MAKE A NOTE!! -- May 15th, 2000
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A Free Twice Monthly Ezine with (Hopefully) Useful Info on a Wide Variety of Topics
NEXT ISSUE TO BE PUBLISHED ON/ABOUT JUNE 1ST, 2000
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NOTE: Each entry has a suggested "POST IT..." location at the end. We recommend that you print out the ezine, cut out each entry, & post it in these locations to make it easier for you to find when you need it. And if you like what you read, be sure to pass it on to someone else who can use it.
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FINDING THE BEST GROCERY STORE TO SHOP
This is will take a bit of running around at first, but will be well worth it in savings later. First make a list of the items that you buy every week down the left side of a piece of notebook paper. Then across the top, write the names & make columns of the grocery stores in your area. Go to each store & write down the prices. Remember to write the TOTAL for the items you buy each week. For example, if you buy 6 gallons of milk every week then write down the price for 6 gallons, not one. Total each column. In each column also leave a section where you can write down whether the store has double coupon days, discount cards, and/or takes coupons from other stores. Usually the store that is the least expensive for your weekly items will also be least expensive for the items you buy now & then. Often the stores with the best prices also offer double coupons and/or discount cards in addition to the low prices. Now don't get me wrong, price isn't always the only thing you should consider. If the service or stocking at the cheapest store is lousy, then it may be worth it to you in time & aggravation to go to the next cheapest store. But unless you have a lot more time than most of us, it is better to shop at one store than to spend the time & money (a survey said it costs about 30 cents a mile to drive the average car in gas, insurance, & maintenance) to go from store to store for all the sales. Now if a store is having a sale on an expensive item that you use a lot of, it might be worth it to make the single trip. For military folk, unless you are a coupon queen & go to a store that doubles coupons, then it is usually cheaper to shop the commissary than civilian stores. If the commissary (or any other store) is too busy for you then consider going right about the time school is letting out (if you go during the day), or even better between 7:30-9pm at weeknights, this is usually a slow time for most stores. Stores than sell items in bulk are not necessarily the cheapest ones. Put them on that weekly price comparison list just like the other stores. One thing I have found at the bulk stores in our area is that they tend to carry only brand names & I can save more money on the store brands in the commissary or other stores. POST IT...with your shopping list & coupons.
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ORGANIC VS NON-ORGANIC FOODS
Some friends of ours had a neighbor who was a commercial organic farmer. He
used to brag about how wonderful his organic produce was. They reminded him how
he had complained a few months earlier when HIS neighbor on the other side (also
a farmer) had sprayed pesticides on his crops & the cloud had floated over
his organic produce & actually was strong enough to kill a cat. Once I was
just about to harvest the most beautiful tomatoes I had ever grown when a post
maintenance man came by & said I shouldn't eat the vegetables I had grown
because when they built the quarters they had put down heavy deposits of
pesticides to keep termites away. My point with these 2 little stories is that
it is very hard to get truly organic food, and even if you can, you may not be
able to afford it. We shopped at a nice organic store in Philly, but I realized
that I wouldn't be able to afford spending that way for long. Am I one of those
people who dismiss the dangers of chemical residues...absolutely not. However,
there has to be a balance. So try to grow your own, but it might be safer to try
a container garden, unless you can really check out your property's history. Try
to avoid foods that contain more pesticides than others, rather than buying
organic (unless you are independently wealthy). Which foods would that be...you
ask. There is a fantastic book on the subject called, "Diet for a Poisoned
Planet" by David Steinman. Unfortunately it is out-of-print, so you will
need to check your used book sources for it. This book used the government's own
statistics to rate the pesticide residue in over 500 foods of all kinds. It
indicated that some foods, often just by the nature of the food or way it is
grown, tend to have more residues than others. Then he rates the foods at Red
Light (Do NOT eat), Yellow Light (Eat, but not very often), or Green Light
(safe). Examples of dairy products would be whole milk/red light (most toxins
are concentrated in the fat of animals), low fat milk/yellow, skim milk/green.
Raisins are the only red light fruit/vegetable. So you are still buying
"regular" vs. organic foods, but just avoiding the foods that have the
most residue. For example Granny Smith apples, because they are green tend to
need less pesticide spraying because the green color doesn't attract insects
like the red apples. If you don't think this is worth it, you should know that
the government sets the "acceptable" level of each pesticide based on
exposure to that one chemical only. It never tested to see what might happen if
you got the maximum "acceptable" dose of 2 or 3 or 4, in other words a
chemical "cocktail". POST IT...near your computer (to search for the
book), shopping list, or phone (call the library to see if they have a copy).
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SAVING MONEY WITH COUPONS/REBATES...SOURCES
Go grab 50 cents out of your wallet, now take it over & throw it in the trash. Is that too hard for you, what about $1 or 35 cents? But that is exactly what you are doing when you throw away coupons that you could be using. If you haven't got a clue where to start in this area I would like to recommend a book &/or video tape called, "Shop, Save, Share" by Ellie Kay (thank you Carol W. for bringing the material to my attention). Her book is available through Amazon, the video tape is available to military families through AF Family Support Centers (for loan, not purchase). She goes through everything you need to know if you want to be a coupon queen or just save a few dollars here & there, it's up to you how much work you want to put into it. Remember just because you have a coupon for it, doesn't make it the best deal, compare prices. One thing I have noticed is the more expensive the item the more likely it is to have coupons, when a less expensive item has none. The best source for coupons are the store flyers and shelves. Keep your eyes open for items you can use. Coupon etiquette normally says it is ok to take a coupon for every item you are purchasing on that trip, plus one more for future use. Never pay for coupons, normally you will end up losing more than you save. Also check out your Sunday paper for 3 weeks, if the amount of the coupon savings (don't forget to figure in double coupons if you have a store where you can do that) is more than the cost of the paper, then it may be worth it to subscribe. Remember to only figure in the coupons for items that you actually purchase. Ellie Kay said that she gets 3 Sunday papers delivered to her house; depending on what you buy it may be worth it to you too. Another new source for coupons is the internet. These 3 web sites will allow you to print out coupons to use at your store once you download a bit of a program to keep you from printing out unlimited coupons: http://www.coolsavings.com/, http://www.suzicoupon.com/, http://www.save.com/. This web site allows you to get "Web Bucks", for purchasing certain items, that you can use on future purchases of anything at the store: http://www.hotcoupons.com/. This site mostly saves you money on internet sites: http://www.ecoupons.com/. And finally at this site you can sign up to receive a weekly ezine for freebies, coupons, and/or recipes: http://www.directcoupons.com/. While these sites don't have a huge yet, as more people begin to use their coupons, the more manufacturers will be interested in getting their coupons on the sites. In less than one hour of cruising these sites I came up with a 65 cent off coupon for the yogurt I use, an unlimited supply of $2/off a pair of Payless Shoes, and 50 cents off popcorn, AND I was able to order a free sample of lotion and shampoo. None of this even counts doubling coupons. Another great place to find coupons is the go to the product web sites. I would suggest making out your shopping list & looking for the items on the list, and just searching through the sites monthly. For example if spaghetti sauce is on your list, check out the Prego, Ragu, DelMonte, or Chef-Boy-R-D sites for coupons. In most cases you can just type in http://www."productname".com to find the sites, no need to even bookmark them. Right now you can go to Ragu's site and get a whole book of coupons sent to you while supplies last. For the exact page go to http://www.eat.com/forms/coupon-offer.html. Also check to see if the grocery store itself has a web site that might offer coupons. Check other kinds of stores and/or restaurants for coupons in the same way. And make it easy on yourself, take a calculator to the store with you. POST IT...with your shopping list & by your computer.
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COMMON WASHING MACHINE REPAIR MISTAKE
Recently my washing machine knob broke off in my hand and since I had company coming I did what many of us do & started using pliers to turn it off, on & around. BIG mistake! The repairman (for those of you in Fayetteville, NC, I highly recommend Tim's Appliance Service at (910) 484-8609) told me that if you use pliers, then you are often turning a $14 replacement knob into a $80+ timer part replacement. So remember & wait for that repairman. Another big mistake is not to get your dryer looked at right away if the drum starts scraping. Instead of a simple adjustment you may end up paying for a whole new part. POST IT...inside the cupboard where you keep your laundry products.
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RECOMMENDED HOME FIX-IT BOOK
The "Readers' Digest Fix It Yourself Manual" is a great source for info on all kinds of home repairs & maintenance. They tell you with easy diagrams how to fix things & also tell you how difficult it might be. In other words, if it is very difficult it might be better to call a professional. But ask around & get phone estimates. When I was looking for a repairman the initial visit ran anywhere from $40-$65. POST IT....on your shopping list.
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PLEASE...HELP ME FIND THIS ITEM!!
Now I am asking for YOUR help with info for others. I purchased, as recently as just about 3 yrs ago a Snugli Travel All. This is a large diaper bag that folds out into a little bed for a baby with sides. Great for trips ANYWHERE. If you were to sit in a restaurant's booth it would fit length wise on the seat with you sitting on the end. Snugli apparently no longer makes them, but I have a lot of people who are interested. So if anyone knows if some other company now makes them, please let me know. Or if you have a used one you would like to sell, I can try to match you up with someone who wants to buy one. POST IT...near your computer.
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"BACK ISSUE TREASURE"-- Most Visited Back Issue
Since all of our back issues became available online, the most visited back issue was that of June 15th, 1999. It's topics included:
~~ Refrigerators
~~ Summer Movies
~~ Church and Kids
~~ Learn 2...
~~ Courtship Info
~~ Standardized Test Results
~~ Joke, Quote, Feedback, Back Issues/Samples, Subscription Info
You will find out whether you should consider a new fridge, lots of ideas for helping kids get the most out of church services, a web site that helps you learn to do all kinds of things, a dog joke that will make any dog lover smile, and in light of the "Million Mom March" you might want to check out the Quote from Mr. Scott, the father of a Columbine victim.
By the way, the most visited recommended book on the Links & Resources Page is Clutter's Last Stand.
To request by email send an email to make-a-note-issues@xc.org and in the subject line or body of the message type in "MAN-022". You should receive the issue promptly. POST IT...by your computer.
While ALL issues are now available on the web site, only the August 1998 and subsequent issues are available by email request. To get a listing of what is available by email only, follow the instructions at the BOTTOM of the "Back Issues" page. POST IT...by your computer.
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JOKE
After church one Sunday morning, a mother commented: "The choir was awful this morning." The father commented: "The sermon was too long." Their 7-yr-old daughter added: "You've got to admit it was a pretty good show for a dime." :-)
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QUOTE
Janet Langhart Cohen (wife of Secretary of Defense William Cohen) remembers when she was 6, seated in a diner with her mother, no one waited on them. She remembers her mother's reaction. "There are people in this country that won't like you, because you're colored, but you must never use color to measure them."
---from 20/20 piece at http://abcnews.go.com/onair/2020/2020_000428_cohens_feature.html
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THANKS AGAIN FOR ALL OF PASTOR WILSON'S HARD WORK AS OUR LIST MANAGER!!
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