http://theshoppingnazi.com Fri, 18 May 2012 12:00:00 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 http://theshoppingnazi.com/spring-cleaning-your-closet/ http://theshoppingnazi.com/spring-cleaning-your-closet/#comments Fri, 18 May 2012 12:00:00 +0000 The Shopping Nazi http://theshoppingnazi.com/spring-cleaning-your-closet/ It is amazing what golden treasures can be found from the simple act of cleaning out the bedroom closet. Treasures get pushed back to the rear of the closet out of shear neglect. Other treasures are put back to the rear of the closet for safe keeping. Still other treasure are put there we don’t want to acknowledged their existence. Clothes get the honored place at the ends of the wooden hanging rod just because they are not worn. It was a week ago when I got tired of wrestling shirts and pants that looked vaguely familiar. I knew many of them could not of have been mine. The pants were two, three, and four inches narrower in the waist than what I wear. The shirts were so tight they felt like plastic wrap around my chest. All those strange articles of clothing were placed in one big plastic garbage bag. The following day my wife escorted the bag to the local thrift store. As much as our closet needed a good old fashion Spring cleaning, I have seen other closets in much worst conditions. The first one that comes to mind is the closet of the mother of a friend. This closet was off the [...]]]> http://theshoppingnazi.com/spring-cleaning-your-closet/feed/ 0 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/document-fixed-monthly-expenses/ http://theshoppingnazi.com/document-fixed-monthly-expenses/#comments Wed, 25 Apr 2012 12:00:00 +0000 The Shopping Nazi http://theshoppingnazi.com/document-fixed-monthly-expenses/ Not having a idea as to your current bank account balance is just an idea. The reality can be a couple hundred dollars difference. The same holds true for where you are at with your budget. If you have your finances document it is be easier to track. Over the years, every job I have had required a certain level of documentation. In fact the more successful businesses documented every little thing that was done. I had one boss who firmly believed, “If it was not documented, it did not happen”. This holds true through out all the modern business world. If the business world requires documentation, should our home finances and budget be well documented? Seeing budget, income and expense numbers before our eyes makes for a clear understanding. If we are wanting the best for our family, we need to give them the best financial tracking as possible. Sharing this documentation of the family finances will help curb impulse purchase that can break the budget. The most basic of way to document any financial budget is a good old fashion spreadsheet. You can make one by taking a piece of lined paper. Take a ruler and pen then draw [...]]]> http://theshoppingnazi.com/document-fixed-monthly-expenses/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/tools-for-the-kitchen/ http://theshoppingnazi.com/tools-for-the-kitchen/#comments Sun, 25 Mar 2012 14:00:32 +0000 The Shopping Nazi http://theshoppingnazi.com/?p=7426 What was I thinking? This week I have been doing a week of basic tools. The basic home tools turned out okay. The basic car tools was not so bad. Tools for our tech was easy. Tools for the kitchen should be a book. There are so many tools used in the kitchen! What was I thinking? Here goes! A rule of thumb for purchasing anything is comparing quality with the price. Then you factor in how often you will be using the item. There are certain pans we use everyday, then there are items we may use once a month. If you remember a while back, I wrote a post about a The Grocery Shopping List. In that post I wrote how important it was to input from the entire family as to what they like to eat. Just as important is having input from the entire family is how they like certain things fixed. Our daughter likes pulled pork. We have found it is easier for the cook it in the slow cooker. The taste along with ease of cooking has made it a family favorite. The reason we do this is because some like their pulled pork [...]]]> http://theshoppingnazi.com/tools-for-the-kitchen/feed/ 0