LikeACoupon.com And A Word On Sales

What a great new group buying site! All you have to do is "Like" the coupon and if they reach a certain amount of people it gets unlocked! Yesterday's coupon was a great deal: $50 for $100 at Bloomingdales. It became unlocked at 100 likes, and got 2,697 likes! I especially like that they feature desirable coupons instead of some other sites: ("Buy a 4 foot tuba, get a free hamster!")

In general, I'm a fan of Group Buying sites ONLY IF it was something you were going to buy anyway. The same with any sale. If, for example, your anniversary is coming up and you're going out to eat and you Group Buy a coupon for 50% off a local restaurant then great! You saved money!

BUT...and here's where it gets tricky folks, if you see the coupon and say, "That looks good. Now I want to eat out tonight!" and you buy it, you didn't save half the restaurant bill, you SPENT half a restaurant bill that you weren't planning to spend!

A neighborhood bookstores had a sale recently. 3 books for 99 shekel. That's a great deal and for months and months my kids had been begging me for Astrix books, another one of their obsessions: (Asterix Books)I was able to buy 6 books for 198 shekel instead of about 300 shekel. Amazing! My friend however, who wasn't planning on buying any books, wisely did not take advantage of the amazing sale because she realized that a great 99 shekel sale is no longer a sale if it was 99 shekel that she wasn't planning on spending.

An important lesson to remember.