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Not dead, I swear

by Mir at 5:48 pm on January 20, 2011 in Big Picture

Apologies for the unexpected absence, today—I didn’t mean to abandon you! One appointment somehow turned into three and then, poof, the whole day was gone. I will try to do better tomorrow, but my son is having surgery in the morning, so we’ll see how it goes. (Surely I can blog while he’s having his tonsils and adenoids removed….)

By way of apology, did you happen to notice that Clarks are up to 75% off at 6pm.com today…? (Sorry, that’s the best I can manage after a day of shuttling a sick, cranky kid around to doctors’ appointments.)

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Comments { 7 }

To Prime or not to Prime

by Mir at 2:48 pm on July 8, 2010 in Big Picture, Questions Answered

… that, as they say, is the question. Specifically, the question was this, from Daisy:

Is Amazon Prime worthwhile? I get a lot of amazon gift codes, and I wondered if combining those with Prime might be a good idea.

I love this question, but I also hate this question, because it’s a little bit like asking “Do these pants make me look fat?” and here is why: I think the answer to this question is highly subjective. (more…)

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Comments { 22 }

A quick word about this site and the FTC

by Mir at 7:59 am on December 1, 2009 in Big Picture, Questions Answered

As some of you may know (and others may remain blissfully oblivious about), today (December 1st, 2009) new FTC regulations go into effect about how bloggers disclose affiliate and marketing relationships on their sites.

In the three and a half years I’ve been operating Want Not, I’ve always tried to be very clear about where prizes come from, with which stores I have an affiliate relationship, etc. But just so that there’s no confusion at all, I have a new Full Disclosure page explaining all of these things (and more). Additionally, from this point forward—as is explained on the Disclosure page—any time I link to a store where I stand to earn money through your purchase, there will be clarifying hover text informing you of that relationship.

The Disclosure page is now linked both from the top of the left sidebar, over there, as well as from the main About page.

Running Want Not is my job, but it’s also a labor of love. I’m happy to make sure that I’m in compliance with the new FTC regulations, and that my readers understand exactly how things work around here. If you (ever) have any questions, please just let me know.

P.S. You’re pretty.

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Comments { 41 }

Sometimes I pay full price

by Mir at 7:23 am on August 25, 2009 in Big Picture, Everyday Wisdom

I was telling a friend this weekend (before I got sick, and now I’m hoping to type out this tale before the Dayquil wears off…) that I recently walked into Target and paid full price for a new blender. And then I realized that was significant enough to warrant its own post.

Yes, Virginia, sometimes I don’t wait for something to go on sale. I know. Crazy, isn’t it?

In the case of the blender, well, our ancient blender was on its last legs, and my daughter has taken to drinking smoothies on school mornings. Her lunch period is at 10:30 (don’t even get me started on that…) and she says that if she eats anything else at breakfast, she’s not hungry enough at lunch time to eat her lunch, and then she’s starving at the end of the day. So, smoothies it is! I punch up the nutrition by adding salba and spinach to our concoctions of orange juice, yogurt, and frozen fruits. Frozen fruit is hard on a cheap blender, so I knew I needed a decent one rather than one of those $19.99 specials. And I could’ve waited for a sale, but we use it five days a week, and I was worried the blender we were replacing could die at any moment.

So I bought it. For full price. (I got this Oster, both because my research showed it to have great reviews particularly with pulverizing frozen fruit, and because it matches my new stainless kitchen appliances nicely.)

The way I see it, getting as many bargains as I do offsets the occasional time I want/need to “just buy it.” I felt a flutter of guilt and then it passed. The moral of the story is that sometimes it’s okay to “just do it” (provided you can afford it, of course). Other things—off the top of my head—for which I will pay full price, on occasion: Local/organic foods, the perfect bra (sorry guys, but fellow women will understand that one!), and my work computer (because Macs don’t really ever go on sale).

So tell me—what will you pay full price for, regardless of your propensity to find the best deal on everything else?

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Comments { 38 }

Etiquette and the gift closet

by Mir at 10:03 am on July 2, 2009 in Big Picture, Questions Answered

Crossing over into July means Want Not has passed a big milestone: This site is now just over three years old! I can’t believe it’s been so long. How to best mark three years? I shall mail each and every one of you a cupcake and a tantrum as soon as possible. Check your mailboxes.

There have been some common refrains here, over that time, and one of them is (as longtime readers know) my love of a well-stocked gift closet. It means you’re prepared for (nearly) anything, that you’ll never have to run out and shop at the last minute, and that you’ll save gobs of money because you’re always getting the best deals.

Lovely Jaime has a gift closet quandary, though:

I’ve been reading your blog for quite some time now, filing away lots of good ideas about gift closets. I haven’t needed to create a huge one yet, as my kids were still little. Earlier this spring, however, when I was shopping for a birthday party, I picked up a few versions of the same doll because they were on clearance & marked pretty low.

It was no big deal to attach a gift receipt to the first doll; we gave the present w/in a week. However, when it came time to give a later doll, a) I couldn’t find the gift receipt (my fault for not taping it on like I usually do), but b) the dolls were from Target, and the gift receipts have expiration dates, and the date would have passed anyway.

So how does one reconcile a gift closet with the fact that some people may not like the gift & wish to exchange it? I know some of this depends on you knowing the recipient, but what if your gift happens to be a duplicate? To go one step further, what if your gift closet is created by online shopping deals and probably can’t be returned by the recipient?

My frugalness is fighting with my etiquetteness, and I’m not sure how to appease them both.

I know you’re on vacation, and certainly don’t expect an answer anytime soon. If ever, cause I suspect this question may be more philosophical than answerable…

I am still on vacation, but I love this question so much I wanted to answer it right away. (more…)

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Comments { 19 }

This one is more of a karmic deal

by Mir at 2:05 pm on November 17, 2008 in Big Picture, Product Talk

Forewarning: This is not a “save a hundred dollars and only spend a couple of bucks” kind of deal. This is a “Spend some money but do good and get something cool” kind of deal.

By now you’ve probably heard about the One Laptop per Child Foundation, where your purchase of a specialty (low-power, rugged, child-geared) laptop also gets a second laptop donated to a child in a third-world country.

It’s a wonderful mission, and this year they’re selling them through Amazon. This isn’t the right thing for everyone—the XO laptops are severely limited in capability, compared to a conventional laptop—but the program is an admirable one and the laptops are getting great reviews for durability and basic functionality.

Worth checking out, if you haven’t already.

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Comments { 4 }

If you stuff stockings. . .

by Mir at 10:29 am on November 10, 2008 in Big Picture, Quick Tips

… I want to know what you put in them. Both for the kids and for grown-ups.

I know, it’s a little early to talk about this, but I’ve been emailing with one of my sisters-in-law this morning and we’re both experiencing a bit of… shall we say… stuff fatigue. We have always put “practical” things in the adult stockings—chapstick, razors, shaving cream, shower gel—but those are all things people are going to buy themselves, anyway. And this is a big family, so even those “cheap” items add up.

I’m inspired, this year, to fill stockings for less money than ever before. Part of that, I think, is going to be thinking of items that just haven’t occurred to me in the past.

So lay it on me: What’s a fabulous, cheap stocking stuffer? Let’s compare ideas.

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Comments { 85 }

When you care enough not to give just “stuff”

by Mir at 1:54 pm on October 15, 2008 in Big Picture, Mindful Money, Questions Answered

Look; I’m a fan of stuff. I like having pretty new shoes and fun little gadgets. No one is ever going to accuse me of being some sort of ascetic. And there’s nothing wrong, per se, with wanting to have nice things. The problem comes, of course, when we have too many things, and/or when things start becoming more important than… well, other things. Things which are not things. Things that are experiences and emotions and all of that.

Okay, I’m not particularly poetic or anything. Let’s take a look at Sheryl‘s question:

Christmas will soon be upon us, and I was wondering if you and/or your readers have any “alternative” ideas for how to spend Christmas. My son is the poster child for American consumerism, and already has a Christmas list a mile long. It’s not necessarily that we want to spend less money on Christmas presents (although that’s always a plus), but the kids don’t really play with the presents they get (come March, I bet they couldn’t even tell you what they received), and there’s not much to our Christmas memories beyond the thrill of tearing through wrapping paper. My parents are anti-religion, and we stay with them (out of town) over Christmas, so any church or charitable activities are out. My mom is a wee bit materialistic too, and balked at the idea that we make presents. I was thinking maybe we could use money we’d normally spend on presents and maybe take a weekend trip, or something… It just seems like making a nice memory would be remembered more fondly than quickly-forgotten presents.

First off, I want to say that I love that Sheryl is trying to think of some great, memory-making alternatives, here. (more…)

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Comments { 28 }

A little light afternoon reading

by Mir at 3:55 pm on September 30, 2008 in Big Picture

Well, my day’s flown by and I haven’t managed to get much posted here. (Darn life, always interfering with my bargain hunting!)

But while I go shuttle the kids around, you may want to take a look at this piece over at The Consumerist. If you have questions about the future of our economy, that’s a nice bite-sized summary of a recent Kiplinger’s article on the sad state of things.

And then go have a cookie, because you deserve it… and you’ll need some cheering up.

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Comments { 1 }

Mindful Money: Debt and retirement

by Mir at 12:01 pm on August 26, 2008 in Big Picture, Mindful Money

I got to thinking the other day when I posted about IRA contributions, and I realized we’ve never really hashed out the whole matter of paying down debt vs. saving for retirement, here.

And lord knows that many, many people—who are actually, you know, financial experts and not just incurable tightwards such as myself—have discussed this in greater detail, but I’m going to take a stab at the Want Not summary of this issue. Just for fun. And because, if nothing else, I hope it will motivate anyone who has questions or concerns in this area to do the research and commit to a plan.

So I’m going to give you a few general tips and hopefully somewhere in there we’ll hit upon something good. Heh. (more…)

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Comments { 10 }
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