I am one of those people who others call and ask, “How much should I pay for an oriental rug?”

Friends call and ask me if $1,500 is a good deal for a new leather sofa.  They ask me which store is having the best coat sale. 

While I cannot give that kind of advice to everyone, I can tell you where to find this information.   
 
CostHelper.com is a new website that tells you how much you should pay for what. 

The site consists of a database of hundreds of items, where you can investigate how much others are paying and find similar deals. 

The teen years often set the course for a person’s adult spending habits.  For that reason, it is wise to attempt to influence a teenager's spending habits as early as possible.  

Perhaps the easiest place to begin is with your teen's clothing & accessories, gadgets, and electronics.

I live within walking distance of a factory outlet mall.  It was built the year after we built our home and the entire time it was being constructed, I waited in excitement for the day that it would open. 

For several years, the factory outlet mall and I were great friends.  I would go there to “relax” and I would always leave at least $100 poorer and loaded down with all kinds of great buys.  Fortunately, the novelty wore off. 

Being frugal has caused a bit of a side effect for me.  I seem to have developed a standard uniform for everyday dress. 

I am sure other frugal people can attest to this. 

For me, the frugal uniform consists of dressing primarily in comfortable black slacks and black or white shirts.  For others, it may mean wearing jeans and t-shirts.  I know a few frugal men who stick to gray and navy slacks with white shirts. 

As I've become more and more frugal, I've also become more prone to collect clutter. 

My family members, however, are not crazy about the idea of holding on to items that they see as garbage.  They throw away glass jars when I'm not looking.  My husband puts furniture on the curb and hopes that I don’t notice.  My son throws away anything with a rip or stain on it (…and he rips and stains a lot of items). 
 
So, to combat my family’s nonchalant attitude about tossing out useful items, I have become a garbage snoop.  Here are just a few of the things my family has forced me to do to save money...

The term BOGO is used by grocery and retail stores to describe a buy-one get-one-free sale.  This means, if you purchase one item at retail price, the second item (usually identical) is FREE. 

Sounds great, right?

Well, BOGO sales are typically used to lure customers into stores to get them to purchase not only the advertised sale price items but also other items while they are there.  Therefore, while BOGO's would appear to be excellent deals, they can also cost you in several ways.

Here are 3 reasons BOGO might not necessarily be a good thing...

According to numerous reports, charities are hurting because people are not giving right now.  Church offerings have decreased.  People are holding on to their old clothes longer and not giving them away for charities to sell.   People aren’t giving away old cars, appliances, and furniture. 

Who can blame them? 

A huge part of being thrifty for me is being natural. 

I find that when I focus on avoiding products that are toxic to either the environment or myself that I save a great deal of money. For example, if you take a visit to The Fun Times Guide to Living Green, you will find many ways to save money.

Here are some of the natural ways I use to save money...

Growing up, Goodwill was somewhere you went when you needed to pick up a trundle bed for guest sleeping. Or, if you needed a costume for a play.

As a young adult, I went to Goodwill to furnish my home. When I had kids and saw how quickly they outgrow clothing, I realized it might be a god idea to buy clothes from Goodwill, as well.

As time passed, I began buying less from Goodwill stores, and donating more. Because I was not necessarily needy, I stopped shopping at Goodwill.

That was then. This is now.

If you have a typical American family, like me, then there are some bad habits you may not even be aware of that are costing you serious money.

Here are 5 bad habits that you should break to recoup some of your household budget...

It's amazing how much money can be wasted in the laundry room.

From using inefficient washing machines and dryers, to washing items that were barely worn, the costs can add up quickly.

Here are some tips you can use to save money on laundry day.

I recently watched an Oprah Winfrey episode where she profiled the Freegan movement. Freegans are people who get as many items as possible that they use -- for free.

This may mean taking items they find on the street. This may mean dumpster diving for food. This may mean going without new clothes.

The purpose of the Freegan movement is to inform the rest of the world about over consumerism.

In a recent article (Secondhand Clothes Get Hip), AP Fashion Writer Samantha Critchell takes on a challenge to find clothes in the thrift store that are actually fashionable.

She found success in consignment stores in Connecticut and Westchester County New York, as well as the local Goodwill stores.

I recently wrote about secondhand clothes becoming the height of fashion sense.

But unless I am looking for particular retro items, or hoping for a discount on high end couture, I find that thrift store clothing isn't necessarily a bargain.

I made this discovery some years ago when searching for Tommy Hilfiger jeans for my son, as I found that this was the brand that fit him best.

Here's a collection of links that are jam-packed with money-saving ideas that everyone can use on a daily basis.

Enjoy!

I wrote about this 2 years ago... my frustration with the way that some department stores seem to be using deceptive marketing practices to lure shoppers in, and then they fake us out with "sales prices" that aren't really good deals at all. (And we're talking major retailers here.)

Well now, I've finally found some facts to support what I've been saying...

In the January 2008 issue of Shop Smart magazine (published by the folks at Consumer Reports) they wrote this under the headline, "How Sales Can Fake You Out":

The next time you find yourself salivating over a 60% off sale, don't scramble over to the store so fast. Those deals may not be as good as they appear. As savvy shoppers know, retailers do all kinds of things to make it seem as if you're getting a steal."

It gets better...

A little while back I heard about a website called Overstock.com. I've never been huge on buying clothes online, but this site changed my mind.

Overstock not only provides less expensive clothing at even cheaper prices, but they also sell designer items at discount prices. And everything is brand new.

Whether you're headed to the Redmond Town Center, the Oakbrook Mall, the University Mall, or the Mall of America...  Whatever your favorite mall happens to be, there are a few ways that you can actually save money when mall shopping these days!

Sometimes we just go there to hang out and other times we go there with particular items in mind, but most of the time when you head to the mall, you go with the intent of spending money.

Below are a few ways to decrease the amount of money you spend at the mall so you can keep building your savings, while still being able to buy what you need (or want!).

You already know the best days to purchase things...

Well, here are some more great shopping tips.

10 Things You Should Never Buy New.
10 Things You Should Never Buy Used.

As you know, shopping (both online and in brick & mortar stores) is incredibly popular during the months of November and December.

Not only is all of the hoopla surrounding Black Friday sales events getting bigger each year -- to the extent that many shoppers behave like maniacs on the day after Thanksgiving... But now, the retailers themselves are getting more competitive and doing more things to win over the average consumer.

This means YOU... and you can save big money, as a result!

As one example, for the first time ever, many retailers opened their doors at midnight on the night before Black Friday this year.

With more and more retailers fighting for your shopping dollar, there are a handful of ways that you can save big when you're shopping -- both online and in stores.

Here is my take on consignment stores. Consider this "Part II" to my article about Thrift Store shopping.

I mention in that article that I'm gung-ho about shopping for "gently used" items at thrift stores, but I'm not so crazy about shopping at consignment stores.

Here's why...

In my mind, shopping in thrift stores has practically replaced shopping in outlet malls as a way to find great bargains these days.

I'd attribute that to the fact that outlets aren't really filled with bargain prices anymore. Name brand clothing & household goods... maybe. Cheap prices... probably not.

These days more and more frugal-minded people have their eye on the bottom line, which is: How to get something for almost nothing.

Here's how: Shop in thrift stores!

(...not if you're buying a digital camera... and it's from Sears!)

You hear it all the time. Whenever you buy something of value at the department store, they ask:

"Would you like to purchase an extended warranty on that?"

"We've got an optional service protection plan that will fully cover the product beyond the standard manufacturer's warranty. Are you interested?"

As a rule, we never buy into such "protection plans", "insurance", or "extended warranties" -- believing that the odds of something going wrong that the standard manufacturer's warranty wouldn't already cover are quite slim. Not to mention the fact that such protection plans are quite expensive, relatively speaking.

A CBC Report on Extended Warranties

Smart Money: Extended Warranty Rip-Offs

When Service Contracts Make Sense

Consumer Reports: Extended Warranties Aren't Worth The Cost

However, there have been two occasions in my lifetime when I've purchased an extended warranty. Both were at Sears. One experience (on a bicycle) was good. The other (on a digital camera) was not so good.

Here's what you need to know...

At which point does "a good thing" become "too much of a good thing"?

Case in point: I venture into my favorite department store: Kohl's. Upon walking through the door, I'm immediately greeted with lots of "SALE" signs: "huge sale"... "MEGA-sale"... "up to 30% off" sale. You get the idea.

I'm thinking: "Lucky me. I've picked a good day to shop at Kohl's!"

The goal in my mind now switches from: "look for that pair of jeans that I came to buy" to: "check out what's on sale".

Have YOU ever thought about being a Mystery Shopper?

You've seen the ads... You may have even come across the Mystery Shopping websites during a search for "Work At Home".

Is it a scam? Can you really make money doing this?

"Pink Poppy" is a real-life Mystery Shopper, and she tells us all the in's and out's to getting into the 'biz.