Window Shopper

When I was young and foolish (well..young. I am possibly still foolish..LOL!), I learned how to go to the store and buy everything I needed and wanted. Of course, I was out of money by the time I left the store but what the heck! You only live once, right? After a while, I decided that if I continued to do that, we would never have a single cent past payday.

It did take some time for me to realize that the only way to save a dollar or two was to find the paper and scope out the best buys and then go after those. The stores call them loss leaders. They lure you into the store to buy the thing at a huge discount. Then they expect you to stay and buy more and more. Eventually, you will leave having bought much more than you could afford or care about. It’s a great sales tactic but awful for the low budget consumer.

My plan was to make a list and go after JUST those really great buys. That works most of the time. We actually go to four different stores to get our good deals. One of those stores is over 50 miles from the house but we buy for a solid month AND we also buy for another household. It’s a win win. I do not buy name brands unless that’s the best deal. Many, many of the unknown brands are good and sometimes better. With doing that, I have a huge savings therefore able to buy more for my family. Our cupboards are doing just fine. We are blessed!!!

The main thing here is to plan ahead, try not to shop while you are hungry. That’s a major no no! I did do that a few times. My sales slip at the checkout was WAAAAY more than I wanted to spend. Be sure to keep to the plan as much as possible. Build into your plan some surprises like, for instance, that product was this much last week but now it’s higher. Or how about that product that wasn’t available last week but is this week and you don’t want to miss that great price!

The last thing I am going to tell you is to have good, old fashioned common sense at the store. I do realize that particular quality is lacking in many people so it needs to be learned. If you do not learn it, you will always pay that higher price. Some day, you may want to know how to shop cheaply but effectively. This is the way to do it.

Every year, our family wants us to think of all the things we want and post it online in a list. Then, when everyone starts buying things for others, it really is important that no one gets someone else the same present. For one thing, that’s less returning to the stores who are getting to be a bit more picky about holiday returns.

The problem I have is that when I get some of this list of already purchased items, I tend to forget it almost as fast as I heard it…at least selective items…and always the wrong ones. It is such a pain. The worst part is that I can fix the problem by simply writing it all down. What a concept!!! Sigh. But I do not do that. Mostly, it’s because I get this information over the phone, sometimes when I’m already doing something else. Yet, if I would just write it down on something, it would save a lot of hassles. Why? Because there was duplication this year. And it was all my fault!!!

I will not go into details because my family reads some of my blog. So, I will only say here that it would be in your best interests, if your family does such things, to have a handy spiral notebook to write these things down so that they are not forgotten. See, between my sister and myself, we are the keepers of all the family holiday secrets. If one knows, the other one usually knows too. And I forgot!!!

So, one of the holiday shopping don’ts is to make certain that you have an original idea before purchasing that big gift. Another thing is to check to make sure that whatever you want to buy will be available by the time you go after it. Too many times, we have seen that product on the shelves all the way up to the last week before Christmas. We got the money together, went into the store and……it wasn’t there. We usually had wanted that particular item to be the BIG GIFT but they ran out. And it truly is bad that this particular store no longer handles lay-a-ways. Sigh.

For a wonderful holiday gift giving time, make sure there is no duplication and check the store for availability before you count too much on that item.

Happy Shopping!!!

From now until Christmas eve, the sales are on and so are all those folks who are out today grabbing up the super sales. Despite higher gas prices, toy recalls and a host of other things including bad weather in a place or two, people are flooding to the stores to snag the best items for the best prices that show up only today or Saturday.

The unfortunate side of this is that most retailers, like Wally World, only put up a couple of those items for sale. The rest are at regular prices. To me, this is somewhat deceptive in their practices. I suspect that old Sam Walton is rolling in his grave at this moment because of some of the merchandising methods that he would never have used. Why? Because the man was honest, pure and simple.

The idea of putting up this great sale, advertising a huge discount for higher ticket items and then only having one to five or six of them is, at best, a dishonorable sales practice. I do realize that it is technically legal. And for the most part, most people understand that there will only be one or two of that particular item. However, I do know that there are folks out there that have to count on that type of price for things so that their children can actually have a Christmas. Why must they fight, and that would be literal, for what they need for their children?

Speaking of fighting, the retail stores are fighting to deal with the shoplifters who take full advantage of this particular day. Our local discount store has had many shoplifters today already. How sad is this and what kind of message are we sending to our children about Christmas?

Once more about the fighting, what message does it send to our children when we sit outside a store throughout the night, then fight others, LITERALLY, to get to a specific toy or item that’s on sale today? GREED perhaps? There are some things that I would just rather pay a higher price for than to fight in the dirt, so to speak, over some toy or item that the kids really do not need in the first place. (that includes the kids that will not grow up)

Either talking about the shoppers or the stores, this is out and out greed. For the stores, I suggest that there should be a renaming of many of them but the one that comes to mind is GreedMart.

I suppose this is going to be a small rant about this particular computer game. Thing is, it is a dangerous game to put in the hands of kids. Yet, they get a hold of the thing and play it when the parents are unaware of it. What game am I talking about? Grand Theft Auto and all the upgrades.

This game teaches boys, especially, to not respect women who are depicted in this game as hookers. Women are in bikinis and skimpy clothes. They are taught to run from the police as they steal a car, even the police car can be stolen. Multiple shootings occur because to win, the participant has to kill those who chase him.

Screen shots show bloody aftermaths with bodies lying in the road next to cars. hijacking cars which is okay because the player has to do this to escape. Stealing is also part of the game and guns are readily available to the player.

Most of the game is shooting, violence and blood. I encourage you to make sure your children are not subjected to this game at a young age. Know what your children are doing online. It may surprise you!

With all the recalls going on from China, it is sad to hear that there is one from a meat process plant from this country. Topps Meat Company is recalling 22 million pounds of ground meat products due to possible E. coli contamination. There are three people currently ill from the contamination and more being investigated. At this point, please, if you have bought Topps meat products recently, check with the company or your grocery store to see if what you have has been affected.

Usually, I say happy shopping here but not today.

Yesterday, we stopped at a fairly famous fast food place in a town some miles from home. We had been there in the past and had no problems whatsoever. It was always easy to get everything we needed…always. Everything. So, what was different this time?

We had two orders with us. Ours and another household order. This happens because we don’t have this particular fast food establishment in our area. This place is about 75-80 miles from home. It seems that two orders all at once confuses them. The orders were given. And combined. And shorted. How, you may ask? It was like this:

A new cashier was taking orders. We gave the first order and then the second order. Specifically said it was two orders to go. When the food came out, it was all mixed up in three bags. Our orders were rather sizable. It would be a real problem trying to sort it all out at the other people’s home. Two orders….7 sandwiches and three potato like substances in one order and 16 sandwiches and 4 potato like substances in the other order. What we got was 7 and 3….and 6 and 3. ACK!!! What’s up with that????

We went back inside to ask just that. The rather snotty little teen at the next register was making nasty noises about our coming back in. I asked her what was it she said. She replies back to me….in the snottiest possible way (I grew up hearing that the customer was always right…and this little teenybopper was treating me like she obviously treats her parents)…she says..I was not talking to YOU!! EEEK! “GET ME THE MANAGER, STAT!”

When the manager and trainee (who just happened to be part of the problem) came out, I explained first about the teenybopper who was snotty. Then, calmly, I told her (manager) that our order was in no way correct. When I tried to tell her that we were short and that it needed to be in separate containers, she couldn’t understand this. Sigh.

The original order taker was nowhere in sight. The manager trainee was not coming clean about screwing up the order himself. The manager is still not getting a clue what’s up. There we stand, waiting to leave. We had already had a bad day, nearly sleepless night and now this.

Trying to get through to someone who obviously is not getting the picture is somewhat frustrating. It’s like you are talking in a foreign language. I told her that we needed the correct number of items. We were missing 6 sandwiches and one potato like substance. By the way, there are three potato like substances that you can choose from there but we got two kinds. We only got three potato like substances instead of four. Reason? The fryer broke. Possibly the manager trainee was working on it when that happened?

The manager finally got a small clue when I started saying NO NO NO, that is not the order we asked for. She actually did get it after a while. We walked out with almost what we ordered, sorta.

In the end, this is actually unusual for this particular place which is why I refuse to tell you what fast food chain it is. No, it is not McDonalds. But that sure was a shopping no no. For the record and advice to anyone who has such problems, do NOT allow anyone to get away with shoddy work of any kind. If you want it a certain way, then it needs to be a certain way. Hold your ground. If necessary, get the manager and calmly…and nicely tell your story. Being nice will help any situation. You may or may not get satisfaction. It is highly likely that you will.

Seems that several thieves decided to take some property in a Babylon, New York, warehouse. They took 14 of the items and took off for parts unknown..maybe. Much to their surprise, they were apprehended within 48 hours of the heist. Police found one of the culprits in his home working with one of the items of property. The city was going to install these in their vehicles.

The police activated the GPS systems that they stole and followed their noses to the place where they all had been stored. Simple. In case anyone is interested, this is a SHOPPING NO NO!!!

I recently read a post on a blog about the handicap space and the people who park there called “Can Those with an Invisible Illness Park in the Blue Spots without Others“. The post included what the “blue zone” folks have to go through because of judgmental, uninformed people. Since I also have a disability and park in the “blue zone”, I thought I would comment here on this particular subject.

Many, many people have disabilities that are not visible. Some have heart problems, diabetes, arthritis and so much more. Often, those folks are looked at like they did something wrong or are cheating by parking in those spots designated for the handicapped and disabled.

I, myself, have received a number of stares, not because my problem is invisible, but because at least one part of it is very visible…I’m fat. Not obese, not pleasingly plump, FAT. People who do notice, stare at me like a) I shouldn’t be allowed near a grocery store and b) I should park as far away as possible to get rid of the fat. Did I make that up? No. I have been treated to such people either saying it or indicating it.

There is this amazing thought out there (some because of media hype) that there are loads of cheaters who, for whatever reason, have the blue hanger or tags on the car. That may be true up to a point, but I believe that most folks who have the hanger or the tags are truly disabled in some way and do need the parking close to the store. And for those who think that fat means you need to walk it off, I spent many years walking from the back part of a truckstop parking lot to get to the truckstop, sometimes to go to the bathroom.

So, I know how to “walk the fat off”. Funny thing. I rarely lost weight by walking from the back of the parking lot. Hmmm. Doesn’t matter with judgmental people though. I have learned to either fight back or ignore. Fight back means that when a person is so rude that they stare at me for a long period of time, I stare back until they look away. The others I simply ignore because they are too rude to notice.

Do you teach your children to be rude and hateful to people by staring at them or talking behind their backs about how they’re cheating by parking in the “blue zone?” Are you telling them that the disabled folks are so different that they must be treated like second class non-humans? If you stare at someone for being fat or because they took a parking space that YOU think doesn’t belong to them, yes, you are teaching them that.

It is so time for Americans to wake up and learn how rude you have become. Don’t pass this on to the next generation!

I don’t know about you but I am getting tired of the recalls, pretty much all related to things coming from China. Does no one get a clue? This time Mattel has to recall 9 million toys from China due to either lead paint problems or magnets that could be swallowed. This is a shopping nightmare. Really, we should be starting to learn our lessons here.

First it was the dog and cat food. Pets died from food that had fillers coming from China. I do not remember the order of the list but the recalls included toothpaste, toys of several kinds and food for humans. That was after the great pet food recall. What will be next?

I don’t know about you but after this, I do not recommend buying anything that has a China label. to me, it seems that they are trying to get us somehow. Maybe that’s just me being paranoid…maybe not but I do know that if someone trys over and over to kill something or someone, it’s time to get suspicious, don’t you think?

So, don’t buy anything that says China on the label. Be smart.

Happy Shopping!!!

This is under the heading of a shopping no no. I belong to Columbia House Video Club. That, in itself, really isn’t a problem as long as I shop smart. When I joined, they had the Fun Cash thing, still do but the rules have changed and it is not for your benefit.

First, are you a member of Columbia House Video Club? If so, do you use the Fun Cash feature? Here’s what I found out about that. At first, the Fun Cash was great because you could actually get free DVDs if you did it right. I used it up fast that way. Guess that was the problem for Columbia House. Somewhere along the line, they changed the rules. Now, if you want to use your Fun Cash option, you can only receive $10 or $20 off of the price, depending on what the original price was. It won’t be free anymore.

The problem here is that when you buy the first DVD for the regular price, the rest are at those discount rates, some quite good. I have bought DVDs on their site for $5.98 when the original price was up to $19.98. If you think about it, that’s a great deal. However, when you use the Fun Cash option, you are in a different world. All the prices are at full price. Then, when you put the item into the checkout, you get up to $10 off of the normal price. Get that? Normal price NOT the discounted price you would have otherwise. So, it is entirely possible to buy a DVD through the Fun Cash and pay MORE for it than you would with a normal transaction.

Does anyone see a problem here? Yeah, I do too. Makes me mad. That was my shopping rant for now. No, I don’t feel better. I feel ripped off by them everytime I see the difference. So, I shop for the best offer.

Tip: When shopping with Columbia House, try the checkout both ways. Pick the one that gives you the savings. Don’t forget to watch for the shipping charges too.

Tip: Once in a while, they offer a free shipping with so many DVDs. Grab that!

Happy Shopping!