gifts
Posted 19 weeks 5 days ago by Xin Lu
Personal Finance, Lifestyle
Ever since I was a child, I have been taught that when you receive a gift you should be happy about it and then give something back in return. To this day I still believe that is good manners, but sometimes receiving gifts is stressful for me because of what I call "gift guilt". Read on to see what I mean.
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Posted 20 weeks 3 hours ago by Xin Lu
Personal Finance, Frugal Living, General Tips, Shopping, Lifestyle, Real Estate and Housing
I moved to the United States when I was a child from Yangzhou, China. After sixteen years, I could easily pass as an American because I speak English without an accent, and I am well versed with the popular culture. However, if you ever examined my attitudes toward money you will see that I am undeniably Chinese. Here are some of the principles I grew up with.
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Posted 22 weeks 6 days ago by Paul Michael
Frugal Living, Consumer Affairs
Today is St. Valentine’s Day. Delivery vans filled with flowers are passing each other on the highways; the supermarket aisles filled with pink and red cards are chock full of men and women, frantically buying that last-minute love note. And I have to wonder…why do we bother?
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Posted 30 weeks 1 day ago by Linsey Knerl
Personal Finance, Consumer Affairs
Sadly, a recent poll by Inside Indiana Business reports that 13 percent of consumers want to return items, but feel that it is too much of a hassle. If you are confident that your perfect gift is out there, take these steps to ensure that you can have it, with minimal effort and aggravation!
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Posted 31 weeks 3 days ago by Carrie Kirby
Shopping
The tale of the Christmas belly flop is a sad one. The shopper finds something that looks so appealing, often on sale, and wraps it up beautifully. The givee is truly excited -- until the thing is a pain to maintain, works poorly or stops running altogether. Here are five handy sources for quick product research to keep Santa from belly flopping this Christmas.
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Posted 32 weeks 1 day ago by Paul Michael
Frugal Living, Life Hacks, General Tips, Shopping, DIY
I’ve mentioned before that I’m no fan of the greeting card and gift wrapping industries. Not only are their products way over-priced, they’re also less than original in most cases. So, when I stumbled across a site that showed me how to wrap gifts beautifully using bits and pieces around the house, well, I was more than pleased…especially at this time of year. It’s called Wrap Art.
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Posted 32 weeks 4 days ago by Linsey Knerl
Frugal Living, Shopping
Handmade gifts are becoming cool again (even if you’re not talented enough to try.) Kids, however, don’t often appreciate the time and effort that goes into a gift crafted by the hands of the giver. Whether you do it because you’re frugal, or you do it because you care, here are five gifts for smaller children that will be loved long after the season is over.
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Posted 33 weeks 5 days ago by Linsey Knerl
Personal Finance, Shopping, Consumer Affairs
Kids may think they know what they want to get for the holidays this year, but that doesn’t mean they have a clue as to what they need. By having a little forethought, and using this gift-giving opportunity as a chance to really invest in them, you can help change their financial futures. Here is a rundown of some of the best money-management gifts that I have personally used for kids under 12...
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Posted 34 weeks 3 days ago by Julie Rains
Shopping
Need some non-crafty, hardly homemade gift ideas, all for less than $5? Here are 25 with something suitable for nearly everyone on your gift list.
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Posted 47 weeks 5 days ago by Paul Michael
Deals and Coupons
This is no joke. This is not a scam, I've checked it out. Right now Overstock.com is giving away 18" pearl necklaces. Why I have no idea. Clearly it was the accountant's day off. All you pay is just $2.95 for shipping, but they have limited you to just 1 per customer. Makes sense.
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I think I may be losing my grip on reality.
Recently I received four coupons in the mail from my local Office Max. Two coupons were for $10 off a purchase of $10. I'm not the best number-cruncher but I figured that meant I got two $10 items for free. I was right. I strolled into Office Max, picked out two $10 items (pack of batteries, paper supplies) and after tax the grand total came to around $1.40 for $20 worth of product.
Continue reading "Did Office Max hire an accountant with an I.Q. of 62?"
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Given that you, your father’s child, are physically healthy, emotionally stable, and reasonably educated (his top priorities), what does your dad really want besides a visit or call from you?
He wants 1) to get you completely off his payroll and onto to some else’s and 2) to have you become financially savvy, able to made good decisions and recover quickly from the bad ones, and never, ever need another dollar from him (though he may take pleasure in giving you some cash).
Continue reading "Father's Day: What does Dad really want? "
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Americans are planning to spend an average of $139 on Mother's Day gifts this year. That's a stunning $16 billion national spending frenzy that would have horrified Anna Jarvis, the founder of Mother's Day.
Anna lobbied for the creation of the holiday as a tribute to her mother and mothers everywhere. Her efforts paid off in 1914 when President Wilson officially designated the second Sunday in May as Mother's Day.
Later on, after seeing her holiday cheapened by rampant commercialism, Anna denounced her own holiday. She wrote:
Continue reading "Inventor of Mother's Day Wants You To Stop Wasting Money"
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As a frugal shopper, I like to make my products work hard. If I can get something to double as an equally handy item (for instance, a belt buckle that opens beer bottles, a portable TV that's also a flashlight) then I'm happy.
So, I'm sat researching articles for Wisebread and I look down at my computer, ashamed. It has only ever been a computer. Surely, I thought, some bright sparks out there have figured out ways to make the PC into something so much more. Well, they have. Boy, they have. They're called casemods, and I found so many different functions for the humble PC that I was blown away. Until...until...
Continue reading "Get your PC to give you coffee, bacon or even an orgasm."
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It's Valentine's Day and you don't have a gift. How could you know that when the evil girlfriend said "let's not exchange gifts this year," she actually meant "if I don't get anything you will never see any part of me naked again, ever!"
Here are some deaperate great last minute free gift ideas to keep the nakedness coming.
Origami stars
Continue reading "Last minute free Valentine's Day gift ideas"
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Valentine’s Day is nearly upon us, and you know what that means: lots of people are going to buy lots of dumb crap. But you are above and beyond that, because you read Wise Bread. I’m not saying that Wise Bread readers are smarter than everyone else, but I’m definitely implying it.
Continue reading "Couplehood: Avoiding the Valentine Clichés"
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Everyone knows that Valentine's Day can be pricey. Flowers, dinner, gifts (if you're that type) easily put a dent in anyone's wallet.
Well, preparation is the best prevention... or something like that. Want to save a little this Valentine's Day? Get ready now.
Order your flowers ahead of time. That means now.
Buy a vase before you buy your flowers. Sometimes, florists will offer really nice vases for cheap. A simple clean vase is great; if you know where you are going to order your flowers, call ahead and ask how much they charge for a vase. It should never cost more than $4. At least, that's my cut-off point.
Continue reading "Flower Power - A Guide to Frugal Valentine's Flowers"
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What would you say if I told you that I filled my entire living room with completely original works of art for less than $300? We're not talking kid's stuff - no crayon drawings, no attempts at self-expression. Art by real and struggling artists, both schooled and self-taught?
You'd tell me that I am truly a brilliant shopper, right?
Thank you.
Continue reading "But is it ART?"
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OK, so this is too late for Christmas, but there's still time before New Year's to try this out. I was pondering the range of joy and sorrow that is the homemade gift.
Continue reading "To life, to life, la kayim! The joy of home-enhanced booze."
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I love the plethora of frugal ideas that people are happily posting, for free, all over the internet. I'm sharing some of my favorites here. Because I can. And because Mr. Chen's rather prolific posting of late is bringing out my long-buried (and possibly imagined) sense of competitiveness.
Also, we don't technically have a blogroll yet (or as highly technical people call it, "that-list-of-other-blog-sites-on-one-side-of-the-page-linky-thing"), I thought it might be good to prove that we are not threatened by the plethora of frugal advice online. We embrace it.
Some of these links are to main blog pages, and others are to specific blog entries that I thought were worthy and frugal without being tacky.
Continue reading "Additional smart, frugal people"
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