What to buy - back to school

Since starting my global sourcing experiment I am slowly getting more organised to avoid any situations that require popping down the shops (to date my only requirement has been kids Christmas presents and last minute birthday gifts). Hence I have begun to think about back to school and all the things we will need for the new school year including uniforms, shoes, school bag, lunch tote and stationery. My research to date has found that all of the above items are better to be sourced from Australia as shipping adds too much to the purchase price. The exception however are school shoes - yep once again the US provides a great range of footwear for school at much cheaper prices even after shipping to Oz has been included! These are the shoes that I bought for my son,

Leather Hush Puppies$40.00 USD, similar shoe retails in Australia for $89.95

New Balance runners $32.95 USD, retail in Australia for $60.00

Which month for which product?

Bargain Buys

Courtesy of dealnews.com the following outlines what months you can get the best deal for certain products.

January: Winter clothing

Late January/February: Older electronics (once new items are introduced at the Consumer Electronics Show, stores put old stock on clearance), current-year calendars, top-brand HDTVs.

June: Bedding and linens (deals are even better than for January white sales).

September-October: Jeans.

November: Lower-end laptops, clothing on Black Friday, cookware (continues into December).

December: Laptops, especially higher-end systems; bicycles.

Mid- to late-December: Toys, video games.

The Perfect Shopping Trip

Just as a reminder of why we love online shopping so much, this is the location my family and I were camping at when I bought my latest US haul from Zappos & Zara (who by the way accept payment via paypal!). No after Christmas hassles just a lap top , glass of wine and beautiful view in the middle of nowhere - the perfect shopping trip

Eyre Peninsula (SA)