Where can I buy...

Shopping via online cart

Wed, 01 May 2013 07:06:00 -0400

Try this:

Go to a online retailer fill your cart then let sit for a week, usually will receive a 20% discount or free item code in email reminding you of your cart.

Shorts

Fri, 15 Mar 2013 13:11:25 -0400

Best places to buy shorts for this summer

Asos
Burlington Coat Factory
JC Penney
Macy’s
Marshalls
Old Navy
Ross
Target
TJ Maxx

Guide to Evening Gown

Wed, 13 Mar 2013 14:42:31 -0400

Places to buy prom dress:

goodblogreads: Favorite online clothing...

Fri, 22 Feb 2013 03:25:06 -0500

goodblogreads:

Favorite online clothing stores:

more…

Candock - Floating dock

Thu, 07 Feb 2013 14:27:14 -0500

Where to buy?

http://www.candock.com/candock-dealers.php

Couponing for Sane People

Thu, 31 Jan 2013 14:08:29 -0500

I am an unashamed couponer. I am not highly organized, a hoarder or cheap. I don’t have a house full of cats and I don’t consider myself particularly frugal. We eat regular food and cooking is my hobby. I don’t dumpster dive for coupon inserts, I do not stay up all night printing coupons, and I am pretty lazy.

I feed a family of four on $60 a week, including lunches, and I have a sizable stockpile. My budget also includes personal care items like shampoo, razors, toilet paper, etc. I spend less than four hours on couponing and shopping each week and I do not consider myself a Zen master of savings.

Couponing is smart. We were spending $7,000 to $8,000 a year on food and cutting our grocery bill in half seemed like a no-brainer. Let’s face it, I didn’t even know what I was spending, I just picked up

items and threw them in the cart. Spending a lot of money on food seemed like a necessary evil. I couldn’t even guess how much milk or eggs cost even though I bought them every week. After two months of couponing, I could tell you exactly how much any item in my cart costs.

Initially, my savings were small but obvious. Within two months, I was seeing a significant reduction in my food bill. It takes several weeks to get the hang of it and accumulate enough coupons, but you will see savings from the get go.

If you’ve seen those reality shows where the shopper gets $900 worth of groceries for $8, realize that most couponers do not see those type of savings and neither will you unless you become obsessive.

Saving 60% to 70% is about the top end for most of the shoppers who do this, and 55% seems to be my average. It could be higher, but I am not interested in living on spaghetti and cake mix for a week, nor do I want to store 50 cases of pasta for the next three years.

The numbers achieved on these shows are because the trips they film do not include all the other items the shopper buys that are not on sale, like dairy and produce. I have had small shopping trips where I saved 90%, but those are extremely rare and I was buying only a few items. And even if you only bought the most ridiculously discounted items, rarely do stores stock sale items at the volume seen on television. I have never seen a hundreds of a product that was on sale, and many times I have to ask for a raincheck. Many stores stock limited numbers which are wiped out early in the day. Most couponers will tell you that they believe the shows negotiate some type of agreement with the store to make it dramatic for television and this gives people a skewed perspective on couponing.

Last week, I was purchasing $180 worth of groceries for under $50 and the cashier asked me if I would help her get started on couponing. Many people behind me in line now ask questions and I realize that most people just need help with the initial steps. Most of what is out there is confusing or assumes you want to make this your new religion.

This is the result of attempting to put the answers in writing. If you want to coupon without it becoming your life, then you’ll want to keep reading.

THE MINDSET

First, you must understand that there are two ways to shop.

Like me, most people shop on a “need basis” as in, “We need toothpaste, I better pick up a tube.” You might even think you are being smart by buying the one that is on sale or the cheapest brand. You might even see if you can find a coupon for greater savings.

You’re throwing away money.

I pay $0 for toothpaste. That isn’t “buy-one-get-one-free” but absolutely free; it’s not travel or introductory size, but the big ones. As I write this, I have eight tubes in my store closet and I got all of them for free. I don’t pick them up unless they are free. I don’t have to pay the price the store is offering this week because I no longer “need” to buy toothpaste. And every week, I get items at no cost to me.

Over time, you develop a ceiling for what you will pay for many items. For me, that means I will not buy cereal unless it’s under $1; deodorant must be 50 cents or less; sports drinks have to be under 80

cents; shampoo must be $1 or less; lip balm and panty liners have to be free; and so forth. If you’re like I was, you probably don’t even know what these items are costing you now. My list above would cost me $3.30, you are likely spending $14 for the same items – and you’re doing it month after month after month.

This is the second approach to shopping. It’s the “stockpiling” method. Instead of viewing your shopping trip in what you need now, or what you will use this week, you start looking at it as what you will use in the next six months to a year and you buy it only when it is a screaming deal.

Here is an illustration for you to consider. Is there ever a time you can see when you won’t be using toilet paper? Yeah, me either, which makes it a great example. I don’t know of anyone who wants to scrimp on the amount of toilet paper they use. In the past, I would just throw this in the cart as we needed it. And I refuse to buy substandard brands.

At my store, the normal cost of a good, preferred brand of toilet paper is $4.39 for four double rolls.

On sale last week, it was $3.99. I had a coupon for $1 off, so I got it for $2.99 which wasn’t even a great deal by my standards. This was a “need” item because I had been waiting for a good sale, but we were almost out. This is one item I have trouble stockpiling.

For now, let’s pretend this was the best deal I could ever get.

I read somewhere that the average person uses about 65 rolls of toilet paper a year. I swear my family uses way more than this, but lets use this figure which means a family of four will need 260 rolls. If I never bought on sale or used a coupon, I would spend whopping $1,141 a year for this one product. If I waited for a store sale, I would spend $1037. But by using coupons and waiting for a moderate sale, I only spend $777 and would save $364 over the year. In reality, if I really work at it, and wait for the best deals, my savings will be even greater.

Can you see why stockpiling makes sense?

You will still have trips to buy items you need (for me, that is milk, juice and produce), but you shift your approach to stockpiling when there is a sale. This is the most important concept about couponing, so make sure you understand that you are buying for the future, not the immediate present.

Think of all the items you buy on a regular basis as you need them, like toilet paper, paper towels, deodorant, shampoo, soap, pasta sauce, soup, etc. and think about what would happen to your food bill

if you could buy all those items when they are significantly reduced in price. If you can save $300 to $400 a year just on toilet paper, imagine if you applied this to every product you purchase. When you first start couponing, if you focus on stockpiling items at half their usual cost, you’ll save enormous amounts of money. That’s what I did. I simply bought items when they were marked down 50% or more. I made a few mistakes, but I started saving money right off the bat.

This is the key to couponing. It is buying items when on sale before you need them in order to maximize your savings. As a bonus, you’ll be saving a lot of time and hassles because you won’t be running out of items. You will no longer be running out to the store at 9 pm on Sunday night because the kids don’t have anything for their lunches. Life will be much smoother and your family will be happier.

It also allows you to splurge on luxury items because you are saving so much money elsewhere.

A lot of people think they don’t have enough extra money to do this, and I am here to tell you that even if you can only spare $5 a week, you can stockpile. It will just take you a little longer.

The reason this works is because as you shift to stockpiling, you spend less and less on “need” products. If you pick up deodorant for 50 cents and buy five of them, you won’t be spending $4 on deodorant later on down the road. That $2.50 investment will pay off this month and for months to come. The $4 you normally would have spent buying deodorant can then be shifted to stockpiling.

Now, the next time you need deodorant, instead of having $5 to go toward stockpiling, you have $9 to stockpile. If you stockpile dishwashing liquid for 50 cents a bottle (easy to do with coupons), you now have 18 bottles and won’t have to buy it again for six months. Within a month, you will see that your need trips dwindle to perishable items that are difficult to store (dairy and produce) and most of your weekly budget will be going to stockpiling.

Many people start a budget and stick to it. I didn’t. I just figured out what I was spending ($150 a week, sometimes more) and started using that figure. Within three weeks, I was spending $100 a week; within two months it was $70. Now, I have a hard time spending more than $60 a week. This allows me to budget for items my family wants but isn’t on sale, like better quality meats.

I treated couponing like my part-time job. It is actually quite fun, believe it or not. I sort and purge my coupons over a movie on Friday nights. On Sunday mornings, I clip the coupons from the newspaper

and do my shopping. In the beginning, I was spending about four hours a week couponing, now with my shopping it is usually less than two hours.

A note about your family members and opposition to couponing is in order. At first, the household was pretty upset by this because I was disorganized and didn’t know what I was doing and shopping trips

were long and boring. My family members used to view my return from the grocery store as some type of glorious experience of abundance, like the prodigal son returning laden with gifts. Now, I was

coming back dragging sacks of body wash and dog treats to their utter disappointment. Initially, they were highly critical and secretly embarrassed about my new hobby.

I found that tossing them a free candy bar or getting their favorite cereal in bulk brought them around to my way of thinking. Having an endless supply of food they liked and never running out of supplies

brought them on board. Teenagers commenting, “Your Mom is so cool” when seeing the huge stash of good stuff to eat alleviated a lot of the embarrassment. I recommend that if you’re new to couponing,

you shop alone because the first five or six trips will be long and confusing. You WILL get the hang of it and it WILL become second nature.

I still separate my trips to the store into stockpiling or need and do not mix the two. I enlist the family for need trips (and sometimes they ask if I have a coupon and this warms my heart). I do the stockpiling as it prevents many fights explaining why I am buying six boxes of pasta but will not buy them their favorite soup. I do not buy anything that is not a screaming deal on my stockpiling trips. I pretty much stick to my lists and can hit two stores once a week in less than an hour.

One last note is that you are going to have to get over being brand specific. I allow each member of the family to have one item that they will be brand loyal and I stock up on it. For my family, this seems to

be deodorant – I don’t know why but everyone seems to demand their particular brand. Still, I only buy when it is on sale. They can decline to use specific brands, but otherwise I do not allow them to specify only one brand to buy. Shampoo is shampoo, laundry detergent is expensive no matter what the brand and just about any disposable razor will shave hair. Some brands are utter crap and I will not buy

them even if I can get them for free, such as the store brand of soft drinks or one-ply toilet paper. It makes no sense to buy something at a 90% discount if no one will eat it or use it.

While you can save some money being brand specific, you aren’t going to see huge savings unless you are willing to try new products.

BEFORE YOU GET STARTED

While you don’t need to address this initially, you should start thinking about how you are going to store your stockpile of products.

At first, having an extra couple of bottles of shampoo is not a big deal, but when you have 16 like I do, you need some place to store it. Toilet paper, paper towels and laundry soap take up a lot of room and

this can be quite disrupting to your household. Also, you don’t want to store the same item in multiple places because soon you will not know how much of anything you have on hand. I like to do a quick

walk through before I head to the store to see what is getting low and when I have a large amount, I then lower my buying threshold.

Some people will suggest shoving items under beds and in any available space. I will tell you that this will become a problem in short order and you will be better off dedicating a closet or room to storage.

Even if you fill one shelf at a time, you’ll be better off being able to quickly view what you have on hand. I tried the put-it-anywhere-available method and it was a disaster.

Be careful about buying frozen items if you don’t have a large freezer. You need to think about that before you go to the store. Cold items can quickly overwhelm your refrigerator. Even frozen, items do perish. I finally broke down and bought a chest freezer after having to pass up so many sales because I didn’t have room. You should label items with the date you store them, or the date when they should be used.

I need to mention another hard learned lesson about storage that has to do with human psychology.

One week, pizza rolls were on sale for 40 cents, down from the usual $2.00+. A long school holiday was approaching which meant a lot of teenagers playing video games and I decided to stock up. I bought 14 packages of different flavors and patted myself on the back for being able to feed the mongrel hordes for under $6. I put all the boxes in the freezer in plain sight in the hopes of stopping the endless inquiries of, “What is there to eat?” After eating one package, my teenager announced, “We are sick and tired of pizza rolls, why did you buy so many?” It took a lot of visits from their friends to eat them all, when normally I could not keep a package for longer than a day or two.

The next time, sports drinks were on sale for 60 cents, down from $1.50 and my athlete would go through five a week at practice. I bought 30, but this time I stored them in the garage and moved only three at a time to the refrigerator. All 30 were gone in two weeks thanks to a couple of visits by their friends.

For some people, scarcity equals perceived value. It wasn’t actually eating the pizza rolls, it was seeing so many of them that turned them off. Seeing a wheelbarrow full of cheese crackers can be very unappealing for some people. This works in reverse as well. If you want your kids to stop eating the lunch snacks, put them all on a shelf together and they won’t eat the granola bars at home. It is like they ignore it when there is an enormous amount. I have even seen this happen with candy bars.

I now have an area for long-term storage of items that is separate from what is in use. The family doesn’t really see any of what is in storage, only what I put out for use. Stockpiling is like my own world that they don’t enter.

ORGANIZATION

“Are you ever going to talk about coupons and where to find them?” Yes, yes I am. But there are some other things you may want to address before actually clipping your first one.

Many couponers advocate using a binder with plastic sleeves for designed for organizing baseball cards. Others simply staple together multiple pages of each insert and file them until they need the coupon. I tried both methods and they didn’t work.

The binder with baseball sleeves seems like it should work because you can quickly see all the coupons at once. The problem with this method is that coupons come in various sizes and shapes and you end up having to fold them to get them to fit in the sleeves so you don’t actually see most of them. You then have to pull them all out, unfold them, look at the expiration date and put them back. It’s a pain. Many times I would have misfiled a coupon and would find it after my trip. I tried this system for several months and I hated it. It was very time consuming.

The second method is to not clip your coupons but to file the actual insert and then clip the coupon when you need it. This seems like a preferable method because you only cut out the coupons you actually need when you need them. This method didn’t work for me because neighbors were giving me

coupons as well and where was I going to put those? Also, the store gives you coupons, or you find them on products and you now have loose coupons to manage. I rejected this method after trying it for one day.

I finally opted for a plastic file box with dividers. I sort my coupons into groups like Food, Snacks, Eggs, Cheese, Yogurt, Meat, Cleaners, Paper Products, Feminine Supplies, etc. The larger size allows

coupons of different sizes to be grouped together without folding. I can take the stack, sort through it in seconds and pull out expired coupons. Misfiling rarely occurs. It also fits in the seat in the front of the grocery basket, is more compact than a binder and easier to carry.

Do what you want, but you’ll need a way to organize your coupons and you’ll be getting into this system a few times a week, so some thought behind it will save you a lot of hassle.

WHERE TO FIND COUPONS

“Where do you get your coupons?” That is probably the number one question I get in the store, usually by someone behind me in line that hears the cashier say, “You saved over $90 on your trip today.”

Seeing it in action makes people very interested in the process.

Does your grocery store have a loyalty card? If so, you may be able to load digital coupons to it for even greater savings by visiting their website each week. This is over and above their membership club price. If it looks like an item you may buy in the future, load it. My loyalty card keeps the discount active for several weeks and you never know what may be on sale or have a coupon in the future. The

downside is that without a list of loaded coupons, you may not know about the savings and pass on an item.

You can also visit www.pgesaver.com and load more coupons to your card. FYI, the store with a loyalty card gives me the biggest savings and I’ll delve into how to choose stores later. Your store may also give you printed coupons with your receipt, called “catalinas.” If your store does NOT have a loyalty card, you may have to clip paper coupons from their advertising circular. The upside is that most stores have a display rack at the entrance with multiple copies for you to use.

I subscribe to my Sunday newspaper which has most of the coupons. Usually, this means getting the newspaper which is the largest in your state. If you simply buy one at the stand, you may not get the same coupons as those in a home delivered paper. There is a long explanation for this, and like me, you probably don’t care why this occurs as it is enough just knowing that it happens. If you look around online, you can usually find a discount on a subscription. You can also ask your carrier to give you extra inserts, but with so many people couponing, there seems to be a brisk black market in this and I have heard of some carriers selling them.

Coupons have long expiration dates, so they accumulate. Even if you only get 15 coupons a week in your insert, at the end of two months, you’re going to have a sizable stack.

I also signed up for coupons by mail to get and insert sent to me directly. At the end of this book, I have links to some of those sites where you can get coupons. You can also visit the manufacturer’s website and print coupons, and there are online sites which have printable coupons. A word of warning, however, is that this will require an initial investment of time setting up accounts and configuring the printer. This took me several evenings to complete. Do NOT photocopy printable coupons as this is illegal. You must print out individual copies and stores do examine them. I use very few printable coupons or go to manufacturers websites because it is time consuming.

I asked a neighbor if we could have their coupon inserts and they drop them off during the week, and a friend gives me her’s by mail. This means that I have three copies of the weekly coupons and this is more than enough to get started. Despite what you see on television, you do not need hundreds of coupons to save really big. Also realize that the more inserts you have, the more time you are going to have to spend clipping and sorting.

The largest number of coupons I get was by joining a train. I’ll get into this later, but it is basically a circle of people who clip and send their unused coupons on to the next person on a list. At first, I thought it could not possibly work as people were likely to hoard coupons. But you will find that there are a number of coupons you don’t need and would never use. For instance, I don’t have a cat or a baby, I don’t need adult undergarments (yet) and I never buy boxed dinners, so I send those coupons on to someone else. Even if an item is free, but one that we won’t use, I pass along the coupon because I know someone else is doing the same for me. So while I give up a coupon for a free bottle of diet soda,

I sometimes receive coupons that allow me to get lip balm at no cost.

There are clipping services where you can buy multiple copies of coupons and serious couponers do this. My store often has limits on the number of the item you can buy on sale, and I have a hard time grasping why someone would want 100 bottles of baby aspirin anyway. I have not seen the need to do this, nor do I have a small warehouse to store that volume of products. Also, stores are cracking down on this practice, so you may end up with a ton of coupons you bought which you can’t use.

I find that I have six to ten coupons for many items and most times I do not buy as many as I could. Will the exception of honey, all items have a shelf life and will not store indefinitely. I do not keep more than a year’s supply of anything because I do not want to be wasteful.

So to summarize, check your grocery store website, newspaper inserts, friends and family, and join a train.

CHOOSING STORES

Every grocery chain has different policies and every store within that chain has their own way of doing things, and then the individual managers make up their own rules. What flies on one day may not fly on the other. It took me six months to work out the best combination of stores.

I was tempted to hit every store in my area, pick up only the best deals, but that required a great deal of driving. I just found that was too time consuming, so I tried a few different stores and settled on three: my usual grocery store, their competitor and a drugstore. Recently, I dropped the drugstore because they were difficult about accepting coupons and there were so few deals each week, it wasn’t worth the hassle. Each trip to the register required calling a manager, many times they would not accept the coupon for no valid reason, and the employees seemed hostile.

The other store I chose has a few specials each week that make it worth the trip. This store used to accept competitors coupons, but doesn’t any longer. I have also noticed a disturbing trend in that the employees make it difficult to use coupons, like reading each coupon and asking you questions about it, like, “Did you buy this product” when they just scanned it. For instance, if they had a store coupon for 25 cents off soup and I wanted to buy four cans, they would make me get four copies of their in-store coupon. No other store does this and many will even allow the cashier to just give you the coupon when you check out. There is no reason for this other than to make me retrieve copies of their ad as there is a stack of coupons at the front of the store. They do this to discourage people from using coupons. They want to entice you into the store with coupons, but then make it difficult for you to actually apply them.

Something else I need to point out is that they do not honor all the national deals. Some areas will have a special on certain items which is not being offered to me locally. I have no idea why this occurs, but when I ask, they tell me that is only valid in stores in neighboring states. Many times, a different brand is on sale for the same price, which makes it very confusing.

When stores start making it difficult for you to use coupons, or to even know what is on sale, it is time to abandon them. Soon a new store is coming to my neighborhood, I will be using them when they open.

Researching coupon policies is the key and most stores publish it on their website. I wish I could tell you which stores are going to be the best in your area. If I had to choose again, I would look for stores that offer double coupons, accepted competitor coupons, or make all coupons worth at least $1.

My “go to” store is a national chain with a loyalty card, digital discounts you can add for further savings and they make all coupons worth $1. That means if you have a 25 cents off coupon, they will make it $1 off. This is where you get the most savings. Most of the employees are very

accommodating about using coupons as well. I give them all my “need” business as well because the store is clean and the staff is friendly.

This store also offers “catalinas”, printed coupons that come with your receipt and $10 discounts on purchases of $75 or more. The $10 discounts have to be used within a week, so if you don’t shop

regularly, it makes sense to load your groceries in the car, go back in the store and buy $10 worth of sale items. Be careful to read it though, my store does not honor these on dairy or any liquids. Most of

the time, the other catalinas are for items that I do not want and I use them only rarely. I send these on to the next rider in my train with my packet of coupons.

A big problem I have been encountering more and more is that sale items are not stocked. Even if I shop at 9 am on a Sunday, some stores won’t have the really good deal, or the item will have been

moved to another part of the store in a free standing display (especially if the item will be free with my coupon). The last time, it was a chewing gum display which was relocated to the cheese section, and

then was moved back to the candy aisle after the sale. The better the deal, the more likely it is that the store will make it difficult to find. Don’t expect store staff to tell you where it is located.

This wasn’t much of a problem in the past because I ask for a raincheck (a slip of paper good for a couple of months that honors the sale price). Now, some stores will not give a raincheck and will remove sale items from their shelves. You’ll notice a big gaping hole while all the more expensive items are fully stocked around them. Where I live, one major department store that offers groceries is the worst offender in this regard. When that happens, I speak to the manager one time and then no longer shop at that store.

Most shoppers will not go through the hassle of getting a raincheck. If every cashier is hostile about coupons, you can bet that is coming from the management. When stores start playing these games, it is better to take your business elsewhere.

A note about warehouse clubs. They usually don’t accept coupons, but do publish their own book. I have found that the savings really aren’t that great, except on a few items such as butter, baking products like bulk flour, cooking oil and honey. I still shop there because the meat is generally choice or prime grade, and the quality is far better than I can get at my local grocery store.

FIGURING OUT THE BEST DEALS

So you’ve clipped your coupons and have your Sunday advertisements, how do you figure out the best deal? Well, you could go through the circular, see what is on sale and then determine if you have a coupon which I guess would take you most of a day.

A better approach is to use one of the websites that figures it out for you. I use http://www.thegrocerygame.com which offers a free trial. They tell me the coupon policy for each store, the regular price, sale price, my price with the coupon, percentage of savings on each item, and then totals it. I select my stores, it shows me all the sale items, and where to find the coupon. I can sort by savings, description or compare two stores at one time. The website creates my shopping list and even gives me coupons to print out. I print it out, gather my coupons and head to the store. I can usually hit both stores in an hour.

When you sign up, go to the message boards, find the thread, “Coupon Trains” and join one. This is where you will get tons and tons of coupons. What you do is you send your unused coupons on to the next “rider” every Monday or Tuesday, and someone sends to you. When you receive the package of coupons, you remove the ones you want and send on the rest to your rider. It is not unusual to get six to ten duplicates of the same coupon. Do this as soon as you feel like you understand the website’s system.

CONCLUSION

That’s pretty much it. If you make this a weekly habit, you can easily cut your food bill in half. There have been lean times where I’ve not had any money to shop and I have been able to buy just milk and eggs at the store for months because of the stockpile of food I had.

Here are some resources to get you started:

Source: Guide to couponing

Samples of acne lotions, facial moisturizers, etc

Mon, 21 Jan 2013 14:51:45 -0500

Mario Badescue. The samples come with an entire skin regimen and enough to last a while.

http://www.mariobadescu.com/questionnaire.aspx

TriCalm - Anti-itch cream. Form fill-out. US only.

http://www.tricalm.com/webform/request-sample

Calico Minerals - Three-step facial moisturizer system. Fill out the form and you’re good to go. US/Canada.

http://www.calicominerals.com/sample/

Pristine Skincare - Acne treatment. Respond back to email for email confirmation. Possibly US only.

http://www.pristineskincare.com/sample.htm

A word of advice:

To fill these forms, use a freebie-only e-mail account in case of spam

NEVER give out your phone number if it asks for one. Put in a fake one if need be or use Google Voice.

Wine

Sun, 23 Dec 2012 07:16:23 -0500

Best places to buy wine online

accidentalwine.com - quality wine whose bottle has suffered a scratch and dent

chambersstwines.com - unique wines you can’t find at local wine stores

crushpadwine.com - wines that you will never find again

halfwitwines.com - sell a variety of wines, but only in half bottles

lot18.com - flash sale site for wine

plonkwinemerchants.com - wines from around the world at affordable cost (under $30)

tastingroom.com - they sell samples from well known wineries in 50 ml bottles. You can get a variety of samples, so you can taste many wines at affordable costs.

wine.com - well known online wine store

winemonger.com - sells family owned wine

Snowboard

Sat, 17 Nov 2012 14:31:58 -0500

Best places to buy snowboard:

General Advice

Read this how-to guide before you buy the board.

http://www.snowboardfinder.com/ has a hand-picked list of snowboards from experienced boarders. Use it if you are unable to choose one.

You can buy (or sell) used gear from http://www.geartrade.com/

Search for deal of the day on GearScan or SteepAndCheap and for discounts on lift tickets to many resorts in North America at Liftopia.

Best Time to Buy Stuff

Tue, 13 Nov 2012 12:09:08 -0500

One more source: http://www.freeshipping.org/blog/best-time-to-buy-guide/

iPad Keyboard

Mon, 29 Oct 2012 15:12:35 -0400

Best places to buy iPad keyboard (or keyboard-cover combo):

Furniture

Sun, 09 Sep 2012 02:59:54 -0400

Best places to buy furniture:

Crate and Barrel
Ethan Allen
Haverty’s
Ikea
Leather Creations
Macy’s
Room and Board
The Dump

Advice:

You have to be very selective when choosing from Ikea. Look for stuff made of 18-8 steel. Those are made of quality hardware. Stay away freom LACK line.

When shopping for a mattress, be aware that if the words rebuilt, reconditioned, bunkie or refurbished appear on the tag These terms refer to USED mattress.

Buying green? Purchase remanufactured furniture or Energy Star rated ones. SIgn up for Take-back program with the manufacturere for end-of-life management. Buy NAF, ULEF or CARB certified wood.

Measure up the space where the furniture goes along with the path to that location. You may not get money back if your furniture doesn’t fit.

Pay by creadit card. It improves your chances of getting a refund if something goes wrong.

Try thrift stores or garage sales at good neighbouthoods.

Purse

Mon, 20 Aug 2012 11:09:00 -0400

Best places to buy a purse:

Asos
Coach Classics
Endless
Etsy
Gilt Group
Ideeli
JC Penney
Kohl’s
Lord and Taylors
Marshalls
Matt & Nat
Roots
RueLaLa
TJ Maxx
Yesstyle
Zappos

General Advice:

RueLaLa is an invitation only site

Vera Wang collection at Kohl’s are reasonably priced

Zappos and endless primarily sell shoes, but their purses are also great. Zappos give you free shipping, return shipping and no tax.

Subscribe to these websites to receive notifications on price fall.

Handmade Crafts

Sun, 19 Aug 2012 15:52:00 -0400

Best places to buy handmade items:

1000markets.com
artfire.com
artflock.com
etsy.com
folksy.com
icraft.ca
madeitmyself.com
supermarkethq.com

General advice:

Not all the items sold on these sites are handmade. You can make them out based on the reviews or from the product details itself.

Vintage stuff is likely to come from a thrift store. Go look at one near your home before you start looking for stuff online.

Check the reviews to see if customers were satisfied with the buyer and the item.

Message the sellers to ask little questions about the products. If the sellers respond in a manner that shows they care about thier work, you will feel much safer making a transaction with them.

Size 0 Clothing

Sat, 28 Jul 2012 06:33:00 -0400

Best places to buy size 0 clothing:

Abercrombie & Fitch
American Eagle [Pants]
Ann Taylor Loft
Express
Forever 21
Gap
J Crew
Marc Jacobs
New York & Co
Old Navy
See by Chloe
Theory
Tory Burch
Victoria’s Secret

Read the posts at alterationsneeded.com. Amazin forum/bog for petite women.

Photo Frames

Sat, 23 Jun 2012 06:02:57 -0400

interior-design-home:

Get that corner covered:

Family Tree:

Vibrant:

Spiral into the past:

Chaos:

Multi-color Collage:

Foto Falls:

We are connected:

Magnetic:

Shopper Bag Collection

Tue, 19 Jun 2012 12:51:05 -0400

Christmas Central Maggi B Soft Touch Camel Cable Knit Shopper Tote Bag ($80)

Anuschka Large Convertible Expandable Shopper Peacock Lily ($400)

Jack Georges Shopper Brown ($150)

Knomo Bayswater Collection Paris 15 Eastwest Shopper Tote ($180)

Anuschka Large Convertible Expandable Shopper Enchanted Forest Fairy ($400)

Bric’s Xbag Collection Medium Sportina Shopper Navy ($100)

Knomo Belgravia Laurel 15 Top Zippered Shopper ($200)

Anuschka Large Shopper Peacock Flower ($500)

Television

Sun, 17 Jun 2012 11:37:00 -0400

Best places to buy TV:

Amazon
Best Buy
Costco
Newegg
Sams club

General Advice:

Unless you really care about 3D, don’t buy it.

When buying LED lit screen, check if it is side-lit or actually back-lit (better & pricier). A side-lit LED screen will be thinner and a back-lit one will be as regular CCFL LCDs. Samsung is a good brand for LED TVs.

When buying Plasma, remember that they don’t work on high altitudes. If you are in the 6,500 - 7,500 range, you may have to test Plasma at that altitude before you buy. Plasma TVs have better picture quality than LEDs and are more suitable for watching movies, gaming etc. Panasonic is the leading brand for Plasmas.

Don’t care about the packaged hulu-pandora-facebook-youtube-netflix. They should not be a selling point for a TV. You can get them for cheap with a set-top box.

60 Hz v/s 120 Hz depends on the source material. If your source is 120 Hz, you will notice the difference between 60 Hz and 120 Hz TVs.

If you are looking for a TV with a screen larger than 40 inches, go for 1080p. The difference is not much noticeable on smaller screens.

Don’t trust in-door TV demos at the Electronic Stores. They control calibration depending on what they want to sell and use a video with low color range that can make any TV look good. Read reviews.

Don’t buy cables at the point of sale. You will be charged at lot. Go to amazon.com or monoprice.com and buy the ones you need online.

Don’t buy extended warranties at the point of sale. Check squaretrade.com for great deals on warranty.

When buying Sansung, look at the sticker on the box to determine who makes the LCD panel (A, C and SQ). A and C are outsourced. SQ is made by Samsung, go for SQ.

If you are ok to buy used ones, the best time to buy a TV is after the super bowl. You will find already discounted TVs returned and on sale for low prices. These TVs are new and are discounted as they can’t be sold as new.

Don’t waste money on the features that are printed on the box. True-motion, dynamic contrast etc are of no value.

Mattresses

Fri, 15 Jun 2012 09:48:00 -0400

Best places to buy mattress:

Amazon
Big Lots
Costco
Overstock
Sam’s Club
Walmart (Look for Spa Sensations)

General Advice:

Spend money on a nice mattress, you’ll be spending about a third of your life on it.

Lie down on the mattress and check it. It’s not awkward as you imagine it ot be. Don’t go mattress shopping when you are tired. Any mattress will feel comfortable.

Check out the sleep innovations memory foam mattresses on amazon.com. They are really nice and relatively cheap.

If buying from a local mattress store, go to 2 or 3 different stores. Ask for half the marked price (specially at the chain stores, they mark up the price with a huge margin). If they don’t agree to your price, just leave. Go to another mattress store, look for a similar mattress and tell them that the other mattress store was going to give it to you for 50% of the price. If you are not good at haggling ask for free stuff, like pillows, covers, frame or delivery.

Mattresses stain quickly, so get some kind of cover for it immediately.

If you can afford it, buy natural latex ones.

If you sweat a lot memory foam might not be the best for you.

Go to the store on a Tuesday or Wednesday after 7 PM (or 2 hrs before closing time). Sales people are willing and able to significantly discount merchandise to make a sale. Keep asking for a discount or just saying “I like this mattress but I’m not ready to buy today as I have $x with me now”.

Mattresses dip in the middle if they lack support at the center. Choose a frame that supports the mattress properly.

Plaid/Flannel/Checkered Shirts

Thu, 14 Jun 2012 15:24:55 -0400

Best places to buy plaid shirts:

Abercrombie & Fitch
Banana Republic
Barney’s Coop
H&M
J. Crew
LL Bean
Target’s Mossimo
Uniqlo
Zappos

Plaid: Has become very fashionable in recent times. Good causal wear.

Flannel: Looks the same as plaid, except the material is much thicker and better suited for colder weather. Very difficult to pull them off.

Go for thinner material with slim fit.