Justine! What a great suggestion, reducing the detergent. Fluffy towels AND savings. Got to try this. I've never had the wasp problem but assume you learned this the hard way. :-(
Jessica, this is brilliant: you are multi-tasking by drying and dusting those blinds, when you take the diapers down. Good for you for doing cloth, too.
We generally only buy things on sale/clearance. That goes for groceries too. Gas and a just a few other things are the exceptions. If there is something that we want to doesn't really go on sale, we try to find a coupon that can be applied to the purchase, or we start searching second hand for something comparable. (Sometimes you'll find the exact same the for a fraction of the price.)
As a single parent I try very hard to only buy when items are on sale. That goes for food, clothes, CDs, household items, and personal care items. By doing this it helps when I have to pay full price for something such as "hey Mom I need _____ for school tomorrow" or when it comes to the gift I really want to get someone for their birthday/special event.
Life is too short to stress over every little purchase or deny yourself everything just to save money.
Just kidding here, but maybe the late-letter experiment subject responded more quickly to the emails because they're not as busy as the uber-productive early-letters.
I can't agree with this post more. I used to be a big "cheap shoe" collector, but I ended up with a closet full of sort of cute, incredibly uncomofortable shoes I never wore.
The thing that I have found with high-quality, well-made shoes is, not only are they more comfortable and longer lasting, but they also are easier to repair.
When a shoe is made from genuine leather with a rubber sole, for example, a cobbler has a lot more to work with than if the shoe is made of some crazy man-made material. And often the cost of repairing your shoes is at least half the cost of a new pair of shoes, and it extends the life of a pair of shoes that you love and that fits you well.
The other thing I do to mitigate the higher cost of good quality shoes is I try to buy them on sale as much as possible. I have a few classy shoe stores that I frequent, and I'm on their mailing lists for all their sales. Whenever I see that they're having a sale, I stop in and see if there's anything they have that fits what I need. I often save 50-70% off the retail price, and end up with a cute/comfortable/durable pair of shoes that I will be able to wear and repair for several years.
Interesting. My last name is a V and first name Z, so I've had my fair share of being last on the list (graduations, mailing lists). However, in my native alphabet (cyrillic), V is the third letter from the start, and Z is in the first half of the alphabet, so I guess I've experienced both sides of the coin -- beginning of the alphabet until the end of middle school, and the end afterwards. I have to say I am a low-key person, so being towards the end doesn't bother me -- I like to see how things play out for others first. I'm not a compulsive spender either, I take my time to research a product.
I buy when I need something, generally regardless of whether it is on sale (outside of a few stores with regular sales like Kohl's). I find that I spend less overall if I wait until I need something than buy early when it is on sale and hope I need it later.
I play the lottery on a weekly basis but have never own the jackpot.
I do follow a strategy that results in me winning decent sums regularly, but nothing big enough that I can quit my job or retire.
The chances of winning the lottery with a single combination is 1 in 14 million or so. With analyzing previous results and some mathematics you can increase your odds, but it's still always a gamble.
I received an e-mail stating that a netspend debit card was being sent to me. When I called the contact number, the person told my my e-mail address did not exist in the system... How can that be possible when they sent me an e-mail and supposedly sent me a debit card... this sounds shady and I do not appreciate the practice
While it is true that air-dried clothes are not as soft as tumble-dried clothes, sometimes clothes are stiff because you are using too much laundry detergent. You can get away with using a lot less detergent (1/3 of the recommended amount with conventional detergent) and still get clean clothes. I have found that by doing this, I no longer need fabric softener of any kind.
Also a consideration: Check for wasps before folding outdoor air-dried clothes!
We try and buy as much as we can on sale, if it's not on sale I at least try to use a coupon. However, I won't just buy something I typically wouldn't just because it's on sale or a good price - if it's not something we need or planned on buying then even on sale it's a waste of money.
The issue of beneficiaries haven't been discussed too much on internet articles about online banks, but this was actually a big reason why I left ING Direct and went to Ally bank. Last year, I had money in ING Direct and was looking to update my beneficiaries. To my surprise, there actually was no way to put beneficiaries on ING accounts. I know there's probably a way to pass the money on down to whoever you want through all the estate/death planning, but beneficiaries are the simplest way to designate, and it's a pretty powerful estate transfer method.
Anyway, just thought this might be something that someone might want to consider as well.
Yes! I shop clearance items first and then only when I have an extra percentage off coupon or a cash back coupon. Last month I bought a $38 top for $.29.
Justine! What a great suggestion, reducing the detergent. Fluffy towels AND savings. Got to try this. I've never had the wasp problem but assume you learned this the hard way. :-(
Jessica, this is brilliant: you are multi-tasking by drying and dusting those blinds, when you take the diapers down. Good for you for doing cloth, too.
J.S., thanks for your helpful comments, especially the attic/basement ideas. It's true - every day has to be laundry day, if you are air/line drying!
We generally only buy things on sale/clearance. That goes for groceries too. Gas and a just a few other things are the exceptions. If there is something that we want to doesn't really go on sale, we try to find a coupon that can be applied to the purchase, or we start searching second hand for something comparable. (Sometimes you'll find the exact same the for a fraction of the price.)
As a single parent I try very hard to only buy when items are on sale. That goes for food, clothes, CDs, household items, and personal care items. By doing this it helps when I have to pay full price for something such as "hey Mom I need _____ for school tomorrow" or when it comes to the gift I really want to get someone for their birthday/special event.
Life is too short to stress over every little purchase or deny yourself everything just to save money.
This was hilarious, loved it!
They've been using this tactic for years. I'm in Kansas City and see it on the Missouri and Kansas side.
I probably buy on sale items 85 percent of the time. Otherwise, it's second hand or freecycle, or craigslist.
it depends on what it is but 99% of the times, definitely sale items
I usually try to buy items when they are on sale, but for some special occasions, you just got to splurge
Just kidding here, but maybe the late-letter experiment subject responded more quickly to the emails because they're not as busy as the uber-productive early-letters.
i do buy mostly on sale.
I can't agree with this post more. I used to be a big "cheap shoe" collector, but I ended up with a closet full of sort of cute, incredibly uncomofortable shoes I never wore.
The thing that I have found with high-quality, well-made shoes is, not only are they more comfortable and longer lasting, but they also are easier to repair.
When a shoe is made from genuine leather with a rubber sole, for example, a cobbler has a lot more to work with than if the shoe is made of some crazy man-made material. And often the cost of repairing your shoes is at least half the cost of a new pair of shoes, and it extends the life of a pair of shoes that you love and that fits you well.
The other thing I do to mitigate the higher cost of good quality shoes is I try to buy them on sale as much as possible. I have a few classy shoe stores that I frequent, and I'm on their mailing lists for all their sales. Whenever I see that they're having a sale, I stop in and see if there's anything they have that fits what I need. I often save 50-70% off the retail price, and end up with a cute/comfortable/durable pair of shoes that I will be able to wear and repair for several years.
Interesting. My last name is a V and first name Z, so I've had my fair share of being last on the list (graduations, mailing lists). However, in my native alphabet (cyrillic), V is the third letter from the start, and Z is in the first half of the alphabet, so I guess I've experienced both sides of the coin -- beginning of the alphabet until the end of middle school, and the end afterwards. I have to say I am a low-key person, so being towards the end doesn't bother me -- I like to see how things play out for others first. I'm not a compulsive spender either, I take my time to research a product.
I buy when I need something, generally regardless of whether it is on sale (outside of a few stores with regular sales like Kohl's). I find that I spend less overall if I wait until I need something than buy early when it is on sale and hope I need it later.
I play the lottery on a weekly basis but have never own the jackpot.
I do follow a strategy that results in me winning decent sums regularly, but nothing big enough that I can quit my job or retire.
The chances of winning the lottery with a single combination is 1 in 14 million or so. With analyzing previous results and some mathematics you can increase your odds, but it's still always a gamble.
It's all about fun ;)
I received an e-mail stating that a netspend debit card was being sent to me. When I called the contact number, the person told my my e-mail address did not exist in the system... How can that be possible when they sent me an e-mail and supposedly sent me a debit card... this sounds shady and I do not appreciate the practice
Yes! Sales are my favorite, lol! if the sale is good enough and I have the funds, I like to stock up for awhile.
I buy things on sale 99% of the time....I honestly can't remember the last time I paid full price for something.
While it is true that air-dried clothes are not as soft as tumble-dried clothes, sometimes clothes are stiff because you are using too much laundry detergent. You can get away with using a lot less detergent (1/3 of the recommended amount with conventional detergent) and still get clean clothes. I have found that by doing this, I no longer need fabric softener of any kind.
Also a consideration: Check for wasps before folding outdoor air-dried clothes!
We try and buy as much as we can on sale, if it's not on sale I at least try to use a coupon. However, I won't just buy something I typically wouldn't just because it's on sale or a good price - if it's not something we need or planned on buying then even on sale it's a waste of money.
I usually buy things on sale. Sometimes I just need them and will pay full price though!
I buy on sale when I can.
The issue of beneficiaries haven't been discussed too much on internet articles about online banks, but this was actually a big reason why I left ING Direct and went to Ally bank. Last year, I had money in ING Direct and was looking to update my beneficiaries. To my surprise, there actually was no way to put beneficiaries on ING accounts. I know there's probably a way to pass the money on down to whoever you want through all the estate/death planning, but beneficiaries are the simplest way to designate, and it's a pretty powerful estate transfer method.
Anyway, just thought this might be something that someone might want to consider as well.
I definitely only buy on sale. A couple exceptions over the years when I needed a dress for special events that came up unexpectedly.
Yes! I shop clearance items first and then only when I have an extra percentage off coupon or a cash back coupon. Last month I bought a $38 top for $.29.