By Eric W. Schoen
Can you believe that Thanksgiving is less than 3 weeks away. Seems like we went from Summer to Winter in one week. What happened to the Autumn leaves? What happened to Fall? Finally we are seeing some fall foliage in these parts close to a month after the usual color change in the leaves before they hit the ground.
Did you buy your turkey yet. Rumors of a turkey shortage have people running to the supermarket. There should be big birds and small birds but there may be a shortage those middle of the range birds most of us buy. Turkeys freeze well so if you see the size you need and have space in the freezer, no pun intended but I would gobble it up!
Everything we want seems to be stuck in some container somewhere waiting to be unloaded. Or it is somehow affected by Covid. Or there is a worker shortage for production. Or a worker shortage on the sales floor. The Target in Pelham was recruiting for workers for their Mount Kisco location. Target would even pay the Metro North train fare to get workers from Pelham and the Bronx to Mount Kisco. And the pay is close to $20 an hour.
The more I hear of shortages, the more I think this is some big hoax to take advantage of consumers and raise prices. Shortages of Halloween costumes? Yes, the pickings were bare if you were looking the day before Halloween last Saturday. But why would you wait until the day before Halloween to find a scary ghost or goblin outfit. The best costumes are homemade anyway!
Before we get into the bargains let’s sip a cup of coffee and relax a little bit. Holidays can be stressful, even in the best of times. If you live or work near a Panera Bread Store (Pelham, Cross County, Scarsdale and other locations) you are crazy if you are not taking advantage of the $8.99 a month all the Hot or Iced Coffee you can drink promotion.
Time for some calculations. If you spend $3 a day on coffee multiply that times 30 days in a month which equals $90. $90 minus $9 plus tax puts you $80 ahead of the game. And unlike Starbucks, Panera let’s you put in your own milk and sweeteners. To me coffee is like a chemistry project. I like it perfect, and I like to fix it myself!
Many Black Friday sales have gone live already. Target has been running deals during the month of October. myblackfriday.com posts Black Friday sales from the major retailers as they go live. You can also simply Google your favorite retailer and put ‘Black Friday’ after the retailers name and chances are the retailers Black Friday sales flyer will pop up. Many sales are online as well as in store, as retailers are still not sure if due to Covid fears consumers are going to shop in person.
Rakuten and Ibotta allow you to link your credit cards and earn cash back on your purchases at many major retailers. They run specials were you can get up to 10% back (and in a few cases more) on top of the sale price you hopefully took advantage of. Retailers like those in the GAP family of brands (GAP, Old Navy, Athleta and Banana Republic) are often featured. BUMPED is the new guy on the block that lets you earn fractional shares of stocks of the stores you shop at when you make your purchases.
Speaking of stocks, what better gift in this booming stock market than the gift of a share or partial share of stock. Particularly fun for the kids to own stock in a company they are familiar with (Disney, Apple, McDonalds) so they see how their purchases can affect stock prices. The Stockpile app allows you to purchase fractional shares at discounted fees, and many companies allow consumers to purchase stocks directly from them saving brokerage fees. investor.gov is a good website that lists stocks you can purchase directly from companies on the various stock markets.
Make sure you are signed up in the frequent reward programs at stores you shop at. Spend with your head, not over it but if you know you are going to make a major purchase at a store that offers a credit card, it might pay for you to open a charge account with that retailer so you can get the discount for opening a card on top of normal discounts. If an employee goes out of their way to help you and you are making a big purchase, open the account with him or her. The employee gets credit for the opening of the account helping to make their holidays brighter.
Most Broadway theaters that closed during the pandemic have reopened. The Radio City Christmas Show is back. If you meet the requirements to join the Theater Development Fund (TDF) and are a teacher, retiree, civil service worker or fit in one of their categories, it’s a good place to get theater tickets both in the city and the tristate region at a major discount. Stubhub.com, SeatGeek app, broadwaybox.com, Todaytix everyday a new discount website selling theater tickets opens up. Stay with the established ones or ones you know your friends have used. There are very few shows except the blockbusters like Lion King, Wicked, Hamilton and a few others where discount tickets cannot be found. If you want one of the hot shows over the Thanksgiving-New Year period, check for added performances other than the regularly scheduled one for good seats.
Have you been to TJMaxx or Marshall’s lately and noticed the lines? It is because manufacturers are selling current merchandise, not last season’s leftovers anymore to these discounters. An example. I bought a Columbia puffer vest, current season available at Macy’s marked retail price $150, sale priced at your Macy’s probably $100 for $40. Bottom line:It pays to shop around.
If you haven’t booked your flight yet, unless you are willing to fly on the actual day of the holiday expect to pay a pretty penny. The airline business is outta control with lack of staff and cancellations for weather caused by a raindrop. And who really wants to fly with the craziness in the sky. People act like animals but a a lot of this goes back to crowded seats, idiots not wearing masks, and the whole experience from when you arrive at the airport to the time you board your plane right through to when you reach your destination. Remember when it was fun to fly?
Hotels? Many are still shuttered like in New York City due to Covid. Many are not fully operational at capacity due to staff shortages. priceline.com and hotwire.com can sometimes bring great savings if you know where you want to stay, the level of accommodation you want (2, 3, 4 or 5 stars) but don’t care what particular hotel you are staying in. Kayak.com, booking.com there are new hotel booking services everyday. Stick with ones you or friends have used successfully in the past.
There are very few days when street parking meters are not operational except for Sunday’s and major holidays. The biggest day for municipalities to tow cars and make money from meters people have not put money in is Black Friday, the Day after Thanksgiving. Remember: for most municipalities the only days meters are NOT in effect are News Years Day, Christmas Day, Thanksgiving Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day and Labor Day. Always check the meters and posted signs which should have notification when meters are not in effect. In Yonkers, don’t forget to take advantage of the ‘10 minute’ button on many meters giving you 10 minutes to run in and do what you have to do.
Some additional websites you should be on: Krazy Coupon Lady, freeshipping.com, wish.com,
and don’t be so quick to throw away the streamer of coupons you get when you shop at CVS. You never know what you will find! We will have more holiday bargain columns, and feel free to email me (see below) discounts you find! Happy Shopping, and of course Happy Holidays!
Reach Eric Schoen at thistooisyonkers@aol.com. Follow him on Twitter @ericyonkers. Listen to Eric Schoen and Dan Murphy on the Westchester Rising Radio Show Thursday’s from 10-11 a.m. On WVOX 1460 AM, go to WVOX.com and click the arrow to listen to the live stream or download the WVOX app from the App Store free of charge.
