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Posted
Mar 29 2008, 12:38 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
If you track the blogosphere, it seems that the popularity of the humble dollar store is soaring, and that these stores aren't as humble as they used to be. Imagine this: The extremely picky "Mrs. Badger" at Lipstick is my Crack has even switched from body wash to bar soap because she found soaps she loves at the dollar store. "Yeah! It's not all Irish Spring and Lifebuoy up in there anymore, y'all! And it's not all no-name generic soaps made out of battery acid and bacon grease (I just made that up; don't e-mail me) anymore, either," she writes. In fact, the august New York Times, which caters to a crowd that can hardly be called frugal, featured writer Henry Alford's experiment to incorporate items from 99-cent stores into his cooking, culminating with a dinner featuring only such fare. It sounded delicious. But not everyone is thrilled with the food and other common dollar store products.
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Posted
Jul 30 2009, 09:30 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from Jon Hood at partner site ConsumerAffairs.com.
Many modern-day baseball stadiums prohibit smoking, but cancer danger apparently still lurks around the corner: An anti-meat consumer group alleges in a class-action that hot dogs pose serious health risks and need to carry warning labels.
The lawsuit was filed in Essex County, N.J., by The Cancer Project on behalf of three New Jersey residents. Among the named defendants are Nathan's Famous; Kraft Foods, which manufactures Oscar Mayer wieners; Sara Lee; ConAgra, which makes Hebrew National franks; and Marathon, manufacturer of Sabrett, "the frankfurter New Yorker's [sic] relish."
The plaintiffs envision a warning label similar to the one on cigarette packages. The wording would look something like: "Warning: Consuming hot dogs and other processed meats increases the risk of cancer."
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Posted
Aug 06 2008, 06:00 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
How do we know there's such a thing as too much frugality in the kitchen? Because Marge Simpson once said to her daughter: "Lisa, I made you some homemade Pepsi for the dance; it's a little thick but the price is right." That's from the excellent post "Cutting calories and saving d'oh: 25 lessons 'The Simpsons' taught me about cheap, healthy eating" at Cheap Healthy Good. The author, Kris, is the most entertaining food-and-frugality blogger out there, but we think she's outdone herself with this one.
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Posted
Oct 09 2007, 08:52 AM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
I had a $1 steak for lunch, but it was no one-buck chuck. It was certified Angus beef sirloin, with no hormones or antibiotics, and “minimally processed,” according to the label. In addition, this steer apparently ate only vegetarians: The label also said “100 percent vegetarian diet.”
How’d it get to be a dollar? First it went on sale, then it got old.
Meat department managers keep a constant vigil against meat that’s close to its sell-by date. They need to sell that flesh pronto, so they discount it deeply.
That’s how people like me end up with steaks whose original per-pound cost was one and a half times the federal minimum wage. That same shopping trip netted me a two-pack of sirloins that initially cost $8.99 a pound; I paid $4.07 total. Another pair of steaks cost just $1.24 and $1.52.
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Posted
Nov 08 2007, 05:50 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post is from David Wood at partner blog ConsumerAffairs.com . As an expectant mom, Kendra of Brooklyn, N.Y., wanted the best for herself and her baby. Part of that care was a prenatal vitamin. "My doctor gave me a prescription for the prenatal vitamin Primacare One," wrote Kendra. "I dropped off my prescription at the CVS pharmacy and when I returned to pick up the prescription, I was instead given Prednisone." The problem Kendra encountered is one of the most common prescription errors -- the kind that occurs when a pharmacist can't read the prescription properly. Instead of contacting the authorizing physician to confirm the prescription, the pharmacist plays Russian roulette with someone else's life. Kimberly, of Hudsonville, Mich., ran into a similar problem at Walgreens . Kim wrote that the pharmacist couldn't read the prescription and assumed it said Corgard, a blood-pressure drug. However, Kimberly's husband didn't need a blood-pressure drug. He needed Cortef, a drug to treat
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Posted
Nov 02 2007, 10:12 AM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Americans not only need to be reminded to eat with their families, they have to be told how to do it. At least that’s the impression I got from radio spots touting “Family Dinner Night” as a way to, among other things, keep our kids off drugs . Then there's the print ad for a brand of frozen entrees: mom, dad and two kids enjoying lasagna from what looks like a glass dish, not a microwave tub. “Real dinner and great conversation any night of the week,” the ad copy exults. It goes on to say, “Get your family talking!” – and provides a Web site to help the conversation along. Let’s see: We don’t seem to know that families are supposed to eat together. Once at the table, we need cue cards to help us talk. Oh, and a frozen dinner is helpful, too. Yes, I know we’re all busy, busy people and that nuking a lasagna floe may seem like the only way to get food into our mouths. But let me throw out two reasons to find time to cook. • You’ll save a lot of money on food up-front. • Over time, you’ll
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Posted
Mar 14 2008, 08:40 AM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Yesterday would have been the 73rd birthday of the person who probably should be writing this column: my mother, Geneva Burgess Hanes.
She was the youngest of 10 kids born to an uneducated Tennessee couple who eventually pulled up stakes and moved north for opportunity -- that is, for the chance to work in South Jersey factories and vegetable fields.
Despite hunger, poverty and violence, my mother became the first in her family to finish high school. She owned two dresses ("one on, one off") and never had a square meal or a bath in a real tub until she married my dad right after graduation.
They had four kids in five years, which sounds impossibly grim by today's standards. But we didn't seem to notice that we were poor. Everyone we knew pinched pennies. Nobody did it like my mom, though.
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Posted
Jan 21 2008, 10:33 AM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
Last summer I found a cast-iron skillet in the "free" box at a yard sale. It was slightly rusty, but a little steel wool took care of that. I'd wanted an iron skillet and had been keeping my eye out for an affordable one. What's more affordable than free?
Never having cooked in cast iron before, I'm really enjoying this pan. It's as useful as I'd hoped it would be. Having a new kitchen tool makes me happy.
Betsy Teutsch, who writes the Money Changes Things blog, had the same kind of skillet epiphany, except hers was a Teflon pan from the supermarket.
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Posted
Jul 12 2008, 05:27 PM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
OK, tofu and broccoli are on Brie Cadman's list of "The 20 healthiest foods for under $1" at Divine Caroline. But so are eggs, whole grain pasta, bananas, potatoes and coffee. Are you on board now? This excellent post puts a big dent in the contention that stretching your food dollars means you'll be eating more unhealthy or fattening food. She describes the nutritional value of each food and offers serving suggestions. Plus she provides links to wonderful recipes like easy breakfast potatoes and huevos rancheros.
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Posted
Dec 26 2007, 05:38 AM
by
Karen Datko
Rating:
Money Blog: Smart Spending Blog - MSN Money
This post comes from Abby Freedman, a freelance writer and daughter of Smart Spending blogger Donna Freedman. An MSN article about portion sizes got me thinking about the economics of eating. Food is, arguably, one of the most expensive aspects of modern life, whether you make your meals at home or eat out. We order our days around meal breaks. We deny ourselves some foods and force others down our throats -- when was the last time someone willingly ate a rice cake? Finally, we pay tons of money to gyms so that we can work off all that food. I don't have diet foods or delivered meals worked into my spending plan. But I do have to fit into a wedding gown in 5½ months. So I decided to try a little experiment with portion size, and see if I couldn't make food a bit more affordable at the same time.
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