Any time I feel stressed I hear that old commercial from Calgon Bath Soaps…“Calgon Take Me Away”, can you hear it?
I don’t know about you but I already have two returns and one exchange. I had to do the exchange before Christmas. I bought my husband a history book and you would think out of the 1000’s of history books out there I could find one he didn’t already have, NOT! Maybe he has too many!!!
I personally would not run out the door first thing on Saturday to do any exchanges or returns unless you absolutely have to for financial reasons. The lines will be out the door. My suggestion would be to look at the receipt and see what your time limit is for the exchange/return. Is it 30 days after the purchase, is it January 31st or is it three months? If you have some wiggle room, I would save your returns to do after the kids are back in school and everyone is back into their weekly routine. The lines will be shorter, trust me!
If you have saved your returns to do after things “go back to normal” put all of your returns in your car with the receipt in their designated bag/box. Map out your returns according to their location, try to make a full circle rather than zig zagging all over town. If you need to go grocery shopping as well and have return at a super center have your return map end at the super center so you can come straight home with your groceries. Time management is of the essence here!
If you are exchanging a sweater for a smaller size (notice I said smaller, trying to be positive here) I would go into the store and buy the sweater that you want in a smaller size. More times than not, the sweater will be marked down drastically for the after Christmas sales. Return your other sweater later for a store credit that you could use to buy a new swimsuit or just return it for cash back if that is an option. The check out lines will still be long but you will not have to stand in two different lines and you will have a chance to get what you want if you postpone the return line for a couple of weeks.
Your time is valuable and if you really enjoy shopping the after Christmas sales, take your time shop and don’t worry about returning until later. Who knows you may find a sweater you like better and maybe it’s marked down to $9.99 with an extra 20% off if you can stand on your head! Happy Holidays and have a great time shopping!
By Michelle Lehman Organizing Solutions “Clear the Clutter”
Photo Credit © Yuri Arcurs | Dreamstime.com
