Rather-Be-Shopping.com Blog

~ My wife and I (disclaimer: mainly my wife!) have often tried to figure out the secret to finding thoughtful gifts at the right time and at the right price. Instead, we often end up shopping at the last minute for gifts and end up spending more than we would have liked. Whether it be for Christmas, kid’s birthdays, house warming, or a slew of other reasons, wouldn’t it be nice to build up an arsenal of gifts that you have at your disposal and at the ready?

So when I found Jennifer over at The Gift Therapist I was immediately impressed with her advice. Especially her Sanity Savers where she lists 11 ways to make shopping for gifts not only enjoyable, but also easy on the pocketbook! All the tips are great, but a few I really like are to establish a realistic budget, create a shopping wallet, and our biggest mistake, avoid last-minute shopping. Go check out her website for yourself, I think you will find her common sense advice a real asset, especially when shopping this December.

Tags:   Consumer News · Frugal Living · ReviewsNo Comments.

Secure your cats and cover your children’s eyes, my Dad is back! He is not a newcomer to my blog, as this post would attest, My Old Man: Frugal, Cheap, or Just Strange?. So with no further-ado, I once again present my Dad!

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We are being blitzed by the media coverage of the upcoming presidential election. Details of the contenders voting records, religious beliefs, family life, health records, tax records, and even personality traits ate under the public microscope.

Based on past elections these criteria do not guarantee an effective comander-in-chief. One personal trait that might have more validity in choosing a national leader is how careful he or she is in conserving their personal resources. This would provide a leader more experience in making “prudent” economic decisions. We often hear of how the government wastes tax payer money. Blame is often laid at the feet of politicians who seemingly lack the skills to make good decisions with our hard earned tax money. By choosing our leaders based on their frugality we might eliminate $600 hammers and million dollar bridges that lead to nowhere.

Perhaps the most significant opportunity any president has is the opportunity to set the tone for the entire nation. This often overshadows many decisions they make or bills they sign. One would not expect a president to walk around the White House turning off the lights; however, the knowledge that frugality was one of the criterion that got them elected would go a long way in promoting frugality among the American people.

For any person who has lived their entire life in an affluent family it would be difficult to relate to buying a fuel efficient car or turning the thermostat down to 68 degrees on cold winter day. In poor or middle class families these decisions are usually the norm.

Do you think it would be possible for a wealthy person to be a frugal president? Looking forward to your comments!

Tags:   Frugal Living4 Comments

I found a cool blog worth passing along. It actually is quite hilarious and original as the post The 13 Most Disgusting Ways to Save Money in 2008 will indicate. My favorite: Only flush the toilet once a day! Your esteemed blog authors are Kathryn and a dude named Captain Frugal. I kid you not!

But in all seriousness, PromotionalCodes.org.uk might be a mouthful but if you live in Britian, their Free UK promotional and discount [...] Continue Reading…

Tags:   Reviews5 Comments

I love Sharpies and just couldn’t pass up this offer for a FREE 5-pack from Office Depot. What is it with Sharpies? I can have like 112 of them in my desk drawer, yet when I see them on sale, let alone free, I always say to myself, “huh, that’s a good deal, I’m sure I could use some more Sharpies.” Then I get home and realize that I have enough Sharpies to continually sign [...] Continue Reading…

Tags:   Bargain Tips4 Comments

Got back last night from our final summer fling. My wife and I took the kids to a San Francisco Giants game, to Gilroy Gardens, and to the beach on the beautiful Monterey Pennisula. We had a great time, but it had some interesting financial travel surprises. Here are a few:

Gas Prices. At one point on the vacation, I actually got excited when I found gas at only $4.13 a gallon. It made me [...] Continue Reading…

Tags:   Coupons · Family and Health7 Comments

Last year on my blog, I wrote about What My Dad Taught Me About Money, and just a few days ago he mailed me an article from the current issue of Money Magazine that I wanted to share. The article is titled, The Smartest Advice I Ever Got, and shares what 3 dozen “great” minds say has been their best money lesson or piece of advice. Interesting stuff. I wanted to share my 3 favorites from [...] Continue Reading…

Tags:   Personal Finance3 Comments

As this site grows in popularity, I find myself getting a little pickier about the stores that I add. I do quite a bit of research before I decide whether I am going to add a store or not. The main things I look for are great customer service, quality products, and of course, online coupons. So I feel good about 3 new stores that I added this week, and wanted to let you know about [...] Continue Reading…

Tags:   Coupons2 Comments

Disclaimer: I am ticked off!

The United States has officially lost it’s marbles. Our “leaders” recently signed off on a big ol’ bailout for those that bought houses they couldn’t afford. Yesterday, I heard different folks interviewed at something called a ’foreclosure rescue event’.

At one of these events, I actually heard a lady say something like this, “We feel like we should be able to afford a home of our own. We want to start a family, we are married, and we [...] Continue Reading…

Tags:   Frugal Living · Personal Finance25 Comments

I have 4 websites that I need to tell you about today! They are all great consumer tools that should be added to your cyber tool belt. If you are into freebies and great consumer and product information they will be right up your alley. I hope you will find them as useful as I do. So, with that said, drum roll please…..

Just Free Stuff - This site is run by my buddy James, he manages the [...] Continue Reading…

Tags:   Frugal Living1 Comment

So a while back I called to cancel our Dish Network satellite TV package. We just were not watching it enough to warrant the $39 a month. Which was for the basic package w/ local channels. So now we are back to the good old rabbit ears and DVD movies. Which is fine for us and has actually been a really good thing, but that is another post for another day.

But what was interesting, [...] Continue Reading…

Tags:   Frugal Living5 Comments