The third and final part in the shopping smarter 2020 series.

You’ve done a lot of hard work this summer. Well done! Working from home whilst juggling family duties is no easy feat.

Like most of us, Lockdown means you may have gained more time – no travelling to work, no traffic jams, no lunchbreaks, no random shopping, no hairdresser’s appointments, and sometimes no make-up!

Any extra moments you might have gained have been put to good use. You’ve tackled numerous odd jobs that have been put off again and again for years. You have finally managed to work through that big garden shed clear out that you had planned for the past 7 years. You’ve emptied the loft. Weeded the garden. Rearranged the kitchen cabinets.

Lockdown has provided the gift of extra time, and with it you have managed to make more space in your life. It must feel good!

With the slow trickle back to normality, many of us here in the office have committed to keeping up those new tidy habits, keeping our lives full of meaningful interactions and uncluttered surfaces. We guess you’re probably feeling the same. But we all know this is something that is often easier said than done.

Fortunately our new love of online shopping can help us with that.

Giving up the traffic jams for good!

Online shopping means FREEDOM! Freedom from travelling to or from the city centre. Freedom from sitting in traffic or enduring the queue to the multi-storey carpark. No waiting in the line for the Primark tills for hours on end.

Oneline is certainly a shopping habit that fits with around the new normal. An efficient form of retail therapy where you minimise time wasted, and eliminate wasted purchases as the contents of your shopping cart can be thoroughly examined one item at a time at the checkout to weed out those pesky impulse purchases that you don’t really need.

Online shopping has taught us that we can continue to cultivate shopping and lifestyle habits that keep us rich in both time and cash!

Save even more money with a discounted giftcard

And discount codes and vouchers can make the deal even sweeter. An additional 2-minutes online can save you buckets of cash on those items that you really love! When your online spree has already saved you a hefty 2 hours off of your usual trip to the shopping centre, a few more moments online to secure 25% off those shoes you love is just a drop in the ocean.

After you've found that perfect discount code to add at the online checkout – smugly realising that even if you had the confidence to whisper ‘NEWCUSTOMER2020’ to the H&M cashier, they would still be unlikely to give you a discount – you can get even more off by using gift-cards. Purchasing a £20 e-voucher for £16 saves you a few extra (vital) quid and makes the trip through the checkout page even brighter.

So, skip the queues and the stress. Grab a snack and boot up the computer, take a moment to appreciate the time you’ve saved (you’ve certainly got the time to now) and spare a thought for the unhappy individuals stuck in hot cars waiting to get out of the carpark with an hour-long drive ahead of them just to get home. Enjoy the peace and comfort. Revel in the time and space that you have gifted yourself.

(Of course, staying at home does mean no drive through burgers in the car on the way home too, but absolutely no one is going to stop you from splurging that petrol/parking/bus fare money you saved today on a cheeky take-out or delivery. Go on, treat yourself, you deserve it…And remember to pick up a discounted food gift-card for that too! )

PS: got given a card during lockdown - then remember you can sell that on Cardyard too!