As someone who came of age in the 1980s, it is both fun and sad to reminisce about the defunct store chains that no longer exist. I’m talking about the retailers where my friends and I would visit while hanging out at the mall sometime in the 80s decade or my parents would take me…
Have you ever wondered who makes private label store brands? And did you wonder if these non-name brands were worth buying? For example, I never have a problem buying Kirkland brand products, which are the private label from Costco. I’ve discovered that Kirkland, the Costco store brand, makes better strawberry preserves than Smuckers. In addition,…
As the author of 15 books, many on money-saving topics, I’m always trying to find ways to help my readers get the most bang for their buck, including with State Sales Tax Shopping Holidays. For example, in my book about paying for college, I suggest using state sales tax free weekends to shop and legally…
Did you know that there is such a thing as state unclaimed funds? Some people call it missing money. Let me explain how I came to be aware of funds that were rightly mine and that my state was holding onto. State Unclaimed Funds Explained In 2007 my husband and I moved to a new…
Wondering about St Patricks Day sale opportunities? That is, what is marked down and put on sale the day after St. Patrick’s Day on March 18? And, what is great to stock up on during those after St. Patrick’s Day sales? Well, in the spirit of my other after-holiday shopping posts, I’ve got tons of…
Lemi Shine Dishwasher Booster was one of the last products to get my Suddenly Frugal Seal of Approval. You see, in the old iteration of this blog, I focused on frugal living. And when I came across a product or service that was deserving of my kudos, it got this award called the Suddenly Frugal…
When I first made my DIY dishwasher soap detergent, it wasn’t as a way to save money. It’s because I’m lazy. That is, I’d run out of a commercial product, and I didn’t feel like going to the store to buy new. However, having already successfully made homemade laundry detergent, I figured I already had…
When I first wrote this blog post on using Freecycle, it was coming on the heels of a post about the dos and don’ts of using Freecycle and Craigslist. These days people may be using Freecycle less and Buy Nothing local groups more. Nonetheless, now seemed like a good time to revisit the topic of…
I’ve just updated this lifetime warranty article. It includes more than two dozen brands that provide a warranty for life or lifetime protection on their products, or something similar. This is a great guide when buying gifts for the holidays or all year round. Why? Because these are products that last. And if they don’t,…
When it comes to phone protection cases, I’ve yet to find a warranty like the Otterbox warranty. Otterbox truly stands behind its products. Since purchasing my first Otterbox with my first Smartphone more than a decade ago, I’ve only had to use the Otterbox warranty twice three times. The first time was way back in…
Today, I got an email from Bombas warning about dupes or fake socks that people might be selling online. I guess copycat Bombas socks have shown up on Amazon and in other places. And if people were looking to give Bombas items as gifts, the company wanted to tell customers like me to know what…
I never knew you could get alterations at Nordstrom until I got a Nordstrom credit card and enrolled in The Nordy Club, the Nordstrom rewards program. Rewards including earning points towards “free” alterations at Nordstrom. Also, you get benefits during the annual Nordstrom Anniversary sale. Overview of alterations at Nordstrom The purpose of this article…
Did you know that you can buy generic Girl Scout cookies or Girl Scout cookie knockoffs and dupes in stores and the cookies taste like the real thing? Sure, they don’t have the same names as your favorite Girl Scout cookies. However, if you were to do a blind taste test, I’m confident you couldn’t…
When I first wrote my article on how to get the sweat smell out of laundry, laundry scent boosters simply did not exist. Sure, you could buy things like OxyFresh to boost cleaning properties. Also, there was always Febreze spray to keep in the laundry room. I’ll admit that I would spray it on smelly…
When it comes to restoring shoes, there are a number of different approaches based on the kinds of shoes you’re looking to restore. It could be that you’re looking for ideas on how to clean sneakers. Or maybe you need advice on whether you should pay to resole old shoes or buy new. This article…
It’s been years since I originally created this recipe for DIY laundry detergent or thought about making homemade laundry detergent. It’s important to point out that my recipe is for a powder concentration, not liquid. Also, I haven’t had a chance to recreate the photo which is why you see the crappy version here. What…
Whether you’re an exercise enthusiast like I am or the parent of children who play sports, you probably face an isse of how to get sweat odor out of clothes and other items you wear. This was a challenge I faced for years when my daughters were playing soccer, field hockey, volleyball and more. Who…
Given the popularity of my article on alterations at Nordstrom, I realized that readers may also want to know about tailoring and alterations at other stores. I wasn’t sure if I would find nationwide retailers offering hemming service and more. However, I’ve got great news. Where to find stores with tailoring and alterations I was…