We all know what the usual holiday shopping trip is like: you go to the mall, brave the crowds, and hope that you can find everything on your list.

Personally, I hate shopping that way. While I love the idea of seeing all the beautiful decorations, and hearing the holiday music that is played over the speakers in the stores, I don't like the crowds, the pushing, the shoving, the lack of stock, and the trying to find parking.

All of those things I can live without.

In my own personal quest for figuring out the best way to find gifts for the holidays, I came up with a few tips for how you could do your non-traditional holiday shopping.

The teen years often set the course for a person’s adult spending habits.  For that reason, it is wise to attempt to influence a teenager's spending habits as early as possible.  

Perhaps the easiest place to begin is with your teen's clothing & accessories, gadgets, and electronics.

Growing up, Goodwill was somewhere you went when you needed to pick up a trundle bed for guest sleeping. Or, if you needed a costume for a play.

As a young adult, I went to Goodwill to furnish my home. When I had kids and saw how quickly they outgrow clothing, I realized it might be a god idea to buy clothes from Goodwill, as well.

As time passed, I began buying less from Goodwill stores, and donating more. Because I was not necessarily needy, I stopped shopping at Goodwill.

That was then. This is now.

In a recent article (Secondhand Clothes Get Hip), AP Fashion Writer Samantha Critchell takes on a challenge to find clothes in the thrift store that are actually fashionable.

She found success in consignment stores in Connecticut and Westchester County New York, as well as the local Goodwill stores.

I recently wrote about secondhand clothes becoming the height of fashion sense.

But unless I am looking for particular retro items, or hoping for a discount on high end couture, I find that thrift store clothing isn't necessarily a bargain.

I made this discovery some years ago when searching for Tommy Hilfiger jeans for my son, as I found that this was the brand that fit him best.

Even through we're in the age of electronic tax preparation, there are still a lot of tax deductions that go under the radar. I've compiled a list of what I consider the top 5 tax deductions that most people miss.

Here is my take on consignment stores. Consider this "Part II" to my article about Thrift Store shopping.

I mention in that article that I'm gung-ho about shopping for "gently used" items at thrift stores, but I'm not so crazy about shopping at consignment stores.

Here's why...

In my mind, shopping in thrift stores has practically replaced shopping in outlet malls as a way to find great bargains these days.

I'd attribute that to the fact that outlets aren't really filled with bargain prices anymore. Name brand clothing & household goods... maybe. Cheap prices... probably not.

These days more and more frugal-minded people have their eye on the bottom line, which is: How to get something for almost nothing.

Here's how: Shop in thrift stores!

I practically bought a whole new winter wardrobe the other day.

And, Jim didn't mind!

Here's why: