas gifts for the grandparents: photobooks documenting their grandchildren’s 2010.

Today is the last day for a buy-1-get-2-free photobook sale on snapfish.com. You can get nice hardcover books, and there are many designs to choose from. The hardcover books start at 20 pages and cost $24.99 before shipping.

Today’s Smart Source insert has the normal variety of coupons with a few useful coupons for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday.  You can save $4.00 on any Butterball Whole TUrkey when you buy any combination of four packages of 12 oz. Heinz Homestyle gravy, Pillsbury cresecent rolls or Stove Top stuffing mix.  On that note, there’s is a $0.4/2 coupon for Pillsburg crescent rolls!  And for the stuffing, Eggland’s Best has three coupons in this week’s insert for organic, regular and hard cooking, peeled eggs.

On the toy front. . . the Target Great Holiday Toy Sale book is offering coupons for $5.00 on LEGO toy sets, $15.00 off Playwonder Kitchen Center or Dollhouse,  $10.00 off LeapFrog Leapster2 Learning Game System, $10.00 off Disney Interactive Ride-On and MANY more.

SmartSource is the only insert in our area this weekend, but retailers like JCPenney, Walgreens and A.C. Moore have coupons in their inserts as well.

And, in addition to all the Veteran’s Day and early holiday sales taking place, Wal-Mart and Target holiday toy books are coming out this week.  Wal-Mart’s Toyland 2010 catalog doesn’t have coupons but is touting their “rollback” pricing.  Target’s toy coupon booklet is within the larger Great Holiday Toy Sale book, so don’t overlook it!

Black Friday, it sounds a little intimidating, doesn’t it?  Now that October is firmly behind us, it’s time to focus on the upcoming retail season. The Friday after Thanksgiving is the official kick off, the Super Bowl of holiday shopping if you will.  For the seasoned shoppers among us, that holiday shopping list you’ve been working on may get checked off one by one, all in a single day.

When doing a quick Google search I found at least ten websites claiming to have a listing of 2010 Black Friday ads and even a Twitter accounts for different blogs touting Black Friday deals.  I assume we’ll also tsart to see online, print and televised ads going into more detail for our local retailers in the coming weeks.  Since my Black Friday experiences are limited (I’m more of a Cyber Monday kind of girl), I would like to hear your tales!  

Just go to http://blogs.roanoke.com/shoptimist/, look for this post and answer a few questions:

1. Do you have a strategy for finding the best deals or do you see an ad and show up on Black Friday?
2. Which retailers are over/underrated on Black Friday?  Are enduring the long lines worth it or do you know where to go to beat the crowd and get a great deal?
3. What is the best deal you’ve scored, and how did you do it?  A 72” flat screen you got for $40?  I want to know!

If you missed the Old Navy outerwear coupon last week, Old Navy is offering 50% off outerwear through November 11 while supplies last.  Just go here to start shopping.