I have seven different American Express cards registered for Small Business Saturday, which is tomorrow – Saturday November 29th. Since you can qualify for three $10 statement credits per card when you use your registered American Express card on a $10 at a participating small business, this gives me 21 opportunities, and $210, to Shop Small. I was hoping to be able to make all of these purchases in less than 2 hours, so I decided I needed to devise a plan.My biggest time-saver is going to be to cluster my purchases – find an area where small businesses are grouped together, and check the American Express website here for a map and to make sure they are participating.

I also plan to call ahead to some of the local businesses to see if they offer gift cards which is an easy way to make a purchase if you’re running out of time, or running out of ideas.

Locally owned grocery store – This one is easy. Find a locally owned grocery store and pick up a few things. If they happen to sell gift cards where you can set the amount, let the cashier know you want to purchase an additional $10 gift card as a separate transaction.

Liquor Store attached to the locally owned grocery store – pick up a good six pack of beer or an inexpensive bottle of wine. If you’re not a drinker, liquor stores often have specialty snack items which would be good to have on hand for the holiday season.

Candy Store or Specialty Chocolate retailer – A little box of candy makes a great gift for a teacher, or a hostess gift during the holiday party season. Or just keep it handy in case somebody drops by with a gift for you!

Cookware retailer – holiday themed dishtowels, or wooden cooking implements can often be found for around $10 and make great little gifts.

Stationary store – stamps, cards, thank you cards, and wrapping paper lead my list for purchases around $10

Manicure – I would love to get a quick manicure or even a nice bottle of nail polish this holiday season, although I am going to have to search on-line to find a ‘specialty retailer’ like this to spend at on Small Business Saturday.

Lunch – this one should be easy. All this shopping is bound to make me hungry.  A sandwich, a cup of coffee and a cookie should more than do the trick to spend $10.

Toy store – Rainbow Looms, as well as Pokemon cards still seem to be a hit.  I am going to make a bee-line to the cash register at my locally owned toy store to pick up a few inexpensive items.

Hardware store – even though ACE Hardware is a ‘national brand’, the ACE Hardware store in my town is locally owned and operated as a franchise, and participating in Small Business Saturday.  The possibilities here are endless for practical small hardware items.

Pet shop – everyone knows a good dog, or a good kitty that could use a little snack, so this should be another easy place to make a $10 purchase.

Bottom Line:
It’s not to late to register your American Express cards for Small Business Saturday here. And don’t forget that this year American Express Serve and Bluebird are eligible. Don’t be afraid to make a list of possibilities for Small Business Saturday.  It’s a really great promotion by American Express, but I don’t want to devote my whole Saturday to it.  Anybody else have any great ideas that I may have overlooked?