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Ongoing gifts for the kid with everything

by Mir at 10:18 am on August 30, 2010 in Everyday Wisdom, Questions Answered

The lovely Crista writes:

My husband’s brother and his wife had their first baby this year. Hubby and I are thinking ahead to Christmas and we know it’s going to be a toy orgy. The parents can afford to get the kid whatever they want, and she is the first grandchild. Hubby and I want to do something different. For my sister’s kids, we adopt an Angel Tree kid or something similar. They love that idea and as they have gotten older have helped us pick out who to donate to. My brother is broke and they very much appreciate the clothes and books we give to their kids.

My in-laws are different. I don’t think they would appreciate the charity thing. And like I said, they don’t need us to buy clothes and books for their baby. We want to start a tradition. Hubby doesn’t like the idea of savings bonds, and that is the only thing I can come up with. I have thought of things like dance classes or paying for her sports, but that is a few years off, and what if she ends up not doing any of that. We want something we can start now and continue into infinity :) . Any ideas?

I think savings bonds are the obvious answer, Crista, but if your husband objects, there are a couple of different routes you can go, instead. (more…)

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Comments { 29 }

Order first, fix later

by Mir at 8:23 am on June 1, 2010 in Everyday Wisdom, Quick Tips

Good morning! I just wanted to mention something that happened yesterday as a general little bargaining nugget. So, remember how yesterday I told you about some cute sandals in the Target Daily Deals and told you I bought two pairs? What I didn’t mention was that it charged me shipping when I placed my order.

And I was in the middle of the woods when I did it, so—mindful of the fact that my preferred size/colors might sell out—I placed the order anyway.

When I got home, I called Target customer service. First the lady on the phone tried to tell me my order had to be $50 to get free shipping (no—Daily Deals always ship for free), then she tried to tell me that only the first color got free shipping (no—besides being untrue, I was able to add those to my cart and get charged shipping as well, so clearly it was an error).

I remained cordial and polite, but did eventually end up speaking with a supervisor to get the shipping credited back to me. A minor inconvenience (I think I was on the phone for 15 minutes), but easy enough. And should it for some reason have proved a problem, I could’ve canceled my order.

Moral of the story: When you know you’re right, don’t be afraid to (gently) push. But order first so that what you want doesn’t sell out.

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Comments { 2 }

Peace of mind

by Mir at 8:13 am on May 11, 2010 in Everyday Wisdom, Hot Hot Hot!, Product Talk

Do you own a fire safe? Lord willing, none of us will experience a flood or fire and the heartbreak of losing items to that sort of devastation, but everyone should have at least a small safe in which to store important documents. To my mind, it’s not even so much to protect them in the event of catastrophe—it’s just a good way to make sure I know where that stuff is!

Ours contains our marriage license and passports, the kids’ birth certificates, social security cards, and vaccination records, plus various other important things.

And sure, you could get a safe deposit box at the bank, but that’s not only expensive, it can be a hassle when you want to retrieve something. (Although it’s a better option if you have a lot of items to protect which you won’t need all that often.)

For home use, check out one of these: Amazon has the First Alert .62 cubic foot File Chest available for $58 shipped. That’s the one I own, and I think I paid about $75 for mine. The real bargain here is the free shipping, because that puppy weighs a whopping 42 pounds! (Yes, I lugged mine home from the store, years ago. Still bitter.)

Alternatively, if you don’t have much to protect (and/or if you’re short on space), the First Alert .19 cubic foot chest is currently just $24, and ships for free with Prime or on $25+ with Super Saver Shipping. I’m considering picking that one up, too, at that price. Again, the price is excellent, but it’s the shipping savings that really make it a great bargain.

Did I mention about still being bitter about carrying mine home from the store? I think I did. Ahem.

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Comments { 5 }

Mindful Money: What price fashion?

by Mir at 9:42 am on January 12, 2010 in Everyday Wisdom, Mindful Money, What to Wear

I was just browsing around at Dillard’s, because they’ve just taken another round of markdowns and their online clearance is one of my favorite places to buy dresses. As I mentioned earlier this morning, I don’t have to look presentable all that often, but sometimes I do, and I enjoy having pretty things to wear when I actually, you know, bother to get dressed.

More and more in our “recession economy” I heard a lot of “don’t buy it on sale if you wouldn’t have paid full price for it” as a mantra for smart shopping, and as I looked at clothes this morning I found myself thinking about that. And you know what? I think that’s stupid.

People, if I never bought anything on sale I wouldn’t have cheerfully forked over full retail price for, I would buy nothing at all. Ever.

Now, I’m not saying everyone has to shop like me (I mean, feel free, but I’m not naive enough to think my methods are for everyone), but I know so many women who put nice clothing for themselves behind everything else—clothes for the kids, household items, even kibble for the pets—that I think this is a topic worth addressing. Let’s forget glib proclamations like “don’t buy it on sale if you wouldn’t have paid full price for it” and talk about practical guidance on this. (more…)

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Comments { 11 }

Kids and cash

by Mir at 11:21 am on December 22, 2009 in Everyday Wisdom, Questions Answered

Carmie raised a point yesterday that I thought was timely and worth further discussion. She asked:

sking as a future parent of middle-schoolers…..do you let your kids hang on to their gift cash? Do they give you a portion? Do they have to save it all? Spend it all?

Obviously, my answer to this isn’t going to be right for everyone, but I’m happy to share what we do. And as with all monetary dealings when it comes to our children, I think the long-term goal should be teaching fiscal responsibility in a way that sticks. Demanding that all gifted money be immediately deposited into a savings account is certainly wise in the conventional sense, but if it leaves kids feeling deprived and not in control of their own money, they’re unlikely to make good choices once they have more freedom.

I’ve discussed my allowance philosophy here before; I believe in mandating some savings and charitable giving for our kids with the money they earn.

Now, cash gifts are (to my mind) a little bit different. I do not make my kids donate a portion of gifts to charity, just as I wouldn’t make them take a couple of markers out of the pack and donate them. Heh. Depending on the amount of money, we usually figure out a division of money to spend and money to save. If it’s a small gift, I’ll let them spend it. If it’s larger, we put some in the bank.

I also try to steer them towards purchasing something the giver would approve of (this isn’t completely necessary, of course, but again, I think it helps them to be more mindful). If it’s money from a peer, I’m more likely to let them spend it on toys. If it’s from a grandparent or older relative we usually go towards clothes or books.

How about you? I’m curious to know how other folks handle it. Hit me!

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Comments { 19 }

When smart planning backfires

by Mir at 1:11 pm on December 15, 2009 in Everyday Wisdom, Questions Answered

I feel somewhat disingenuous filing this under “Questions Answered,” as I’m not sure I really have an answer. But we’ll see what we can do. The very pretty Kim writes:

Lovely Mir,

I have adopted your gift closet approach to shopping year-round, but this holiday season, it is biting me in the butt. All of my husband’s family live on the West coast and we live on the East coast. When I took several boxes to be shipped the other day, the cost of shipping was equal to or more than the cost of the gifts inside the boxes! And I was shipping using the cheapest option available (i.e. UPS ground or similar). A couple were heavy, but even the light ones were pricier than I expected. All the money I have carefully saved over the year is lost in shipping those gifts across the country. Should I have shipped sooner, like before Thanksgiving? Are there other options I should consider (like Sherpas)?

After hemorrhaging all that money to UPS and FedEx, I am considering abandoning the gift closet approach for the holidays, and instead use something like Amazon Prime to ship them and have the parents/spouse wrap them for me. I won’t have the fun of wrapping, but even a year of Amazon Prime is less than I spent on shipping those boxes.

What’s a bargain-lover to do? (more…)

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Comments { 23 }

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 }

Beyond the diaper bag

by Mir at 10:50 am on July 14, 2009 in Everyday Wisdom, Product Talk, Questions Answered

The very pretty Julie writes:

Mir, I am hoping you and your very wise readers can assist me. On a recent day trip with my 6 and 4 year olds, it occurred to me that now that we don’t use a stroller, I don’t have a place (other than my purse) to stow the various water bottles, bags of snacks, sunscreen, camera, and various other items that inevitably get handed to Mom for safekeeping. My husband suggested next time we use his backpack. That would work, but I don’t want to look like I am getting ready to scale a mountain ;) I’ve seen some smaller backpacks on-line, but would hate to order it only to have it arrive and not be useful. Do you or your readers have any practical suggestions on what has worked?

Julie is experiencing the post-diaper-bag quandary, which is that the kids are still small enough to be toting various items and not able/willing to carry them themselves, but big enough that an entire diaper bag is silly. What to do?

This is actually a question of both function and fashion, which means it’s my favorite kind of question! (more…)

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Comments { 44 }

Oh, well, if it’s for the children. . .

by Mir at 10:13 am on June 25, 2009 in Everyday Wisdom, Questions Answered

Lovely Sheri writes:

So Mir, as I happen to read your blog everyday, I realized that you, of all people, might know of some fun places that have goodies with which to decorate a classroom. I’ll be new teacher at a sweet little school teaching 6th graders the joys of science and English…he he he…

Anyways, as college students aren’t too eager to spend their money on laminators and cardboard thingys, I have zero-zip-zilch-nada decorations or anything for my classroom…and I’m still not too eager to spend THAT much, and I have little to no idea of where to look.

A little help here? After all…it’s for the children…

Gotta love that little bit o’ guilt at the end there. Nice touch, Sheri!

Two stores immediately spring to mind for me, if you want to shop online:
1) Oriental Trading Company, where you can currently use coupon code JUNSAV25 to save $10 off your $50-$99 order or $25 off your $100+ order, or
2) Discount School Supply, where shipping is free on $79+ and code STOCKUP will get you an additional 10% off.

If youre shopping real stores, I’m kind of a sucker for Big Lots for this sort of thing.

But I’m not a teacher, and I know we have lots of teachers reading. Anyone want to chime in and help Sheri out?

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Comments { 21 }

Always, always ask

by Mir at 10:04 am on June 10, 2009 in Everyday Wisdom, Quick Tips

I happened to be at TJ Maxx this week with my daughter, looking for a new purse. I found one I really liked, but it was still quite a bit more than I wanted to pay.

My daughter—ever my protege—checked out the price tag and declared that I should “totally get it” on account of it already having been marked at the original TJM reduced price, then discounted twice more. In fact, we could see that the cost was now about 25% of the original MSRP. (Two words: Italian leather. Mmmmm.)

That bag had a few scuff marks. So I took it to a manager and asked if she might take a bit more money off, on account of the bag’s condition. She said that it had already been marked down twice, so the best she could do was another 10%. I told her I would need to think about it a bit more, and what should I do if I decided I wanted it at that price? Just tell the cashier, she said, that she’d okayed another 10%.

It was still more than I wanted to spend, but in the end I decided to buy it and take it home; if I got it home and realized I’d really spent too much, I could always return it. (But if I left it there, it might be gone if I decided I really wanted it.) We went to pay and I told the cashier what the manager had said. She said she’d get the manager behind the counter to make a new tag for it.

And the new tag was for 25% off instead of 10% off. I don’t know why—I don’t know if it was an accident or if the other manager meant to do it—but I do know that I have a pretty new purse for approximately 18% of the original retail price.

All because I asked.

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Comments { 10 }
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