Tag Archives: consumer panels

Yard Sale Season!

garage saleRejoice! Yard Sale season is upon us! (Of course, if you’re in South Carolina like me, it’s been yard sale season since about February.) If you are thinking about having a sale this year to, you know, sell all the stuff you bought at last year’s sales, it would be helpful to know what items are currently in demand. It’s a drag taking the time to price and display a bunch of stuff nobody wants (believe me, I have done it!) So, what’s en vogue at garage sales this year? AARP.com has some clues, and here are the highlights:

  • Costume Jewelry
  • Like-New Items
  • Clothing by the Bag
  • Vinyl Records
  • Tools
  • ‘Americana’ Home Décor
  • Books
  • Bottled Water and Soft Drinks
  • Beat-Up Wooden Furniture
  • Retro Toys and Dolls
  • Kid and Baby Clothing
  • Antiques
  • Seasonal Items

I didn’t see bicycles on the list. You know how many bicycles I have tried to sell over the years? No interest at all! Anyway, there’s more info at the original piece, including valuable info on pricing your items for quick sale, so check it out!

How about you? Is a yard sale or garage sale in your future? Do you have any success tips to share? Let us know over at the MindField Online Facebook page, and happy hunting (and selling!)

Advice for Smart Shoppers

smart shopperAny shopping geniuses out there? Ones who know exactly what to buy and when? Ones who know the games some retailers play to make you think you are getting a great deal when you may not be?

Must be nice!

Well, good for you, shopping genius. The rest of us just muddle through, getting good deals only by accident, it seems. But there are ways to improve your shopping game, and resources to turn to. One of many is radio money dude Dave Ramsey. He usually has a tip or two to share, in easy to digest bites.

One of his latest is a blog piece entitled “6 Secrets to Being a Smart Shopper.” Here are the bullets:

  1. Plan your vacations around “off” days. Why are we so locked in to the weekends, anyway?
  2. Purchase end-of-season clothing. You know, bathing suits in September, etc.
  3. Know your environment. The way retail stores are arranged can really affect your buying decisions. Why is milk in the back of the store? So you have to walk past everything else to get to it!
  4. Shop at estate sales on the last day. You know, “everything must go!!!” Same goes for garage sales at noon!
  5.  Take advantage of some free services. Free delivery? Free slicing at the meat counter? Not so much saving here, but rather getting more for the money you spend.
  6.  Don’t buy brand-new technology. Boy, do I know one of these guys! Every new Apple device. Every single time! The bonus is that I buy his perfectly good previous generation old stuff for deep discounts!

There is more info, and more advice at the original piece, so check it out! How about you? Are these good tips? Do you have any others to share? Let us know over at the MindField Online Facebook page, and have a great weekend!

Memorial Day by the Numbers 2015!

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memorial dayMemorial Day has come and gone for another year. Hopefully, we all took time to remember the fallen service men and women before cutting loose with BBQ, beer and shopping! So how did we spend our holiday this year? Let’s take a look at Memorial Day by the Numbers, 2015!

On the travel beat:

  • $12 billion: amount spent by Memorial Day travelers
  • $330 per person
  • 37 million: the number of Americans who hit the road this Memorial Day weekend – the highest in a decade.
  • $2.66: average cost of a gallon of gas. $1 less than last year, and the lowest since 2010.
  • Top 5 tourist destinations for Memorial Day: Las Vegas, San Diego, Orlando, New York City and Chicago

On the Memorial Day sales beat…

  • $100: the average spent per shopper on Memorial Day sales
  • 34% of shopper bought clothes. 22% bought housewares, and 21% bought shoes.

Finally, on the party beat…

  • 47% plan to buy booze. Most popular: Beer 81%, wine 47%, vodka 23%, whiskey 21%
  • $70: average amount spent on food
  • 51% plan to cook primarily for family
  • 44% plan to BBQ or picnic with the gang

So, how about you? What did you and your family get up to this Memorial Day? Let us know over at the MindField Online Facebook page, and enjoy your four-day workweek!

Sources: Washington Examiner, Hoosier Econ, US News

Financial Tips for Today’s Grads

grad hatIt’s graduation season. It’s a time when our young people are staring out on their own. It tends to be a time of youthful optimism, but it can also be a time when financial mistakes are made. And those mistakes can take a long time to fix. So, as a public service, here are some financial tips for grads, courtesy of the US News Money section. Any of these sound familiar?

  1. Live within (or below) your means.
  2. Start building your credit early.
  3. Prepare for the future.
  4. Monitor your spending.
  5. Pay down debt.
  6. Get educated.

That last one is interesting. The article says that one reason young people get in trouble is that so few have had any sort of personal finance education.

Like I said, screwing up any one of these will cause problems. Trust me, I messed up more than one! How about you? Are you or your kids just starting out? Have any financial tips to share? Let us know over at the MindField Online Facebook page!

May’s Best Bargains

The Memorial Day sales are already starting at retailers such as Sears, JCPenney, Overstock and Macy’s, so it’s a good time to look at your best bargains for May. What’s on tap?

  • Cell phones and service deals
  • Kitchen Appliances
  • Handbags
  • Swimsuits
  • Sandals and Spring Clothing
  • Tires
  • Linens and Mattresses
  • 3D HDTVS
  • Jewelry and watches

Here are some links to help you compile your May shopping list!

Are any of these items on your to-do list for May? They say you could save up to 75%! What are you in the market for? Let us know over at the MindField Online Facebook page!

 

Tech Flops of the 2000’s

QR codeFor tech companies, it’s always a scramble to capture the imagination of the public and, of course, market share. Sometimes, though, the scramble leads to some wacky decision making, and to products that never quite hit for one reason or another.

Techie blog SpecOut took a fond look back at the big tech flops of the new millennium, inspired by the quiet death of Google Glass (that eyeglass mounted mini-computer.)

As we mourned (celebrated?) Glass’s passing, we got to thinking. Where did Glass rank among the millennium’s biggest tech flops, from gadgets to online services to companies? We scoured company histories, reviewed the most tragic collapses, and sorted through major product launches to pick the biggest flops since 2000.

Here are a few examples. And remember, they aren’t calling them bad products, just that they didn’t work out:

35. QR Codes: People don’t use them, IMO because manufacturers slap them on without really utilizing them. I once was reading the side of a package. It said “Scan the QR for more info!” I scanned it, and was presented with a picture of the side of the box I was reading!

34. Windows Phone: A well-liked and well-reviewed smartphone, but it just never caught on. See also Facebook Phone.

30. Qwikster: Remember when Netflix split in two, half online and half DVD rental? The old DVD business became Qwikster, and everybody hated it. Hard to believe Netflix survived that to be one of the biggest streaming success stories today.

23. Blu-ray: Again, nobody doubts the quality. And many people have it. But in no way has it (or will it) “Replace DVD,” which was the goal.

  1. E-Readers not named Kindle: When even my grandma asks for Kindle by name, you have achieved market dominance! Amazon managed to succeed, even when it seemed like iPads would make them obsolete.

21. MP3 players not named iPod: I have 2 or 3 of these lying around. Want to buy one? Didn’t think so.

15. Google Glass: All I can remember about Google Glass is the backlash against it and the people who wore them. For fun, Google “Google Glass Backlash.” You get 958,000 results!

Windows, Windows, Windows! At #11, 10 and 2.  Windows ME was…not great, but they replaced it with XP, which was great. They replaced that with Vista, which was…not great. They replaced Vista with 7, which was great, and replaced that with 8, which is…not great. Stay tuned for 10!

And the Number One tech fail of the 21st century…Segway: Four words… Paul. Blart. Mall. Cop.

For the rest of the list, go here. How about you? Did you have or use any of these so-called “failures?” Do you think the list is right on, or too harsh? Let us know over at the MindField Online Facebook page, and have a great weekend!

photo credit: http://m.state.gov

The Best Store Brands

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shopcartI’ve told this one before, but one of the great lines about the savings – and the stigma – of buying store-brand products comes from the old Rosanne sitcom.

Rosie is leading a home-ec field trip to the grocery store.  She tells the girls about saving with store brands as she reaches for some Brand-X corn flakes.  Her daughter is mortified. “But we don’t buy that…we use the good stuff!” Says Rosanne: “We use the BOX of good stuff. I fill it with this. It’s only SECOND best for MY family!”

Funny thing is, a lot of people don’t consider the store brand as second best anymore. If you’ve got bills to pay (you do, right?) then saving up to 36% on the generic label is pretty attractive! (According to Consumer Affairs magazine.)

Consumer Reports says that 65% of people buy store brands whenever they can. And 63% of those folks “were completely or very satisfied with the quality; only 5 percent expressed even a hint of dissatisfaction.”

All store brands are not created equal, however. Consumer Reports also surveyed items at 68 stores, and found that 49 stores earned average or above scores. Who does the store brand thing best? The overall winner was Trader Joe’s, followed by

  • Wegmans
  • Publix
  • Costco
  • Raley’s
  • Whole Foods Market, and
  • Harris Teeter

So what do YOU think? Do you use a lot of store brands? Like a lot of the folks in the survey, I also use them whenever I can. Who do YOU think does them best? Let us know over at the MindField Online Facebook page, and have a great weekend!

Tax Day Freebies 2015

free stuffAnd now, a tradition not nearly as annoying as those corporate April Fools’ Day pranks we talked about previously: the Tax Day Freebie! Restaurants, bars, hotels and other retailers love to capitalize on our tax day grief, offering various freebies, BOGO’s and “$10.40”-themed deals on April 15. And the list grows every year! Here are some samples:

  • BOGO meals at Boston Market
  • Free document shredding at Office Depot and Staples
  • Free sandwich at Schlotzky’s Deli
  • Free shave ice from Kona
  • Half-off rib dinner at Sonny’s BBQ
  • BOGO at Yankee Candle
  • Free curly fries at Arby’s
  • Free cupcakes at Cinnabon
  • 15% off at PF Chang’s
  • IHOP kids eat free in April
  • Free breakfast coffee at Micky D’s
  • “Sing for Your Supper” at Hard Rock Café
  • $10 off at Bonefish
  • 15% off at Beef O’Brady’s

And that’s just FOOD. Check out THIS LINK for news about retail locations such as Ann Taylor, Dress Barn, Foot Locker, etc. More links below. Now, I am sure there are limits and restrictions, so be sure to follow the links. So, what’s your favorite Tax Day deal or freebie? Let us know over at the MindField Online Facebook page!

Freebie Links:

Home Improvement Winners & Losers

home improvementThis past Saturday, I was cleaning out the garage (or “rearranging the mess” as my wife calls it.) Meanwhile, wife was potting plants. The lady across the street was laying paving stones on her garden path, and the guy two doors down was planting a palmetto tree. As you can see – in South Carolina, at least – it’s “that time of year.”

Spring home improvement projects… You sit cooped up all winter, and your imagination runs wild. The sun comes out, and where do you begin? Well, as a homeowner, you are trained to do projects that will come as close as possible to “paying for themselves” when you sell your house.

Fortunately, there are a lot of resources out there to tell you which projects meet that criterion. Here’s one called The 2015 Cost vs Value Report. It gives national averages and also breaks it down by region. Here are some highlights, looking at the national average of mid-range home improvement projects…

Biggest return:

  • Steel entry door replacement: Costs $1200, you will recoup $1250, a 102% return
  • Exterior stone veneer: Cost $7100, recoup $6500, 92% return
  • New garage door: Cost $1600, recoup $1400, 88% return
  • New vinyl siding: Cost $12K, recoup $9700, 81% return
  • Deck addition (wood): Cost $10K, recoup $8100, 80% return

Biggest losers:

  • Master suite addition: Cost $111K, recoup $69K, 62% return
  • Backup power generator: Cost $12K, recoup $7000, 60% return
  • Bathroom addition: Cost $39K, recoup $23K, 58% return
  • Home office remodel: Cost $29K, recoup $14K, 49% return
  • New sunroom: Cost $76K, recoup $37K, 48% return

TONS more info at the original piece, so check it out! So, are you doing any home improvements this spring? Have you had any success stories when you went to sell? Any nightmares? Let us know over at the MindField Online Facebook page!

April Foolishness 2015

selfieshoeAs a writer FOR the web, I spend a lot of time ON the web. For me, April 1st is the most irritating day of the year, and it sneaks up on me every time!! I’m reading something (supposedly) serious like Newsweek.com and I see, “The President then said farewell, boarded the mothership and returned to his home planet.” And I’m like “Grrr! April Fools!” I might as well go play in the street for the rest of the day.

So I guess I can appreciate when businesses try to have a little fun with the concept. I mean, I might as well. They’re not going to stop just for me, and playing in the street is dangerous. So, here are some noble April Fools’ Day efforts from companies trying to get in on the fun and irritation.

2015 highlights include:

And, for you Game of Thrones fans…

Side note for 2015… Companies have poured some big bucks into these fake concepts. Um, except for Sears. I am in the loyalty program, and I received an email this morning saying “MERRY CHRISTMAS!” Then, you click on it, and it says “Just kidding!” Comedy GOLD, y’all!

Here are some links for your further enjoyment!

See any that didn’t totally irritate you to death? Let us know over at the MindField Online Facebook page!