Online Shopping Made Easier with iprice

I have been shopping online since college, and I became almost fully dependent on it when I became a mom in 2012. I mean, who has time to go to the mall with a baby just to buy baby-friendly insect repellent or nature-approved household stuff? I certainly did not.

There was a time in 2013 when I had packages coming every week. I went to malls every week, too, but I did not have to buy there (except when there are sales). Almost everything we needed was taken care of by online shops.

However, despite the convenience of online shopping, I found myself wishing for one thing. You see, it can be frustrating to go from shop to shop to look for a particular thing. There were also times when it is difficult to accurately compare prices between shops. Sometimes, I wished there was a website that took care of this need and listed everything sold in major online shops so that we wouldn't have to waste precious time shop-hopping.

iprice must have heard this wish.

My Final Fun and Frugal Shopping Finds for 2014

A day before New Year's Eve, we shopped for our and our relatives' respective Media Noche celebrations. I ended up buying a few more things as gifts to others and myself as I realized I didn't buy anything for myself for Christmas. Not that it's necessary, just to clarify, I just want to indulge the kuripot shopaholic in me before the year ends.

This means I shouldn't break the bank, so what I bought were affordable, as in cheap finds. I know, right? Before I show you my finds, here's us before going out:

Both that shirt and those shorts used to be loose on me. Now, gaaah!

(Department store polo shirt | Forever 21 denim shorts | the usual Crocs and Coach | Aeropostale watch) 

On the boy: Mothercare shirt | Circo shorts | Nike shoes

We were off to our usual mall, SM Lanang Premier, to do the grocery. However, we first went to Robinsons Cybergate because Mama, ever the bargain-hunter, told me of a place that sells cheap clothes there. So off we went to Robinsons Cybergate! The place is called Left to Vary, and they have two puestos in the mall. We just went to one near the road because the sizes of the clothes in the puesto near the grocery are too large. 

In fairness, there are a lot of clothes there. They are all brand new naman and some are branded. Because they are too cheap, I cannot attest to their authenticity. However, it's still fun to pick out clothes and I was there to look for tops as I don't have a lot of them. That's in preparation for my classes; I don't want to wear dresses then hahaha. 

But I didn't see a lot of clothes I want that time probably because they didn't have new stocks. I'm planning to return nalang next time. Anyway, here are my shopping finds:

Unbranded striped top (original price P300, on sale at P150) and Terranova long-sleeved top (original price P300, on sale at P150)

November Fun Finds

I haven't written a monthly shopping find post since forever! Unfortunately, much to Job's dismay haha, it's not because I stopped shopping. I still do but have been too busy to gather my finds together, take photos, and write a decent post. You know.

But last Monday, I took a day off from work to run some errands downtown with Yuri, and I also took advantage of the downtime to take photos. So what had I been buying last month? Here they are:

CLOTHES

A. Off-Price Show

I talked about going to the Off-Price Show weeks ago and wrote a post containing my finds and their prices. Here's my favorite find of that day:

Aside from this, I also bought more tops for me and several shirts and a pair of board shorts for Yuri. For more items, head on to this blog post!

B. And more

I also bought a dress and a shirt from, guess where? SM's grocery! I just passed the clothing area and spotted these:

Peach boyfriend shirt at P299 (photo from JM)

Wrap dress at also P299

Okay na diba? I especially love the wrap dress!

SHOES

Finance Friday: No Cramming for Christmas!

"Christmas is not an emergency; it comes every year." - Dave Ramsey

Who else thinks Dave Ramsey is on point here? No one would oppose it because it's true: Christmas comes every year and, guess what, we know exactly when it happens!

But why do we wait until the last minute to prepare for it? I'm not taking about the decorations and the planning. We usually begin celebrating Christmas on September 1 (right?), and even before Halloween, some of our neighbors have already decorated their homes.

No, I'm talking about preparing for the spending.

A lot of people (like me) cram for Christmas. The result? Impulse buying, overspending, and buying either too many gifts or too little.

Since we all agree that Dave Ramsey is right (if you don't, feel free to tell us why!), I think there should be no excuse to cram. Since we know it's already the season to be jolly, we should have already started preparing for it. Financially.

How do we do this? Here are some tips:

My Off-Price Show Shopping FInds

Last Sunday was the last day of the Off-Price Show. Actually, I didn't know that it was. I kind of know that it's happening at SM again but I sort of ignored it because I wasn't very impressed with last year's Off-Price Show.

But my father insisted to go because he still regrets not buying the pair of Crocs slip-ons he saw last year. Thinking that Crocs is still a vendor this year, we went to the Off-Price Show.

But before that.

Forme dress, department store belt, Gibi shoes, Coach bag

So fat. Boo.

I like visiting malls at this time of the year because they're already so Christmas-y! After joining my family hear the mass at SM Lanang, we enjoyed looking at their decorations and Lego's Christmas village(s).

After the photo ops, we finally went to SMX for the Off-Price Show.

Lazada Fiasco Update: Lazada Steps Up

UPDATE AS OF JANUARY 27: No refund has been given to us nor is there apparent intent from them to do so. We'll charge this to experience.

I didn't expect my post describing our recent experience with Lazada to become that widely read. This is why I feel it is necessary to post an update (aside from the update I should provide in the post itself).

I honestly expected a canned response (again) to my email about the belt. Technically, I did because I received an email telling me the steps to follow in returning a product. No problem, we're going to do that right away.

Last night, just as I was about to print the return form, they sent us a message.

First, they offered to give us a refund and, at the same time, replace the item. I think that was a grab-worthy offer, but we declined it to avoid making the impression that we (I) complained just to get free stuff.

But I think they were truly sorry for the inconvenience the transaction caused us (no matter the item's cost) and didn't want us to go through the hassle of returning the belt (though for free). They insisted to give us a refund and let us keep the small belt instead.

So... is there anyone out there with a little waist looking for a free belt? I don't think I could use it even if I lose weight haha.

Seriously, though, I think it's rather admirable of Lazada to go through the extra mile when they could've just made us return the item and then give us a refund. I'm thinking, though, if the same thing would happen if I hadn't bogged about the incident.

Nevertheless, it's good to give the company the benefit of the doubt. But I don't think I will be buying anything from them for a long time soon. However, I will be going back to Lazada though if they achieve the following:

Why I'm Never Buying from Lazada Ever Again

UPDATE: Lazada offered to give us a full refund and, at the same time, replace the item. However, we declined the offer, so they are going to give us a full refund instead and let us keep the item. (More about this here)

UPDATE AS OF JANUARY 27: No refund has been given to us nor is there apparent intent from them to do so. We'll charge this to experience.

Good morning! I'm so tired, the happy kind of tired! We just arrived from a mini-adventure at Mt. Apo (well, one side) last night and my muscles are sore! I'll tell you about it soon.

For now, let's talk about this shopping website that stressed my poor Mama.

Source: imgkid.com

Two years ago, I discovered Lazada, and during that time, I just gave birth so online shopping was truly the way to go. I used to love it not only because of the free shipping (no minimum cost at that time) and the discount coupons (no minimum cost, too). I used to order to my heart's content.

It wasn't until last year when I noticed their services (at least to me) were becoming more and more flawed. In other words, palpak!

For example, one time, I ordered Tiny Buds supplies from them, and the liquid bath soap came to me leaking! As in natapon na yung ibang laman inside the package, which also damaged the packaging if the other content. I know it's not the courier's fault because the packaging should be overlooked by the seller to make sure di matatapon ang liquid. I order liquid stuff from Human Heart Nature all the time and walang natatapon because superb ang packaging. But I just let it go and charged it to experience.

Then, another time, I was still looking for a camera. I saw a camera that I really really like on Lazada, but since I have a question about it, I emailed the customer service representative first. I don't remember the first response I got, but it didn't have anything to do with my question. Yes, the problem with their CSR is that they only send canned responses (proven and tested). I emailed again and waited for a response. I got no response, and soon, the sale was over. Bumalik na sa original price ang camera so I was never able to buy it. (I just bought a Samsung WB150F instead.)

I don't remember the other experiences, but I have long decided that I will never order from Lazada again. However, last month, my mom made lambing to me because she wanted the Happy Call cooking pan. In hindsight, had I known it costs the same in other websites, I should have bought from them instead. But I didn't know that so I took another risk with Lazada.

The Snubbed Blogger and Other Stories

My Sunday was a mixture of ups and downs, but thankfully, there were more good things than bad things. But before I talk about it, here's what we wore (hahaha):

Doesn't he look like a fashion blogger? What happened to my 2-year old?

On Mommy: Zara tunic | F21 jeans | CLN shoes

On Baby: Carters shirt | Baby Mossimo jeans | Elle/Chicco shoes

Yes I need to lose weight. Now, about our Sunday, there was only one bad thing, but it almost ruined my day. It was because I was a...

THE SNUBBED BLOGGER

A month ago, I was invited to attend this particular event of a huge company. I said yes. I was even required to wrote a pre-event post as a "partner blogger," the PR person's words, to invite participants.

The venue was an hour away from home. Since we had to go to church first, we had to wake up extra early. Also, we had to plan our day around this event so there were many changes in our usual, comfortable Sunday routine.

To say the event was a disappointment is an understatement.

New Shopping Finds, Birthday Parties, and Other Stories

Yesterday was a hectic but fun Sunday! And though I didn't even expect it to be, it was a welcome change in the monotony of a WAHM's life hehe. Anyway, let's begin with the story-telling, shall we?

1. Organic Finds at Got Heart Community Shop

I barely venture out to the central part of the city now (I'm always in my comfort zone: the north), but yesterday, I really needed to go to Gaisano Mall for banking and buying stuff. I also made it a point to go inside Got Heart Community Shop.I'm going to dedicate an entire blog post for the shop, but here's a photo of my finds:

Yes, I'm going to take a better photo using an actual camera; nagmamadali lang hehe.

Anyway, I've always been curious about this shop not only because I'm friends with the lovely manager (hihi) but also because it stands for many things I believe in: natural materials, health, art (real art), and local resources. If you noticed, I often feature some local finds like Kablon Farms jam,  Cacao de Davao, and Real Laundry Detergent. So imagine my delight to see these brands - and more - in the shop!

Photo: http://www.gotheartfoundation.org/

2. Dencio's Kamayan

Another reason why I wanted to go to Gaisano Mall that Sunday was because my dad and I wanted to eat at the newly opened Dencio's Kamayan (right beside Manang's Chicken). Filipino food is always our go-too comfort food, and it doesn't get any better than inihaw and barbecue (at least for us hehe). We got a "mini boodle fight," my own term because I forgot the name haha, which had grilled pork, chicken, chicken liver, baked mussels, and crunchy kangkong. It costs around 780 yata without rice and drinks. Sulit because there's so many food!

Sorry, I only had my phone with me, and I couldn't take a decent photo because Yuri was being malikot.

As for me, I ate a lot even if I was supposed to be on a diet because I haven't eaten pork for so long! Yuri also ate a lot! The best part here is the service: everyone in the staff is warm and bibo and courteous, and they almost always ask us if we need something even before we call them. Kudos to whoever trained the team!

3. I want to do the whole OOTD thing again.

But I'm fat and have no new clothes!

What is "Rich"?

You must have have heard of this advice a million times already, but I'm going to repeat it to annoy you drive the point: Live within your means. Do not buy something you can't afford with cash.

With this in mind, what do you think first when you hear the word "rich"? I used to think that being rich is an unattainable status. Growing up in a middle-class family, I was raised to think that it was virtually impossible to be rich and that only a few "chosen" people can be rich.

However, as I grow up, I began to discover a new definition of being rich. Unfortunately, this definition still entails hard work, the same hard work required by my old definition of "rich. Fortunately, though, I discovered that the mindset that it was impossible to be rich is untrue. In my opinion, everyone can be rich in life.

Photo credit: www.tourism.gov.ph

So what do I mean when I say "rich"?

On Shopping and Leisurely Spending

Background image: http://www.funnelove.com/

Like any other warm-blooded woman,  I adore shopping. But I also write passionately about personal finance. Can I do both at the same time?

I don't see why not.

I have heard about spending diets where you shouldn't shop for a period of time; a fellow blogger, Edelweiss, does that. I am amazed at their willpower because I simply can't stop shopping.

You see, I have come to terms with myself that I will always like shopping. Blame that on reading Clueless books in 6th grade. For me, budgeting and saving will be futile if you feel you're being deprived. I think it will just cause burn out,  which leads to quitting.

Just like in a diet where you sometimes go on cheat days, I believe it's healthy to occasionally spend on ourselves, too.