Purchasing good quality blinds for our home has been one of our biggest expenses. Today I would like to share a great money-saving tip.

When we first bought our house and realized we needed new blinds, we went to places like Sears, Home Depot and Rona to comparison shop. We ended up purchasing new Levolor cellular shades for the bay window in our living room, the dining room windows and one of our three bedrooms; it cost us thousands of dollars even though we ordered through Rona and got a buy two get one free deal.

Fast forward to 2012 after four of years living on one income, and huge motivation to get real value for our money. I really wanted to get the matching cellular shades for my son’s room and our room – the old ones let in too much light and we found it hard to sleep. I saw a 20% off deal on Levolor in the Lowe’s flyer and decided to grit my teeth and buy the blind for my son’s room. Taxes in, it cost $300 for the one blind.

At this price, there was no way we could afford new window coverings in our room which has three full length windows. But the bright early morning sun in the summer was killing us – we are always tired and need every bit of extra sleep we can get.

One day a light bulb went on in my head, and I checked out the Levolor US website to compare prices – and they were better than in Canada. Then I noticed the website listed a bunch of approved dealers in the US including one called Blindsaver.com.

Imagine my combined fury and glee when I discovered there was an online sale and I could order three identical blinds from Blindsaver.com for the price of the one blind I had bought in Canada. That’s right. Levolor blinds were on sale on this website and it cost me $300 including taxes and shipping for three blinds.

I happened to be looking for Levolor because I wanted to match the set that I already have in my home but they also carry other brands of blinds and shades including Bali, Collegiate, Comfortex, Good Housekeeping, Graber, M&B, MLB Shades and a Blindsaver brand.

I highly recommend giving this website a try if you need window coverings for your home. You can order sample swatches to try out colours at home or go to your local stores like Home Depot or Lowes to see samples and swatches in person and then just order online. Do be careful with your measurements, and call Blindsaver for information if you aren’t sure.

Shipping is free in the United States (on most orders). I live in Vancouver and was able to get the free shipping by using a parcel receiving service in Blaine, Washington called Pacific Mail and Parcel. It costs $14 per year and then there is a small per package fee that you pay when you go to pick up your packages. If you live elsewhere in Canada you may need to pay extra for shipping.

We weren’t asked to pay any duty when we crossed the border for pickup. It’s not usually a problem, but even if I had been asked to pay, I would still have come out ahead.

Do I feel bad that I am not spending my money in Canada? Not really – in fact, shame on the manufacturers for charging so much more just because we live north of the border.

There is nothing like getting good value for your money, even it it takes a little effort. With Black Friday coming up, I am definitely going to be checking out the online sales for some more fun cross border shopping.

I have no association with this company – I am just so happy to have been order a great quality product at an excellent price that I wanted to share my money saving experience.