Author: bargain.hunting.blonde@gmail.com

If you have stepped into Target recently you will have realized that Target is killing the game in the women’s clothing, shoes and accessories department. Today I am highlighting for you all the best target shoes this spring- and a lot are more reasonable dupes of pricey blogger favorites!

1- Wenda Cut Out Booties– These booties are an almost exact dupe for these free people booties! Luckily for you all they are less than half the price from Target. Target Price- $32.99; Free People Price- $198

2- Edwina Boots– Target is definitely into dupes this season with these booties that are an exact dupe of these Vince Camuto Katrina Boots. Target Dupes– $34.99; Vince Camuto– $89.95 (on sale 40% off)

3- Mad Love Prudence– Like Birks but not the price tag? Don’t fear Target is again here with another dupe for the Birkenstock Mayari Sandal. Target-$22.99; Birkenstock-$99.95

4- Gertie Gladiator Sandal– If your like me you love Valentino sandals but cannot justify the price- that is where these great gladiator dupes come in. I have a pair from last year and love them! They are super comfortable and I highly recommend the nude colored ones. Target- $27.99; Valentino-$995

5- Jenela Loafer– This loafer is an exact dupe of the Sam Edelman and a very similar look to the Gucci Brixton loafer. Luckily the price tag is no where near the other too! Target-$22.99; Sam Edelman-$120; Gucci-$730

If you are like me you have been seeing this beautiful Valentino rockspike stud bag all over instagram and ever time I saw the bag my automatic reaction was I NEED that. But with the price tag soaring over $3,000 with tax I knew it wasn’t in my current price range. So in typical Sam fashion I was like why don’t I just look online to see if I can find one for way under retail. And as I was searching I came across a website called Italist.

Italist is a website that allows you to shop boutiques in Italy. That means that you are paying lower prices to begin with as prices for luxury goods are cheaper in Europe (even with the conversion rate)! Plus they guarantee that everything you purchase is 100% authentic. So after reading some reviews about the company I decided to give it a try as I ended up finding the bag I wanted for a cheaper price that was then 25% off that price brining the bag I wanted to around $1,450!

Pros- The bag I wanted for wayyyy under retail, a great selection of items, very fast shipping.

Cons- Since my bag was over $800 USD I had to pay important tax and regular tax (this was through brought to my attention before I ordered the bag) plus I had to pay shipping. So the price you initially see is not the price you pay so keep that in mind for ordering an item over $800 USD.

Plus if buying straight from Italy isnt your thing I included some great bags from Fashionhpile and The Real Real.

Valentino Rockstud Spike Small Bag

Color- Poudre

Retail-$2,195

Price- $1,459.12

Valentino Rockstud Spike Clutch

Color- Shadow Pink

Retail- $1,545

Price- $1,129.64

Rockstud Crossbody Bag

Color- Black

Retail- $1,275

Price- $866.05

Vitello Rockstud Shoulder Flap Bag Black

Color- Black

Retail- $2,645

Price- $1,295

Rockstud Mini Flap

It’s new with tags

Retail- $1,045

Price- $895 (use code REAL for 20% off)

Click on the item to get to the deal!

It is not secret that I have always loved velvet. My fiance doesn’t get it. And that love has clearly extended to velvet handbags if you have seen my recent Instagram post. I have been eyeing the velvet Gucci Marmont Medium bag for awhile but cannot pull the trigger on a bag that is almost $2,000 (actually $1,980 plus tax makes its solidly over $2,000) and is not real leather. So I started searching for a bag that would fill the void but not break the bank. Below are my personal favs at a variety of price points.

Rebecca Minkoff Velvet Chevron Small Love Crossbody

$131 (originally $195.00)

Kate Spade New York Watson Lane Velvet Marci Small Shoulder Bag

$298

Stella McCartney Mini Falabella Box Velvet Shoulder Bag

$649.90 (Originally $970)

Sole Society Velvet Foldover Clutch

$49.99

Velvet Crossbody Bucket Bag

$14.00 (originally $19.50)

Black Friday is coming up and with one of the best shopping holidays approaching we all need to be prepared. So below I listed some of my best shopping tips for shopping a sale and not getting carried away by a great buy.

1- Make a Budget

This is probably the hardest one for me but it’s important that you go in with a budget of what you want to spend. Black Friday can be overwhelming and having a rough estimate of how much you want to spend can help you realize you don’t need that shirt in a Fourth color no matter the price. I always try to budget by item. Like for example if I want a nice good quality coat I would give myself a budget of around $150. I would then do the same for other items for myself or for others. I normally hand write out my budgets (which drives my fiancé crazy) but you could easily do it on your phone or computer as well. I then write down exactly how much I spent!

2-Check your prices

I have learned this the hard way- Black Friday is not always the cheapest price for goods and the same goods on different websites can also vary greatly in price so make sure you do some prior research. I have seen companies mark up items and then put them on sale during Black Friday making the item literally $5 cheaper than its initial retail value so be careful. One quick way to do this is Google the item. Thanks to Google shopping it will often pull up various websites that have the good with the price.

3- Use Ebates

Make sure to make money while you shop! If you are online shopping or even in store it doesn’t hurt to see what cash back you are going to be getting. Even if you return the item you still get to keep the cash back!

4- Don’t buy it just because it’s on sale

This is one I always have to remind myself. Sometimes we see the item we want on sale… but not necessarily the color we wanted. Sometimes it’s better to save up for the classic color you wanted then buy the one sale color because a lot of the time you end up not loving the one you bought. Or even worse you end up with both and hen don’t use one. Also if even it is reasonably priced but don’t use it then what was the point of buying it?

5- Remember there will always be another sale

You don’t have to feel like your missing out if you are trying to save money or you don’t see the perfect item. There will always be another sale! Especially after the holiday season!