Posted on: April 9, 2009 by Matt
The area that I live in is cluttered with small antique shops and many of them offer a range of items from inexpensive to higher priced rare items. I tend to like to find time to browse through the shops and see what kind of deals I can muster up. Most recently on Sunday I was helping my sister move into an apartment over a small antique shop and I took a stroll through.
I was not looking for anything in particular but when I walked by the jewelry case I noticed a decent looking silver ring with multiple colored stones in it. The price tag was set to $9.90. I figured it was probably glass or plastic set into the ring but upon further inspection noted that it was not plastic and was probably a material worth more the $10 they were asking (the silver in the ring was 925 sterling, easily worth more than $10). I asked them to hold it and opted to take the ring as a surprise gift for my girlfriend as she has been looking for a multi gem stoned ring.
She was pretty excited when I gave her the surprise gift and even more surprised at the cost. She is a bit of a jewelry nut (makes her own and such) and immediately began inspecting. She was not certain of the exact make up but noted that the “stones” looked like they were probably crystals of some sort if not the actual gem stones they appeared to be. All said and done – I was pretty happy with my surprise find.
I used to associate antique shops with over priced junk from another era but really enjoy walking through and finding what kind of deals I can find (occasionally leaving pleasantly surprised). Have any of you had any surprising finds at antique shops? What kind of deals have you picked up?
Posted on: March 11, 2009 by Matt
Every once in a while my girlfriend will randomly come up with some new method of using leftovers or a method of doing something frugally that I am not aware of. Last night she opted to make spaghetti pie out of left over spaghetti noodles we had saved from the night before. I have to admit that I was a bit skiddish about the dish just from the description: “It’s like all your left over spaghetti mixed with a bunch of eggs and you cook it kind of like a big spaghetti omelette”.
However – given that it was a new and created use of leftovers that I had never even heard of before I figured why not? The result was surprising – I really enjoyed the meal! It turned out looking something like the picture to the right here and tasted just excellent. We had it with some left over garlic bread, sausage and leftover veggies as well.
If you are interested in giving it a shot here was the process from my observation:
- Put leftover spaghetti noodles (we had about half a pound) in a large bowl.
- Add a lot of eggs. We used 7 eggs but my girlfriend noted it would have been better if we had used a dozen.
- Heat a large skillet on the stove, add some light cooking oil (just enough to cover the bottom of the pan).
- Add the spaghetti and egg mixture.
- Cook until eggs start to firm up and brown on the bottom (like an omelette).
- Flip over and cook on other side to match.
- Remove from pan and cut into wedges.
- Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and top with your favorite sauce.
It may not suit everyone’s taste but we tend to have leftover noodles around fairly often and I am pretty excited to have a new way of using them up. As an additional note: my girlfriend also said that the dish tastes really good cold with sauce. I have not tried yet but hope that next time we might have some leftovers so I can.
Posted on: October 22, 2008 by Matt
I have been reading a lot lately about the number of people that use pharmacy shopping to get some really good deals including a number of free after rebate (FAR) items. My girlfriend loves shopping at Walgreens due to the selection of interesting and fun cosmetic products and the politeness of the people that work there (at the Walgreen we visit everyone is really polite and friendly). We also find that the store is generally cleaner and easier to navigate than other pharmacy stores in the area. The only problem I have been able to identify so far is that the nearest Walgreens for us is about 15 or 20 miles away in New Hampshire; we generally stop in when we are headed in that direction.
Normally our little shopping trips to Walgreens involve getting a handful of items that are needed around the house and browsing. However our last trip may have changed the way that we shop at Walgreens a bit and may have also addicted us to the monthly sale and rebate items.
Our trip started out normally, I followed my girlfriend around so we could talk and joke while looking at all the cosmetics. I then decided to go up and grab a weekly sale flyer and the monthly rebate booklet. I proceeded to go compare prices on batteries that we needed and peruse the ads. When I caught back up with my girlfriend and asked her “How would you like to get some free foundation?” she looked back at me with curiosity. I opened the rebate booklet and reviewed the details of the FAR items and informed her that I had read online that we could actually make a little money on these items by getting the rebate on a gift card.
She was sold and pretty darn excited about the prospect of having a Walgreens gift card and some free (actually paid to get) some of the stuff on a monthly basis! We spent a good portion of the car ride home discussing how the program works and deciding that the gift card would be hers to spend on a monthly basis while I would keep up on the monthly ads and rebates and file for the rebates.
While my little shopping trip may seem like old news to a number of readers I am excited and view the trip as a success for several reasons:
- My girlfriend has questioned rebate items in the past: On a previous trip to Walgreens I noted some body wash that was free after rebate. When I pointed it out she commented “Who really sends those in anyway.” I replied that I did and she shrugged and commented on how it seems like a waste of time and the company always finds something wrong with the rebate anyway. After this trip and explaining how we can process them online I think that she has changed her tune.
- A number of the free after rebate products she will use: Not only are we making a small profit by purchasing some of the FAR items but they can also replace otherwise costly alternative brands.
- The gift cards will offset some cost of future trips: Like I said, she loves shopping at Walgreens. An free extra $20 per month will help us out financially.
- She is now excited about checking out rebate items: With her looking forward to the next month’s worth for FAR items from Walgreens (along with normal rebate items) I am hopeful that she will start to look at rebates for other items while shopping as well. I also think that knowing I will take the time to submit the rebates will encourage her to keep rebates as a viable saving method in mind.
Finally – the best part is that since our nearest Walgreens is in New Hampshire we do not have any sales tax on the purchases.
Posted on: October 21, 2008 by Matt
Throughout my day I tend to use several free pieces of software for various tasks and have also started using some of them on my home PC. I use some of the software to clean up machines, some to increase security and some to even keep my personal computer from getting all cluttered up. Here is a short list of some of the free software that I use and how I find it useful:
- Microsoft Virtual PC 2007: I could easily devote a whole post to using Virtual PC (VPC) and the many different applications I find for it. Currently I use VPC for the majority of my web browsing and anything related to my blog or completing offers on CashCrate. You do need an operating system available for install but it will run free versions of Linux if you do not have or want a Microsoft OS available.
- Ubuntu Linux: Need an operating system for your virtual PC? Here is a good place to get one for free. Download and use the ISO as an installation source for your VPC. Microsoft Virtual PC allows you to select an ISO image as your virtual CD drive so you can install without a CD.
- OpenOffice: Sick of paying Microsoft up to $300 to have a copy of Office? Well you do not have to anymore! Sun’s OpenOffice provides full compatibility with Microsoft Office formats and is a free download.
- ISO Recorder: One of the most useful utilities I have found. I often use this to create an image of a CD onto my hard drive. After the image is stored I can use a blank CD to restore the image or other tools like Daemon Tools Light to mount the image into a virtual CD ROM.
- Daemon Tools: Creates a new virtual CD-ROM drive that allows you to mount ISO images as CD’s. Very useful if you like to keep your software in ISO format in stead of on CD’s like I do.
- SysInternals: Sysinternals was recently purchased by Microsoft (well maybe it was more like a year ago) but the utilities that they have are extremely useful. There are utilities for processes, disk usage and even system recovery and maintenance (ERD Commander now known as Microsoft Diagnostics and Recovery Toolset).
- ZoneAlarm: A free software firewall. I have not used this in a while so am not able to provide a lot of the merits. I have moved more in the direction of hardware firewalls.
- AVG AntiVirus: One of the many free antivirus software programs out there. I prefer this one to some of the others and generally find it does an adequate job.
- Ad-Aware: My first stop for spyware removal. Generally does a decent job of removing most basic spyware but some malware still manages to reinstall itself after removal but still worth an initial attempt.
I use most of this software on a weekly if not daily basis (ZoneAlarm being the exception) and find them all fairly useful. Plus they are all free – saving me money as well as my company and clients money when I am using them for work. If you have any questions or would like a more developed “how to” guide on any of the software listed – please just drop me a comment and let me know! I can then plan on getting together a future post on the software that has more depth.
Posted on: September 29, 2008 by Matt
MSN has an article up this morning titled: 8 extreme ways to save some scratch and the number one tip is to “Turn your car off — while it’s moving”!!! Maybe it is just me but this idea is completely insane!!!! I understand the principle and how in theory it could save you a few drops of gas but is it anywhere near being worth the risk? This tip really belongs over with Lazy Man and Money’s list of Three Ridiculous and Stupid Ideas That Save You Money, not on MSN encouraging people to give it a shot. To the benefit of MSN readers (this article was linked on the main MSN homepage this morning) they do recommend that you “make sure you practice driving without power steering and power brakes in an open space before experimenting near other cars — or people” and tell you that AAA does not approve of the idea.
Since people seem to think that turning your car off while driving will somehow save you a few bucks in gas I think maybe we should look at the areas that it will potentially cost you a lot more. If you think that risking your well being along with that of everyone else on or near a road is worth a few bucks in gas please also consider the costs of:
- Medical Bills: The first time you make a mistake you will probably have a few extra medical bills. Car accidents are not cheap and not having the safety features built into your car available increases your chances of accident and injury.
- Car Repair: Body shops will be glad to take your money to fix up your car.
- Insurance Premiums: Imagine what your insurance company will think when the police report from an accident says that you had turned off your vehicle while it was in motion. I am pretty sure that the premium will go up from an accident. If they catch word that it may have been caused by turning your car off I would not be surprised if they deem you uninsurable.
- Increased wear on car parts: Starting your car engages a lot of parts in your engine. Turning your car off and on in traffic will probably strain (at the very least) your starter, transmission, alternator and various other parts.
Seriously – features like power brakes and power steering are there for a reason and cars are meant to be running while in operation. I am in favor of saving a few bucks anywhere I can but at the very least think of your safety and the lives of other motorists, their families and pedestrians.
