Category Archives: Smart Shopping

Dressing well on less

Photo by .leila

With the temperature finally beginning to fall to a slightly crisp autumn chill, it’s time to start reevaluating my cold weather wardrobe.

Shopping for clothes can be tough on a frugal budget, especially when you’re building a business-casual office wardrobe that has to consist of more than jeans and t-shirts. With a little extra time and effort, it’s possible to build a complete wardrobe that will keep you looking great for work or play without spending a fortune.

1. Think classic, flattering styles, not trends.

Every season has its trends that come and go. Dressing for the trends is a great status symbol, but it’s not so great on your budget. Instead, shop for flattering, classic clothing that will never go out of style.

Tailored shirts, comfy but chic fitted sweaters, casual long-sleeved tees, and pants (trousers or jeans) with a slight boot cut are classic styles that are always in fashion.

The best part? You can handpick the fashions that look best on you. Trendy styles are often reserved for certain body types. When you choose your own classic styles, you’re guaranteed to look good.

2. Make a few pieces go further by coordinating them into different looks.

I shop for clothing in a few color palettes that are particularly flattering for me. Black is a classic color that looks good on everyone, but you can personalize your wardrobe by picking the color palettes that look best on you.

I shop for greens and browns; blues, blacks, and greys; and other colors that will flatter these palettes. Shopping for clothing within certain color palettes will make it easier to coordinate a lot of different looks with a few nice pieces.

3. Choose tops based on the pants you already own.

Because pants are usually more expensive than tops and less likely to make it to the clearance rack in my size, I choose tops based on what will look best with the pants I own.

I have a couple pairs of flattering jeans, some khaki pants in tan and brown, and dress pants in grey, black, and khaki. I’ve collected these over a couple seasons, and I tend to shop for tops that will look good with the pants I already own.

4. Don’t be afraid to shop off season.

If you’re shopping for classic pieces, it doesn’t matter when you buy them. I’ve found most of my best deals at end-of-season clearance sales.

A couple weeks ago I found a nice pair of light khaki pants for $15, more than half off the original price. I also bought some summer tops for $2-$4. I won’t be able to wear them until next year, but they’ll be brand new when they come out of storage.

It’s a lot of fun to find these “new” clothes that I often forget that I bought by the following year. When I unpacked my winter clothes, I found a beautiful cashmere sweater that I bought for $10 last spring and haven’t worn yet. What a fun surprise!

5. Take good care of the clothes you have, and avoid clothing that requires expensive cleaning.

Follow care instructions carefully. Treat stains immediately with cold water and stain remover. Consider hang drying instead of machine drying to extend the life of your clothing. I’ve kept some pieces looking great for several years simply by caring for them properly.

Keep this in mind when selecting clothing, too. If you have to dry clean it every other week to keep it looking nice, it’s probably not a great investment.

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Overcoming birthday & vacation spending mode

I apologize for my absence yesterday and most of this week. We’ve spent the week recovering from a wonderful but exhausting trip to Seattle, and yesterday we celebrated my 24th birthday with some sushi and gift card shopping.

Our trip has thrown off our budget considerably. It’s not because we overspent on the trip. Thanks to the generosity of my sister, who was a very gracious hostess, and my parents, we didn’t spend much at all. My sister and brother-in-law even treated us to a very fancy (and delicious) meal in the city for our birthdays.

As a thank you, we awoke early one morning and went to the grocery store to pick up ingredients for apple cinnamon pancakes and cooked breakfast for everyone Sunday morning. Other than that, we spent very little on the trip aside from a couple of quick airport meals.

This is good news, as we didn’t have much to spend from our vacation budget after buying plane tickets, boarding our dog, parking the car at the airport, and paying for gas to drive 2 hours each way to the airport. Our total vacation spending ended up being about $600 including all travel expenses. We’d been saving for it over the past few months, and factored a little cushion into this month’s budget, so the vacation itself didn’t throw us off too much.

However, we’ve been struggling all week to get out of vacation mode and get back on track. It seems that the casual vacation attitude seeps into our daily life every time we leave town. This happened after our honeymoon, too. Our spending inhibitions lower on vacation, and we come back home and can’t seem to get back on track.

We’ve had three meals out this week alone (including sushi for my birthday last night). We also spent my gift card on some new work clothes and Tony bought a new pair of shoes with some money he received for his birthday two weeks ago.

All of this is fine with me. I’m happy to use birthday money on practical things like clothes and shoes. Our food budget is probably shot due to several meals out in the airport and for my birthday, but I can live with that.

The question is, how do we get back on track now? As a former spending addict, it’s hard to shut off the valve once I’ve started overspending. Not to mention, I hate watching all that money come out of our bank account, even though it was put there specifically to use for birthday gifts.

Sigh.

What about you? Do you have trouble getting your spending back on track after a vacation?

Get a great price on wedding bands online without getting ripped off

My husband and I agreed that we didn’t want to spend a fortune on wedding bands. I know, it seems counter-productive to spend less on something you’ll keep forever. I’m just not into jewelry, though. Anything flashy (read: expensive) would have looked out of place on my hand. The same is true for my husband. We opted for plain, white gold bands.

We were disappointed by the prices in brick and mortar stores even for plain gold bands. The prices online were much more reasonable, but buying jewelry online just seemed so risky.

After much deliberation and research, we ended up buying our rings online. We paid about half the price we would have paid in the store, and they engraved them for free. Here’s the process we went though to make sure we were getting the right rings from a reputable dealer at a good price.

Shop in a brick and mortar store first to find the right style.

Jewelry is a lot like eyeglasses; you never know what’s going to suit you until you try it on. I originally wanted a much thinner band than I ended up buying. After trying one on in the store, I realized the thin band looked weird on my hand. That’s why it’s important to shop in a brick and mortar store, try on a lot of different rings, and find the style you like best.

Have your ring finger professionally sized.

Many women already know their ring size. Most men don’t. If you’re unsure about either of your sizes,  just ask a jeweler to size your finger while you’re shopping in a brick and mortar store. Some online stores offer free resizing, but you’ll still have to go through the hassle of sending back the ring and waiting.

If possible, have your finger sized on a hot, humid day. Your fingers swell in the heat and humidity and shrink in the cold. Sizing your finger on a humid day will ensure a comfortable fit year round.

Compare prices and special offers at several online wedding band retailers.

We had a lot of different options since we wanted plain bands; everybody carries plain bands. Most of the prices we saw were comparable. However, the site we chose, iweddingband.com, offered slightly lower prices, free shipping, and free engraving.

Make sure you’re buying from a reputable online jeweler.

There are several things you can do to check up on an online seller. First, look for a Better Business Bureau online seal. Clicking on the seal should take you to a unique verification page specific to that site at the Better Business Bureau website. Here’s what it looks like:

Beware of sites where the logo is a dead link. As you can see, it’s easy to copy and paste the BBB logo. The logo must be linked to a unique verification page in order to be legit. Most reputable sites also link to secure transaction sites like VeriSign, GeoTrust, or Authorize.net to ensure that your credit card information will be secure. Be sure to click on these logos to verify their legitimacy, too.

4. Find out what other customers are saying.

Just because a jeweler is legit doesn’t mean they offer good customer service. I researched potential sellers exhaustively for customer reviews.

Many online businesses list their products on Amazon. This is a good place to find credible reviews for online sellers. You can see the Amazon profile for iweddingband.com here. I’d say 100% positive reviews in the past 30 days is a pretty safe bet to me. The comments say things like, “Fast shipping, great product,” etc. Seeing all of those happy customer reviews made me feel pretty secure.

We ended up paying a total of $150 for both of our 14K white gold wedding bands including shipping and engraving. They are also the “comfort fit” bands that are designed for a better fit without cutting into your finger.

Here’s a list of some of the other sites I considered. Don’t take my word for it, though. Be sure to do your own comparison shopping and research on the companies before buying so you can feel secure in your purchase.

E-Wedding Bands – Offers free shipping and free sizing. 30-day return policy.
Blue Nile – Huge selection of wedding bands and diamond engagement rings. Free shipping and 30-day return policy.
James Allen – Loose diamonds, engagement rings, and wedding bands. Free insured shipping. Free sizing up to 60 days.

123InkJets update

Just wanted to give you a quick update on my experience with returning defective printer cartridges to 123InkJets.

Last week, about three weeks after my initial request for a refund, the money showed up in my account. I was relieved since I wasn’t actually expecting the refund.

This isn’t to say it was an easy process. Their customer service is done completely online, which meant several confusing emails back and forth with a different customer service rep assisting me in each email.

I followed all of their instructions and sent an email with all of the required information (my name, address, order number, item numbers, and whether I wanted a refund or replacement). Two days later, I received a reply that said, “Thanks for your request. Now just send us your name, address, order number, item number, and whether you want a refund or replacement.” What?

So I sent the information again by copying the original email and saying, politely, “Um, I already sent that information to you.” I don’t understand how they didn’t see it. The required information was the ONLY text in my email. It was very odd.

Two days later I received a reply from a different person that said, “Thanks for sending the information. Here are the instructions for receiving your replacement cartridges.” They attached a shipping label to the email. Postage would be paid, which is nice. But the name and order number on the shipping label they sent me was incorrect. I also clearly told them I wanted a refund, not a replacement. Twice. Sigh.

I responded again telling them that I didn’t want a replacement, I wanted a refund. I also told them the return address and order number on the shipping label provided were incorrect.

The customer service rep who responded this time actually read through all of the emails before replying. She was very apologetic, and acknowledged that the situation had been handled poorly. She assured me that the return for my order number (the wrong order number) had been changed from a replacement to a refund.

I had to email them again about the incorrect shipping label.

Finally, about two weeks after I sent the original refund request, I received the correct shipping label with my name, address, and order number marked for a return. I boxed up the cartridges and taped the shipping label onto the box.

The process would have been simple if they had gotten my information right the first time. Honestly, the most complicated part was just dealing with 10 different customer service people who clearly had no idea what was going on.

When I sent the cartridges back, I paid 75 cents for a delivery confirmation. I wasn’t taking any chances on not receiving my $60 refund due to a “lost package.”

About 10 days later, the refund was credited to my account.

I’m glad that I received my refund. Honestly, I didn’t think I would. However, I will never buy ink cartridges from 123InkJets again, not only because the cartridges didn’t work, but also because their customer service is horrible. I eventually received my refund, but it was nowhere near as simple as they claim it is on the website.

Maybe I’m being paranoid, but I always get the sense from companies with this kind of return process that they’re trying to wear the customer down. If they can make the return process complicated enough, maybe the customer will give up before they receive the refund.

In the future, I’ll pay a little extra to get my ink cartridges from a reputable dealer. I don’t know if the problem was that my printer doesn’t like refurbished cartridges or if the cartridges they sent me were defective. Either way, it’s worth it to me to pay a little extra for ink cartridges that I know will work.

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We’ve come a long way

Tony and I had a lovely time yesterday celebrating his birthday. We slept in, enjoyed some coffee cake for breakfast (something he loves, but I never let him buy), and then headed out to enjoy the beautiful weather.

He received some cash from his parents to buy himself a gift, so he wanted to browse the bookstore. We ended up at the mall where we browsed Barnes and Noble, Banana Republic, and the closeout sale at Linens n Things, among other stores.

This type of browsing used to be a typical Saturday for us. Except three years ago, we would have ended the day with a car loaded up with shopping bags.

Though we debated whether we should buy something at each and every store we browsed, we didn’t buy anything yesterday. It wasn’t until we were in the car on our way home that we realized that we almost spent money in every store we visited.

I really wanted some framed artwork at Linens n Things on sale for 30% off (final price would have been $30). Tony wanted to buy a collection of short stories at Barnes and Noble for airport reading ($15). I’ve been looking for a deal on some khaki pants. I found a pair of brown plaid dress pants on the clearance rack at Banana Republic. They weren’t really what I was looking for, but everything in the store was 30% off the lowest ticket price ($30. Yeah, that’s with 30% off the clearance price. Why is Banana Republic so expensive?!)

Instead of impulsively purchasing, we discussed each item.

Sure, the artwork was a great deal and we’d been looking for something just like it to hang in the kitchen, but we’d already reached our shopping budget for the month. The final verdict? We’ll head back to Linens n Things in two weeks. If the artwork is still there and we still want it, we’ll work that $30 into our budget.

I told Tony he should buy the book if he wanted it. After all, it was a birthday gift from his parents. Ultimately, he decided he’d rather order the book on Amazon for less and wait a little while for shipping.

As for the pants, I’ve been shopping around for a pair of khakis to wear to work in the cooler months. I have plenty of dress pants from my last job that I rarely wear because my office is casual. I’m looking for a comfortable pair of business casual khakis. While the pants at Banana were really nice and on double sale, I decided against them because they weren’t what I was looking for. They were too dressy. Buying them wouldn’t have satisfied my need for casual khaki pants, so I’m going to continue looking for the right pair at the right price. That was tough, though. I shouldn’t have tried them on.

I also stopped in at Victoria’s Secret where I used a coupon for a free pair of underwear (no purchase necessary)!

In the past I might have gauged the success of a shopping trip based on how much we saved. If we had bought everything we wanted yesterday we would have “saved” $60. The problem with that is you’re not really saving anything if you’re spending money on things you don’t need. Even with the discounts, we would have spent $75 that we didn’t need to spend. Now I judge our success by our ability to avoid spending money on unnecessary items and get a good deal on the necessities.

Oh, and we won’t be going back to the mall any time soon. The temptation to spend is just too great. :)

Luxury on Less Tip: Cut down your coffee consumption

(Photo by gwpriester.)
I love to start my morning with a hot cup of fresh ground coffee. Any more than one cup gives me the jitters for the rest of the morning, but one cup is just enough to wake me up.

Brewing coffee at home instead of stopping at Starbucks every morning is half the battle when it comes to saving money. But what about the high price of coffee beans?

For months, Tony and I were throwing our money down the drain with expensive coffee … literally. Not only were we paying $10 a pound for gourmet beans, but we were brewing a whole pot every morning and pouring half of it down the sink.

You don’t have to brew 12 cups just because your pot will hold it. We cut the beans and water in half, making only 6 cups. It’s the perfect amount for each of us to have a cup. Most importantly, nothing gets wasted.

We also buy our coffee beans at Costco where we pay $10 for two pounds. They’re high-quality organic beans at half the price we paid at the grocery store. Since we only brew half pots every day, we usually only have to buy coffee once a month.

Of course, the easiest way to save money on coffee is not to be so picky. Pre-ground beans are usually less expensive than whole beans, and brands like Folgers and Maxwell House are often on sale.

If you can’t get by on one cup a day, your best bet is to buy the cheaper, pre-ground coffees. Don’t like the flavor of Folgers? Try some different brands until you find the flavor and price that works best for you.

You can also try experimenting with the amount of grounds you use. You may be brewing your coffee stronger than it needs to be. Cut back a little every day until you notice a difference in flavor quality.

Bonus tip: Always make sure your coffee pot is clean! Running a vinegar solution through the pot once a month will make a world of difference in the flavor of your coffee, even if you’re brewing cheaper brands.

Luxury on Less Tip: Fresh scents without paying more

I love to burn candles, especially when I’m hosting visitors or relaxing at home in the evenings. I’m especially partial to Yankee Candle. Unfortunately, anybody who’s ever shopped there, or for any candles for that matter, knows they’re incredibly overpriced.

The nice thing about Yankee Candles is they do burn for a long time compared to other candles. The problem with investing $20-$30 in a candle is that you’re stuck with that scent for as long as it takes to burn the candle.

I like to try different scents and change them up with the seasons, but I certainly don’t want to spend the money on several full-sized candles. My solution is burning votives and tarts instead of full-sized candles. Votives and tarts are regularly priced at $1.99 each, but I never pay full price. I stock up during seasonal clearance sales or by using coupons. If you register online, you’ll frequently receive coupons and other offers from them by email. I think the first one they send is $10 off a purchase of $25.

You would think that a larger candle would be more economical than several tarts or votives, but they actually cost the same amount per hour of fragrance. The largest jar candles cost $25 for 150 hours of fragrance. That’s about 17 cents an hour. Tarts provide about 12 hours of fragrance, and regularly cost $1.99 each, which also comes to 17 cents an hour. At the same price per hour, you can get a wide variety of scents.

Votive candles don’t require any additional investment to use them; as long as you have a votive candle holder, you can burn them.

I prefer tarts because the scent is stronger, and they burn cleaner than candles. They require an initial investment of the tart burner, though. If you buy them in the store, you’ll pay $12-$20 for a tart burner. I’ve bought generic knock-off burners at Bed, Bath, and Beyond for as little as $2.99. Unless you buy an electric burner, they also require tea lights to melt the tarts. I usually pay $2.99 for 100 tea lights, and because I only burn candles on certain evenings and special occasions, they last me months.

For me, buying tarts and votives is like buying samples. When I find a scent that I particularly love, I might consider investing in a full-sized candle. Maybe. But most of the time, I’m content to burn a wide variety of tarts.

Right now through Sept. 21 at YankeeCandle.com you can buy tarts and votives for $1 each – 50% off the original price. Just use the coupon code XF809B2. Unfortunately, this deal is only worthwhile if you’re really planning on stocking up, because they charge a flat rate of $6 to ship orders under $100.

I received a printable coupon for $1 tarts by email for in-store use, but I can’t find it on the site. If you receive emails from Yankee Candle, check your inbox to see if they sent you a printable!

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Minimize your wedding flower budget

I’ve never been that into flowers. To be honest, I’ve always thought they were overpriced considering their short shelf life. I told my husband early in our relationship that I wouldn’t mind if he never gave me flowers. Apparently, he didn’t mind too much, because he never has. :)

I always wanted a red rose bouquet for my wedding, though, because I’ve always loved the classic elegance and simplicity of red roses. I felt that if I was justified in spending money on flowers one time in my life, my wedding day was it.

Because they weren’t a top priority for me, I was determined to keep my flower costs low. Here’s what I did to minimize the impact on our budget:

Keep your attendants to a minimum.

The more bridesmaids and groomsmen you have, the higher your flower costs will be. Most of the florists I called estimated $40-$80+ per bridesmaid bouquet and up to $15 for boutonnières and corsages. Keep that in mind before you decide to ask 10 people to join your bridal party.

Decide what you want before you talk to a florist.

I had a really hard time finding a florist who would work with me from a long distance without a “consultation” to pick out my arrangements. Why? I’m convinced it’s because they wanted to sell me huge, expensive arrangements, which is easier to do when they’re sitting in front of you with a big book of expensive floral arrangements.

If you don’t know exactly what you want, look through some bridal magazines and research some flowers before you start calling florists.

Make sure the flowers you want will be available in your area on your wedding day.

Exotic flowers or flowers that must be shipped from somewhere else are more expensive for obvious reasons.

Skip the centerpieces and altar flowers.

We chose to skip the decorative flowers. The only flowers we had were red and white roses for the bridal bouquet; an attendant bouquet; boutonnières for the groom, best man, fathers, and grandfather; and corsages for our mothers and grandmothers.

Decorative flowers can add hundreds, even thousands of dollars to your flower costs. If your budget is small, leaving them out is a great method for keeping costs down.

If your budget is super small, you might consider skipping the corsages and boutonnières for the parents and grandparents. I considered doing that when some of the florists estimated $30 each for the corsage. We decided to leave them in when we found a florist who only charged $10 each.

Shop around, and get several estimates before you choose a florist.

I was amazed at how much florist prices vary. I was given estimates that ranged from $200-$700. Yikes! That’s why it’s so important to call many different places and insist on estimates.

I called every florist in town, told them exactly what I wanted, and asked how much it would cost. The florist I chose was about $500 cheaper than the most expensive florist in town. It pays to do your homework.

Do it yourself.

Many brides swear you can save a ton of money by buying fresh flowers and arranging them yourself. You can find instructions all over the Internet for handmade boutonnières and bouquets.

If you decide to go this route, be sure to do some research and compare the cost of fresh flowers to florist prices. Depending on what kind of flowers you want and how elaborate the arrangement is, doing it yourself might not be worth the headache.

My bridal bouquet was made of 3 dozen roses and only cost $60. I don’t think I could have saved much by doing it myself. The florist’s bouquet was a lot prettier than anything I could have done, and having it arranged and delivered saved me a lot of stress.

For brides who aren’t sentimental about fresh flowers, silk bouquets can save you a ton of money. The bonus is they never wilt. I was partial to the look and feel of real flowers myself, but silk flowers might be your best option if you want to hang on to your bouquet for years to come.

Make sure all of your flowers are delivered.

With so many things happening all at once, it’s difficult to keep track of it all. When the flowers arrive, be sure to take a few minutes before you start handing them out to make sure everything was delivered. Flowers are expensive, and if something was left out, you shouldn’t have to pay for it.

We ordered a floral cake topper that should have been delivered to the reception site. It wasn’t. Luckily our quick-thinking cake baker put some extra frosting roses on the top of the cake when she delivered it so it wouldn’t be bare.

The topper wasn’t that important to me anyway, so it wasn’t a huge deal. I didn’t want to pay for flowers that were never delivered, though. So I called them when we got home from the honeymoon and asked for a refund. They gladly credited the $15 back to my account.

Our grand total for flowers: $180.

The red rose bouquet was honestly my favorite part of my bridal attire, so it was worth it for me. The roses look absolutely stunning in our pictures.

I was sad when the flowers wilted, but throwing them away only reminded me of why I don’t want my husband to buy me flowers. I much prefer chocolate, though it doesn’t last any longer. :)

Works for Me: Salon haircare products for cheap

For this week’s Works for Me Wednesday, I’m going to go ahead and disagree with Shannon at Rocks in my Dryer who says salon haircare products are a rip-off.

For people like me with extremely dry, unmanageable naturally curly hair, salon products can be a lifesaver (and a time saver). Many people don’t notice a difference between salon products and cheaper brands, but when I used Suave my hair was a big mess. I could barely get a comb through it, and it was so brittle it crunched when I brushed it. The salon products leave my hair healthier and easier to manage.

So how can I afford salon products on a frugal budget? It’s easier than you think.

I absolutely love Paul Mitchell Super Strong shampoo and conditioner, which runs about $18 a bottle for about 10 ounces in most salons. That’s $1.80 an ounce. Yikes.

I’ve never paid $18 for a little bottle. Many salons sell sets with 1 liter (34 ounces) each of shampoo and conditioner for $26 total. At that price, I’m paying 38 cents an ounce. Much better.

Just by buying in bulk, I’m already saving $1.42 an ounce. Then I stretch my savings even further by limiting my consumption.

My hair is extremely dry (I’m talking Sahara here), so it’s actually much healthier when I only wash it a couple times a week. My sister, on the other hand, has beautiful, easy-to-manage hair. I can’t tell you how jealous I was in high school when she woke up 10 minutes before we left, jumped in the shower, and let her hair air-dry beautifully while I was up 2 hours early fussing with my daily bad hair days. If she goes longer than 24 hours without washing it, though, it starts looking oily and limp. She has to wash her hair every day, but the trade-off is she can use the cheapest shampoo and still have good results.

Most people fall somewhere in between — you might not have camel-hair like mine that can go days without water, but you probably don’t need to wash every single day. Try washing it every other day. If it still looks great the second day (and it most likely will), see if you can make it another day. Don’t wash your hair every single day unless you discover you absolutely need to. Trust me, unless you’re one of those people with extremely oily hair, you’ll discover that cutting back on washing will make a world of difference in the overall health of your hair and reduce your haircare budget dramatically.

Even though I have very thick hair, I only use a tiny dollop of shampoo and conditioner. You’d be surprised how little you need to get a good lather and get your hair clean. Experiment with this, too. Remember, you can always add more if you’re not getting enough lather, but you can’t take it off your head and put it back into the bottle if you use too much.

Using these tricks, I’m able to stretch those 1liter bottles out to about 8 months. My combined cost for shampoo and conditioner is roughly 81 cents a week or $3.25 a month.

Side note: Because my husband washes his hair every day and doesn’t care what kind of shampoo he uses, we use separate shampoos. We buy generics or whatever is free at the drugstores for him.

For those of you with no-fuss hair, getting random brands for free or next to nothing at the drug stores is certainly a better deal. But for those of you like me, there is an alternative to cheap brands that won’t break your frugal budget.

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