Browse by Tags
-
Posted
Oct 06 2008, 03:59 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
The $25 Challenge is over in Illinois, and we're sure the participants are thrilled about that. They agreed to spend no more than $25 on food for a week -- that's about $3.50 a day -- and blog about what they learned during the experience. It was a real eye-opener for most. When you have so little money for food, you realize that "there is food all around you, all the time, but you can't eat it," wrote Frank Finnegan, who was planning yet another dinner of ham and beans. He added, "Forget nutrition. When shopping, the only thing that matters is price."
Read More...
-
Posted
Sep 26 2008, 01:58 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
If you're eating at home more often to save money, you know that nothing can throw a wrench in your food budget like having to buy bottles of spice. How on earth can a tiny bottle of crushed this or dried that cost so darn much? Daniel Koontz of Casual Kitchen tackles that question in Part One of his Spice Series. Part Two is the one we really liked. He explains how to save substantial money when you need more cayenne pepper, paprika and the like. First, we'll start with a tip that flies in the face of what you've likely been told: "Don't worry about 'spice fade.'"
Read More...
-
Posted
Aug 25 2008, 05:43 PM
by
Karen Datko
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Here's more bad news for grocery shoppers: Some supermarket chains are cutting back on their double-coupon offers. Think that doesn't matter? Aryn at Sound Money Matters recently spent $10 more than she had intended during a recent shopping trip because of new restrictions on double-coupon redemption. Not only that, but "I've noticed that the coupon circulars have shrunk, and the coupons themselves have become less generous," she writes.
Read More...
-
Posted
Aug 25 2008, 11:05 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
If the "on sale" sign says you saved 50% on the new shirt you bought at the mall, did you really get a great deal? Not necessarily, says Kevin at The Red Stapler Chronicles, in a post called "'Sale' can sometimes be just another 4-letter word." Kevin's day job is manager in the retail world.
Read More...
-
Posted
Aug 06 2008, 01:35 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Which store offers the best deals: the grocery store, the discount store or the dollar store? Our partner blogger Donna Freedman today explored a similar question, and advised readers that the best prices for foods and sundries often can be found at drugstores and other alternatives to the standard grocery store. And now we've found a Web site that emphasizes her point. The Crazy Dollar Shopper compares prices of various products at three types of stores.
Read More...
-
Posted
Jul 25 2008, 07:30 PM
by
Karen Datko
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
We remember powdered milk from our college days, and we don't do it fondly. It was thin in consistency and unappealing in taste. We've never bought it again, despite the cost savings. We're going to give this versatile product another try, thanks to Canadian blogger "Mr. Cheap" at Quest for Four Pillars and "The Great Powdered Milk Experiment." Besides, other bloggers put the cost of instant milk in the $2- to $3-a-gallon range.
Read More...
-
Posted
Jul 17 2008, 03:17 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
"Fox" at Squawkfox has taken up a cause we can strongly embrace: "It's time to sack plastic bags."
Shouldn't we all, with the price of oil -- yes, they're made with oil -- and environmental worries, be moving to reusable shopping bags and bins? Plastic shopping bags are a blight, and they never -- for all practical purposes -- go away. "With few exceptions, plastic bags will take thousands of years to break down," Fox says. "The bag my first pair of shoes came in a couple decades ago is out there, somewhere."
Read More...
-
Posted
Jul 15 2008, 02:37 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Chief Family Officer Cathy is well on her way to becoming a coupon superstar, and in the process has encountered two annoying things that come with the territory -- counterfeit coupons, and cashiers who don't honor legitimate coupons and dis those who use them. Store managers, take note: Employees had better become coupon savvy as more and more shoppers turn to coupons to offset the higher cost of food.
Read More...
-
Posted
Jun 26 2008, 10:51 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
"LivingAlmostLarge" at the blog with the same name read an article about how manufacturers of food and sundry items are shrinking the size of their products and charging the same price. She found the proof in her own cupboards. She wrote that "curiosity got the better of me and I started to pull through my cabinets. And Bounty did decrease the roll size. I can say that because I have some from last summer." Bounty isn't the only product that's smaller now.
Read More...
-
Posted
Jun 08 2008, 10:22 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from J.D. Roth at partner blog Get Rich Slowly. Consumers underestimate the power of comparison shopping, says a five-year-old report from the Consumer Literacy Consortium. "Consumers often do not realize that, for most products, a wide range of prices are available and, therefore, consumers often pay too much for the items they buy." (The study) results show that most consumers need a far lower price savings to persuade them to comparison shop than can actually be obtained from shopping around. These findings are particularly significant, since the available consumer behavior research indicates that, on the average, only about 50% of people shop around. An important reason as to why consumers do not shop around is the perception that it is not worth the effort. They rationalize that the savings potential will not be greater than the desired 10% savings needed to motivate action.
Read More...
More Posts Next page »
|
