http://theshoppingnazi.com Fri, 18 May 2012 12:00:00 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 http://theshoppingnazi.com/gas-grills-win-again/ http://theshoppingnazi.com/gas-grills-win-again/#comments Thu, 17 May 2012 12:00:47 +0000 The Shopping Nazi http://theshoppingnazi.com/?p=7758 The aroma from steaks cooking rises from the grill and migrates over to my nostril. The noise of children playing in the background. Adults laughing over something funny. Country music playing. All of these individual things brought together making the Saturday afternoon barbecue  perfect. If I was to tell you the grill generated its’ heat from a short fat white tank of propane, you may discount the whole barbecue experience. I know other folks who would raise their voices in protest. They would complain saying the steaks should of have been cooked on hickory wood chips or charcoal briquettes at the very least. Anything less would be an abomination to the meat. I must confess there was a time when I would of have been in that number of purist. I thought natural wood or charcoal was a must to enjoy the only true barbecue experience. Now like so many others I have surrendered to the little white tank filled with the flammable gas called propane. In times past I attended a gathering, where salmon was taken fresh off the boat, driven 30 miles in a cooler and placed on a grill. That grill was fired by a special blend of oak and hickory [...]]]> http://theshoppingnazi.com/gas-grills-win-again/feed/ 0 http://theshoppingnazi.com/comparison-ads-fact-or-fiction/ http://theshoppingnazi.com/comparison-ads-fact-or-fiction/#comments Sun, 13 May 2012 14:00:00 +0000 The Shopping Nazi http://theshoppingnazi.com/comparison-ads-fact-or-fiction/ The underlying theme for this year has been comparisons. NO! It is not just an underlying theme, it is a must when it comes to smart shopping. Whenever I go shopping there is always comparisons taking place. In the back of my mind I am running the figures as to the price difference between brand A and brand B. I reduce their cost to the lowest common unit;  per ounce, per box, or per gram. At the same time I am thinking back to  what other stores are selling the same brand at the lowest common unit from that store. Finally, before I make a decision I look at the quality difference between brand A and brand B. It was back in the mid 1980′s when Pepsi and Coke Coca went head to head with each other. We were seeing a lot of taste test comparison commercials.  I was titled the Cola Wars. Since then we have seen a lot of there companies do the very same thing. We are in an election year. As we go into summer we are going to see the major candidates compare themselves with their opposition more and more.  They will be comparing themselves on all the [...]]]> http://theshoppingnazi.com/comparison-ads-fact-or-fiction/feed/ 0 http://theshoppingnazi.com/which-vitamins-should-i-buy/ http://theshoppingnazi.com/which-vitamins-should-i-buy/#comments Wed, 09 May 2012 12:00:00 +0000 The Shopping Nazi http://theshoppingnazi.com/which-vitamins-should-i-buy/ Have you ever bought a cheap bottle of multi vitamins? Then a week later you found yourself constantly sitting on the toilet with diarrhea? Well, I have. The rest of that bottle has been sitting on a shelf in the kitchen cupboard for about three years. Early this week, I spend quite some time on the phone, with my brother. He is extremely knowledgeable when it comes to holistic remedies, vitamins, and herbs.   His health has been dramatically improved, over the past year, just by using other than traditional medical treatments. As each year passes, I find myself leaning more to the holistic approach for my medical needs. The more I read the label on even over the counter medication, I get scared. Take for example the bottle of Day Quil. The label reads, “Taking more than recommended dose can cause serious health problems, including liver damage.” Does this scare you? It scares me! This is the very reason why we have been doing more prevention over after treatment. Whenever anyone in our family starts to feels like a cold or flu coming on, I stick a glass of Airborne under their nose. It does a great job reducing the affects of a cold or [...]]]> http://theshoppingnazi.com/which-vitamins-should-i-buy/feed/ 0 http://theshoppingnazi.com/green-kitchen/ http://theshoppingnazi.com/green-kitchen/#comments Sun, 22 Apr 2012 13:00:00 +0000 The Shopping Nazi http://theshoppingnazi.com/green-kitchen/ We have just come out of an really mild winter. Some of the projections for summer suggest this summer is going to be a real hot one. That means our utility bills will be headed upward from air conditioning. A lot of it is attributed to global warming. It was our daughter who just this last week reminded me that today is Earth Day. Earth Day is all about each one of us being responsible citizens of planet earth. We should do everything possible to protect our environment. The most impacting place we can start is our kitchen. It is the kitchen where the most energy is used and has the most waste is produced. A few weeks ago, I received an email from The Saving Lady from MySavingPlace.com. In her email she outlined ten things we could do to make our kitchens greener. She felt these ten things were so important enough to share them. After reading through them and talking to my wife and daughter, we decided they were important enough to pass them on to you. So below is the ten things we all can do to make our kitchens greener, on the Earth Day 2012. 1. Use Healthy Eco-Friendly Cleaners Many [...]]]> http://theshoppingnazi.com/green-kitchen/feed/ 0 http://theshoppingnazi.com/out-of-milk/ http://theshoppingnazi.com/out-of-milk/#comments Sat, 21 Apr 2012 13:00:00 +0000 The Shopping Nazi http://theshoppingnazi.com/out-of-milk/ Why many businesses fail is they just don’t run it like a business. They try to run the business like they try to run their home. If they ran their home more like a business then when it came time to start their own business, it would have a better chance of success. Success requires paying attention to detail. One such detail is the managing of the food and supplies. I have personally seen business that did not have good control over their inventory spent money than they needed. Thus having more money tied up in goods waiting to be used. This money could of have been put to better use elsewhere. The same holds true for what is in the kitchen. Is there items sitting on the shelf  gathering dust? Take green beans bought on sale, but no one in the house really likes green beans. How much is in there duplicated? Things get bought over and over because no one checks inventory before heading out shopping.  Just over a month ago, I wrote about The Grocery Shopping List. There I wrote about all the components that should be considered when making the perfect shopping list. One of those components is [...]]]> http://theshoppingnazi.com/out-of-milk/feed/ 0 http://theshoppingnazi.com/usda-terms-and-their-meaning/ http://theshoppingnazi.com/usda-terms-and-their-meaning/#comments Sun, 15 Apr 2012 13:00:08 +0000 The Shopping Nazi http://theshoppingnazi.com/?p=7406 The meaning of words give us a clean expectation as to what we are purchasing. Without clear definitions we are set up for disappointment. That is why it is good to periodically review the definitions of words used to describe what is inside the packages of meat. I can tell you I am going to give you a hamburger. That does not tell you if it is going to be a hamburger sandwich or just a hand full of raw meat. I can tell you I am going to give you a cooked hamburger in a sandwich. That does not tell you if is going to be a thin hamburger patty or and one pound of hamburger in the the sandwich. I can tell you I am going to give you a hamburger sandwich with a whole pound of hamburger meat inside. Still I have not told you what the quality of that hamburger. It could be pure beef or pink slime. Since I live in the United States, I am going to pull my definitions from the United States Department of Agriculture. Today, we are going to look at buying meat, and the labeling concerning it. Here’s the basic USDA definitions you should see on every package [...]]]> http://theshoppingnazi.com/usda-terms-and-their-meaning/feed/ 0 http://theshoppingnazi.com/7-top-shopping-myths/ http://theshoppingnazi.com/7-top-shopping-myths/#comments Sat, 14 Apr 2012 13:00:00 +0000 The Shopping Nazi http://theshoppingnazi.com/10-top-shopping-myths/ It always amazes me how easy myths, misconceptions and just out right false hoods get started. All it starts from some parent, or authority figure make what sounds like a reasonable statement. Then with good intentions that false statement is accepted without any critical research, by other people. If the untruth concerns a any product or service will lead to loss of precious hard earned money. It does not take any college degree to do some critical thinking, and discern what is true. Just by taking lessons learn from science class about the scientific method along with good old fashion math is the place to start. All the tools needed is a calculator, some paper, and a pencil. You  can confirm what I have listed below by a little observation and reducing costs to the lowest common denominator. 1. “Cheaper by Bulk” I will admit some things are cheaper in larger quantities, but not everything. Consumer Reports project editor Tod Marks agrees smaller sizes may actually be cheaper. It can be as high as 25% of the products on grocery store shelves. That is why it is best take a calculator with you shopping. By simply figuring the cost to things like the [...]]]> http://theshoppingnazi.com/7-top-shopping-myths/feed/ 0 http://theshoppingnazi.com/2012-cadillac-escalade/ http://theshoppingnazi.com/2012-cadillac-escalade/#comments Thu, 05 Apr 2012 12:00:00 +0000 The Shopping Nazi http://theshoppingnazi.com/2012-cadillac-escalade/ Every since the conception of the pickup truck it has always been meant for work first and comfortable ride down the list. Since the turn of the century we have seen two pickup trucks that are marketed luxury first and work third or fourth. Today, we are going to look at two of those leaders. The Chevrolet Avalanche and the Escalade. What is interesting is the fact both the Chevy Avalanche and the Cadillac Escalade EXT hit the streets of the United States in 2002. All through both look quite similar each has its own personality. The Escalade EXT comes in three trims, Standard, Luxury, and Premium. All three are powered with a 6.2 liter engine that  produces a modest 403 horsepower. When I went looking a the comparisons of the different trims, I was overwhelmed with the luxury features in each trim. The variation between slight. The Chevrolet Avalanche also has three different trims, LS, LT, and LTZ. Under the hood of the Avalanche is a 5.3 liter V8 engine. This engine produces 320 horsepower. Power is delivered to the wheels through a six speed automatic transmission. US News Ranking and Reviews gives the 2012 Avalanche a rating of 6 in the Full Size Pickup Class.  The [...]]]> http://theshoppingnazi.com/2012-cadillac-escalade/feed/ 0 http://theshoppingnazi.com/finally-the-asus-transformer/ http://theshoppingnazi.com/finally-the-asus-transformer/#comments Sat, 31 Mar 2012 13:00:00 +0000 The Shopping Nazi http://theshoppingnazi.com/finally-the-asus-transformer/ As many of you who read TheShoppingNazi.com know, I have been keeping my eye on all these tablets. I have even wrote a few posts about the pros and cons about the different tablets. It has not been easy keeping up with all the new tablets and their varying features. My underlining motive has been to find the perfect tablet for me. Still I have been debating with myself if I could really need one. I even made a list of how I would use a tablet. Finally, about a month ago, I have got my choices narrowed down to two different ones. The first one was the Toshiba Thrive. The second one was the  ASUS Transformer. Both were 10″ tablets with the Android operating system. In my mind the perfect tablet had to have three basic features. If there were anything less I would scratch them from off my list. Size – The 10″ suited me best. The 7″ tablets meant the print would be smaller and less work surface. I did not need a small tablet to fit in my back pocket. Carrying it like a large book would be a comfortable portable device. If I needed anything [...]]]> http://theshoppingnazi.com/finally-the-asus-transformer/feed/ 0 http://theshoppingnazi.com/there-is-a-new-grocery-store-in-town/ http://theshoppingnazi.com/there-is-a-new-grocery-store-in-town/#comments Wed, 28 Mar 2012 12:00:24 +0000 The Shopping Nazi http://theshoppingnazi.com/?p=7462 Look out Idaho! Look out Treasure Valley there is a new Grocery Store in town. When big chain stores like Albertsons, Wal Mart and Winco are fighting for your food dollar, along comes Rosaurs. They put a store in the middle of the Treasure Valley. You can find a better location than the southwest corner of Eagle Rd and Ustick Rd. I had the honor of attending its grand opening on Wednesday March 21st. It was an overcast day. Still who would of have thought there would be so many people in attendance. If it was a Friday or Saturday I could understand the large crowd, but on a Wednesday? The executives of Rosaurs had it right. I saw an ample cross section of the Treasure Valley represented at the grand opening. Twenty somethings were exploring the offering of Rosaurs along with older gray haired couples. Channel 6 and Channel 7 news crews were even covering the event. After my arrival in the parking lot, I stood by my car for a little while to observe the all the people going into the the shiny new store. I waited until I started to see some people come out. They seemed happy, so I decided it was my [...]]]> http://theshoppingnazi.com/there-is-a-new-grocery-store-in-town/feed/ 0