The Shopping Nazi

Saving Money One Product at a Time

Do I Need Fancy Cleaners?

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 fo...

Gas Mileage Lies

On morning news there was a sniped about a lady who sued Honda for misrepresentation of their gas mileage. It was in small claims court, but still won $10,000. Interesting! It has become pretty much accepted, by all of us, what the sticker gas mileage would be under ideal condition. I am glad someone has stepped up to say, "We are not going to take it anymore!" When I look at different makes...

Touch Screen Desktop Computers

I first saw touch screens computers in the food processing industry back in the late 90's. Since then the technology and the price has been slowly been dropping. As a result we now see more cell phones with touch screens than without. The overall adoption of a touch screen desktop computer has been slow mostly because of the cost. We are seeing the price going under the $1,000 mark. This makes ...

Social Responsible Buying

Last week the name Foxconn and Apple were in all the headlines. It was not about great profits, or some new electronic gadget. It was about the inhumane treatment of the workers in China. What is interesting to note is that Foxconn does not just manufacture electronics for Apple. Foxconn manufacture over 50% of the electronics sold in the United States. Mistreatment of works or labors misbeh...

Secrets of Shopping Wal Mart

Midday on any Saturday or Sunday, at Wal Mart, finds families and couples getting their weekly shopping done. We are at the end of January. People are starting to recover from the Christmas shopping madness. Walking we were greeted by a your 60 oriental lady. I think it is great that Wal Mart seek to find jobs for elderly on fixed incomes. After a quick stop by the cosmetic section for some...

Search for a Practical Usable Tablet

Since before Thanksgiving I have been slowing giving into the idea of getting a tablet. I have looked at all the major brands of tablets and eReaders. I have been trying to imagine how often I would use it. I watch how other people would use their tablets. While attending a local trade show I noticed a large majority of the vendors were using iPads. There were only a few who had other tablets....

Cruise or Not to Cruise

Here we are at the end of January 2012. Texas is getting heavy rains. Snow and Cold is covering most all of the northern hemisphere. I close my eyes and think of a hot summer day with the sun beating down on may face. Then in an instant, I jump into a nice cool swimming pool. Yes, what better time to plan a summer vacation than when the chilling cold is biting your bones, and the sky is all gloomy...

When Not to File an Insurance Claim

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 ...

Groupon Coupon Yollar Crazy

I a generally stay away from the whole cutting of coupons. The putting them into an organized folder, and taking this big folder to the grocery store. In addition I get frustrated when I have to look for the brand and size of soda matches my coupon. The few time I did take coupons, I found myself spending about the same amount of money, while getting stuff I would not normally get. It is one ...

Tax Season Cometh

From the end of January to April 15th is the traditional season for getting our taxes done. Some of us procrastinate so much we have to file an extension with the IRS. Accountants, bookkeepers, and those who do tax preparation are busy. In the grand scheme of things we need to pay taxes to we can get services from our government like fire, police, and military. Still we do not need to pay more t...

Mortgage Update

Posted By: The Shopping Nazi on November 2, 2010 in Finance, Home, Housing - Comments: Comments Off

We are weeks away from Christmas. I you are like me, I am thinking more about having enough money for Christmas than what is happen with mortgage. However, for those who are still looking to buy a new home there is a few update I want to share with you.

Considering everything that has happen in the past few years. Loans given out to people who should not of have gotten. Other folks who found themselves out of work facing foreclosure. Banks and loan institutions have tighten what qualifies for a home loan.

Craig Ballhagen over at MyFirstBoiseHome.com wrote on his blog about how Idaho mortgage guidelines are constantly changing. It is very important for future home buyers to take the time to be informed.

Boise Home Buyers Guide to Short Sales

Posted By: Craig Ballhagen on June 8, 2010 in Home, Housing - Comments: Comments Off

The following was posted on MyFirstBoiseHome.com. I felt that this information is so important in helping you save money, I have re-posted for you folks.

Real Estate looks a little different today than it did 5 years ago. We’ve seen some good times and we’ve seen some not so good times in real estate but the name of the game is adapting. We can all say we specialize in something but what we need to specialize in is what our clients and prospective clients need. And when I say specialize I mean be proficient, very proficient.

Death to the McMansion?-Idaho Consumers Want Smaller Homes

Posted By: Craig Ballhagen on March 9, 2010 in Finance, Home, Housing - Comments: Comments Off

Once again, how much is enough? How much square footage does a person REALLY need? How many rooms in a house are full of “stuff?”

Home buyers are trending towards smaller homes and down-sizing their personal fleet of vehicles from four to two. More and more realtors are blogging about these exact trends. Builders are re-thinking their futures and moving towards building 2,000 square feet homes, as opposed to 5,000 square feet.

Must Have Calculators

Posted By: The Shopping Nazi on November 27, 2009 in Budget, Home - Comments: 2 Comments »

Calculator When I was growing up my dad would cash his pay check, bring it home and put divide it up by putting it in envelopes. Each envelope was to represent a bill that needed to be paid. This was one generation from putting money in a set of jars, with each jar committed to a bill.

On the other extreme I have talked to some people of the younger generations who keep a rough running total in their head. For some reason the vast majority of these people are overdrawn on their checking, for reasons they cannot understand.

In my junior and senior year of high school we had a special class on budgeting. It included a handwritten a ledger. We had to keep a running total of outgoing and incoming money. Today, I use a little easier method of tracking our family finances; it is called Quicken.

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