It is SuperBowl Sunday! There are going to be a lot of living rooms filled with football fans enjoying the big game. There is going to be some emotional highs and lows through out the game. Drinks and food is going to get spilled. Afterwards there will be some cleaning that need to be done. Depending on wild the party gets will depend on how much cleaning will need to be done.
In preparation for the after party clean up, I did a quick survey as to what we have in the way of cleaning supplies. I found four bottles of different cleaners under the bathroom sink. Two bottles of two different other cleaners placed under the kitchen sink. A jug of liquid laundry detergent along with gallon bottle of bleach, and a box of fabric softener next to the washing machine.
At this point my brain started calculating the cost of all these fancy cleaners. Each bottle of cleaner costs between $3 to $5. The laundry detergent costs seven something. I don’t remember what the bleach, and fabric softener cost. That means we have over $50 worth of cleaner sitting around waiting to be used for a specific clean job.
Have you been in an auto accident or had water damage from the washing machine over flowing? Then got on the phone calling your insurance company for a claim that was only for a few hundred dollars. Did you know you do not have to file an insurance claim every time you are eligible to file.
If you read your insurance policy carefully, you will find you will be penalized if you file to many claims with in a certain period of time. Some insurance companies have been know to raise the premium excessively high or deemed you uninsurable.
Several years ago, this guy took over as director of a small nonprofit. He was a real nice guy with a big heart. He notice three of the five vehicles had small chips in the windshields. Looking over the insurance policy he saw each of the vehicles windshields could be replaced for free. So he contacted the insurance company. Within a week all three vehicles has new windshields.
Some people live for the thrill of shopping. Some people like to show their classic possession in mint condition. The thrill of shopping only last for a few minutes. Taking care of that possession means an extended period of enjoyment. We all have seen people who use and abuse what they buy, then run out and replaced.
This is a waste of time and money.For an example, take two washing machines purchased new at $800. The national average says they should last the owners twelve year with one repair cost $200.The first washing machine owner does an average of four loads per week. At the end of 8 years it breaks down. The repairman is called out. He says it will cost more to repair than it is worth. It is time to replace it.
The second washing machine owner does an average of five loads per week. At the end of 12 years this one breaks down. The repairman is called out. He says it will cost more than it is worth. It is time to replace it.
The sad part of the Christmas season is the undue pressure we put on ourselves. When we go out Christmas shopping we try to get a Christmas present proportionality to our feelings for that person. It is much better to step back and look at what we can afford. Then look for that little thing which will make the biggest impact.
Well, it is not just at Christmas time. It holds for any other time of the year. We get in this mind set toward our love, our friendship, our caring must be measured by the size of gift we give. That is why, especially at this time of the year, we go into debt finding the perfect gift. That is why people rush around all crazy just to get all the gifts they need to give.
One of the big attractions I love about where I live is how polite the drivers are. That is not true when it comes closer to Christmas. The individuals driving their various vehicles get more and more aggressive as it gets closer to Christmas Day.
Growing up one of my fondest memories of Christmas was getting presents in the mail. They came from relatives who lived across the United States. Aunts and uncles in Arkansas would send boxes of mixed nuts. They had a farm where they grew nuts. Other relatives in Los Angels would send a box of candy. We could count on grandma to send winter gloves, or a hats to keep us warm.
At the beginning of December dad would come home with boxes of towel sets, and other box gift sets. Then he would pull out all those brown paper bags from the grocery store. He had been saving all year. Each gift set was wrapped in brown paper and tied with course brown string. The labels were carefully hand written before being stuck on the package.
We are getting close to Christmas. If you have not shipped off your Christmas presents, you had better get them wrapped, and down to the shippers office. Regardless as to what UPS, USPS, or FEDEX tells you. This is their busiest time of the year. Mail it to it may not get there.
So in this post I would like us to look at all your shipping options.
Posted By: The Shopping Nazi
on November 9, 2011
in Budget,
Finance,
Health -
Comments: Comments Off
Among all the hustle and bustle of the coming holiday season, this is the time of the year a great many companies will have open enrollment for their health care insurance plans. This is when employees can change or are forced to change the their health insurance. With health care costs going up and the amount of coverage going down, there may be some non-employer provided options that is better.
It was not to many years ago when my employer provided a family health care plan which included dental, and optical. The trade off was a deductible of only $10 per office visit, and only $5 per medication. Unfortunately, those days are long gone.
Last year I took a quick look at Open Enrollment. A couple weeks back I did a look at Health Insurance Overview. Today, I would like us to look at other Health Insurance Options. We don’t have to be lock into just what our employer has to offer us. Some of these other options maybe give us better coverage at a equal to or better price.
Posted By: The Shopping Nazi
on November 4, 2011
in Health -
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It was just the other day I was reading through Consumerist.com when I can across an article about deodorant. The article gave a link to where I could make my own deodorant. It was on a personal finance website even!
That started me thinking about some of the things I have done when I got out of the shower to find my deodorant stick was empty. Then I reached under the sick to find no backup deodorant stick. I was left to find an alternative. Some of those alternatives were my wife’s deodorant, my after shave, or something just get me by until I got to the store.
I started thinking about what other people have used as substitution for deodorant. So I started asking around. Some of the answers, I got were quite interesting, Some of the things I was told surprised me. I would never of have thought to use or would use to stop body odor akd BO.
Posted By: The Shopping Nazi
on October 25, 2011
in Health,
Medicine -
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The year is coming to the end. This is the time of the year where most companies roll out the benefit package, aka health insurance plan for the coming year 2011.
There are so many different types of health insurance plans. In addition to all the different types of people with different insurance needs. It is common for many businesses to offer their employees three or four different options for health insurance in the coming year. So today we are going to look a some of the basics.
The fundamental differences between the different health insurance plans can be summed up with three groups of three letters each. I am taking this information from NAIC insurance education Web site, www.InsureUonline.org
Do you realize, in the United States, the average car repair is $1,500? Did you know the average vet bill is around $400 for a cat? Are you aware that most human health care insurance plans cover only a fraction of any major medical expenses? Considering the uncertainty of today’s job market, we need to some money in saving for those unexpected expenses.
Just a couple years ago, in 2009, the average savings account would not even cover the bills for a family for one month. According to all the numbers I can find it is not much better today. It is time to get our financial house in order and have a healthy savings account.
Saving is more than just putting money in the bank. Savings is putting the right amount of money in the right bank. Why? Savings account are not designed to store money up for a rainy day. An expected return is required. Neither do we need to have our money in a bank getting a high interest rate when that same bank is charging us all sorts of fees.
Today’s post can have several titles. It could be call Price Comparison. It could be called Good Better Best. Or it could even be titled Finding the Best Possible Quality at the Best Possible Price. However, I have title it Website for Finding What You Want. All the titles summing up what I have written.
On the internet there is a lot of websites offering the best deal for almost everything you can think of buying. If you believe what you read, you may just be losing quality and money. Why?
Everyone who puts up any kind of website wants to sell you something. They can make it look good. They can make it look like you are getting a real deal, by quoting a suggested retail price and their discount of 50% or more. They tell you it is high quality and you should buy it now.
There are two things about this mere statement “Discount of 50%” that is misleading. First, it is a foolish waste of money to pay suggested retail price, or even manufacture’s list price for anything. That number is what suckers pay. Second, the 50% discount is telling me there is some other place where I can possibly get the very same item for less money. So what do I use for a frame of reference for when pricing any goods or services?
