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Posted
Jul 03 2008, 12:45 PM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
The old saying "When you buy cheap, you get cheap" isn't always true. I've gotten some terrific products cheaply at thrift stores and yard sales. And you may not have to pay top dollar for certain products -- a mop bucket from the dollar store does the job as handily as one from a more upscale retailer.
But you need to pick your spots, as evidenced by a recent item on the Five Cent Nickel personal finance blog. Owner-operator "Nickel" has a 10-year-old son who loves wearing a watch. Thus far, that's been a "kid" timepiece that costs between $10 and $12. Why spend good money on something for a 10-year-old, right?
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Posted
Jun 23 2008, 08:55 AM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
As yard sale experiences go, Saturday was just about perfect. The weather was beautiful and I not only found exactly what I was looking for, I scored a killer deal on it. While the low prices I saw all day were thrilling, they were also an object lesson as to why yard sales can be as dangerous as dollar stores: Things are so cheap that it's easy to overbuy.
Prime example: the foot-tall statue of a bull terrier, priced at a quarter, that reminded me of the classic "His master's voice" ads for RCA-Victor. There was something very appealing about the pup, yet I had no real need for such a thing and also no place to put it. Why in the world would I consider buying it? Because it was only 25 cents.
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Posted
Jun 13 2008, 09:09 AM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
Years ago, my dad taught elementary school all day and then went to his second job of teaching adolescents deemed too unruly for regular high school. One evening, a student flipped a penny at him. Dad picked it up and put it in his pocket. The teens laughed, and another one flipped a penny. Then another one.
When my father had 12 cents in his pocket, he said, "Guys, I want to thank you. All I need is 38 more of these and I'm going over to the Fairfield and have a draft beer -- on you."
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Posted
Jun 09 2008, 09:13 AM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
When I got to the bank last Friday, a pickup and a sedan were in the drive-through lane. I didn't pull in behind them because I'd read that one way to save gas is to avoid drive-throughs. Just for fun, I decided to figure out how long I would have waited.
The owner of the pickup must have had some pretty complicated banking, because the vehicle sat there for six minutes -- and I don't know how long it had been there before I arrived. The sedan owner's transaction took four minutes. In other words, if I'd gotten in that line I would have spent 10 minutes idling plus whatever time my own deposit would have taken.
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Posted
Jun 04 2008, 09:35 AM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
Last week's Safeway ad had a coupon for a dozen eggs for $1, a swell deal these days. I consider eggs a fridge staple because they make a quick and cheap light supper. Besides, finals are coming up, and I always fortify myself with bacon, eggs and toast on exam mornings.
However, the coupon's fine print -- there's always fine print -- said shoppers needed to spend at least $10 to use the dollar-a-dozen coupon. The thing was, I didn't need $10 worth of stuff. Just eggs. But I wasn't about to let a teeny-tiny disclaimer keep me from getting cheap protein. I have a frugal hack for just such an occasion.
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Posted
Jun 02 2008, 08:53 AM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
When I bought flour tortillas this weekend, I noticed that the price had gone up by 20 cents. That didn't surprise me, since the price of bread and other flour-based products has skyrocketed lately. But I'm still ahead of the game because I shop at a bakery outlet. Even with the cost increase, I paid just 79 cents for a 20-ounce bag of tortillas.
Something else I noticed: The outlet seemed busier than usual. A cashier told me that business is booming, and that some new customers are surprised to find "that it isn't old bread" on the outlet shelves.
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Posted
May 30 2008, 09:45 AM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
Recently a tenant moved out of the apartment building I manage. During the final walk-through I saw that she'd left behind a wall-mounted spice rack, a shelf-and-cabinet unit in the bathroom and a wheeled kitchen cart. She told me her fiancé had all the household items they needed. If no one wanted those things, they could just be thrown away.
I love my new kitchen cart.
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Posted
May 28 2008, 08:37 AM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
A good time doesn't have to cost a good piece of your paycheck. Some readers of the Smart Spending message board listed scores of ways to enjoy life on the cheap -- specifically, for $1 or less.
Although some of the pleasures on this thread are best enjoyed by families with young children, many will also translate to singles or couples. Unleash your inner kid by flying a kite. Invite your significant other to a picnic in the town park when there's a free evening concert. Walk your new girlfriend from gallery opening to gallery opening -- you get props for having an artistic soul, and the two of you can enjoy the free snacks that many galleries offer.
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Posted
May 21 2008, 09:17 AM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
Thinking of giving somebody a coffee mug for Christmas? Don't do it. It'll probably end up at a yard sale.
That's what I inferred after reading a thread on the Smart Spending message board about a charity rummage sale. Reader "SC CDF," who with her daughter volunteered at the event, noted that 144 mugs were left unsold. So were beauty-product gift baskets, "a box the size of a refrigerator" full of decorative tins and enough clothes to fill three pickup truck beds.
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Posted
May 19 2008, 08:26 AM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
The temperature hit 88 degrees on Saturday, which is warm for Seattle, or anywhere else. My apartment has tall south- and west-facing windows and no air conditioning.
So I cranked the blinds inside out to reflect the sun, dragged the pedestal fan ($4, rummage sale) out of storage and made a big pitcher of iced tea. Sweet relief, the Smart Spending way.
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