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It’s still touted as the biggest holiday shopping day of the year. Black Friday—when retailers slash everything to unheard-of rock bottom prices. When customers camp out in store parking lots to make sure they bag a 65-inch TV for $99. Black Friday—the day shoppers boast of getting all of their Christmas shopping done in one […]
One of my basic rules of grocery shopping is this: When it’s on sale, buy enough to last until the next time it’s on sale. Baking supplies become so cheap this time of year, we’re nearing the time to stock up.
Which begs the question: What is the shelf-life of baking supplies, in the event you decide to buy enough to last the year?
All that in today’s post including a Printable Cheat Sheet AND my 55-page Gifts-in-a-Jar eBook … a FREE download (for a limited time).
See you there. Love, xo m 🎁
I was late to the party but somehow managed catch up quickly. While Hobby Lobby has now expanded to California, I’d never stepped foot into one of the more than 800 stores until moving to Colorado.
How I lived for the greater part of my life without Hobby Lobby remains a mystery. Remarkably, somehow I survived …
A dollar store is the place I go when I need something to last just until the end of the party—or through the next holiday. Dollar stores are where I match quality with need. If I don’t need it for long (think: disposable), I sure don’t want to pay a lot for it.
Today, my list of things you’d be smart to buy at a dollar store—and some to avoid!
Do you shop at dollar-type stores? Click through to the post, then tell us in the comments!
Enjoy this beautiful day …
Love, Mary ☀️
Our consumer behaviors—the ways we react and respond in stores and online—can unwittingly keep us broke! Truth be told, merchants and retailers use specific tricks and tactics to separate us from our money! Just knowing is half the battle …
October is the best month of the year to score amazing deals on Pumpkin Pie, apples and at least 10 more things, too. Check it out …
A few years back, Eric and Donna Reed shopped for groceries and household products only once a year. How on earth? I know. That was my reaction, too! How? Or maybe better … WHY?
The Reeds got the idea after reading a column in USA Today, wherein the writer confessed to his weakness when it came to buying clothes. So driven to buy new sweaters, slacks or shoes every time he stepped inside a clothing store, publicly he announced he was giving up buying anything for one full year.
Their story is fascinating enough. But how this all turned out will leave you slack-jawed. And wondering. Could you do it?
See you there … xo m
Sad but true: Modern day home appliances are not made to last for decades the way our grandparents’ appliances did. It’s by design and called “built-in obsolescence.” Add to that, most appliances now have some kind of electronics that make them digital and in some cases, “smart!”
Modern appliances, as lovely and useful as they are, need to be treated with a lot more care than we might have imagined. Otherwise, we could be charged with committing appliance abuse! I’m talking about costly repairs.
Ready to give up your old ways? Me too! And here are 15 ways we can get started now. Today!
See you there … xo m
And just like THAT … it’s September! I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s ready for 2020 to be over, so the speed with which it seems September has hit is welcomed, indeed!
Two days ago, here in northern Colorado, we were still enjoying 96F days. And them BAM! … 46F low yesterday. And … get this, it snowed last night in the mountains. See what I mean? Rollercoaster weather, which I absolutely love❣️
September brings with it predictable bargains—some that could be considered extreme!
So buckle up as we head into my favorite time of the year, and not only for sweater-weather, pumpkin pie, and apple cider but for bargains, too!
See you there. Love xo m 🍁 🍂 🍎 🥮 ❣️
I could teach you how to be an extreme couponer. I’ve had a lot of experience including the time I demonstrated how to do it, on location, live on national TV from a large supermarket! It’s a great way to save money but it’s a lot of work and limited mostly to grocery and drug stores. […]
Finding authentic hot bargains and deep discounts on the things you need often has more to do with when you shop than where. It’s all about knowing the best time to buy.
In the same way that cars are often discounted late in the season and just before new models are introduced, appliances, clothes, sporting goods, linens, home decor, and even travel deals are predictably discounted for a variety of different reasons. In fact, 4th of July sales is becoming known as Black Friday in July—a chance to get a deal at Black Friday-like prices …
As July temperatures soar, keep an eye out for these hot bargains.
February is a busy month. First, we have the Super Bowl, then Valentine’s Day, and Presidents’ Day with its 3-day weekend—all offering us excuses to shop. But you don’t have to spend a fortune to take part in these events—in fact, it can be a great month to save if you stick to these things […]
Worried you missed out on all the After Christmas sales? Well, dry your tears because some of the best sales of the year are going live this month in retail and online stores everywhere.
January is the ideal time of the year to go bargain hunting for these 13 things …
The eighteenth-century French philosopher Denis Diderot wrote an essay entitled “Regrets on Parting with My Old Dressing Gown.” It seems someone gave Diderot an exquisite gift. Diderot was so happy to get a new red dressing gown, (not something your typical guy today would get too excited about, but remember this was the 1700s), that […]
Shopping is my thing. I love the thrill of the hunt, that feeling of discovery and the joy of a bargain. I find it satisfying in ways I can’t fully describe. I want to experience the feeling as often as possible. Shopper’s high is no joke. It’s real, it’s palpable, and it’s addictive.
Shopping got me into a lot of trouble. In just 12 years I ran up more than $100,000 in consumer debt—most of it on credit cards. Eventually, all of it came crashing down and nearly took me with it. Thankfully, that crisis became the catalyst to turn my life around.
It took 13 years to repay all of the debt. I learned a lot about myself in the process but mostly that the satisfaction I got from shopping was short-lived. It was fake because it vanished in less time than it took me to get the stuff to the car. But that just set me up to do it again and again because the small bursts of joy I got from shopping were worth the pain that always followed.
Crazy I know, but absolutely true. I could so easily go back to my old ways, and that’s scary …
Over the years, I have learned an important lesson about getting the best deals on just about everything. Extreme bargain hunters have something in common: timing. They’ve got it down to a science, knowing specific days— even the time of day—when a bargain is at its best.
I’ve had the privilege of interviewing some of the tops experts in their fields (love my job), and oh, what I learned. Want to save like an expert? Today learn these deal-hunting secrets.
See you there … Love, xo m
Just about everyone who shops online knows to look for a discount, promotional code, or coupon of some kind before hitting checkout. But digital coupons are only one of 11 tricks, tips and ways I have for you —savvy things you can do to get the biggest discounts and best deals this holiday season.
Two new Episodes of my NEW! Podcast were just released today! Find them HERE.
Yes, I am still working on this Podcast tutorial I promised! Did I say it’s confusing? Just hang on … I am about to untangle all of that to give you a clear and simple way to Subscribe!
Since 1992, I’ve invited you, my dear readers to send me your favorite time- and money-saving tips so I could share them with the entire audience. And send them, you have! Via U.S. Mail and email.
In the beginning, I was able to publish nearly all of the good ones (there were plenty of duds) in a column I titled “Great Reader Tips.” Great readers, great tips!
You can participate in two ways—by contributing your best tips or by browsing and enjoying what your fellow readers have contributed. Uploading is super easy and I’ll be teaching you how to do it that.
But wait, there’s more!
To make this even more exciting, you’ll be able to compete for CASH prizes! We’ll kick things off with a Top Tips of the Month—1st Place: $100; 2nd Place $75; 3rd Place $25Did that just get your attention?! We’ll start each month with a brand new contest.
So, how can you get started uploading tips right now? You can’t because we haven’t opened EC² quite yet—but I will be announcing that very soon.
While you’re waiting, start thinking about and preparing your best tip(s). While your tips need not be original with you (meaning you didn’t think of it yourself), they must be written by you in your own words. Tell us what it is, what it does, and how it works for you. Next, take a picture with your phone or camera that demonstrates or represents your tip(s). You can upload another tip, trick, hack or terrific idea every day to improve your chances of winning.
In the meantime, keep watching for all the details about EC² Launch Day—it’ll be soon!
With the year’s biggest shopping season now coming into clear view, it’s time to gather our wits, sharpen our resolve to know everything we possibly can about how to save money shopping to stretch our holiday spending as far as humanly possible.
Today, I want to walk you through the basic steps of an incredibly easy way to save money shopping online, using a recent purchase I made as an example.
See you there! Love, xo m
Have you ever wondered how retailers can possibly afford to offer the no-interest, no-payments kind of deals you see advertised? That was the subject of a question I received recently. The truth about that kind of marketing is nothing short of shocking if not downright ugly! Even if you’re not tempted to fall for that ploy today, you may have a weak moment in the future. Knowing the truth will protect you from a making a big financial mistake …
It used to be so easy to shop with cash. Get cash. Shop. But things have changed, perhaps you’ve noticed. More and more stores, shops, restaurants don’t even accept cash any more. Even my beloved Costco gasoline filling station! Ack! The only option for payment is … plastic.
But there is a sneaky way to get around that and beat Costco Gas, Amazon, and others at their own game. I’ll tell all in today’s post.
See you there! Love m xo 💰❣️😂
In the wake of America’s big economic wake-up call back in 2008, dollar stores and thrift stores saw, and continue to see, a big resurgence. And now another kind of retail quasi-lender is commanding all kinds of attention from sellers and buyers, too—pawn shops. I admit to having grown up with a weird bias against pawn […]
Over the years I’ve received thousands of money-saving tips from readers—many of which I’ve shared in books, newsletters and this column. And there are plenty that I’ve not shared for a variety of reasons, but mostly because they don’t work. Some don’t work so poorly, they actually end up costing time and money, not saving […]
It’s been a few years now since my husband and I began talking about relocating to another state. At first, it was only a dream but soon idle chatter turned to serious talk. That developed into a list of “must-haves”—things a new location would have to offer for us to even consider making the leap. […]
I can’t think of many things worse than waking up on Dec. 26 with a raging debt hangover—an all-too-common after-Christmas condition. The only reason you paid for everything with a credit card is that it was convenient. Besides, it’s not safe to shop online with a debit card, so what were your options? Of course, […]
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