I am unable to get phone reception at my home but since I work 30 miles from home my old pay as you go phone for $25.00 every 3 months does the trick and gives me piece on mind in case of an emergency. The phone is so old it does not accomadate apps.
I am unable to get phone reception at my home but since I work 30 miles from home my old pay as you go phone for $25.00 every 3 months does the trick and gives me piece on mind in case of an emergency. The phone is so old it does not accomadate apps.
i don't know if there is one already out there for this.. but I would love an app that would "hold" all my shopper loyalty cards and gift cards. I could flip through until I came to the one I wanted and it could be scanned at the register.
We have this on my husband's car through GEICO insurance. We were offered it when we first bought the vehicle. It is around $100 a year for coverage. It covers ANYTHING that goes wrong with the car up to 100,000 miles (I think it might also be up to 10 years, but I can't remember and will have to check if we get near either of those contingencies). We will absolutely cancel it if we reach the end of coverage, but I liked the peace of mind knowing we'd not get hit with a huge bill so to us, it has been worth it. Worth it more if we'd actually had something go wrong with it, but 6 years and going strong with no mechanical problems at all.
I guess banking that $100 a year would have been nice since it's looking like we're not going to have to use it before the policy runs its course. Still feel pretty good about having it, however.
It is a $500 deductible and after that, they pay for everything else. NO limits on who we can take it to or anything.
Read the fine print on the websites that give values of Real Estate, even they will say "do not rely on these"
As an investor I put exactly zero weight on the values generated by the automated valuations that are used by every website that I know of. Valuating property is relative, and one of those things that you will absolutely learn the hard way, that it is much more complicated than it looks!
Remember, no matter how smart you are, (or think you are) if you haven’t done something before, you are an amateur at that activity. Be prepared to pay one way or the other if you decide to take a stab at it.
There are other reasons I wouldn't just use an attorney to do paper work, even though they are very capable of doing that, unless you personally know what your objectives are and the risks you are willing to take. Attorney’s jobs are to eliminate risk, and to that end, a good attorney will most likely kill a deal. I won't go into that discussion here.
--My .02 or 2,000,000.00 however YOU choose to look at it ;)
I agree with most of the posts listed here. I recently took a medical retirement from my job. This meant a loss of income for my family. In an effort to save money I have been using coupons. I am an "average" shopper. I don't buy 77 bottles of ANYTHING. Who has room for that? I find my best savings are on health and beauty items. I use the money I save on those items to buy more fresh fruits and vegies. I buy only what my family will use in a one month time period with the exception of health and beauty items. I will buy a few months worth of these products because they don't spoil. I will buy a few extra items for my college aged daughter (I put them in a care package for her a few times a year.) I NEVER clear a shelf. I feel that is just being selfish. I average $200-300 savings per month. I spend less than 5 hours per week and since I am not working I feel this is a reasonable amount. We have four children including three teenagers (they play sports and are always eating). Using coupons is the only way we could deal with the loss of my income. I would like to BEG the extreme couponers to stop clearing shelves and hoarding the good deals. There are LOTS of working families in America just like mine that need these items on a daily basis. I plan my families meal around the local sales and my coupons. If I go to the store and the sale items are gone (thanks to all the shelf clearers) I am forced to buy a different (more expensive) brand or go without that item. They say that charity starts at home. With that said, think of your friends and nieghbors and leave something on the shelf for others who may need it. If you just have to have 77 bottles of mustard contact the store manager BEFORE you go shopping and have him/her order you a seperate case.
I love the "Use My Mortgage Guy" section. I hear those stories all day long. Shopping around is the best thing to do when getting a mortgage. If you want to get a quote from their "mortgage guy" go for it. BUT get other quotes to compare. Jammony.com has a good section on how to find the best mortgage.
As with any insurance, it's worthless if the company can't or won't pay off. I've also heard that some are just total scams. How about some names, good or bad?
Just finished my semester at college. My own suitemates threw out full bottles of shampoo, a scale, and lancome cosmetics. I also got free storage items, cosmetics, shampoo, a mirror, ironing board, and food! Next year, I am going to town and I plan to get ten times as many free things! Whoo, I can't wait :D
Justin - Having done it myself (couponing - not hoarding like the show displays) I can say that you can still casually get 78% in savings without clearing a shelf. They clear the shelves going "OH this won't come again for 6 weeks" but they buy stuff that will either expire in a week or last them decades.
I have a list of stuff we our low on or need (need being soap, or other home/personal care products) and then I just keep a watch on weekly ads to see if their happens to be a combo of sale/coupon to make the item cheap or free.
Example:
This week Dove for Men Deodorant was on sale.
$3.99
but two weeks ago I printed a no longer available coupon for $1 off.
$2.99
Walgreens offers $3 Register Rewards (3 off next purchase on any item) so the item was essentially free.
Or:
Scotch tape (we were completely out) was on sale for 1.99
with a Buy-1-get-2-free deal at Walgreens.
Because Walgreen's policy states you can use a coupon per item unless coupon states otherwise, I was able to use TWO
$1 off 1 Scotch Tape - taking $2 off my purchase, which was originally 1.99.
COST: FREE.
You can do it ethically, and get that much savings. The show displays some people who have built their stockpile for YEARS. and never learned to only buy what they're short on. You don't have to be a shelf-clearer or hoarder to save more than 50% on your shopping. The show is setting a bad example - at least one person on the show was proven as using coupon fraud.
Here are two tips that have really helped me:
1) When sitting, make sure your knees are below your waist (with feet further back under the chair). It is a natural prompt to sit straighter.
2) When standing, a small box or step that you can put one foot on will improve posture.
one of the krazycouponlady.com women (1 of 2) was on the show and her husband was misquoted saying she spends most of her time doing coupons. She came out and stated what he had originally said was she spends a lot of time on her coupon site.. which is a hobby, not an obsession. She said she never spends more than 1-2 hrs a week on coupons.
& the other woman who was shown as climbing into a dumpster, only did so because producers asked her to. What they really do is go to paper recycling plants, which have bins of nothing but newspapers and inserts. (Which I personally still find a little too far - but to each their own)
My point being, yes the show definitely trys to portray it more crazy than it really is.
Lol what rate does she sell them at? Does she clear all the shelves and then sell them at a premium?
I'd be fine with a neighbor buying a bunch of stuff (say retails for $5 to $10) for free and selling it to others for .50 cents. Maybe. lol
P.S. buying two or 3 of an item on sale, I condone. I do not condone clearing a shelf, nor does 99% of the coupon community. They set stricter policies for us who use coupons properly.
Paul, I see where you're coming from with the extreme couponing horrors, but I feel like you're being influenced by what the tv series wants you to see in it.
I did catch on after seeing the show, but the show is exagerated, as is most of tv. For example, one woman - the one you saw dumping the entire bin of aspirin - ended up being accused of coupon fraud. She was decoding the barcodes and using coupons for say "Nivia Vitality - $9 product with a $3 off coupon" and letting it ring up for another Nivia product, that typically only costs $3. It's a flaw in the way coupons are coded but it is definitely illegal. She was not an ethical couponer.
What I have done, is buy enough groceries to last me and my wife 2 - 3 weeks. Now that we have a decent supply, it leaves me open to casually browse for deals. I'll pick up a sunday paper (JUST 1, yeah 1.) and spend that week looking through writing down near free deals. This way I can slowly build a small stockpile, without wasting away my life. We have one closet, with shelves, devoted to our stockpile. We will never let it get past that one small closet because well... we're two people. Not a family of 10 starving rats. You're totally right that a lot of those people buy up everything knowing it will expire long before they can use it. Especially when they hide stuff under beds and in every other corner. Thats no longer saving, that's hoarding.
I also won't "only buy food if theres a coupon for it" We will make a vague list of what we want "cookies" for example, and so if we do have a coupon for chips ahoy, we will get that instead of oreos - but we will not let coupons act as our shopping list. We make a list of what we want and then see if we have available coupons for it.
Other than that, I only casually get free items: for example, our range of savings is more like once a week we go to Walgreens. This week I spent $7 on $29 worth of goods. We got: 2 Dove for Men Deodorent. 2 Softsoap body wash. 4 starbucks frappachinos. 2 Deli Creations & 3 Scotch Magic Tape.
If there is a bunch of really good deals in a sunday paper, I will go pick up a second one. But we never use more than 3 or 4 coupons on an item... way under the 77 coupons you see used on the show. Simply no reason to stockpile, even if those oreo cookies don't go back on sale for another 4 weeks, the chips ahoy will be on sell in 2. The main thing to remember in couponing is you have to try new things, and gradually build your stock.... and if your stock is full, don't go buy more just because it's on sale right now!
From a houseguest perspective, I'm always super-appreciative whenever someone I'm staying with invites me to join them for their meals. Not only does it save money, but it's a welcome break from the constant eating out that can come with a trip.
After reading that, I was about to comment "I love coffee, but I can't drink six cups a day!" and then I was like, "Meg...you're not exactly in the prostate-cancer demographic."
Thanks for your reply. I live in New Mexico, and evidently they are not anywhere near here yet. Hope Aldi spreads to Waco, Austin, Temple, etc. so I can visit them.
We got Aldi stores a little over a year ago in my area (DFW). I've been shopping them for some of my food purchases ever since. They have the best prices on milk and eggs (and have helped to drive down milk prices at the other grocery stores in my area). Their produce seems to be hit or miss overall but I've never had a problem with their carrots or bagged spinach. Their hummus, plain yogurt, cottage cheese and butter are also good and almost always cheaper than I can get at other stores, even when I can find coupons on those items. And, while not great for you, I think they have the best animal crackers/cookies I've ever tasted. They're a nice treat.
But, best of all, they carry real, European chocolate at a reasonable price. It's not the high end stuff, but it's equivalent to what you'd get a grocery store over there and miles better than the standard US stuff. I've started including a bar or two into all of my gifts to family members who live out of state and they love it.
Problem with waiting too long between trips is that things disappear. They may come back on rotation or they may be gone forever, even things you think have become their staples. If the posted price by an item has an asterisk *, it's going away.
I'd like a coupon database app that searches by product to find if there are coupons online or in newspaper inserts.
I am unable to get phone reception at my home but since I work 30 miles from home my old pay as you go phone for $25.00 every 3 months does the trick and gives me piece on mind in case of an emergency. The phone is so old it does not accomadate apps.
I am unable to get phone reception at my home but since I work 30 miles from home my old pay as you go phone for $25.00 every 3 months does the trick and gives me piece on mind in case of an emergency. The phone is so old it does not accomadate apps.
Travelers wanting to pack light may find http://www.onebag.com useful.
i don't know if there is one already out there for this.. but I would love an app that would "hold" all my shopper loyalty cards and gift cards. I could flip through until I came to the one I wanted and it could be scanned at the register.
We have this on my husband's car through GEICO insurance. We were offered it when we first bought the vehicle. It is around $100 a year for coverage. It covers ANYTHING that goes wrong with the car up to 100,000 miles (I think it might also be up to 10 years, but I can't remember and will have to check if we get near either of those contingencies). We will absolutely cancel it if we reach the end of coverage, but I liked the peace of mind knowing we'd not get hit with a huge bill so to us, it has been worth it. Worth it more if we'd actually had something go wrong with it, but 6 years and going strong with no mechanical problems at all.
I guess banking that $100 a year would have been nice since it's looking like we're not going to have to use it before the policy runs its course. Still feel pretty good about having it, however.
It is a $500 deductible and after that, they pay for everything else. NO limits on who we can take it to or anything.
heres the last part.
Read the fine print on the websites that give values of Real Estate, even they will say "do not rely on these"
As an investor I put exactly zero weight on the values generated by the automated valuations that are used by every website that I know of. Valuating property is relative, and one of those things that you will absolutely learn the hard way, that it is much more complicated than it looks!
Remember, no matter how smart you are, (or think you are) if you haven’t done something before, you are an amateur at that activity. Be prepared to pay one way or the other if you decide to take a stab at it.
There are other reasons I wouldn't just use an attorney to do paper work, even though they are very capable of doing that, unless you personally know what your objectives are and the risks you are willing to take. Attorney’s jobs are to eliminate risk, and to that end, a good attorney will most likely kill a deal. I won't go into that discussion here.
--My .02 or 2,000,000.00 however YOU choose to look at it ;)
I agree with most of the posts listed here. I recently took a medical retirement from my job. This meant a loss of income for my family. In an effort to save money I have been using coupons. I am an "average" shopper. I don't buy 77 bottles of ANYTHING. Who has room for that? I find my best savings are on health and beauty items. I use the money I save on those items to buy more fresh fruits and vegies. I buy only what my family will use in a one month time period with the exception of health and beauty items. I will buy a few months worth of these products because they don't spoil. I will buy a few extra items for my college aged daughter (I put them in a care package for her a few times a year.) I NEVER clear a shelf. I feel that is just being selfish. I average $200-300 savings per month. I spend less than 5 hours per week and since I am not working I feel this is a reasonable amount. We have four children including three teenagers (they play sports and are always eating). Using coupons is the only way we could deal with the loss of my income. I would like to BEG the extreme couponers to stop clearing shelves and hoarding the good deals. There are LOTS of working families in America just like mine that need these items on a daily basis. I plan my families meal around the local sales and my coupons. If I go to the store and the sale items are gone (thanks to all the shelf clearers) I am forced to buy a different (more expensive) brand or go without that item. They say that charity starts at home. With that said, think of your friends and nieghbors and leave something on the shelf for others who may need it. If you just have to have 77 bottles of mustard contact the store manager BEFORE you go shopping and have him/her order you a seperate case.
i'm in the same boat as Danielle! I pay $115 a month for cable and internet. Love food network, bravo, E! and some kids channels. help!
I love the "Use My Mortgage Guy" section. I hear those stories all day long. Shopping around is the best thing to do when getting a mortgage. If you want to get a quote from their "mortgage guy" go for it. BUT get other quotes to compare. Jammony.com has a good section on how to find the best mortgage.
As with any insurance, it's worthless if the company can't or won't pay off. I've also heard that some are just total scams. How about some names, good or bad?
Love this article. I love my daily Java too.
Just finished my semester at college. My own suitemates threw out full bottles of shampoo, a scale, and lancome cosmetics. I also got free storage items, cosmetics, shampoo, a mirror, ironing board, and food! Next year, I am going to town and I plan to get ten times as many free things! Whoo, I can't wait :D
Justin - Having done it myself (couponing - not hoarding like the show displays) I can say that you can still casually get 78% in savings without clearing a shelf. They clear the shelves going "OH this won't come again for 6 weeks" but they buy stuff that will either expire in a week or last them decades.
I have a list of stuff we our low on or need (need being soap, or other home/personal care products) and then I just keep a watch on weekly ads to see if their happens to be a combo of sale/coupon to make the item cheap or free.
Example:
This week Dove for Men Deodorant was on sale.
$3.99
but two weeks ago I printed a no longer available coupon for $1 off.
$2.99
Walgreens offers $3 Register Rewards (3 off next purchase on any item) so the item was essentially free.
Or:
Scotch tape (we were completely out) was on sale for 1.99
with a Buy-1-get-2-free deal at Walgreens.
Because Walgreen's policy states you can use a coupon per item unless coupon states otherwise, I was able to use TWO
$1 off 1 Scotch Tape - taking $2 off my purchase, which was originally 1.99.
COST: FREE.
You can do it ethically, and get that much savings. The show displays some people who have built their stockpile for YEARS. and never learned to only buy what they're short on. You don't have to be a shelf-clearer or hoarder to save more than 50% on your shopping. The show is setting a bad example - at least one person on the show was proven as using coupon fraud.
Here are two tips that have really helped me:
1) When sitting, make sure your knees are below your waist (with feet further back under the chair). It is a natural prompt to sit straighter.
2) When standing, a small box or step that you can put one foot on will improve posture.
Coffee is a good way to stay hydrated as well!
one of the krazycouponlady.com women (1 of 2) was on the show and her husband was misquoted saying she spends most of her time doing coupons. She came out and stated what he had originally said was she spends a lot of time on her coupon site.. which is a hobby, not an obsession. She said she never spends more than 1-2 hrs a week on coupons.
& the other woman who was shown as climbing into a dumpster, only did so because producers asked her to. What they really do is go to paper recycling plants, which have bins of nothing but newspapers and inserts. (Which I personally still find a little too far - but to each their own)
My point being, yes the show definitely trys to portray it more crazy than it really is.
Lol what rate does she sell them at? Does she clear all the shelves and then sell them at a premium?
I'd be fine with a neighbor buying a bunch of stuff (say retails for $5 to $10) for free and selling it to others for .50 cents. Maybe. lol
P.S. buying two or 3 of an item on sale, I condone. I do not condone clearing a shelf, nor does 99% of the coupon community. They set stricter policies for us who use coupons properly.
Paul, I see where you're coming from with the extreme couponing horrors, but I feel like you're being influenced by what the tv series wants you to see in it.
I did catch on after seeing the show, but the show is exagerated, as is most of tv. For example, one woman - the one you saw dumping the entire bin of aspirin - ended up being accused of coupon fraud. She was decoding the barcodes and using coupons for say "Nivia Vitality - $9 product with a $3 off coupon" and letting it ring up for another Nivia product, that typically only costs $3. It's a flaw in the way coupons are coded but it is definitely illegal. She was not an ethical couponer.
What I have done, is buy enough groceries to last me and my wife 2 - 3 weeks. Now that we have a decent supply, it leaves me open to casually browse for deals. I'll pick up a sunday paper (JUST 1, yeah 1.) and spend that week looking through writing down near free deals. This way I can slowly build a small stockpile, without wasting away my life. We have one closet, with shelves, devoted to our stockpile. We will never let it get past that one small closet because well... we're two people. Not a family of 10 starving rats. You're totally right that a lot of those people buy up everything knowing it will expire long before they can use it. Especially when they hide stuff under beds and in every other corner. Thats no longer saving, that's hoarding.
I also won't "only buy food if theres a coupon for it" We will make a vague list of what we want "cookies" for example, and so if we do have a coupon for chips ahoy, we will get that instead of oreos - but we will not let coupons act as our shopping list. We make a list of what we want and then see if we have available coupons for it.
Other than that, I only casually get free items: for example, our range of savings is more like once a week we go to Walgreens. This week I spent $7 on $29 worth of goods. We got: 2 Dove for Men Deodorent. 2 Softsoap body wash. 4 starbucks frappachinos. 2 Deli Creations & 3 Scotch Magic Tape.
If there is a bunch of really good deals in a sunday paper, I will go pick up a second one. But we never use more than 3 or 4 coupons on an item... way under the 77 coupons you see used on the show. Simply no reason to stockpile, even if those oreo cookies don't go back on sale for another 4 weeks, the chips ahoy will be on sell in 2. The main thing to remember in couponing is you have to try new things, and gradually build your stock.... and if your stock is full, don't go buy more just because it's on sale right now!
Thanks.
From a houseguest perspective, I'm always super-appreciative whenever someone I'm staying with invites me to join them for their meals. Not only does it save money, but it's a welcome break from the constant eating out that can come with a trip.
After reading that, I was about to comment "I love coffee, but I can't drink six cups a day!" and then I was like, "Meg...you're not exactly in the prostate-cancer demographic."
I'd be really interested to hear if any readers have purchased MBI, and whether or not you felt like it was worth it.
Thanks for your reply. I live in New Mexico, and evidently they are not anywhere near here yet. Hope Aldi spreads to Waco, Austin, Temple, etc. so I can visit them.
We got Aldi stores a little over a year ago in my area (DFW). I've been shopping them for some of my food purchases ever since. They have the best prices on milk and eggs (and have helped to drive down milk prices at the other grocery stores in my area). Their produce seems to be hit or miss overall but I've never had a problem with their carrots or bagged spinach. Their hummus, plain yogurt, cottage cheese and butter are also good and almost always cheaper than I can get at other stores, even when I can find coupons on those items. And, while not great for you, I think they have the best animal crackers/cookies I've ever tasted. They're a nice treat.
But, best of all, they carry real, European chocolate at a reasonable price. It's not the high end stuff, but it's equivalent to what you'd get a grocery store over there and miles better than the standard US stuff. I've started including a bar or two into all of my gifts to family members who live out of state and they love it.
Problem with waiting too long between trips is that things disappear. They may come back on rotation or they may be gone forever, even things you think have become their staples. If the posted price by an item has an asterisk *, it's going away.