shopping

Quarantine soup.

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I don’t like to waste food, especially since it’s been harder to find lately. It’s not that we’re food insecure, but that we could be.

Pandemic-related shortages have been reported in stores nationwide, and meat-processing facility closures have led some producers to slaughter animals rather than wait out the pandemic.

In addition, an expert I interviewed for a recent COVID-19 article noted that there will likely be some food shortages in the coming year. Mostly those would be specialty items, or high-maintenance crops that farmers aren’t sure they will have the manpower to nurture and harvest. (It can’t all be done by machine.)

Too, some farmers are plowing crops under right now because their biggest-ticket buyers – hotels and restaurants – aren’t buying. An analyst quoted by U.S. News & World Report notes this could lead to shortages (and higher prices) in the supermarket.

Not wasting food has always been a goal. But now it seems more important than ever.

 

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Win a $100 gift card via #MayAtMacys:

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Win a $100 e-gift card from Macy's.
(Note: As a Savings.com DealPro, I will earn a very small affiliate fee for each person who enters the Macy’s gift card drawing.)

Want to win $100 worth of buying power at Macy’s? Now’s your chance. Savings.com is giving away five $100 gift cards during its #MayAtMacys promotion.

Obviously I can’t win, but maybe you can get a $100 head start on things like:

  • Graduation gifts
  • Baby- or wedding-shower presents (even if the parties are virtual)
  • Buying women’s or children’s underwear and socks to donate to the family shelter
  • New summer clothes
  • A bit of advance holiday shopping (never too early to get started)

This is a fairly quick-turnaround giveaway. You have until 11:59 p.m. PDT Thursday, May 7 to throw your name into the hat.

 

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Bonus earnings with the Fetch Rewards App.

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Recently a reader suggested I check out the Fetch Rewards app now that I’ve finally joined the 21st century by getting a smartphone.

At first I was skeptical, because DF and I simply don’t buy that much stuff.

Now I’m a believer, thanks to the 13,645 points in my account.

That translates to almost $14 worth of scrip at a slew of retailers and companies that provide entertainment, beauty, pet products, clothing, media, travel, spa experiences, office supplies, charitable donations, and even a prepaid Visa or Mastercard.

Full disclosure: Eight thousand of those points came from referrals. Which brings me to the point of this post:

From now through next Tuesday (March 24), the Fetch Rewards app is running a bonus campaign. For every person who decides to join using my referral code* (more on this below), I will get a whopping 4,000 points (instead of the usual 2,000 points).

But you’ll get something as well. Two somethings, in fact:

  • A 2,000-point welcome bonus when you successfully scan your first receipt, and
  • A referral code of your own to share – and if any of your family or friends joins, then you’ll get 4,000 points. Through next Tuesday, anyway, at which point it reverts to 2,000 points.

Here’s what you need to know.

 

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12 days of giveaways from Savings.com.

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Win a $250 gift card from Macy's!

(Note: This post contains affiliate links. I will receive a teeny-tiny finder’s fee for anyone who signs up for the drawings; this revenue helps keep the blog lights on. If that bugs you, feel free to enter the giveaway daily at this non-affiliate link.)

Planning your holiday shopping? Savings.com can help. The coupon/deal site’s “12 days of giveaways” promotion will award one $250 gift card every weekday from now through Friday, Nov. 22.

Which merchants are participating? So glad you asked.

The giveaway started with HP, the company that manufactures laptops, desktops, printers, monitors and accessories to keep us connected. The only printers I’ve ever owned have been from HP, and I’ve had great service from them.

My next printer will also be from HP – but unfortunately I’m not allowed to enter this drawing because I’m a Savings.com DealPro. You, however, can enter – and I hope a member of this community wins.

Here’s the list of future giveaway partners – again, one each weekday until Nov. 22:

 

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Back-to-school shopping: Kids under pressure.

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Who among us has ever heard – or said! – something like this during the back-to-school shopping season:

“You don’t understand, Mom/Dad – everybody is wearing/carrying [expensive item] this year! Do you want people to laugh at me?”

Back in the day, you just knew that having the right jeans would determine the course of your school year. Having a parent overrule your choices felt devastating – especially if it really did make you the target of your school’s mean girls or rude dudes.

Right now, your kid might be pleading for a new smartphone or a pair of shoes that cost more than the rent on your first apartment. Remembering our own school days is one reason that our kids have a pretty good chance of getting at least some of what they want. (More on that in a minute.)

Another reason? Social media.

Not only are young people checking out their classmates’ social media updates and haul videos, they’re exposed to “an entire army of influencers telling your child what they ‘need’ to have this year,” according to Kelsey Sheehy of the NerdWallet personal finance website.

NerdWallet recently surveyed a couple of thousand parents on the subject. Six in 10 respondents said their kids are influenced by social media; slightly more than that (67 percent) said their children’s friends were major influences.

And just over half (51 percent) of the parents caved to the pressure and splurged. I can’t blame them. Much.

Caving is potentially self-destructive, with regard to family finances, and potentially setting their kids up for Entitled Monsterhood. But it’s also understandable.

 

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Savings.com giving $1k for back-to-school shopping.

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Win a $1000 back to school shopping spree!

 

 

Yes, the first day of school really is imminent. Here in Anchorage it happens on Aug. 20.

To help with your back-to-school shopping needs, the coupon and deal blog Savings.com is giving away a $1,000 back-to-school shopping spree.

Here’s the beauty part: You don’t have to have kids in school, or even have kids at all, to enter the #HallmarkBTSSavings giveaway.

The shopping spree is in conjunction with a recent appearance on the Hallmark Channel’s “Home & Family” show. Sara Korab, head of community development for Savings.com, showed up to talk about how to save money this back-to-school season.

Will the “spree” be in the form of $1,000 worth of discounts, or will you be limited to certain stores? Nope. The winner will get a $1,000 check, to use however he or she chooses.

 

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No-spend February, Week 1: How’s it going?

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Last week I proposed a no-spend February. The idea appealed to some readers, for very different reasons

First – and worst! – was Yvonne Wilder’s situation. “We just went through a no-spend month in January, with the government shutdown,” she says.

All discretionary spending was cut, to the dismay of the three children in the household. (Not that what it was much fun for the adults, either.)

However, the stressful situation wound up becoming a teachable moment: “We talked quite a lot about the shutdown and budgets and they were definitely on board.”

Although the family is generally thrifty, Yvonne thinks they could stand to step up their game. January’s crash course “made us all aware of spending on wants instead of needs.”

Which of course is the point of the no-spend February: not that you can’t spend money, but rather that you become super-mindful about how and why you spend.

 

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Giveaway: Dollar Dig swag, $50 Amazon card.

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Dollar Dig widget

Recently the creator of the Dollar Dig cash-back site sent me a box of logo items. Bless his heart.

While I will donate some of these things to a local shelter, I’ve also decided to pass along a few to my readers.

Not only is it just plain fun to win something, I figure the fruity-bright colors will add a little cheer to the dark days of winter.

Bonus: Winning a T-shirt is God’s way of saying, “You can put off doing laundry for one more day!”

Or, if you’re more virtuous: “Look! A brand-new T-shirt to wear to those workouts you swore you were going to do every day in 2019!”

Either way, here’s what’s up for grabs:

 

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Win a $500 Amazon gift card.

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Want a $500 Amazon gift card? You probably do.

Last week I posted several ways to win gift cards to boost your holiday shopping. A few more giveaways have popped up since then – and if I can’t win them, then I hope one of my readers will.

The big enchilada is that $500 Amazon card, which is being given away by a new site called Considerable.com. Its goal is to provide money and lifestyle information for people aged 45 and over. Give it a look – there’s some great reading here.

 

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Getting ready for Black Friday.

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DF and I have a hot date early in the morning of Nov. 23: We’re heading to Fred Meyer for Black Friday. The store opens at 5 a.m. and the first 100 customers will get gift cards – and all customers will get free juice, coffee and doughnuts.

When I mentioned that I’d be going, he startled me by suggesting that he’d like to go, too. Apparently he’s never been out on a Black Friday. Or maybe it was the free coffee and doughnuts that got his motor running.

Black Friday isn’t as nutty as it once was, given how many people shop online. Still, every year we hear about some pushy-shovey behavior that results in screaming fights or physical injury. Anchorage seems to have escaped that level of consumer madness.

Me, I’m mostly looking for socks because they always get discounted at Fred’s on Black Friday. But tomorrow the two of us will pore over the ads in the fattest newspaper of the year – not for gifts, but to look for any screamin’ deals on things we need. For example, the off/on button on our toaster oven is balkier by the day.

That’s a tactic I suggest in a recent piece I did for The Simple Dollar. “Seven Ways Black Friday Can Save You Money All Year Long” notes that BF deals can be a great way to boost the budget beyond Hannukah, Christmas or Kwanzaa.

 

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