'Tis the Season...to Shop Online.
By: Colleen | October 16, 2007 | Category: General
While my fellow bloggers are reveling in the autumnal atmosphere, I felt like I got hit by a ton of bricks this weekend when I walked into the drugstore. Intermixed with Halloween candy and goblin displays I could hear echoes of Christmas carols and see the twinkling of tree lights. October 13th and we're already being bombarded by the "holiday season." (Poor Thanksgiving. The red-headed stepchild of holidays-always gets the shaft.)
Bah-humbug to it all. At the ripe old age of 24, I'm already totally Scrooged. What used to be an exciting season filled with festivities and cartoon specials has turned into a hectic, guilt-ridden, spending-spree that I enjoy about as much as I do advanced calculus.
Driving around aimlessly in mall parking lots in order to do holiday shopping has become the bane of my existence. That's why last year I decided to spare my sanity, and did the majority of my purchasing online. Shipping fee? Totally worth the mental anguish spared by not having to deal with those people walking to their cars to just "drop off" packages- a complete tease to all potential parkers on lap 82 of the parking-spot derby.
Shopping online is fabulous. No parking involved. No women with quad strollers standing in the middle of the aisle. No cashier asking me to sign my life away for a "preferred customer card" and then failing to remove the security tag from my garments.
As with anything else, online purchasing does have its risks. To keep your personal and credit card information private, always shop on sites with secure servers. You'll know it's secure when the URL starts with "https://". Never give anybody your account passwords. Read the company's online privacy policy. Be sure your computer is equipped with firewall or anti-spyware software to prevent hacking.
The government has lots of information available to help you safely shop the 'net:
- Shop Safely Online
- Get Net Safe
- Online Security & Safety Tips
- Crime Prevention in the Information Age
- Stop. Think. Click.
Now sit back, relax, and rid yourself of the hassle! Put some Bing Crosby on in the background- presto! "Two very enthusiastic thumbs up- fine holiday fun!" (Who can name that movie?)
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One of my favorite lines from that movie - "Until mankind is peaceful enough not to have violence on the news, there's no point in taking it out of shows that need it for entertainment value. "
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Great comments and thanx for the helpful links!
Ryan
http://www.laptopbudget.com
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