Save Money on Holiday Entertaining with RetailMeNot.ca + $200 Visa Gift Card Giveaway! #HolidayCents

Holiday Entertaining with RetailMeNot.ca

Did you know that the average Canadian will spend about between $1250 – $1,517 over Christmas? That is just gifts alone, this time of year can get pricey, and in the blink of an eye–you can drain a savings account easily!

As years have passed, I’ve become less frivolous in my spending and I love to find a deal.  Especially when it comes to holiday entertaining and gifts. I make a list, of goals and I find deals and use www.RetailMeNot.ca to find promo codes to stretch my savings even more.

Since I already have all of my gifts bought, wrapped, or sent via courier, I am good on the gift front. But, I am always a host over the holidays. When we all have time off, we get together and we celebrate another year that we were blessed with.

Holiday entertaining can be expensive as well but, it is well worth it. But, who says you have to pay full price to get fabulous stuff?

Challenge Accepted

This year, I was challenged to see how much I could save on holiday-related expenses beyond just gifts! I was up for it! We wanted to freshen up our dining room area so that it can be party-ready! So,

I set forth and hunted some items that would make the room look FABULOUS and ready for guests!

Armed with a $250 Visa card I began my search on RetailMeNot.ca and searched for stores that I frequent and already know have items that I know I would like. Of course, they had deals listed! 

As you may know, they are a digital offers site that compiles the best in-store and online deals for some of your favourite retailers. They will help you become a savvy shopper in no time!

Sears for Dinnerware

My first stop was searching Sears to see if there were any available coupons. I found a promo code that gave me $10 off of $50 and with that, away I went.

I started where I knew I would find the best price and sifted through the SALE tab of Sears and found a lot of great deals.

Score!

Since we are hosting a dinner over the holidays, we wanted some new dinnerware. We found a set that was originally $149.99 + tax and was on sale for 60% off at $52.94 + tax. The set is gorgeous, it is 20 pieces and it is porcelain.

It’s platinum colour banding and ‘crocodile’ pattern pop against a field of white! Needless to say, it is beautiful and a steal! Plus, I had a code for $10.00 off of $50, so I popped that in there and that was a savings of $110.70 after taxes!

Shipping Fees?

No way! I try to always buy places that has free shipping or if they don’t I find a code that will get me it! The shipping wasn’t ridiculous or anything, it was $7.95 to deliver to my front door.

But, I found this deal posted in RetailMeNot.ca where it says if you ship to the store, you can save on shipping altogether. Since I am not too far from the store, I have decided to opt into this and save even more cash! Every cent counts, y’all!

Original Cost: $178.47 before sales with taxes and shipping. ($149.99 + $7.95  x 1.13=$178.47)

Sale Price: $52.94 + taxes  + $7.95 shipping ($67.77)

Sale Price Savings: $110.70 ($178.47 – $67.77 = $110.70)

Promo Code Savings: $10.00

Ship to Store Savings: $7.95

Total Price: $48.52

Total Savings: $128.65

Revamp the Dining Room

My next online stop was Bouclair, we absolutely love this store for decor and our dining room needs to get holiday-ready.

We found a few items for the space and our buffet table in the dining room. We chose a gorgeous ceiling lamp that was black and white with crystals. It was originally $139.99 and was on sale for $99.99, that’s $40 savings.

The next item we chose was a beautiful beveled mirror for the buffet table, it was originally $59.99 and was on sale for $50.99, which is a savings of $9.00. I also chose a cut-out tray that was $36.99 and I had a code from signing up for their newsletter in-store a little while ago that saved me $10 off of $50.

Pesky Shipping

So, when I added my postal code, it charged me $37.30 via courier to get here before Christmas. Luckily, I had discovered through RetailMeNot.ca that I could ship to store and save on shipping. I don’t live too far from the store and it would get here before our party so, I jumped at it.

Thank you very much, that’s $37.39 in my pocket! Woot!

Original Cost: $309.93 -Before sales with taxes and shipping. ($139.99 + $36.99 + $59.99 +$37.30 x 1.13 =$309.93)

Sale Savings: $49.00

Promo Code Savings: $10.00

Free Ship to Store Savings: $37.30

Total Cost: $201.11

Total Savings: $108.82

The Verdict

We spent a total of $249.63 but, purchased a retail value of $488.40 in product. Our total savings with promo codes and FREE shipping to store, we saved a total of $237.47. Not too shabby, right? We are set to refresh our dining room and it will all arrive well before the holidays! All I will have to do is go and pick it up!

Check Out the Savings

Make sure you head over to RetailMeNot.ca to check out all the deals and promo codes to help you buy last-minute gifts, holiday decor, home goods or even save on travel and  hair cut while you are at it!

What would you buy if you won?

Let me know, til then—cheers m’deres!

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Note: I am participating in the #HolidayCents campaign with RetailMeNot.ca and have received special perks. Any opinions expressed in this post are my own.

Nancy Polanco

Nancy Polanco is a freelance journalist, lifestyle content creator, and editor of Whispered Inspirations. She is a proud Mom to Gabby and Michaela and partner and best friend to Darasak. Having worked as part of a health care team for almost a decade, Nancy is happy to be back to her passion. She is a contributor to the Huffington Post, TODAY’s Parents, and an Oprah Magazine Brand Ambassador.