Sowing Wealth

Get the Sunday paper only for the coupons

I was just reading that about 97% of main shoppers in households use coupons to save on groceries. Average savings is 7% on the grocery bill. This data comes from an industry assn that tracks coupon usage.

What I'm doing is just subscribing to the Sunday paper, which is where most of the coupons are. Unfortunately for the manufacturers I rarely use a coupon to buy a product I don't normally buy. When I do make the effort to clip coupons and remember to take them to the grocery store I definitely pay for the paper subscription fee. That makes the rest of the paper free. Not a bad deal for a few minutes work.

If I don't get around to using the coupons, then I try to read more of the paper to justify the subscription fee. Interestingly, when you start with Sunday only the paper will eventually call you and offer to give you the rest of the week almost free. They want to sell their ads for more and they can if there are more subscribers.

Of course, this whole deal comes crashing down if our local paper goes the way of others across the country that have already folded. Get subscribed now while you still can.

Staples Offers Better Deals than Office Depot

Since I own a small business I do buy office supplies every few months. I'm signed up to receive mail from both Office Depot and Staples. I gotta say that I find the deals from Staples to be superior to OD. Case in point the best recent offer I've received from the Depot is 21% off a $100 purchase. I thought this was actually pretty good and had started flagging items in the catalog.

A few days later I received a mailer from Staples for $25 off a $75 purchase. For starters this promo requires a smaller purchase to take advantage of it and even better it's a 33% discount versus a 21% for Office Depot. Plus I'll get free home delivery, which OD also offers to be fair.

What I also like about Staples is that they don't exclude all tech from the offer. OD does, which really bugs me. What's so bad about giving a discount on software? I mean, really. Deciding not to purchase anymore from Office Depot? That was EASY.

Save with Amazon's Subscribe and Save Program

I like extra soft toothbrushes. Once you've used an extra soft brush you'll never go back to even soft. They're much gentler on your teeth and gums. I used to get them from my dentist until she disappeared on me. Unfortunately I can't find them in any of the stores I frequent.

My wife has told me on more than one occasion to look at amazon.com first to be sure they don't have what I'm looking for. Especially because I have an Amazon Prime subscription, which gives me free 2-day shipping on anything they stock for one low annual price (think it's $89 now).I saved a ton on one of my daughter's Christmas presents purchasing it from amazon. It really pays off on heavy items. So, I went and looked for a toothbrush on amazon's site. Sure enough they had one.

Alas the one I found is not sold by amazon, which means I can't use the Prime plan. Drat the luck. No worries, here's what you do in this case. You start digging around the listings on the page beneath the item to look for other related items. Oftentimes amazon does carry a version but it may not be the first one to come up in your search. I managed to find one that looks really good. I have to buy 6 of them, but that's OK. It's not like I want to go buy one every month.

But wait, it gets better. They have this Subscribe and Save program that lets you agree to purchase the item every so often on a subscription basis. Do that and you'll get an additional 15% off on each purchase including the one you make today. This is the perfect item for such a subscription. I will never stop buying toothbrushes. If I don't like them, then I can cancel the subscription without issue. I think you still get your first purchase at 15% off, which means you're actually paid to try the program.

So now I'm getting high quality extra soft toothbrushes delivered right to my door for less than $3 per; and in six months I'll get some more. I love amazon.com. By the way if you want to support my blog, please purchase items from amazon through the search box on this page. This is why didn't hotlink the amazon mentions in this post.

Saving Money on Women's Clothing with Budget Fashionista

2009 is a year where there are going to be some screaming deals on clothing for the whole family. It's probably a good year to refresh your wardrobe for the next couple of years. I'm sure men can pick up suits for at least 50% off if you wait for the right sale. Joseph A Bank often has sales like this. There's one in downtown San Mateo. Off 5th down in Gilroy probably has great deals on suits, too.

For women, there's a blog that's pretty helpful along these lines: Budget Fashionista Good name and fun looking site.

Another strategy will be to pay attention to what stores are going out of business and go there during thier closing sales. I advise you not to go on the last day. There'll be nothing left then. I'm sure many people picked up clothes for 70% - 80% off at Mervyn's during December. The Budget site says JC Penney could be cutting back soon. The Gap is already cutting back and Banana's having constant sales.

The year's only going to get more painful so you might wait a few more months for even better prices. Now one thing I don't advise is to go in to debt to buy clothes. If you don't have the cash, then don't buy. It's that simple.

Starbucks Gold Card a Winner

I now have a job that has me out and about meeting people  on a regular basis. One of the best places to meet people is at a Starbucks. They're everywhere and there's almost always parking nearby. Sometimes I'm in two Starbucks locations in one day.

Since I'm in them so often I decided that I may as well make the most of it and drop $25 for their new Gold card. With it you get 2 free hours of Wi-Fi each day and 10% off your food and drink purchases. Since I tote my laptop around with me and I often have a few hours to kill during the day in between appointments it made sense to secure a few hours of connectivity daily.

Now this is much less expensive than a celluar wireless card for my laptop. That service is always on, but it runs $50 or $60 a month. Since I have a BlackBerry on my hip already a wireless card seems like overkil wheras the 2 hours of Wi-Fi a day will be just right.

The 10% off is just a little fringe benefit. I've saved about 62 cents with it so far. But, I did get two free Mochas when I signed up for it, which are worth about $6. Chances are I'll end up saving as much on my purchases in a year as the card costs. That will make the Wi-Fi totally free. I like that.

And don't forget that if you are a Starbucks junkie - like I'm becoming - you'll buy the discounted cards from Costco and use those along with your Gold card. That's a win-win.

Buying Fresh Food? Check the Date

How many times have you bought food, put it in your refrigerator for a few days only to find that it's already expired? Throwing away food that's spoiled is a real budget killer. I've vowed to stop doing it but haven't yet. One way to combat it is to get the freshest food you can when shopping.

I was at Target today to buy some bread. Their price is good and my girl likes it. At first I just grabbed a loaf off the shelf and started to walk away. Then, a little voice spoke in my head and said, "Do you know it's fresh?" I checked the date. January 21. I decided to check other loaves on the shelf. It turns out that there were three different dates on the shelf. I bought the bread dated January 24. Every day counts on fresh food. I've learned that.

What's worse than buying food that's near the expiration date? Buying food that's already expired. Don't bet on it that the supermarket is always vigilant on the dates. I've had to tell Trader Joe's more than once that they have food on the shelf past the date. They are also very liberal with their expiration dates. I've had fresh vegetables in the bag already go bad prior to the date on the sticker. Lesson here: Don't wait until the last day per the date on the package to eat the food. You might be sorry. Now you could legitimately return any food that spoils prior to its expiration date, but do you want to take the time to do this? I don't.

I've also started using a Sharpie to mark the first date I opened the container of ketchup, mayo, mustard, dressing, salsa, and spaghetti sauce since you will always forget if you don't. This doesn't really save me money per se, but it does give me more information on whether to use the product or replace it.

Get Off the Hedonic Treadmill in 2009

Are you familiar with the Hedonic Treadmill? This is a term coined for one who plans one frivolous purchase after another. This week it's a new HD TV. Next week it's new aluminum wheels for the car. Then, it's new granite for the kitchen. When you're on the treadmill, you're never satisfied.

This never-ending buying cycle has drained many a wallet and more. No wonder so many people are in debt. Unless you're really rich this sort of obsessive behavior is unsupportable. The other problem with this behavior is that it's very shallow. You're tying joy to material goods. How could that possibly ever satisfy at a deep level?

Don't think a new HD TV is on Maslow's hierarchy. Not that you shouldn't get one so much as you should keep wanting one in perspective in the context of your total being.

The last word on this is that most people on the Hedonic Treadmill don't know they are on it. So, if you see a loved one on it, let them know for their sake.

Use Your Gift Cards ASAP

If you received gift cards as Christmas gifts I suggest you go right out and use them. Why? A few reasons actually:

1. The longer you wait the more likely you are to forget you even have it.

2. The longer you wait the more likely you are to lose it or have it stolen from you. I'm sorry, but bad things do happen to good people.

3. The store that issued the gift card might go out of business or file for bankruptcy. Either way you might lose the right to use the card.

4. The person who gave it to you would love to hear that you went out and got yourself something nice right away.

5. Having something new and shiny is more fun than looking at a piece of plastic.

So, get out there and go shopping. You might even buy something else while you're at it and that will help the retailers who have been hit very hard by the recession.

Let's Hear it for Nordstrom and Lands' End

This is a really bad time for retailers. Dependent on which number you're interested in Nordstrom's sales were down anywhere from 12 to 16 percent in November of this year versus November of last year. Does that mean they're turning mean and giving shoppers less service than usual? No, not at all. Here's my Nordstrom story...

Last year I received a fine men's dress shirt from Nordstrom as a gift. I really liked it, but unfortunately it was a little too large for me, especially in the neck. So, I wore it but a few times. It always bothered me when I looked in my closet and saw it hanging there looking shiny and new. Well, recently I asked my wife - an experienced Nordstrom shopper - if she thought they'd exchange the shirt for one that fits. She thought they would and agreed to find out for me.

As she predicted the salesperson told her they don't sell that style of shirt anymore, but he'd be happy to offer a comparable shirt at an even exchange. I now have a beautiful new blue dress shirt that fits. Hooray for Nordstom.

Lands' End is just as legendary for their service. I could go on and on about them as I'm the experienced Lands' End shopper, but I'll just say one thing here. They will accept any item back any time you want even years after the fact. Recently I noticed that they dropped their guaranteed wash count on their No Iron shirts from 50 washes down to 25. The agent I talked to didn't know why they did this, but she told me that if after 30 washes I was unhappy with the shirt I could return it.

What? But wouldn't that be cheating in a way? Not with Lands' End. You're either happy or you're not. There's no grey area with them. I really, really like that policy. That's why I keep going back to them for nearly 20 years now. You cannot go wrong with Lands' End.

In these trying times, make an extra effort to support those retailers that work so hard to earn your business time and again. They deserve your business.

Merry Christmas from Intuit - QB09 Pro Free Monday Only

I heard from a very good friend inside Intuit that Staples is holding a one day special on QuickBooks Pro 2009 on Monday, December 22nd that you're going to want to get in on if you use (or want to use) the program. The posted price is $199.99. You'll get an instant $40.00 savings. Then, you can send in for a rebate of the balance. Thus, you'll get it for the cost of sales tax, which should be around $16.50. That's a steal.

Sage gives away Peachtree Accounting each year, but I don't think I've ever seen Intuit give QuickBooks away for free. They don't need to with their market share. This is why it's a one-day special only. I'm donig my part on the viral marketing. I heard you can also take advantage of this special online. Funny thing is when I go to Staples.com to look for the product it's not even shown except for the Mac version. Not sure what's going on there. Like I said, my source is credible, but I guess we won't really know until tomorrow if it's true or not.

Click here for more information on this product from Intuit's dedicated site. There aren't too many new features that really work for my use of the product. However, for $16.50 I think I'll take the upgrade and save it for a rainy day in 09 to install it. By the way, be sure to use your rewards credit card to make the purchase and you'll get rewards points since your credit card company doesn't know you're getting the product cost rebated from Intuit. See you at Staples.