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Posted
Sep 04 2009, 06:39 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from partner blog The Dough Roller.
What costs more per ounce than imported Russian caviar? At $22 per quarter-ounce, the cost of printer ink cartridges reminds us of why we got that inkjet printer for "free" when we bought our last computer.
Last month my wife took our kids to Staples to get school supplies. They called me while they were there to ask if we should get replacement printer cartridges for our HP OfficeJet 6310 printer. We then spent 10 minutes on the phone figuring out how many we needed, how many we could afford, and questioning why HP printer cartridges cost so much.
And every time we need to buy printer cartridges, I promise myself I'm going to look into lower-cost alternatives. Even if it means buying a new, more expensive printer, it's worth the investment if the ink refills don't cost an arm and a leg. The problem is that the ink cartridges run out of ink so fast, we're back to the store to buy more before I've figured out an alternative.
Well, I've finally done the research and found some lower-cost alternatives. The alternatives include: finding places to buy brand printer ink cartridges for less, using remanufactured ink cartridges, using printer ink refill kits, and buying printers that use less-expensive ink. None of these solutions will make printing "cheap," but they all can save a lot of money.
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Posted
Aug 12 2009, 06:20 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Some customers were likely breathless as they pushed the "add to cart" button at Best Buy's Web site. The big draw? A Samsung 52-inch HDTV that appeared on the chain's Web site for the unbelievably low sale price of $9.99.
Best Buy corrected the error hours later and announced that any orders processed at that price would not be honored. (You can find screen shots of the ad and an order placed by Augustine Fou at his go-Digital Blog.) But what's truly amazing about all this is that so many people are ticked off.
Bing: Best HDTVs
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Posted
Jun 26 2009, 09:48 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from Mark Huffman at partner site ConsumerAffairs.com.
Still having problems receiving certain channels following the June 12 transition to digital TV? The Federal Communications Commission suggests "double rescanning," and double-checking and relocating your antenna.
Meanwhile, local broadcasters are working to resolve any problems on their end.
Many consumers already know about the need to run the "scan" function on their digital converter boxes or digital TV sets periodically following the June 12 digital TV transition. Scanning searches for and "remembers" the available digital broadcast channels.
But in some cases where stations moved their digital frequencies on June 12, simple scanning may not be enough. There is a procedure -- sometimes called "double rescanning" -- that can clear your box's memory of saved channels. These earlier scans may have saved channel information that is now incorrect.
There are five simple steps to a double rescan for a converter box or digital TV:
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Posted
Jun 24 2009, 03:09 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Your cell phone, pager or iPod has fallen into the toilet bowl, swimming pool or kitchen sink full of water. You fish it out. After you've washed your hands -- depending on the circumstance -- what can you do?
FiscalGeek offers five techniques for restoring the gadget to life in a post called "Frugal fix: Revive your cell phone or electronic devices from water damage." He starts with his "go-to" method, which involves rubbing alcohol.
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Posted
Jun 12 2009, 04:59 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from partner blog The Dough Roller.
Are you tired of paying for cable or satellite TV?
Would you like to get digital-quality TV and many of your favorite cable shows for free?
If you answered yes to these questions, today is your lucky day. Today is the deadline for broadcast TV stations to switch from an analog to a digital signal. This switch from analog to digital broadcast television is referred to as the digital TV or DTV transition. Starting Saturday, June 13, full-power television stations will broadcast only digital over-the-air signals. Many local broadcasters have already made the transition.
For those cable and satellite customers who would like to stop paying for TV each month, this article will walk through each step of the process. Here's what we'll cover:
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Posted
Jun 11 2009, 06:31 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from Mark Huffman at partner site ConsumerAffairs.com.
For many iPhone users, AT&T's attitude toward them seems to be, "What have you done for me lately?"
Consumers posting comments on the AT&T support forum are calling for an iPhone users revolt, with the aim of persuading the carrier -- for now the exclusive iPhone network -- to change its upgrade policy.
What has current iPhone owners so ticked off?
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Posted
Jun 10 2009, 07:02 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This guest post comes from Jason at Frugal Dad.
My grandfather grew up in a rural setting during the Great Depression, and for much of his young life had no running water or electricity. Actually, he jokes that they did have running water -- he ran to the well with a bucket and ran back. During particularly lean summer months, he didn't even have shoes.
Because my parents divorced when I was a young boy, I spent a lot of time with my grandparents while my mom was busy trying to provide for us as a single mom with no support. My grandfather shared many stories about his youth -- some good ones, and some that made you feel for him and his eight brothers and sisters (and his parents). He often jokes that he doesn't know why people refer to those times as "the good ol' days," because there wasn't much good about them.
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Posted
Jun 09 2009, 09:35 AM
by
Karen Datko
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from Martin H. Bosworth at partner site ConsumerAffairs.com.
Although the Federal Communications Commission has scrambled to educate citizens across the country about what they need for the digital television transition, a new Nielsen Research poll indicates that as many as 3 million households -- chiefly minority and low-income -- are unprepared and will lose TV service on June 12.
The DTV transition was originally planned for February, but was pushed back by Congress and President Obama over concerns that the government had not done a proper job of educating citizens about it, including what equipment they may need and where to get it.
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Posted
Jun 01 2009, 10:55 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Buying refurbished electronics can amount to incredible savings. But what exactly does "refurbished" mean?
Matt at Financial Methods is in the market for a refurbished TV and shared what he learned with his readers. He writes, "I realize the mental pictures that arise when refurbished electronics are mentioned, so I want to set the record straight."
Refurbished often does not mean used, but when it does, that use was most likely gentle.
In fact, Sean Fallon at Gizmodo argued that a refurbished laptop is often the best deal for consumers and explained what to look for in this post.
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Posted
Apr 22 2009, 10:35 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Even if Earth Day isn't your thing, you don't like wasting money, right?
A number of great gadgets on the market can reduce your energy use. Bob at ChristianPF focuses on six he says will pay for themselves within a year. They're simple and easy to use, too. For even more suggestions, see "Get your green on: 13 energy (and money) saving gadgets" at our partner blog The Dough Roller.
At the top of Bob's list is the Smart Strip surge protector. We've wondered exactly how these work and, after doing a little research just now, we added two of them to our shopping list -- one for the computer and its accessories, and one for the TV and related devices. Once and for all we're going to stop paying for phantom power.
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