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Posted
Dec 14 2007, 10:39 AM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
I'm superannuated enough to remember penny candy. Finding a cent was cause for celebration, because it would buy Squirrel Nut Zippers (the candy, not the band), Smarties, Pixy Stix or a host of other treats.
I still pick up pennies. Also nickels, dimes and any other American paper or specie I see on sidewalks, in parking lots or pooled in the rejected-change bin of those Coinstar change-counting machines.
All "found" money goes into a vase my daughter gave me when she was about 8 years old. (She got the vase from the "free" box at a yard sale. That's my girl!) Each December, I donate my finds. This year, $24.14 will go to PetSmart Charities.
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Posted
Feb 02 2009, 03:16 PM
by
Des Toups
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Denny's restaurants around the country reported lines out the door today as diners queued up for free Grand Slam breakfasts.
The chain threw open its 1,560 restaurants for free breakfasts from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m., anticipating that up to 2 million people would stop in. At 6 a.m., a store in Portland, Maine, reported a line out the door. The Dallas Morning News found an early morning line 30 people deep and quoted one customer, Francisco Flores, 53, as saying he heard about it on the morning news and rushed over immediately. "I didn't even shower," says Flores.
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Posted
Apr 03 2009, 01:54 PM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Denny's gave away some 2 million Grand Slam breakfasts on Feb. 3. Now they're at it again with the "Pass Along Grand Slam Kindness" promotion. From 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Wednesday, April 8, you can get a free Grand Slamwich for a friend when you order a Grand Slam for yourself.
"We invite you to bring a friend . . . anyone who could use a hug, a smile, a lift, a free meal. . . . I'm sure everyone knows someone who they want to pass Grand Slam kindness on to," says Mark Chmiel, chief marketing and innovation officer.
What's a Grand Slamwich? So glad you asked.
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Posted
Jul 25 2008, 09:10 AM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
The best thrift shops are as good as garage sales, offering a variety of offbeat items at low prices. Things like "Talk to the Hand: Getting Everything You Want With Ventriloquism," a how-to manual with a set of four finger puppets. Originally it cost $9.95; I paid 50 cents yesterday at Cloud 9 Consignment & Thrift. In all, I spent $9.97 for six items that will make good birthday or holiday gifts, two books for my church's library, and four tins that I'll fill with homemade cookies and give as Christmas presents.
But what made the trip memorable was discovering that Cloud 9, like some yard sales, has a free box. In it I found an olive green sweater that's from Bill Blass, if labels mean anything to you. I was more interested by its excellent condition and the fact that it is machine washable. And free.
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Posted
Jun 05 2008, 06:54 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Around here we think of every day as doughnut day, but those with more self-restraint know the real thing comes the first Friday in June – today, in fact.
The celebration was launched in 1938, in the depths of the Great Depression, as a Salvation Army fund-raiser honoring the volunteer “lassies” who served coffee and fresh doughnuts by the thousands to homesick soldiers in France during World War I
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Posted
Sep 22 2007, 05:06 PM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Re-used any dental floss lately?
All together now: Eeeewwww!
Yet a reader of the Smart Spending message board knows a guy who did this. "There’s nothing grosser than dental floss hanging over the towel rack," said the reader, who posts as "Willowtears."
Sure there is. How about the folks who flush their toilet only once a day? Or the guy who would re-use wash water "until it was black"? Or the woman whose mom strained and re-used cooking oil regardless of pedigree: "Doughnut-flavored taquitos, yum."
All this came from the "Most Extreme Savings Tactics" thread on the message board. I’m pretty extreme myself, but I flush my toilet each and every time, thanks.
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Posted
Aug 08 2008, 03:42 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
"Not the Jet Set" is sorely tempted on the way to work by perfectly usable things people have left out by their trash cans. But what are the rules for Dumpster-diving? Do you need to be sneaky? How do you handle shame? We did some research and found a handy post at Sueann's NWPR Blog, plus photos of her remarkable finds, including brand new KitchenAid food processor attachments. (Her finds don't include food; she hasn't become a freegan.) "Dumpster divers have rules," Sueann Ramella wrote. Here are some we gleaned from her post and from other sources:
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Posted
Feb 23 2009, 05:27 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from J.D. Roth at partner blog Get Rich Slowly.
I've had several requests lately to update my two-year quest to find cheap alternatives to cable television.
In March of 2007, Kris and I were paying $65.82 for a deluxe digital cable package that we rarely used. I wrote at that time that "$65.82 a month isn't a fortune, but it's a lot of money to pay for something that doesn't get used. If we were big TV watchers, maybe the cost could be justified. But we aren't. And it can't."
To save money, we cut our cable to just the basic channels, which reduced our bill to $11.30 a month. We also began to use the iTunes Music Store to subscribe to the shows that we wanted to watch. And over the past year, I've become a fan of Hulu, an online service that allows users to watch many past and current shows for free.
Here's an overview of the tools we use, and how much money we've managed to save.
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Posted
May 14 2009, 10:14 AM
by
Joan Melcher
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Who knew chocolate could be politically correct?
Apparently, Mars Snackfood US, maker of M&Ms, Snickers, 3 Musketeers, Milky Way and other American favorites, does.
The company has launched the equivalent of a filibuster to draw attention to competitors that substitute vegetable oil for cocoa butter in their products.
So, what’s in it for you? One of the biggest chocolate giveaways in history.
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Posted
May 12 2008, 09:45 AM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Yesterday my only child, Abby, wed her sweetheart, Tim. Today they are frolicking in Florida. They achieved both happy states without breaking the bank. I recount this to encourage other young couples who wonder if they can "afford" to get married.
Well, of course you can afford it. Marriage licenses are cheap and so are civil ceremonies. If by "afford" you mean "can I go into debt to satisfy other people's expectations" -- well, that's a question that only you can answer.
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