Life is expensive enough when you pay average prices for things that you want or need. Some things are so overpriced that once you realize how overpriced they are, they will probably lose their appeal. For example, did you know that celebrity fragrances cost fifty to sixty percent as much as similar scents that do not have a famous face associated with them? Perfume and cologne smell nice, but that pricing scheme just reeks. Printer ink is another item where it is easy to lose money. You can have many ink cartridges refilled for a fraction of the price of … Continue reading →

It is often said that you get what you pay for. Sometimes this statement is true, and sometimes it isn’t. I often find myself saving money at the grocery store because many store brand products, at least at the grocery stores where I shop, taste as good as or better than their pricier name brand counterparts. However, there are certain purchases where getting a good value does not necessarily mean going with the lowest sticker price. Early last year, when it was time for my oldest son to transition out of his infant car seat (which is of high quality) … Continue reading →

Cash will get you nowhere when you fly on United Airlines. The popular commercial carrier operates cash-free flights; meaning that anything you plan to purchase while onboard the plane can only be paid for via major credit cards including Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover, and Diners Club, and debit cards bearing the Visa or MasterCard. In addition, if you are traveling to the Hawaiian Island of Oahu and need to fill-up your renal car late at night, you will also have to swipe some plastic instead of forking over cash at the pay-at-the-pump stations that dominate Honolulu. With so many … Continue reading →

Online shopping sure is convenient, and for quite a few items like books, small electronics, toys, and technology, you can find prices that are well below what you would pay at a retail store. However, for various reasons, there are some things that it is better to buy at the store. One example of a situation where it is better to buy in store rather than online is groceries. The thought of having groceries delivered to your door is certainly enticing, especially if you do not enjoy going to the grocery store. From a money saving point of view though, … Continue reading →

Anyone who owns a car has probably wondered at least once how they will know when it is time to get a different car. Please note that I said “different”, not “new”, because getting a different car does not necessarily entail buying a brand new one. There are plenty of wonderful used cars out there and if you do your research and inspect any prospective purchase thoroughly, you can score an awesome car for a budget price. New car vs used car is a different topic for a different day, though. Today’s post is about how to know when it … Continue reading →

One of the good things about shopping is that depending upon what you want to buy, you have at least a couple of options of where to buy it from. This is especially true if you consider the wide variety of things that are available online. Many factors like price and convenience will probably influence your decision of where to buy something. There is another important factor that you may want to consider when you are making a choice about where to shop – company policy. Policies for returns, price adjustments, and just about any other customer service issue that … Continue reading →

At this time of year, financial decisions are aplenty. How much to spend on gifts, and for whom? What should those gifts be, and where should we buy them? There are many options and it can be hard to choose. Within the coming week, there are the two well – known holiday shopping deal days, Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Today I would like to tell you about the other great (but lesser known) source of holiday deals that is sandwiched in the middle. Small Business Saturday is this coming Saturday, and you can get all kinds of things your … Continue reading →

Some of us have already started our holiday shopping, and some of us have not. If you have been hitting the stores lately you may have noticed that they are busier than usual. They will get busier and busier as the season progresses. As we head out to the stores to spend our hard earned money, it is wise to keep things in perspective so that we can avoid holiday shopping stress for ourselves and also avoid causing more stress for others. In a season of giving, practicing good manners during holiday shopping is a way that we can spend … Continue reading →

This year, many stores are planning to open their doors late in the day on Thanksgiving in an attempt to lure Black Friday shoppers and their hard earned money into their stores. This move by retailers seems to have sparked a bit of an outrage among consumers and also among the employees of those stores. I love Black Friday and my husband and I have shopped on Black Friday every year for the past three years after we discovered how good the deals were. That said, I must agree with the employees and consumers that feel that starting sales on … Continue reading →

Today I went grocery shopping. My shopping habits vary quite a bit, sometimes I have a good bit of money and can go in with a list and stock the fridge, freezer, and pantry, and sometimes my mission is more about trying to get just a few basic items for as little money as possible to last us for as many days as possible. For some reason, my trip to the store today made me feel all reflective about the topic of grocery shopping. I wonder what grocery shopping is like for other people, are the same kinds of thoughts … Continue reading →