I just spent $90 on 3 pairs of sandals yesterday...why, because they were on sale and I wanted them. I never used to be a shopping queen, but I am now.

So what are your favorite online shopping sites...I wanna know new places to spend the $ I don't have.

-- Anonymous, July 26, 2000

Answers

I adore Amazon. A while back I blew a bunch of dough on Eddie Bauer clothes for Paul, but for some reason I prefer the print catalog to the online one for them. I hate slow sites and theirs is slow whenever I'm there.

And I just like print catalogs, for some reason. Oh, but I like the Columbia House site because it suggests artists according to your faves and has sound clips for most CDs. So I use their site a lot.

-- Anonymous, July 26, 2000

I really have zero money to spend so because I'm going to England, what did I do but spend MEGA bucks online at Lands' End. I felt the need to replace Lands' End clothes that are 10 years old even if I am not taking them on my trip. I wasn't terribly thrilled with their site though. Their colors are way off and it took a little for me to get the hang of it. Well, uh duh, maybe the color problem is due to the glare screen I'm staring at.

-- Anonymous, July 26, 2000

I have no problem with expensive clothes as long as I get them on sale at Ross or the Bon's one day-o 75% off sale, so it's actually a decent mark-up and not $13 for a pair of underwear, Lane Bryant I am talking about YOU!

I am the cheapest person I know, I don't split the 2 ply toilet paper in half or wash out and reuse condoms or anything foul like that, but I will not let myself spend the amount of money it takes to produce, market, distribute, and then pound into your brain that this sweater will make all the difference in your life for only $150.

Furthermore, Vogue and Elle make me laugh with all the designer clothes and then the prices, like leather pants that cost more than my 1992 Geo.

OK, I've probably offended you all, but I am at work and I need to relese, so thanks a bunch!

-- Anonymous, July 27, 2000

Oh, I'm so addicted to Amazon.com. I can kiss off a hundred bucks on books in less time than it takes to make a cuppa tea. When I was working on papers last year, it was especially dangerous. "I'm stuck... I need more information on Caliban/Victorian children's lit./Romantic poems with "the wind" as a metaphor/Laura Ingalls Wilder...." and WHAMMO! 6 more books ordered from Amazon.com.

And then they started selling music there, too....

I have studiously avoided eBay because I know I'll be in deep poo if I'm ever let loose there....

-- Anonymous, July 27, 2000

Just this afternoon, the wonderful Shelley of shelleyness.com introduced me to the cheap, evil world that is half.com . You can find books and music for cheap, I mean really cheap. It's mostly used stuff, somewhat like eBay, but with no haggling. I'm getting a book for 49 cents.

I spent the entire night at reflect.com the other night, because they sent me a coupon for a free lipstick. Doh, I should have known there was a catch: You had to buy something at regular price. So I wasted most of the night confessing whether I drank 8 glasses of water a day, and deciding if my face was more oily than dry or dry than oily, for nothing. Feh.

-- Anonymous, July 27, 2000

They also have a website, but in the past two weeks I have spent much money at the local Target store. Target just opened up in my city last Wednesday, and since I haven't set foot in a Target in a year I have been going hog wild. Last week I bought myself a Hello Kitty cordless phone, and yesterday I bought over $160 in clothes for myself and my husband. The best things I bought were boxer shorts (for sleepwear) with cookies and ice cream bars on it, and slippers that have long pink and silver fur on it. I also bought some shorts and a skirt/tank/cardigan set that is really cute. My husband loved the leopard print silk boxers I bought him, and the Scooby Doo boxers. Target rocks my world. I need to check out www.target.com to see if there are items on the site that I can't get at the store.

-- Anonymous, July 27, 2000

Target.com is utterly lame compared to the real thing. Nothing beats the behind-the-aisles clearance sections after a major holiday. I love half.com, too, and have about a billion books up for sale right now. I use it as a dumping ground for CDs I bought and decided I hate, too, which is nice, to get a little money back. Somebody jumped on my Lucinda Williams CD about 20 seconds after it was listed -- hooray! Girl couldn't sing if you transplanted another person's voice into her body...

-- Anonymous, July 28, 2000

aw, i love lucinda williams!! and half.com, i just ordered a brand new hardcover book from there for less than half the cover price.

another great site for used books is powells.com

do you all know about this site? daily listings of special discounts and bargains all over the web: http://amazing-bargains.com/

i love saving money!

-- Anonymous, July 28, 2000

I've been in the shoe aisle in Target after a sale, and saw them training those earthquake rescue dogs in the sandal rubble pile.

My favorite though is trying on their shoes with the little elastic still attached to both shoes. Let's shuffle to the dog food aisle!

-- Anonymous, July 28, 2000

woohoo! Thanks for the Half.Com tip...that place rocks!

-- Anonymous, July 28, 2000

Lisa: earthquake rubble dogs... HA! And it's so true.

Okay, I'm a liar coz I blew a bunch of cash at eddiebauer.com last night.

-- Anonymous, July 28, 2000

Count me in with the Amazon.com devotees. It's too easy to buy my books and music there. For real stores, I do like hanging-out in the shoe section of Ross. I have a real shoe thing goin' on. Rocket Dogs and Skechers for about one-third of the price! Ooh yeah.

-- Anonymous, July 28, 2000

oy. No sprees for me. I'm still paying for clothes I'm already sick of.

-- Anonymous, July 29, 2000

Last night I called one of those 1-800 numbers off the commercial to order Solid Gold Dance Hits of the '70s and early '80s. It seemed like a really good deal -- two CDs for 12.99. But then the chick told me that they'd send me more every two months and bill me. But then I found out that the complete package was $80 for 6 CDs. So I agreed to it. But THEN, the chick was kinda snotty to me. She said, "Expect your first two CDs in 7 to 14 days" and she hung up on me!

So I'm thinking, this morning, that I want those CDs, but I don't really need them. So I'm considering calling and cancelling, and telling them that I'm cancelling because the chick hung up on me.

-- Anonymous, July 29, 2000

Cancel! They're a bunch of rude scamsters! Let 'em have it! The customer is always right and you don't have to take it anymore!

-- Anonymous, July 29, 2000

I did! I cancelled! I ordered 5 years' worth of magazines from the nice telemarketers instead.

-- Anonymous, July 29, 2000

For online shopping, I love amazon.com. I've bought lots of stuff from dlibert.com (mostly Ratbert, since he's the concretization of my clueless abandon and naked optimism). For computer stuff, I like egghead.com, because their discounts are usually the best.

This is just barely still on-topic, but I have to tell you. I love Penguin brand caffeinated peppermints... I buy tins of them by the 12-count case online at peppermints.com. :-)

Now, I'm a retail slut (I'm also vain), and my favorite real store is Kohl's, because of the prices and the unbelieveable sales they have!! . . . (three minutes later:) okay, I just typed, erased, re-typed and re-erased descriptions of some of my wilder shopping sprees there, complete with embarrasing dollar amounts, but I can't do it. I can only say I've spent a LOT of money on clothes there. Hey, they were on sale! :-P

-- Anonymous, July 30, 2000

Gwen, I *lovelovelove* the new t-shirts and mugs and stuff. When payday next comes around I shall treat myself to a mini-spree.

-- Anonymous, July 31, 2000

To steal egregiously:

If I had $1000000
(If I had $1000000)
I'd buy me a house
(I would buy Mom a house)
If I had $1000000
(If I had $1000000)
I'd buy you furniture for your house
(Maybe a nice sleeper sofa or bookshelves)
If I had $1000000
(If I had $1000000)
I'd buy me a new car
(a nice reliable automobile)
If I had $1000000
I'd buy some gloves.

If I had $1000000
I'd build a hot tub in our yard
If I had $1000000
You could come over, with friends, party hard
If I had $1000000
Maybe a stainless steel professional refrigerator
Wouldn't that be fabulous?

If I had $1000000
(If I had $1000000)
I'd buy a leather coat
(a fine-quality leather coat would be cool)
If I had $1000000
(If I had $1000000)
I'd buy lots of books
(and tarot decks and _Q_s)
If I had $1000000
(if I had $1000000)
I'd buy you John Taylor's old clothes
(All them crazy fedora hats)
If I had $1000000 I'd buy more toys.

If I had $1000000
We wouldn't have to fly elta to London
If I had $1000000
We'd take Concorde 'cause it costs more.
If I had $1000000
We wouldn't have to eat Kraft Dinner
But we would. Because we like Kraft Dinners. But we'd serve them on nice china and put the leftovers in the fridge from the first chorus. Mmm.

If I had $1000000
(If I had $1000000)
I'd buy a lot of CDs
(but not a Kid Rock CD, that's cruel)
If I had $1000000
(If I had $1000000)
I'd buy some art supplies
(great big canvases and nice brushes)
If I had $1000000
(If I had $1000000)
I'd buy more Spice Shoes
(haven't you always wanted platforms?)

If I had $1000000, If I had $1000000
If I had $1000000, If I had $1000000
I'd be rich.

-- Anonymous, July 31, 2000

Paul W., never, ever, EVER, feel like you have to restrain yourself on my forum when talking about bargain shopping, all right?

-- Anonymous, July 31, 2000

Damn, Gwen! I was going to offer to buy a few of those CDs from you. My husband would go crazy if I ever bought CDs from the tv. All the good ones are from American-based companies and with the exchange and duty, they end up being really expensive. My rebuttal is, "But where else would I be able to get all those songs on one CD?" However, he is not moved by that argument since he doesn't think that anyone should own all of those songs anyway.

-- Anonymous, August 01, 2000

Shoot. Maybe I'll still do it, after I have a slightly heavier cash flow. Coz to be honest, I'm really afraid the commercial will come on again and I won't be able to resist...

-- Anonymous, August 01, 2000

I don't regret the purchase of AM Gold of the 70's of the TV three years ago one bit. And I was very, very close to purchasing that Hippie music TV album they've been showing lately when I realized I already had 98% of the songs on it.

-- Anonymous, August 01, 2000

I just realized that I never really called and cancelled! I tried to, and they just gave me another number to call. And they said I could always just write "refuse" on the package when I got it. So I said I'd call the number, but I never did!

Thanks, Maggie and scrnwrt. Your posts have enabled me.

(I did cancel the magazine thing, though. I can afford one or the other, but not both.)

-- Anonymous, August 01, 2000

Alright, Gwen, just for you. Now keep this to yourself, don't tell anyone else. Over the last 12 months or so, my wife and I have shopped four major Kohl's sales. At the first one, we spent $845, all of it on clothes, and most of them for me. At the next sale, we spent in excess of $600 and at the next two we spent over $400 and $300. Clothes, shoes, suits, etc. Only once did we buy a china set and once we bought some nice big Persian-looking rugs for our house. Oh, and one of those later sales was all my wife's stuff, we didn't buy anything for me that time.

So now you know. Our little secret, 'kay?

-- Anonymous, August 01, 2000

Okay. Shh... my lips are sealed.

Gosh DANG y'all love Kohl's! Y'all are worse than me at Target. Man!

-- Anonymous, August 02, 2000

So, um, to justify spending money I don't have on knee high camel suede boots, which I really don't need, I bought very overpriced towels as well, since I do need towels. Probably not ultra thick pretty mossy green ones, but still. Do I need (more) therapy?

-- Anonymous, August 02, 2000

scrnwrt, if there's anything I've learned, it's that you should splurge on high-quality necessities. Your towels will last longer than cheap ones, and if they happen to be pretty -- well, that's just the icing on the cake, eh?

-- Anonymous, August 02, 2000

When I was in CA, the biggest thing was a scooter called the Razor. So I bought this $100 scooter for my kids and me. It's a blast to ride. I haven't really seen them here in Texas yet, but when they hit, every kid is gonna want one.

-- Anonymous, August 02, 2000

Oh, that Razor thing is a huge deal here.

I really want to get something I saw on tv last night. It's called Egg Wave and it's for cooking eggs in the microwave. It's only $14.99US, but with exchange and shipping and shit, it would likely be over $30Cdn, which even I agree is too much money for a little hunk of plastic.

-- Anonymous, August 11, 2000

Maggie, that Egg Wave thing tried to suck me in too.

But Ron Popiel's (sp?) new rotissere thing always captivates me. I have watched that 30 min infomercial 3 times (plus once at the gym - "Don't change the channel!! Thanks")

That prime rib on there looks nasty, but the chicken looks yummy (plus you have to wear your hot pad gloves to pull the side of beef out of the machine - macho.) Take the phone away!

-- Anonymous, August 16, 2000

I have to admit, I've watched the new rotisserie thing from Ron Popeil a few times. Well, "watched" may not be the right term. Okay, I watched it the first time, but it was just "on" the other times. Mostly because I was doing some web work really super late at night and had the TV on next to me and it came on and I didn't have the energy to get up and shut it off. Besides, if I did that, I would have probably fallen asleep on the way back to the computer, a few feet away.

Those hot pads are cool. How about the "Flavor Injector"? It's a big freakin' syringe with soy sauce in it. I feel like telling the TV "I gotcher Flavor Injector right here." What I can't stand, though, is that inane hostess chick who follows Ron around the set, oohing and aahing at every little thing then adding her own comments that just never seem to really be going in the same direction that Ron's going. Sometimes you can tell by the look on his face that he'd just like to say to her, "Shut up, you idiot, or I'll never let you work one of my infomericals again."

-- Anonymous, August 16, 2000

I like the infomercials for hair products. I really wanted Jose Eber's special wiglets when they came out, and today I saw one for the "Hairigami". I don't even wear my hair up.

Maybe that's just coz I don't have the Hairigami yet, though.

-- Anonymous, August 17, 2000

Oh geez, someone help me. Kohl's is opening two new stores in the Denver metro area tomorrow (I know one of them is at Kipling and C-470) and they are having Grand Opening sales at all their locations. My Kohl's opens tomorrow at 8AM and the sale lasts all weekend. I've joked with my wife that I'm going to be there banging on the door tomorrow morning, but the truth is I have to work. So I'll probably not go until Saturday morning after we have breakfast. Depending on the discounts and whether the selection is any better than it was last sale, about two weeks ago, I may go berserk again.

Did you know that Kohl's went public in 1992 and that it has had 35 consecutive quarters of increasing sales and revenues? :-)

P.S. my wife has decided she wants to learn a musical instrument or two or three. I know she wants to learn piano, but guess what she wants to learn first? Guitar. Classical? Nope. Rock. :-) So we will be shopping this weekend for her first Stratocaster.

When I told her that if she buys an electric guitar she will also need to buy an amplifier (I used to play rock guitar and owned lots of gear), her smile grew only impossibly wider....

-- Anonymous, August 17, 2000

What is the Hairigami? Someone once gave me a Jose Eber book about hairstyles, and it was the most pointless, irritating book I'd ever seen, so much so that we started using it as our official bug-killing book (my old apartment had a *lot* of spiders). We set up this complicated point system where you had to pick a picture with which to kill your bug, and then the closer you got the bug guts to the nose of the model in the picture, the more points you would get. We left the book behind when we moved, but I kinda wish we had given it to Goodwill so I could imagine the facial expressions of whoever was looking through it as they encountered dead bug after dead bug after dead bug.

That said, the Hairigami sounds intriguing, though.

-- Anonymous, August 17, 2000

Paul W., stay strong. But rake in the bargains at the same time, okay? And I hope your wife ROCKS OUT.

Cate: HA!!! Fuck, that was funny.

The Hairigami is a fabric-covered... stick? plank? ruler-sized thing that bends all over. You capture your hair within its grasp and bend the stick into various shapes. One chick modeled the "ponytail heart" which looked like buttocks made of hair.

There was also a bow-shaped hair tool, the demonstation of which I only briefly saw.

-- Anonymous, August 17, 2000

Oh my god, Gwen, I know what you're talking about. I have a miniature ponytail holder that operates on the Hairigami principle. And now when I go out later today, I'm gonna make Peeter style my hair so it looks like someone's ass. I just know I'm gonna start a trend. Thanks for the idea! And thank you too, Jose Eber!

-- Anonymous, August 18, 2000

That's it, I'm growing my hair long again! Actually, I had already decided to do that. As Gwen and Cate and various other people here know, my hair is damn short right now. My goal is to grow it out to my old standby 'do, a bob. This is going to take a freakin' long time because the longest hair on my head is barely two inches long.

-- Anonymous, August 18, 2000

Maggie, I don't know how long you've had your current style and how sick you've therefore become of it, but I really like your hair the way it is. It frames your face, accentuates your eyes, and all that stuff. For real, though, I like it. So if it grows too slowly, you can take comfort in that fact.

"Somewhere across the continent, there's a woman in a trailer who likes my hair. That's good enough for me, dammit!"

-- Anonymous, August 18, 2000

Gwen, I value your opinion. I'll e-mail you a photo of me when my hair was in a bob and you can let me know what you think. I'm moderately sick of my hair like this but I really like the fact that I can style it in less than 5 minutes. It will take a while for it to change much so I have lots of time to think about it.

-- Anonymous, August 18, 2000

Maggie, Gwen can give you a makeover in Photoshop!

Last year at this time, my hair was in a crop. I grew it out and it's now just touching my shoulders and my bangs are just below my nose. So, I guess it will take about a year.

-- Anonymous, August 18, 2000

Consider the bargains raked, Gwen. We went on Saturday, about mid-morning. We left the store before I was finished perusing everything, though, because my wife was getting hungry. Anyway, we bought two new sets of queen-size jersey sheets, a bunch of blue jeans and several really nice tops for her, two new pairs of pants for me, a few new shirts and some new socks and underwear. Total damage (and I didn't even get to finish): $680. But everything we bought was on sale and we got an additional discount for using our Kohl's card.

Lord, help me. My wife's decided her new hobby is blues guitar ala Stevie Ray Vaughan (bless her little pea-pickin' heart). I've been playing guitar for 20 years, so today I helped her pick a guitar - we bought her a new Fender Strat, a case, an amp, the works. Next we'll get her signed up for lessons. Oh, this should be interesting.

-- Anonymous, August 20, 2000

There's Kohl's in Chicago, right? This time, when I go to Chicago in the fall, I'm going to Target AND to Kohl's, without fail.

-- Anonymous, August 21, 2000

Maggie, I too love your hair just the way it is and think you look really good with that cut. But I can sympathize with the boredom factor, and even though I swore I'd never grow my hair really long again, I've doing just that because I've gotten sick of every other length.

I have a feeling you've got one of those faces that looks good with any length of hair, and a bob is still my all-time favourite cut. At least if you get sick of it, you can always go short again within a couple of hours.

No, no need to thank me -- I already know my post was super-duper helpful.

-- Anonymous, August 21, 2000

I just "spreed" all over this here internet, sucking up beauty products left and right. You'll never guess what inspired me: it was Cathy! All that silliness in her guestbook made me go check out the hissy forums, where I was quickly entranced by all the beauty product threads and discovered a fat lot of must-haves. My life is going to be much richer, fuller, and more satisfying as soon as they arrive; I just know it.

-- Anonymous, September 01, 2000

ijust luv kathy lee gifford clothes!!! There so well made and cute and cheep to! i bougt a ton of them. i love her

-- Anonymous, September 03, 2000

I've been seeing those t.v. ads for Vitafree Metabolife rip-off weight loss pills. They are free, you just have to pay for shipping & handling. I kept seeing those ads and couldn't help myself - I had to know if they worked or not, so I ordered them yesterday. I doubt they work, but I just had to get them. I'll tell y'all in a month or so if they really do work.

-- Anonymous, September 05, 2000

How much was the s&h, Nicole?

-- Anonymous, September 05, 2000

Time for another spree! Today, my company awarded me the coveted "Silver Bullet" for going above and beyond the call of duty. The company sponsored a team in this year's Eco-Challenge expedition race in Sabah, Borneo, (the official site is http://www.ecochallenge.c om/) and they wanted to drum up a lot of excitement about it among the employees. So they asked me for web help, and I came up with a major new intranet website full of pictures and stories every week for eight weeks, along with three email postcards. It was a big hit.

So, in addition to the certificate and the actual silver bullet, I got a $50 gift certificate to a nearby mall and a check for $150!! I was completely bowled over, because I never expected anything at all for the work I'd done. I did most of it at home on my own time and for the sheer fun of it and never expected compensation. Needless to say, I'm going shopping!! I'll let you know what kinds of bargains I dig up. :-)

-- Anonymous, September 16, 2000

Jill, I'm sorry I didn't see your post earlier, but the S&H was $6.95 for each month. I chose to pay it all at once. You can get a 4 month supply or an 8 month supply.

And this week I got two gift certificates - one for www.lushcanada.com, and one for www.sephora.com I'm going shopping! Woo hoo!

-- Anonymous, September 16, 2000