Red laser… and other shopping tales

I know I usually talk about food here, sometimes I’ll talk about my kids or reptiles… or how I screwed up somehow. Today, I’m going way off the usual. And… you’ll probably learn at least one new thing about me. ( Or at least your phone.)

First of all: It’s Christmastime. Or Hanukkah time, or Kwanza, or one of the other holidays that fall in December.

For me, it’s almost everyone’s (in my family) birthday. In the month of December I have:

My hubby’s birthday

My stepdaughter’s birthday

My mother in law’s birthday

Jesus birthday

My mom’s birthday

and, finally my anniversary.

Seriously, if I ever decide to have another baby, I’m going to make sure the due date would be as far away from December as possible. Can you blame me?

Needless to say, I tend to be shopping a lot in December. And, being “financially challenged” ( aka, broke!) I tend to hunt for deals. Black Friday, cyber Monday… you name it. I actually like the sleep deprived euphoria that occurs around eleven am the day after Thanksgiving. That’s when I treat myself to one of those fancy festive flavored coffees with lots of cream and sugar. I figure I burned off all the extra calories door-busting the night before. And, before you start thinking I’m one of those door-busters…..all of us Black Friday shoppers aren’t all crazy. We’re also not mean. The mean Black Friday people are the ones that always make the news. They never tell the stories about how nice young mamas give up their carts to people with arms loaded with gifts. Or giving up the last package of _______, or helping someone dig the _________ from the bottom of the pile. Nooooo, it’s the crazies that make the news. If good people made the news more, maybe more people would be good? Just a thought.

However….

You may be one of those “avoid the crowds” shopper…. you may be one of those that prefers the quietness of your house and homemade coffee, and not having to put on your shoes to find new shoes for your hubby. (Because you’re going to literally puke the next time you have to smell that pair.)

You may really want to buy that toy that brings out the psycho parents from the woodwork… but, you’re scared that you might become one of them if you venture out.

Or, you might just want to find a gift, be limited on funds, so you really need to know if it’s worth it to drive to the mega-super-monster-mart across town to save ten bucks.

That’s where I can help. ( YAY!)

You see, I was picked to try out this shopping app called Red Laser. It literally is a shopaholic in your phone. You want to find the cheapest price on ____________? All you have to do is type it in- you can decide if you want to buy it locally or online, read reviews, and even get suggestions. Woo-hoo to that.

Another thing this does: you can scan a bar code, or take a picture of an object and it ( the app) can locate it for you. So… you know that purse that girl has? Yep, that super cute one… and she says she “forgot” where she bought it? You can “pretend your texting” and snap a pic of it. Chances are, Red Laser will find it for you.

I used mine to fine shoes for my man. ( Because his were getting ripe.)

(note: These were not the ones we bought- we’re financially challenged, remember? ) 😉