September 2008 Archives

Starting Wednesday, October 1, 2008 participating Togo's eateries will sell one type of sandwich for $2 every Wednesday. It will be one of their 6-inch classic sandwiches.

The deal is good for 8 weeks. For each of the $2 sandwiches sold Togo's will make a donation to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

Find a Togo's near you. Call ahead to make sure they are participating. A PR rep tells me every single Togo's in the chain is participating except for two in Pleasanton. Thanks, Greg!

Here are a few tips I received from the B'nai Brith group in Tarzana that I spoke to last week.

+ Visit Yapta.com for low airline prices. The site looks for flights for you based on the preferences you share with the site, then they let you know when there is a price drop so you can get a rock bottom price. If the price drops after you purchase the tickets, Yapta lets you know and helps you claim a refund, if eligible.

+ Veterans are eligible for all sorts of discounts, which you can often get just by asking. Show your VA card for proof.

+ Check your grocery receipt every time you shop. If there is a mistake you can often get the item free, or at least the difference between what you were charged and the correct price.

+ The Encino-Tarzana Public Library sells books for $.50 to $1 everyday that they have volunteers to staff the sales. Call ahead to check hours.

+ Always get the first...

Hubby is changing jobs next week and one of the big perks is a much shorter commute. His drive is going from 33 miles one way to 3 miles, which means he will probably ride his bike most of the time.

I'm happy not just because I think he'll enjoy the new position more, but because of all the money we will save on gasoline! Months ago I got out a pencil and pad of paper and was shocked to find his job cost thousands of dollars to get to every year. I'll admit ever since then I've been nudging him to find a job closer to home.

Now with prices even higher, I'm giddy at the thought of how much we will NOT be spending at the pump. Here is how I did the math on Hubby's yearly gas commute bill, which also works for students driving to school.

Miles driven per day round trip to get to your job x 5 days a week x 50 weeks of work in a year (assuming you get two weeks vacation) = yearly commute miles

Yearly commute miles x 1 gallon/miles per gallon your car gets x $3.60/1 gallon of gas (or whatever you pay) = yearly gas bill to get to work

Goldie, Hubby's 1989...

Get 30% off your first handbag rental at Bag Borrow or Steal with a discount code courtesy of Spa Week. When making a reservation online use code SPA30. Expires October 10, 2008.

I tried to test the code but unfortunately the site does not let you know if a promo code works until you have actually purchased the item! (Or, in this case, rented it.)

That means shoppers do not know the final cost until after they have been charged. Lame! This is bad customer service, in my mind.

I called to check if this is really how the site works and a sales rep confirmed my worst suspicions. She also confirmed that the code does indeed take 30% off for first time borrowers. If for some reason it does not work for you I suggest calling their customer service line at (866) 922-2267.

A Treesje London hobo bag, above, is $55/month or $22/week for non-members. Members pay $42/month or $14/week for this particular bag. Joining costs $5 to $10 a month depending on how much you pay upfront.

Thanks, Tina!

Rent an economy to full size car from Enterprise from a Friday to a Monday and you can get 50% off the rental fee. No code needed. It is not valid at most airport locations, unfortunately.

When you make a reservation, each location will say whether it is participating and has cars eligible for the discount available. Good through May 20, 2009.

Using the discount, a mid-size Ford Fusion was $22/day for a Friday to Monday rental with a pickup at Wilshire and LaBrea. Enterprise also sells greenhouse gas emissions offset for $1.25 a rental. The money goes to TerraPass, which funds projects that reduce carbon in the atmosphere.

Caveats: Standard rental requirements and other restrictions may apply. Not valid with any other rate programs or special offers nor at most airport and urban locations. Does not apply to taxes and other fees such as optional damage waiver at $26 or less per day.

Here are all the deals mentioned in today's column.

Cheap eats

Beauty deals

BevMo $10 off

Quick, cheap dinner

An extra $100

Deals online: send me an email at julia.scott@dailynews.com

Lincoln Lunch: Chinese

The Palm Beach Post in Florida has a great Q&A about how the FDIC insures bank deposits. This is much more thorough than the tips from Michelle Singletary, below.

The story goes: "In the wake of the FDIC's seizure of Washington Mutual, the largest bank failure in U.S. history, and Citigroup's take over of Wachovia Corp., here are general questions about federal deposit insurance:

What happens to my coverage if I have deposits at two insured banks that merge?

"When two or more insured banks merge, the deposits from the assumed bank continue to be insured separately for at least six months after the merger. This grace period gives a depositor...

The latest issue of Real Simple makes a big promise - re-do the look of your home for free. Free! I hope this isn't some empty promise like those made by politicians. Here are some of their best tips so you can decide for yourself.

+ Use a quilt to make a colorful headboard. Just drape it over the plain headboard.

+ Conceal power cords and wires by propping up art work along the wall. Layer two or three frames to really make them standout.

+ Tie ribbons to dresser handles to give the dresser a fancy.

+ Cover shoe boxes and other cardboard containers with wrapping paper, transforming them into pretty storage boxes.

+ Stash toiletries in mis-matched dishes, bowls, and cups from your cupboard that you never use but can't get rid of. Place on a tray for a neat look.

+ Turn extra vases into an herb garden. Place a layer of small rocks or pebbles at the bottom of the vase for drainage, then plant a small herb in dirt. Watch the roots grow or wrap the vase in paper and tie with twine for a neat look. Label each plant.

These tips fall short of a true makeover, but they are simple, cheap ways you can create a new look at home.

Here are two bits of advice that will help you figure out how secure your investments are from Michelle Singletary, a syndicated personal finance columnist for the Washington Post. Singletary received the tips from the CMPS Institute, an organization that provides training, examination and certification for mortgage bankers and brokers.

Tip No. 1: "Make sure your investments are protected through the Securities Investor Protection Corp. If you have a brokerage account, you might want to read up on what protection you have in light of the Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing of Lehman Brothers.

"The SIPC maintains a special reserve fund authorized by Congress to help investors at failed brokerage firms. If customer assets (cash and securities) are missing as a result of a closure or bankruptcy, the SIPC steps in and, within certain limits, works to return customers' cash, stock and other securities.

"However, there's no point in calling the SIPC if the value of your investment portfolio is down or you lost money as a result of the Lehman bankruptcy. The SIPC does not insure your investment against market losses.

Tip No. 2 "The trade group urges that you make sure all your bank accounts are covered by the insurance offered by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. To find out what protection you may have, visit http://www.fdic.gov and click on the link for "Deposit Insurance." Likewise, if you keep your money in a credit union, check your coverage with the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund at http://www.ncua.gov."

Whether or not your investments are insured will help guide your decision about whether to keep tight or withdrawal your money.

Ever use GasBuddy.com or GasPriceWatch.com to find the best gas prices near you? Now there's a similar Web site for groceries.

Just like the gas sites, regular folks enter the prices they pay for groceries, then the site shares this info with others.

It's called PriceStarter.com and it was started by a Chicago Mom who wanted to help people save money on groceries. The site also has a similar service for new cars.

It's free to post prices and search the database, though you must register to enter grocery price information. Searching does not require registration.

The downside is that PriceStarter.com does not have a broad audience. All of the recent entries were in Illinois.

Get $20 off orders of $100 or more or $50 off purchases of $200 or more at Shoes.com now until October 6. Use code FALLSALE08 to get the discount. Some exclusions apply.

The code knocks $70 off a rockin' pair of chocolate brown Frye Caroline boots, for $328 (orig $398). That's still a whole lotta moolah for shoes. I think I'll stick to my black Tony Lama hand me downs. Perhaps you'll find a better deal on their sale pages.

You can also get 10% off all items using code SEPT08, which expires Tuesday, September 30. You cannot use both codes at once.

Caveats: The discount codes exclude bags and all merchandise from the following brands: Allen Edmonds, Allrounder, Bragano, Bruno Magli, Burton, Cole Haan, Crocs, Dansko, Diesel, Donald J Pliner, Ecco, G Series, K-Swiss, LAMB, Keen, Kenneth Cole, Lucchese, Mark Nason, MBT, Mephisto, Merrell, Puma, Puma Black Label, Royal Elastics, Siren, Stuart Weitzman and Ugg.

The Assistance League of Glendale's second hand store Thrift Alley is having a one day fifth anniversary sale on Wednesday, October 1, starting at 10 am.

Everything in the store will be 50% off, including books, clothing, furniture, glassware, silver plate serving pieces, jewelry, housewares, bed linens and more.

To preview the merchandise, visit Thrift Alley today, Monday, September 29th from 10 to 3.

Visit them at 314 E. Harvard Street in Glendale.

Thanks, Natalie!

Footlocker's friends and family sale is on until Sunday, September 28, 2008. Use code LKS1FF89 to get the discount. Some exclusions may apply. Online only.

Dozens of NFL jerseys are on sale. Nike men's Tuned 10 sneakers are snazzy looking but very pricey ($140 before the discount).

Their collection of basketball shoes is here. Celebrate the Dodgers win of the Western Division with some blue and white gear here.

It's not too early to buy a Christmas/Hanukkah present!

Get 60% off restaurant gift certificates at Restaurant.com now until Tuesday, September 30, 2008. With the discount a $25 certificate is $4. Use code FALL to get the discount.

Each restaurant has specific rules on how you can redeem the certificates, such as days and times they can be used. Most exclude alcohol and have a minimum food purchase requirement. If you play by the rules, you can get ahead. But there are a few hoops to jump through.

Hundreds of restaurants across the country participate, including dozens of restaurants in the LA area. Cafe Montrose, Damon's Steakhouse in Glendale, McCormick's & Schmick's in Burbank, Nami Sushi in Sherman Oaks, 212 Degrees Bistro in Long Beach, Cafe Flore in Beverly Hills, and many more. Find one by zip code, state or city.

Caveats: cannot be combined with any other discount, rebate or promotion.

One way to trim your food bill is to cook and bake for yourself. My Mom took this approach to the extreme in the summertime when I was a kid. From June to August she refused to buy cookies. If me and my sisters wanted them so badly, we could make them ourselves.

My sister Kate perfected the art of making a batch of Nan's cookies in 15 minutes, from start to eat. You might remember I wrote about her recipe almost a year ago as a suggestion for holiday cookies.

These days I usually make cookies at home, though I still buy frozen treats. Last week I was experimenting with another cookie staple in my house - chocolate chip - when I discovered a delicious hybrid, above. The cookies have a strong peanut butter AND chocolate taste. But the cookies are chewy, unlike peanut butter cookies, which can get really hard.

My recipe for Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies is so good I'm sharing it. The base recipe is from...

Last night I talked to an interesting group of folks who belong to a B'nai Brith service organization in Tarzana. It was a lot of fun, though I was pretty nervous.

During the brief talk (at least I hope it felt brief!) I mentioned My Nitty Gritty Grocery List as a tool to save money on groceries. Download the file, print it out and bring it to the grocery store. If you can't remember what a "good price" is for something, whip out My Nitty Gritty Grocery List and check.

It has "good prices" for 35 staple items and was updated late August. Prices fluctuate constantly, so please remember that My Nitty Gritty Grocery List is a guide.

Get $10 off an online order of $75 or more at BevMo now until October 5, 2008. Use code TENPD9. One per customer. The $75 minimum does not include tax, CRV charges or shipping.

I recently bought at BevMo a bottle of Delicato Chardonnay, as recommended by my boss' boss' boss. I looked for months at the chain grocers before turning to BevMo, which had the usually $9 bottle for $4.50!

I picked it up in the store so my shipping bill was zero. Two coupon codes, WELCOME (5% off) and REWARDS35 (5% off) chipped a few more cents off my tab. When I drink the wine I'll let you know how it tastes.

Caveats: the $10 off code is not valid with other offers or on the purchase of gift cards.

It's official. I am a professional public speaker. Last night I talked to a local B'nai Brith service organization about saving money in everyday life. If you'd like me to talk to your group about saving money, email me.

I think it went about as well as could be expected. There was some doubt, however. Earlier in the week, when I was writing notes on flash cards, I was sure I was going to screw up.

What if the audience sat rigid in their chairs, never laughing. What if they yawned or got up to leave? What if I stuttered or had a panic attack?

I arrived a few minutes early and found the lady who hired me, a blog reader named Marsha. She had saved me a seat in the front row. The room was filling up and they brought out more chairs. Marsha said this was one of their best turnouts. I asked who else was on the program.

"You're it, kid."

The lady on the other side of me, Rita, asked me if I spoke often in public.

"Actually, this is my first time." I laughed nervously.
"Oh well, we're a nice group," she said with a smile. "We're down to earth."

I believed her because she reminded me of my Aunt Sarah, who is always on the verge of a giggle. The program began at about 8 pm. A few housekeeping items and it was my turn...

Get $5 off a $20 purchase at Walgreens Friday, September 26 and Saturday, September 27, 2008 only. Some caveats. Print the coupon here.

Your bill must be $20 after coupons or discounts but not including taxes. If your tab is just over $20 and that's a 25% discount. One per customer.

Caveats: not valid on alcohol, postage stamps, tobacco, prescriptions, prescription copays, gift cards, pre-paid cards, transportation passes, charitable contributions and items prohibited by law.

Find a Walgreens near you.

(not my actual lunch - forgot the camera!) My plans to get a Lincoln Lunch, what I call a $5 meal because Lincoln is on the fiver, at Healthy Wok in Sherman Oaks was nearly foiled because the restaurant was not in the strip mall as a sign indicated.

Turns out Healthy Wok is on the outer edge of the strip mall just east of Starbucks, where I overheard a woman gabbing on her cell phone about how many pounds she could press on the "inner-outer thigh machine." I resisted the temptation to look at her thighs and reach my own conclusion. 30 pounds? Really?

Around the corner Healthy Wok was empty when I stepped in but a server immediately popped out from the kitchen and assured me it was not too early to eat lunch. The lunch specials included 11 different meals for $5.35 that included a cup of soup, egg roll, entree, and rice. I went with chicken and broccoli.

Everything came very quickly and tasted...

Get a free admission pass to hundreds of museums across the country this Saturday, September 27. If the museum is closed Saturday the freebie day is Sunday, September 28. Print the pass here. You can bring one guest in with it but you must have the card to get in free.

Find a participating museum near you. Museums in California that are free are listed here. A purple square means the free day is Sunday, September 28, 2008. A white full moon means it may not be free. Check with the museum for details.

In LA, free museums this weekend include the Getty, Long Beach Museum of Art, Museum of Tolerance (Sun), the Fowler Museum at UCLA and a few others.

In NYC the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum is not free.

Caveats: one time use. Pass does not include entry to special exhibits or IMAX screenings. One per household. Not for use with any other offer. No rain checks. Thanks, Etan!

Folks, I need your help. Please tell me what you want to read on the Bargain Hunter blog. Straight up coupons? Saving money on food? Stories about my wallet and life intersecting? News about gasoline prices?

I have a lot of options and I want a better idea of what you like to read and appreciate seeing on the Bargain Hunter. The best way of getting what you want is by asking, right?

It's okay to answer more than once if you are really interested in more than one thing. Thanks!

A Silicon Valley blogger takes a stab at the best places to keep your money during stock market turmoil, but she warns that she is not a professional money manager. Just a blogger.

Her main advice is to not make financial decisions that are driven by emotion, which can be hard to do given the turmoil. Here's what she says about where you should keep your money.

#1 Where it is right now

"What does this mean? If you've decided on a long-term investment strategy that includes equities, and have selected solid investments with fundamentally strong track records, then the emotionally charged stock market climate today shouldn't sway you away from your current set up.

These last few days, my spouse has been engaging me with interesting evening banter (after he gets home from work) about how he believes we haven't seen the worst of things just yet. He's a mainstay on economics and real estate blogs that trumpet the deterioration of our economy, one financial institution at a time. But I'm here to tell him that this is the wrong time to make decisions: when emotions and worry run high. As much as possible, avoid emotional decisions when it comes to money; many have the effect of hampering your progress towards achieving your long-term financial goals."

#2 In good solid mutual funds and stocks

"Here's how I look at it...

Shopadidas.com is moving to a new warehouse and is having a big sale online and at the warehouse so they don't have to move as much.

More than 1,000 items are up to 40% off online. Search for men and women's shoes, men and women's apparel, and kids stuff.

In LA, check out the Adidas warehouse sale at 8009 Melrose Ave..

Not sure how to recycle something but want to save the earth? Here are tips from the October issue of Real Simple magazine to help you do just that. This post covers the latter part of the alphabet. To read the first part of this story click here.

Items that you can't recycle are listed at the bottom.

Paint - check www.earth911.org to find a paint recycling center near you.

Pizza boxes - If you rip out the spots where grease has soaked into the box you can recycle the rest. The grease can ruin the recycled paper if it begins to decompose.

Printer ink cartridges - the story compares them to gas tanks. They don't break, they just run out of ink. Unfortunately, when you throw them out they take 450 years to decompose. Find an office store that offers a discount for refills of used cartridges.

Recreational equipment - Stuff that can be used can go to Goodwill or Salvation Army. You can also donate it to Sports Gift, which gives gently used sports gear to needy kids.

Sneakers - drop them off at...

Making pizza and salad is one of my favorite dinners when I want to cook dinner very quickly. I can usually get it on the table in 30 to 40 minutes, start to finish, and there is enough to feed four. It's also a cheap meal. Here's the grocery list and prices from Trader Joe's.

Bag of herb salad greens: $2
Two bags of pizza dough: $2.60
Fresh mozzarella: $3
Salami roll: $3
Green peppers: $2
Can of diced tomatoes: $1.29
Spices from your cupboard
Cornmeal from your cupboard

I also used garlic and half an onion that was in the fridge. Other toppings will change the price, obviously.

Heat oven to 425 and put the dough...

Fall officially started Monday and already I'm seeing ads for flu shot clinics. Here's a roundup of who offers what and at what price. Note, most places do not offer the shot everyday so check ahead exactly when you can get one.

Costco charges $20 for the flu shot and also offers a $35 pneumonia shot. If you have the Medicare Part B card and no HMO insurance, Costco will bill Medicare for you and you will not have a co-pay. You do not have to have a Costco card to use the pharmacy, AND THIS IS ALSO TRUE FOR FLU SHOTS. Heard it straight from the horse's mouth.

Get a $30 shot at Safeway/Vons/Pavillions and get a 10% off coupon for a grocery purchase within 7 days. Find one offering flu shots near you. For the hours the clinic is open at the store near you, click on the link flu shot underneath each store location. They accept Medicare Part B.

Longs Drug's has the flu shot for $30 or $45 for the pneumonia vaccine. Info and locations on this page.

CVS charges $30. Find a clinic...

The latest issue of Shop Smart magazine reviews a slew of beauty Web sites, including BuyMeBeauty.com, which they say has the best prices. The trade off is limited selection.

For instance, under mascara they have a total of five choices, from $4.69 to $15.25. On the cheap end Max Factor stretch and separate mascara is $4.69. It comes in four shades, plus two waterproof options. The site offers free shipping on orders of $35 or more.

Shipping is free on Skin-one.com, which focuses on skin care. The site has an aesthetician you can e-mail questions to. Cool! Also, no tax outside of Illinois, where the company is located. Get 12% off your order now until September 30, 2008 with code SAVE12.

CosmeticMall.com has a generous return policy - 30 days for almost any reason, even if product are open. You do have to pay $5.95 plus an additional $.93 cents per pound to return items, however.

They recommend staying away from BeautyDepot.com, which does not accept returns on cosmetics and has no toll free customer service number.

Read the full story here.

Get 40% off one regular priced item at Michael's now until Saturday, September 27, 2008. Print the coupon here.

Might I suggest using it to start your holiday shopping early? Stash away a picture frame or memento now, break it out later to the delight of your wallet.

I find framed pictures are a great gift for folks who say they don't want anything, because that often means they just want a memory.

Find a Michael's near you.

If you contribute to a Roth IRA you have to decide whether to deposit all the money at once into the account or do it multiple times ta year. Frugal Dad debates which makes sense when the stock market is going haywire.

"A lot of people thought that the best option was to fund the whole $5,000 right away. The reason? There were a few, but mainly it was to give their money as much time to compound as possible and to just get it all done right away and not have to think about it the rest of the year.

"Well, the markets are WAY off their January numbers and it's one of those rare times I get to look back at something I wrote earlier in the year and go, "I was right." I just hope karma doesn't come back to bite me in the butt.

"If you put the whole $5,000 in your Roth back in January and invested in index funds (like the S&P 500), you'd have around $4,100 right now, that's a loss of around 18%. But the worst part about it is that you can't buy any stocks right now even though they're "cheaper"! You've reached your limit and lost all flexibility. There is nothing you can do.

"On the other hand...

This deal has a lot of caveats and rules, but it could save you as much as 50%. Here's what you have to do.

Log in to Walgreens' photo site. Submit an online photo mail order for $20 or more, not including shipping and taxes. Submit the order by September 30, 2008 at 11:59 p.m. CT and pay for the order using PayPal. You must have a confirmed U.S. PayPal account in good standing to be eligible.

Look for a $10 credit to your PayPal account three to four weeks after the promotion ends on September 30. It's a long time to wait but free money is hard to come by.

Caveats: Offer excludes custom framing service and W Photo Gift Cards. Maximum credit is $10. May end sooner than September 30, 2008. A few PayPal transactions are excluded. Read the details here.

This past weekend I saw what is quite possibly the silliest thing ever. A man riding a bike with a special backpack carrying his pooch. I suppose it's not that much different than stowing your pup in a basket off your handlebars. But...when I saw the guy I thought, "He must be a real nut."

And nuts are always the most interesting to talk to. Sadly, I was 44 miles into a 63 mile bike ride and didn't have the energy to catch him and ask him if his dog was enjoying the view.

Instead, I went home and Googled "pet carriers for bikes" to see how much this ridiculous looking contraption cost. Curiosity kills time, yes it does.

I found this nylon handlebar carrier, above, that comes with a sunshade for $45. I'm thinking this would turn a lot of heads.

But it was not quite what that nut, I mean dog lover, had. Here's one that is more like it. A $63 doggie pack (at left)!

I do wonder if this pet parent worries about his dog's safety. What if they were hit by a car or ran into a tree? That pooch needs a helmet. Now let me just Google that...

Get 15% off your entire purchase at the brand name discounter Loehmann's this Thursday, September 25 when you make a $5 donation at the register to the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund, a non-profit that seeks to find a cure for ovarian cancer.

The charity "shop-a-thon" is happening at all 65 Loehmann's stores across the country, a PR rep tells me. The company has stores in 16 states plus Washington D.C.

I'm all for fighting cancer and saving a buck. To break even on your $5 donation you need to spend at least $33.34, which is not hard to do at Loehmann's.

Find a Loehmann's near you.

Starting today, get a $3 milkshake or malt (normally about $4.50) at Ruby's Diner, Monday through Friday from 3 to 5 pm. The deal is good on every flavor shake and malt on the menu, including Black Cherry, Butterfinger, Chocolate Banana, Mocha and Strawberry. The deal ends November 3, 2008.

Starting Wednesday, October 1, Ruby's will have its seasonal pumpkin milkshake, above, which is also $3. No age limits or minimum purchase. No coupon needed.

Caveats: Dine in only. Find a Ruby's near you. They have locations in California, Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Texas and Washington.

The Mervyns store on Fallbrook Ave in Canoga Park is having a closing sale with everything marked down 30 to 60% off. Some 25 other Mervyns stores across California, Arizona, Texas, Nevada and Idaho are having closing sales.

Reader Rachelle went to the Canoga Park sale and saw men's Levi's jeans for about $25 and Hallmark cards and bags discounted by 60%. She bought a shirt for her daughter that was "originally priced at $10 and marked down to about $2.49." Not bad!

Caveats: all sales final. Find a Mervyns near you or use the link above to find one that is closing.

Mervyns filed for bankruptcy in July. Thanks, Rachelle!

Get a free ice cream at Coldstone Creamery Thursday, September 25, between 5 and 8 pm.

The company is calling it the world's largest ice cream social and donations benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

The freebie scoop is three ounces, about a kid's size. Only at participating locations.

Caveats: you can choose from one of two flavors, both created by Wish Children. They are Marshmallow ice cream with OREO Cookies, Chocolate Chips and Fudge, or Nutter Butter ice cream with White Chocolate Chips, Kit Kat and Yellow Cake.

Find a Coldstone near you. Thanks, Katie and Goat!

Here are all the deals mentioned in today's column.

Free Mickey

Best price for gold

Gas saver

Deal e-mail

Fair discount

IMAX discount

More online

Lincoln Lunch: Mexican

There's a ton of news coming out about the economy and what it all means, so much that I can't keep up with it. Here are some interesting headlines for topics I have not already covered.

Please link to other pertinent articles you come across by leaving a comment.

World Economy: China may stumble too (Financial Times)

U.S. bailout helps Japan (Washington Post)

Crisis management vs. long-term strategy: which will best solve our problems? (The Economist)

The end of capitalism as we know it (MarketWatch.com)

Private boondoggles and public responsibility: $39 billion in Wall Street bonsus' (ABC News)

Nobody has the money to spend much this upcoming holiday season, according to a story in the Daily News. Surprise, surprise. That means that you'll probably be giving and receiving a lot of:

a) re-gifted items (no turn around time required!)
b) heartfelt letters in place of presents (intentions count so this is a good option)
c) experience presents (like making a gourmet dinner for your parents. I tried that last year and it did save me a bundle. It was also really fun.)

It also means there will be a TON of sales and inventory available. Kind of like the housing market, which got us into this whole mess. Buyers will have the upper hand so don't settle for full price!

Here's an earlier post about haggling at chain stores and about being nice to get your way.

How old you are may have a lot to do with how much you are freaking out about the stock market. If you are a spring chicken and don't need to cash your stocks for 15 or 25 years, the market's ups and downs should be like watching a roller coaster from the line.

You've bought your ticket and you're going to get on eventually, but right now it's just scary for someone else. In other words, you have money invested but you don't need the money back right away.

If you are nearing retirement, however, you are on the roller coaster ride and the track is pointing down. Way down. The Dow Jones has dropped from a high of about 14,000 a year ago to about 11,000, which means your nest egg may have shrunk by double digits.

"The older you are, the greater your concerns may be, said Cal State San Bernardino economist Eric Nilsson" in a recent story from the Contra Costa Times.

"In an ideal world, all those who are retired or are nearing retirement would have shifted to more conservative investments," Nilsson said. "Of course, now there's no telling how many are stuck with an unenviable choice - either ride this out or take losses now and go into safer investments."

There is another tough choice that many Americans may be facing - whether to delay retirement in hopes their investments regain their value. For others, continuing to work may not be worth it, even if it means retiring now with a reduced income.

Is this economic meltdown going to cool off anytime soon? How worried should you be? A recent Wall Street Journal story, which ran in Sunday's Daily News, has a Q & A that addresses many questions.

Q: What does this financial-industry meltdown mean for the broader economy?

A: "Companies and consumers alike are finding it more difficult to borrow," which likely will crimp business activity, says Jeff Fishman, who runs JSF Financial, a Los Angeles-based financial-advisory firm. "This could lead to an uptick in bankruptcies, which we've already seen, and the attendant job losses, cuts in consumer spending and confidence."

And remember that the recent crisis on Wall Street follows months of debate among economists on whether the U.S. economy is already in a recession or on the verge of entering one.

Q: So what's the outlook for the economy and the stock market over the next few months?

A: Housing could take many months to...

If you tried to register to leave comments on the Bargain Hunter and never received a confirmation e-mail, please e-mail my colleague and tech guru Steve Rosenberg. Let him know what blog you are trying to register on and your email address.

Steve can enable your account once he has that information. There are many, many accounts that have not been enabled through the confirmation e-mail process, so please e-mail him if you have having this problem.

Thanks! ~Julia

Could is the operative word here. Maybe. Nobody really knows how it's all going to shake out. The idea is that if the government flushes $700 billion into the economy it will stabilize things enough to attract big investors back.

With more capital there will be money to borrow and lend, kick starting our stalled economy back into first gear. If it doesn't work, we'll basically be back to square one, which means more write downs and bailouts, according to a story I heard on NPR this morning.

The government is going to use the $700 billion to buy some of the bad mortgage debt, though it's unclear just what they'll pay (ten cents on the dollar? fifty cents on the dollar?) or if they will have to spend the entire $700 billion.

A recent NY Times story estimates there could be as much as $1 trillion in bad mortgage debt. The $700 billion package translates to "more than $2,000 for every man, woman and child in the United States."

But how much it will end up costing taxpayers is unknown because the market could stabilize and real estate prices could rise. Again, there's that word throwing things into question - could.

Maybe I am being too pessimistic about President Bush's $700 billion package to bail out troubled American financial firms, but it sounds like Christmas come early for Wall Street.

Let's look back on what happened. Mortgage companies made loans they should not have and Wall Street purchased many of these when the ridiculously inflated housing market looked like it could never fail. Now that their mistake is crystal clear, we taxpayers are being forced to bend over and receive the punishment - a whopping tax bill. Ouch!

Much of my aggravation comes from a Newsweek story I read about who gets bailed out, and who doesn't. It sheds just enough light on the situation to give me pause that this bailout is really in the best interest of regular Americans.

"It's a truism that the bigger you are, the more you owe, the more forbearance you're likely to get," the story says. In other words, companies "too big to fail" will get help while smaller ones are allowed to burn out.

In addition to size, financial institutions that are the heart of the economy also have a better chance of getting bailed out. "Since Bear Steans was a...

High finance is not usually my bailiwick. But with the state of the economy and that fact that the country's financial turmoil is all anyone can talk about, I thought it was high time for a theme day on the economy.

I hope the ups and downs, well mostly downs, of last week are over and we can get some perspective on what this all means. Will the $700 billion government bailout mean higher taxes? Or will the government take the money from Social Security?

Why should Joe and Jane Consumer end up paying for a private corporation's egregious mistakes? Why is the turbulence in the American economy having a world wide affect?

Some folks are saying this is really NOT going to affect consumers. How can that be? What should folks do with their money and how does age make a difference in what the news means for you?

It's a tall order but I'll see what I can do.

Hi folks,
Look for a theme day on the economy Monday. I'm hoping some of the dust will have settled by then and we'll have some more perspective on how bad everything is on Wall Street and what it means for consumers. If you have particular questions about the economy please shoot me an email so I can prepare.
Thanks~
~Julia

The last time I wrote about hybrids it was to skewer the Toyota Prius, which, by my calculations, took 11 years to pay off if you drove $12,000 miles a year and paid $5 a gallon for gasoline on average.

But a story in the October issue of Consumer Reports says the Prius and a handful of other hybrids actually pay off in one year. I'm scandalized! And happy.

"Six of the 12 hybrids we looked at can save you from about $500 to $4,250, even without tax credits, and pay back their price premium after only one year," the story says.

CR calculated the five year cost of owning these vehicles (price plus five-year fuel cost) and compared them to similar non-hybrids.

The six vehicles that payoff in one year include the Prius, hybrid versions of the Chevrolet Malibu and Chevrolet Tahoe, the Ford Escape, Toyota Camry and Saturn Vue, above. With federal tax credits the Honda Civic, Nissan Altima and Saturn Aura hybrids also break even after one year.

The Web site doesn't have the nifty chart that the magazine does, so if you want full details you'll have to pick up a copy. The accompanying story, however, seems to be free online. Read the full story here. (Normally, accessing articles on Consumer Reports requires a paid membership.)

The Agoura Hills running store Future Track is having a sale through the end of the month. Men's and women's fitness apparel is 20% off, except certain sport bras, Life Is Good products, and socks. Don't forget to check out their 50% off rack!

Hubby bought running shoes at Future Track a while ago and said the employees watch how you walk and run on a treadmill before recommending a pair. Neat!

Visit Future Track at 30125 Agoura Road Suite A in Agoura Hills. (818) 991-4786.

I'm assuming, perhaps incorrectly, that most of you have cell phones. If that is true and you still have a land line, here are two good reasons to disconnect.

Rates in California could go up as much as 30% next year and another 23% in 2010, according to an LA Times story.

"The Public Utilities Commission voted Thursday to approve increases of as much as $3.25 a month beginning in January 2009 for the four major phone companies," the story says.

It's part of a move to deregulate land line business. Of course, if you do not have a cell phone, a having just a land line may be cheaper.

A great way to help others fill their bellies without spending a dime, though it requires some time, is to pick fruit from trees in your backyard and donate them to a local food pantry. That's exactly what Natasha Boissier does, according to a recent story in the NY Times.

The story explains how Boissier expanded her idea into North Berkeley Harvest, a group of "fruit philanthropists" that make sure their home grown food does not rot on the ground.

"There was all this fruit going to waste," she said of the apples, pears and plums in her midst. "It seemed like such a natural way to deal with hunger."

Not a bad idea when in this tight economy food pantries are suffering. In Los Angeles the LA Food Bank is accepting donations. Or you can use this page at Feed America to find a food pantry near you.

Get into Walt Disney World in Orlando and the Disneyland Resort in California for free on your birthday in 2009. Admission is usually $59 for kids aged 3 to 9 and $69 for anybody age 10 and up. An ever better deal if you have twins!

The deal is available at the four parks in Orlando and the two here in So Cal. To get the deal you have to show up at the park on your birthday with proof of your dob, such as a birth certificate, driver's license or passport. There are no blackout dates and no purchase is required. Adults get in free on their birthday, too!

Annual pass holders get perks, as well. If they go to the park on their birthday with ID they can get a Fun Card worth the cost of admission ($59 or $69 depending on age), a PR rep said. The Fun Card can be used for photos and theme park merchandise but it cannot be used for food and beverage.

Or birthday pass holders can get four special fast passes that can be used to skip to the front of the line at certain rides. You can get four each for up to six guests.

You may register your dob on their Web site but it is not required to take advantage of the deal.

This is about as close to free as it gets. So why is the park doing this? They say there is a new trend where folks travel to celebrate birthdays. And by offering free admission to the birthday boy or girl, the park is encouraging "celebration vacationers" to spend their dollars at Disneyland. Everybody else who comes to celebrates pays their way, of course.

Thanks, Greg!

K to 12 teachers can get a free 12 ounce cup of Pike Place Roast at Starbucks on Mondays in September.

The press release on the Starbucks Web site says "In order to receive their complimentary cup of Pike Place Roast™, teachers are asked to provide proof-of-current teacher status - such as a teachers' federation card or school district badge. The "Great Start for Great Teachers" special offer ends after Monday, September 28."

I assume they mean Monday, September 29.

Thanks to Toni and her Daily Breeze school blog for sharing this deal with me!

Drum roll please. My first picture of an actual Lincoln Lunch is above. I finally bought a camera, remembered to bring it to work and took a picture of my meal - albeit a few bites in. Ta da!

I'm learning that to find a continuous stream of Lincoln Lunches, what I call a $5 meal because Lincoln is on the five dollar bill, one has to love Mexican food.

Initially I had hoped to find a non-Mexican cheap meal at Los Chilenos in Canoga Park, a Chilean restaurant that specializes in empanadas. It's not that I don't love Mexican food, I just wanted variety. But the prices at Los Chilenos were above my threshold. (The lunch buffet was $7.95, not a good sign).

So I headed next door to Taqueria El Parian, where a TV broadcast a futbol game in Spanish and burnt red tile floors and tables filled the restaurant.

Table service was speedy and I ended up getting...

Get 25% off any order at Ann Taylor stores and online now through Monday, September 22, 2008. Use code Fall25 when checking out. Unclear if the code is case sensitive.

No minimum purchase required to get the discount. The code has very few limitations. Read all the details here.

The deal also includes standard $6 shipping. A pair of black patent leather heels, above, with a gold buckle and pointy toe is $96 (orig $128).

Caveats: not valid for orders shipped to Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico. Not valid at Ann Taylor Loft, Ann Taylor Factory stores or Outlets.

The sale is Friday, September 19 to Sunday, September 21, 2008. Look for bargains on all types of kids products, usually 50 to 70% off retail. If Santa Clarita is too far for you, check back on this blog for information on the Van Nuys Kids Consignment sale in mid-October.

The Santa Clarita Kids Consignment sale will have more than 20,000 new and gently-used clothes (sizes 0-14), toys, shoes, books, puzzles, furniture, strollers, maternity, baby/nursery items and much more. I have been to one of these sales and it is incredibly organized. The clothes and gear I saw at that sale was in very good condition. Prices are set by individual consigners.

Hours are Friday and Saturday 9 to 5, and Sunday 9 to 2, where most items are 50% off.

The sale is at Granary Square, 25830 McBean Pkwy. in Valencia.

Caveats: cash only.

Starting tomorrow and going through Sunday, September 21, 2008 you can get a free breakfast at IKEA stores across the country, a PR rep tells me. The breakfast (normally $.99) includes eggs, bacon, and potatoes. You also get a cup of coffee (normally $.99). I wouldn't expect portions to be big. You can get the free meal each day from opening to 10:30 am. No coupon needed.

IKEA is also having a sale on furniture and home goods. Furniture deals include a $299 SÄTER leather sofa (orig $399), a $59.99 BILLY bookcase (orig. $89.99), 50% off all KASSETT storage boxes and 30% to 50% off all Persian rugs.

Find an IKEA near you.

Caveats: breakfast deal not valid at Hicksville, Houston, Pittsburg or Seattle or IKEA Direct. One per customer.

Did I get a response to my story Tuesday about shopping at the 99 Cent Only Stores? You betcha.

The blinking message light on my phone did not do justice to the anger and frustration voiced by readers who are fans of this one-price-fits-all chain. My experience was that the store has decent quality stuff and pretty good prices.

But readers picked up on a few negative asides - a moldy eggplant I spotted, limited grocery selection, a so-so tasting meal made of 99 Cent ingredients - and rushed to the store's defense.

First there was a lady named Ann who was so offended by my story she offered to show me how to really shop at the store. Because clearly I did not know how. A minute later she called back to let me know her friend down the hallway was equally ticked off. The store saves seniors like her a bundle, she said.

A reader named Don called to say I went about it all wrong. You don't bring a grocery list to the 99 Cent Store, you just shop for the best deals, he said. Then he listed all the items he has saved money on - frozen dinners, ice cream, and many others. "Just tell people to browse," he said. "There are so many ways to save there."

Another caller said the trick was to...

It's not a great time to sell your home but if you are putting property on the market, cut your losses by negotiating a lower fee with your real estate agent. Some 71% of people who asked for a lower fee were successful, according to a Consumer Reports survey of 11,121 people.

Agents typically take 5% to 6% of the sale price, which is huge! Talk agents down using tips from this MSN Real Estate story. Start by interviewing several agents. "Tell them how much you are expecting to make from the sale of the house and ask if they will lower their commission to the percentage you want," the story says.

"No one gets upset with you for asking," says Kasy Gott, a certified financial planner with Kochis Fitz, a San Francisco financial planning firm.

"If you're turned down, simply thank the agent for their report and let them know you'll be putting your home on the market with someone else in the next couple weeks. It might be enough to sway them."

Another option is to go with a realty company that charges reduced fees, like RedFin.com or ZipRealty.com. Note, RedFin operates in eight metro areas across the county, including Los Angeles.

Or use flat-fee sites like Help-U-Sell Real Estate or ForSaleByOwner.com.

If you pay $20 a month to access your computer and desktop remotely through GoToMyPC.com , you might want to use LogMeInFree.com instead. As its name says, it is free.

My fellow Daily News blogger Steve Rosenberg writes that the site "allows you to access a Windows (and now Mac) box from a remote location through a Web browser. It's like GoToMyPC but with the promise of being free. Forever, presumably.

"I tried it out, and it works," Steve continues. "So far, I've controlled one XP machine via Firefox on a Ubuntu-equipped laptop. Seamless is the word I'm looking for.

"There is a "Pro" version with more features, but the fact that there even is a free version warms my cockles considerably."

Right-o.

Get discounted tickets to four Dodgers games through Goldstar, a free Web site that uses its hefty membership ranks to cut deals with shows. Goldstar has half a million members so they can fill the house. The first is for Sunday's afternoon game against the San Francisco Giants. Tickets are $27 to $37 (orig. $50 to $70).

The other discounted tickets are to see the Dodgers play the San Diego Padres in three evening games Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday September 23 to 25. Tickets are $16 to $37 (orig $28 to $70).

Might be a good chance to see a game before the season ends.

Joining Goldstar requires you to share an email address, password and one to three zip codes where you want to see events. You check up to 13 categories of events that you are interested in, including theater, dance, comedy, concerts and sporting events. The site works with venues in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, DC Metro area, New York, Boston, San Diego, and Las Vegas. Read more about how it works. Like Ticketmaster, Goldstar charges a service fee per ticket.

We are so excited to be on vacation! My trip up the California coast last week with Hubby was an adventure close to home. It did not have the exotic feel of our jaunt to Paris and Amsterdam two years ago, nor our blissful honeymoon in Kauai five years back.

But it was relaxing, giving us a chance to enjoy each others company, something that can be a struggle under the stress of working life. We spent just $1,242 during the entire trip. That's $155 per day! Here are a few pics and bargain hunting details from the week.

I secretly purchased a boogie board at Target - it was on clearance! - a few days before our anniversary. Hubby had been talking about getting one all summer so this was a present I knew he wanted. As it turned out, he wanted it too bad. A few days later he calls me on his way home from work, talking fast with excitement.

"Guess what I just bought?"
"What"
"A boogie board!"
"Oh."
"It was on sale at Costco."
"Ohhh."

There should be a rule...

Here is a mini-presentation on saving money at the grocery store, from the first step to the last. You may have heard some of these tips before, like clip coupons from the newspaper.

But the tutorial has a bunch of good tips in one place, like making a weekly menu instead of shopping for that day's dinner after work.

They also recommend shopping early in the day because you will go through the store more quickly and they suggest looking for deals on the highest and lowest racks (manufacturers pay to shelve their goods at eye level.)

The whole thing takes about three minutes to go through. Check it out! Thanks, Jason!

You have probably heard about the Sacramento State graduate student who is attempting to sell her virginity to pay off her student loans. A desperate, shocking way to get out of debt.

Frugal Dad points out there are many alternatives to prostitution, which I've interspersed with a few of my own tips.

"Charity for Debt. Many programs are cropping up that allow graduates to volunteer their time to a cause sponsored by someone willing to repay a portion of their student loan debt."

Teach for America does this. Some rural states will pay the loans of graduates who work in nursing, pediatrics or dentistry in their states through the National health Service Corps. Read more about how the Peace Corps, AmeriCorps and other programs help students with loan repayment.

"Get a job," Frugal Dad continues. "I know, how old-fashioned. After only two years of college I recognized student loans were not the way to go. I got a job and decided to work my way through the remainder of school, and through the student loans I had already accumulated. Try to find a company that...

Regular folks like you and me are wondering - I mean are scared shitless - about what the financial crisis means for our savings. How will the meltdown of the Dow Jones, which fell 504 points yesterday, the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, and the sale of Merrill Lynch affect us?

A story from McClatchy Newspapers answers some of the basic questions.

"What does all this Wall Street volatility mean to me? If you have a 401(k), shield some of your income from taxation through an IRA or a lot of your retirement savings are in stocks, you've already seen a sharp drop in the value of your nest egg. The Dow Jones industrial average is on pace for one of its worst years ever, but even if you've parked your cash in a bank, today's rising inflation is eroding its value.

"Will the collapse of Lehman Brothers make things worse? With the government-brokered sale of investment bank Bear Stearns in March, Bank of America's absorbing of Merrill Lynch and the bankruptcy filing by Lehman, Wall Street's weakest players have been pushed off the field. Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and JP Morgan remain the biggest traditional investment banks, and Merrill is expected to keep operating under its own name. The consolidation in investment banking has taken most insolvency concerns off the table, and over a longer horizon this could point toward a return to stability.

"What about the shorter horizon? The chief executive officer of Bank of America, Kenneth Lewis, said Monday that he didn't see the clouds parting...

Company-owned AT&T stores in the LA area have discounted admission tickets to the LA County Fair in Pomona.

Discounted prices are $10 for adults (normally $12 to $17) and $6 for children (normally $7 to $12). Children five and under are free every day. Kids ages 12 and under are free every Friday with paid adult admission.

To get the discounted tickets find an AT&T store near you. Then click on Find iPhone at select AT&T stores. Only company-owned stores sell iPhones and have the discounted fair tickets. You can always call ahead to confirm the store is selling them.

Admission does not include tickets for carnival rides. Read more about ticket prices.

The fair is open through Sunday, September 28 except Mondays and Tuesdays, when it is closed. For hours, parking info, and other general information click here.

You can plan your day at the fair by checking out the many activities the fair offers, such as the Rodent Round-up Exhibit this Saturday at 11 am.

The fair is at 1101 W McKinley Ave. in Pomona. Thanks, Myke!

REI's used gear sale, which offers tremendous discounts on camping and outdoor gear, is Saturday, September 20. Don't let the "used" part scare you off. While some of the merchandise will be slightly dusty, most of it has only been touched once.

In Northridge the sale starts at 10 am.The Santa Monica sale is from 7 to 9 am and the line starts early. In Manhattan Beach the sale is from 9 am to 2 pm.

REI has many stores outside of California. To find the day and time of the REI gear sale near you, first find an REI near you. Click on the location you want, then click on REI Classes, Events and Presentations. Scroll down until you see Used Gear Sale. Most locations are holding theirs on the 20th.

Caveats: used gear sales are for members only. Lifetime membership costs $20.

The last time I went to an REI used gear sale I scored big. I may go again because Hubby and I both need new camping pads. We didn't sleep well in Big Sur because our old ones were so uncomfortable.

If there's one sign that the holidays are just around the corner - and that retailers are as desperate as ever to get our dollars - it is the coupon I just received for the latest version of Tickle Me Elmo.

Like a watered down movie sequel, this once popular holiday toy keeps coming back.

The latest incarnation of this red fuzzy toy is called Elmo Live. It is similar to past versions. He laughs, giggles, tells stories and jokes. Oh what fun!

The toy is not on sale until October 14, but if you plunk down your money now you will get $10 off the purchase price of $70 at KB Toys. Use coupon code ETELTN98. It is good until September 18, 2008. The toy requires 6 AA batteries. (Toys 'R Us and other retailers are also selling it for $60.)

Watch Elmo Live do his thing in this video, below.

If I were in the rat race to get my kids the best toys, I would save a few bucks and go with Up, Up Elmo, which is selling for $20 at KB Toys. Or there is Singing Pizza Elmo for $24.

Join the Body Shop's Love Your Body frequent customer program for $10 and get 20% off in stores and online Thursday, September 18.

After the sale members get 10% off, plus bonuses depending on how much they spend. The $10 card is good for a year but often you can get a free renewal.

The Shop has a few other discounts for members on Thursday, including Divide and Multiply mascara for $10.40 (orig $18). Online use code MULTIPLY.

Get $5 any one product from their new Wellbeing Blissful Calm line when you try one on in stores. An enlivening body gel with ginger and guarana extracts, above, is $24 before the discount.

Caveats: discounts for members only. If you are still skeptical about joining, shop with a friend who is already a member.

Find a Body Shop near you.

If you missed the last coupon code for Restaurant.com, which sells gift certificates for eateries at steep discounts, here is one for 60% off.

Use code FESTIVE, which is good through Sunday, September 21, 2008 at 11 pm PST. It makes a $25 certificate $4.

If you have not used the Restaurant.com before, read the redemption rules carefully. Each restaurant has their own specific rules about how you can use the certificate, like you have to spend $50 to use a $25 certificate, or you can only use it on certain days or during certain hours. Many certificates are not valid towards drinks.

Caveats: offer cannot be combined with any other discount, rebate or promotion, cannot be applied retroactively.

If you read today's story in the Daily News about shopping at the 99 Cents Only Store, you are in the right place. If not, check out today's paper for the low down on how the store sells goods so dang cheap, whether the prices are actually lower than rivals, and if the food is any good.

My Nitty Gritty Grocery List has the best prices for 35 basic items that you can find at the 99 Cents Only Store, Trader Joe's, Food 4 Less and Fresh & Easy.

Print out My Nitty Gritty Grocery List and when you shop, pull it out to compare a price to see if it is a "good" one. The list is meant to be a guide. Food prices change constantly and often the major chains - in my 'hood that means Vons, Ralphs and Albertsons - have sales that bring prices down so low they are your best bet.

A reader e-mailed me a looooong time ago asking for recommendations for a place where she could sell her gold jewelry for a good price. I finally came across a good answer in the November issue of Shop Smart magazine.

First take the jewelry you are thinking of selling to a reputable appraiser. Get the karat of your pieces and ask for the weight in pennyweights or troy ounces.

Then use a calculator at the Dendritics Gemscales Museum to determine the value based on current gold prices. Prices fluctuate often so check them right before you go in to sell. Try to get 85 percent of that value when you go in to sell.

Expect to visit more than one jeweler to negotiate a good price. A good trick is to mention what one jeweler offered and ask another jeweler to beat that price.

The DWP plans to leave two money saving compact fluorescent light bulbs on the doorstep of every Angeleno over six months to persuade residents to use the pricey bulbs, according to a story in today's Daily News.

"Although utilities and environmentalists have touted the benefits of CFLs - which use 66 percent less power than incandescent bulbs and last 10 times longer - residents have been slow to change," the story says.

It will cost the city $5 million to purchase and distribute the bulbs, but they estimate the DWP will save $84 million over five years, which is about how long CFLs last. If residents plug in the bulbs they will use less energy, which means the DWP does not have to buy as much electricity.

Now what's the chance the city will pass these savings onto tax payers?

Get $2 off an adult IMAX ticket (normally $8) and $1 off a kid's IMAX ticket (normally $4.75) at the California Science Center.

Print out this coupon and bring it to the box office to get the discount. It is good for any IMAX show any day of the week, a CSC rep tells me. They currently have two IMAX movies playing, one about mummies and another about prehistoric sea monsters, above. Both are in 3D.

The coupon expires December 31, 2010! Admission to the Center is free.

Kid's tickets are for ages 3 to 11 and adults are defined as ages 18-61. Youth tickets ($5.75) for ages 12-17 are not eligible for the discount. Neither are senior tickets ($5.75) for ages 62 and up. Read more about ticket prices to the IMAX.

Caveats: the coupon is not valid on Internet orders.

I'm back in town and ready to bargain hunt, at least in theory. After a week of boogie boarding at beaches as far north as Big Sur, watching otters and seals play in the rocky shores in Cambria and going to bed at 9:30 pm, I am not yet re-adjusted to the working life.

Seems I missed a lot while I was away, what with Lehman Brothers going bankrupt, the major Metrolink crash Friday, and changes to the front page of the paper. Forgive me if it takes a day or two to fully ramp up to my usual six to seven posts a day.

In the meantime I'll let you know that Hubby and I had a fantastic anniversary vacation. We covered about 700 miles over the past week, bopping around Solvang, San Luis Obispo, Cambria and Big Sur.

We hit all the usual suspects the California coast offers - wine tasting in Solvang, kayaking in Morro Bay, touring Hearst Castle, and driving the scenic Highway 1 north to Big Sur, where we hiked in charred mountains. The vacation was no exotic trip to the Caribbean or Hawaii, but we had so much fun.

We also watched our wallets. We never ate out for breakfast (mostly due to complimentary breakfasts at hotels) and bought groceries to make a few lunches. To really stretch our dollars our last two diners while camping in Big Sur consisted of apples, hot dogs and chocolate milk.

We did spend plenty, though. We splurged on two fancy dinners out and Hubby got a massage while I took a yoga-capoeira class in SLO. We violated the basic creed of bargain hunting - buy ahead of need - by waiting to buy s'more fixings at the ultra-pricey River Inn Grocery Store in Big Sur. A box of graham crackers, Hersey's chocolate and marshmallows cost us $11.47. Ouch!

Our total spending for the trip came to $1,242, about 25% over my target budget of $1,000. Almost 55% of our expenditures went to lodging. The rest was divvied up between food, entertainment and gas. With a little help from my Dad, who graciously sent me a check for $200 after reading about our tightwad trip on the blog, we basically met our goal. He even agreed to double the donation at 10 years!

Everybody wishes high gas prices would go away, but not everybody can dump their gas guzzler for a camel car. Finding relatively fuel efficient vehicles in a variety of sizes "that are compelling for reasons that go beyond fuel economy" was the goal of a recent NY Times article.

The resulting story has mini-profiles of 12 vehicles that includes each one's base price, MGP rating, cost to drive 100 miles and how much a year of fill-ups will run you.

It's no surprise that the Mini Cooper and Toyota Camry Hybrid made the list. But what about the Toyota Tacoma pick up truck? The Mercedes-Benz GL320 BlueTec? And, get this, the Chevy Corvette!

Here's what the writer says about that last unexpected "miser in disguise."

LONG-DISTANCE RUNNER - CHEVROLET CORVETTE

BASE PRICE: $46,950
M.P.G. RATING: 16 city, 26 highway, 19 combined
COST TO DRIVE 100 MILES: $22.16 (premium fuel at $4.21/gall)
A YEAR OF FILL-UPS (15,000 miles): $3,322

"In this group, the Corvette stands out like Ted Nugent in a fur loincloth at an animal-rights rally. But for those seeking near-supercar performance, the Corvette can burn rubber without shredding your conscience.

"For barely $50,000, 'Vette buyers get a Ferrari-fighter than hits 60 m.p.h. in just over four seconds and tops out at a cool 190 m.p.h. Yet burbling along with the manual transmission in sixth gear, the lightweight 'Vette can genuinely cover 26 miles on a gallon of gas.

"Of course, if you regularly summon the car's 430 horsepower you'll pay for the pleasure. But when the road is long and your credit-card limit is short, it's good to know that a Corvette can serve the cause of conservation."

In addition to the vehicles I mentioned above, the list includes...

A lot has changed in the past year but when it comes to finding bargains on September 11, I feel the same way I did last year. I can't do my job. A year ago I told you why and here's that story again, updated slightly.

Forgive me for not posting any bargains today, the seventh anniversary of the September 11 attacks. Trying to save $3 on a sandwich or find a hot shoe sale seems silly and out of place today. Instead, I'm going to try and give blood, something I wasn't able to do that day in New York.

So many people tried to donate on September 11 - we expected waves of injured people to flood the hospitals - that the blood bank was full. They turned us away.

Walking to and from the hospital everyone we passed was talking about the twin towers, you could see it on their faces and hear snips of the awful truth in their conversations.

I was stunned, like so many other people. Was it really possible those two massive buildings that stood almost twice as tall as any other building on Manhattan could collapse? But they did. I saw it from my kitchen window.

We lived on the third floor of a brick building adjacent to the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway and one of the things we loved about the apartment was three large windows that looked onto lower Manhattan.

We had a picture perfect view. On days when the air was crisp and the sun bright under a brilliant sky - almost impossible to imagine in hazy LA - I ate my breakfast cereal in front of the window, just staring at the buildings. My own postcard.

September 11, 2001 was one of those gorgeous fall days. I had just started grad school at Rutgers in New Jersey and had planned to go into campus that morning. But as it turned out the CDs I needed to listen to had just arrived in the mail. Otherwise I would have taken the subway into Manhattan, transferring to the NJ PATH train at the World Trade Center. With the CDs at home, I slept in.

The sound of sirens finally woke me up. I got out of bed at about 9 a.m. and I remember thinking there were more sirens than usual that morning. You get used to a lot of noise living in New York City. Then I saw a trail of smoke from the first tower. I went back into the bedroom and woke up Hubby, who was then my boyfriend.

"There's something going on," I told him, nudging him awake.

I turned on the TV and one of the people being interviewed on the BBC was declaring this was an act of war. That seemed drastic. Maybe this was just an accident?

When the second plane hit my gut told me it wasn't. From my window I saw the terrible gash the second plane created on the side of the building. There was a lot of smoke. You could see flames.

We tried to guess how many people might work in the two buildings. Tens of thousands, we decided.

Then the buildings collapsed. Dark, smokey clouds billowed.

I bristle when people ask me what it was like to watch. What do you think it's like seeing thousands of people die in a few minutes? It is terrible.

But there was one part that was beautiful. After the towers collapsed - but before the wind blew a blanket of smoke and debris over Brooklyn - the brilliant sky glittered.

A sparkling arc reached like a hand over the bay from Manhattan to Brooklyn. It was incredible and I watched it for a few minutes before closing the windows so the dark air would not foul our apartment. Later I found out it was reams of freed office paper catching the sunlight.

The air cleared and we went to the hospital. We wanted to give blood, to do our part, but we couldn't. Today I am going to try again.

Find a place to give blood through the Red Cross by clicking here. In the Valley today you can give blood at Cal State University Northridge and at the Platelet Donations Woodland Hills Donor Center (platelets only). They like it when you make an appointment first.

The latest issue of Consumer Reports magazine has a quick list of 25 simple things you can do to save a few bucks. While many of the tips only reduce expenses by a few bills, implement a handful of these recommendations and you will see a difference.

Here are some of the best tips from the story.

1. Clean the coils behind or underneath your refrigerator with a tapered appliance brush to keep it running efficiently.

2. Skip pre-rinsing dishes. Our tests have found that it's unnecessary, and you'll save up to 6,500 gallons of water per year.

3. Put your PC to sleep. Save $25 to $75 each year by using the system standby or hibernating feature on your computer.

4. Plug electronics into a power strip so that you can turn them all off at once.

5. When the weather is warm...

Get$10 off tickets to the opening night of "Walking with Dinosaurs" at the Staples Center Thursday, September 25. Before the discount, tickets are $26, $36, $46, and $79.50. The show features life-like dinosaurs..

The discount is for students and teachers in LA, which means most kids qualify. It's unclear whether adults (who are not teachers) can also use the discounted tickets, but there is no specific prohibition against it on the Ticketmaster site that I can find.

To get the discount click here, then under LA school district offer chose the number of tickets you want, the price you want to pay, and enter the code STUDENT in the special code box. Unclear if the code is case sensitive.

The Being Savvy San Fernando blog is giving away four tickets if you are the first to correctly answer the trivia questions on this page. It started yesterday so I'm not sure if they are still available.

The show runs through Sunday, September 28. Thanks, Kim!

Here are all the deals mentioned in today's column.

Free WiFi

Recycling tips

Book swap

Amazon 15% off

$7 pie

Scent sale

The California Kids Consignment Sale in Santa Clarita starts Thursday, September 11 and goes through Saturday, September 13. Look for used and new children's items, including clothing, baby gear, outdoor equipment, and toys.

Theresa Stauffer founded the sale and writes me that everything is organized, categorized and clearly labeled at the sale, making it easy to find particular items. The sale takes place three times a year.

For directions and parking info click here. Sale hours are Thursday, September 11 from 2 pm to 7 pm, Friday, September 12 from 9 am to 7 pm and Saturday, September 13 from 9 am to 2 pm.

The sale is being held at the Plaza Banquet Facility, 23710 Lyons Ave. in Santa Clarita. Let me know how it is if you go!

Get 20% off one sale item at the sporty women's clothing store See Jane Run for the month of September. Use code sumsale08. Not sure if it is case sensitive.

A sporty Nike skirt, above, is $38 (orig $50). Browse sale items by category, including apparel, shoes, bags and gear and bras.

You can also get a pair of free socks while supplies last when you buy a pair of tennis shoes. Use code SOCKS08.

A flyer I received also says to expect "big discounts" between September 8 and Sunday, September 14. Stores in San Francisco, Oakland and Boise but they have a good Web site.

On Friday Continental became the latest airline to charge coach passengers for a first checked bag. The fee will offset increasing fuel costs, according to a brief in Saturday's Daily News.

"The fee took effect immediately on tickets for travel in the United States and Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Canada for travel starting Oct. 7 or later," the story says.

Here is a chart that shows what major airlines charge for first and second checked bags, and overweight bags. Note, it has not been updated to reflect the new Continental fee.

Every Tuesday this month Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf is celebrating its 45th anniversary with a different discount or freebie. Here's the run down:

Tuesday, Sept. 9th: 63 cent brewed coffee
Tuesday, Sept.16th: 63 cent hot tea
Tuesday, Sept. 23rd: 20 percent off one pound of house blend coffee
Tuesday, Sept. 30th: 20 percent off any 20-count tea bag tin
Tuesday, Oct. 7th: Add a FREE espresso shot to any drink

The first Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf opened in Brentwood in 1963. Now the chain has more than 676 stores in California, Arizona, Nevada, and abroad. Find a store near you.

Sign up for the Bargain Hunter Daily Digest and you won't miss a deal. I e-mail everyone on the list once a day, Monday through Friday, with all the new blogs posts. (Except when I am on vacation, as I am this week.)

The digest is a quick way to scan the day's new deals and see if anything is interesting. There almost always is. :) Sign up by e-mailing me with a request to join.

Your e-mail address is confidential and you can unsubscribe anytime. And it's free!

If you sign up this week you will get your first digest Monday, September 15 because I am on vacation until then. Thanks!

Take this 10-question true or false quiz to see how bad your debt problem is. The more of these statements that are true for you, the worse it is. Be as honest as you can because it is hard to change if you don't know what the problem is in the first place.

1. You don't have any savings.

2. You only make the minimum payment on your credit cards each month.

3. You continue to make more purchases on your credit cards while trying to pay it off.

4. You have at least one credit card that is near, at, or over the credit limit.

5. You are occasionally late in making payments on bills, credit cards, or other expenses.

6. You don't even know how much total debt you actually have.

7. You use cash advances from your credit cards to pay other bills.

8. You bounce checks or overdraw your bank accounts.

9. You've been denied credit.

10. You lie to friends or family about your spending and debt.

No matter what you scored, consider making a household budget to track your spending and plug the holes. Check out these debt tips from About.com for more help.

I'm about to take a week-long vacation to celebrate my fifth wedding anniversary with Hubby. Yay! (It's been four of the best years of my life, as my Uncle would say.)

The last time I wrote about my vacation plans I debated flying to Hawaii or Mexico.

But in the end I decided we had to budget $1,000 for the week so flying anywhere was out of the question. Instead, we are driving up the California coast. We may make it as far as Carmel and are packing camping gear for the last two nights. With school back in session I'm betting there will be open spots.

We're planning to explore the beaches and towns we wander through, take hikes and sleep in. We'll also stick to a tight budget. Here's how I expect to spend our moolah:

Gas: We'll drive 650 miles if we make it up to Carmel and back. At 30 mpg that's about 22 gallons x $4.25/gallon (I'm assuming premium is going to be a lot more expensive in these little beach towns). That equals $93.50.

Tickets to Hearst Castle: $48 for the Garden Tour

Wine tasting in Solvang: $0 (I'm told some wineries offer tastings for free)

Hotel rooms for 5 nights in three different towns including tax: $620

I'm particularly proud of how I haggled with one inn on Moonstone Beach in Cambria. The hotel employee initially offered me a beachfront room for $259/nt. They quickly came down to $207, then with more pushing to $181.

I thanked the woman for the price but said it was still more than I wanted to spend. I would look around a little more and probably call them back, I said. I had already checked out a number of hotels in Cambria but made one more call, where I found a beachfront room for $150. The hotel wasn't as nice, but the price was perfect.

I called the first hotel back and...

UPDATE: A few readers noticed what I didn't - that yesterday's deal on BabySteals was for a DVD and CD, making $15 for the pair a spanking good price. Doh! To be fair I'm going to revisit the site and blog about it again after I return from vacation.

PREVIOUSLY: BabySteals.com has taken a popular online business model - selling one product for 24 hours or until it sells out - and applied it to baby and maternity gear.

Today's product, volume II of a sign language DVD called "Baby Signing Time," has already sold out. It was $15 (orig $30).

But don't fret. Target has the same product for $15. Amazon has it for $14.

So far, I'm not impressed. However, this is just one item. I would stay tuned and do a quick comparison at Target, Amazon and ToysRUs online before buying. There is always a chance they could have a better price than these established retailers.

Each day the new product comes online at 8 am PST. You can subscribe to their daily deal e-mail or RSS feed. On weekends they sell items leftover from previous days. Occasionally there is more that one product a day. Read their FAQs here.

A bunch of Steve & Barry's stores are closing and having big sales to clear out the remaining merchandise. In LA, the Steve & Barry's in Buena Park and West Covina are closing.

Outside LA the list of which stores are closing has not been finalized, unfortunately, so check back on their Web site next week or call the one nearest you to get the scoop.

Clothes at Steve & Barry's, which carries Sarah Jessica Parker's line Bitten, run about $20 per piece. Sale prices at the closing stores will be about $9 or less, a PR rep tells me. All sales are final.

Merchandise at closing stores will likely be different than what is offered at stores remaining open, which will have their own promotions (i.e. they are not participating in the fire sale).

About 100 stores are closing (the chain is going from 276 to 170). Steve & Barry's recently filed for bankruptcy and then was bought by an investment firm. Read more about what that means for customers.

Walk into Melange Apothecary in Sherman Oaks and you are suddenly surrounded by beautifully wrapped packages of fragrances stacked as neat as can be.

There are lotions, candles, bath soaps, and, along the back wall, a perfume laboratory that recalls Chemistry 101 at its most feminine. The small shop has dark wood floors and is painted a few shades greener than Tiffany blue. White shelves let the merchandise speak for itself.

Many of Melange's products are made by artisans and/or imported from Europe, so prices are higher than, say, Bath and Body Works, but basic hygiene is not why shoppers come to Melange.

"I'm all about little luxuries," the owner, Denise Estrada, said when I stopped by recently.

Her fragrant delicacies become a bit more affordable during a sale that starts Saturday, September 6 at 10 am. Go tomorrow and expect mimosas and bagels alongside discounts of 40 to 60% off.

Certain summer fragrances are...

Get a whole pie to go from Marie Callender's for $7 as part of their semi-annual pie sale. It starts today and goes through October 31.

Choose from 25 pies, including Banana Cream, Key Lime, Kahlúa Cream Cheese and Cherry. You also pay $.50 for the pie tin, which is refundable.

No minimum purchase is required to get the $7 pie.

Caveats: excludes cheesecakes and fresh fruit pies.

Marie Callender's has 140 locations in CA, OR, WA, ID, UT, NV, CO, AZ, TX and OK. Find one near you. Call to check if your local restaurant is participating because not all locations are.

Enjoy prix-fix meals and specially chosen wines during wine and dineLA, starting Sunday, September 7 and going through Sunday, September 21.

More than 40 restaurants in Los Angeles will be participating. To take advantage, make a reservation through Open Table. When you are seated ask for the wine and dineLA menu. These special food and wine pairings will not show up on the regular menu.

Prices and courses vary by restaurant. Call ahead to inquire about options. The promotion is in honor of California Wine Month and is different than Restaurant Week, when lunch and dinner prices at participating restaurants are fixed.

Caveats: you must use an American Express card to pay for the meal to get this menu. Lame!

(not my actual lunch) I was in Sherman Oaks to check out a perfume sale (more on that tomorrow) when I drove by Bronco Restaurant (no Web site, unfortunately) on Woodman Avenue. It's a diner that serves a range of standard Mexican fare, from carnitas to tostadas and chilaquiles.

Outside was a sign advertising a $4 breakfast burrito, which they serve all day. My choice was not hard because there were few other options for a Lincoln Lunch on the menu. Beef tacos were $4 and a torta was $5.82. Most other items were $6 to $12.

Bronco is casual. You order at the cashier, sit down and they bring your food. A bowl of chips and salsa came soon after I chose an indoor booth. There is also a small shaded patio outside.

My breakfast burrito was wrapped in tinfoil and was so hot I had to handle it with a napkin. Inside was soft chunks of potato, scrambled egg, chives, black beans and cheese. Very soothing to the stomach, if a bit bland. Luckily, the salsa from the chips was delicious and spicy. I had enough to dribble on the burrito, which was a good size. The chips were stale.

The restaurant is a bit loud, perhaps because pipped in music blends with the voice of other patrons and bounces off the many windows. Bronco got mixed reviews from Yelp, an online food review site.

Visit them at 4378 Woodman Ave. in Sherman Oaks. (818) 990-4961. They also have a location in Sunland at 8418 Foothill Blvd. (818) 353-0791. Monday through Saturday 7 am to 10 pm and Sunday 8 am to 8 pm.

Paper, plastic, glass. Recycling those are easy. But some of the other stuff - carpeting, batteries, gadgets - gets tricky. Lucky for us the September issue of Real Simple has tips on how to recycle almost anything. The best tips are below.

Backpacks - donate to the American Birding Association, which gives the backpacks to scientists in the field.

Batteries - RadioShack and Office Depot accept rechargeable ones. Places that sell car batteries will usually dispose of your old one.

Carpeting (nylon fiber) - Visit CarpetRecovery.org to find a reclamation site near you. The manufacturer you bought it from may also have a recycling program.

Crayons - The National Crayon Recycle Program will take care of them. Just remember to leave the wrappers on. It's hard to tell which color is which without them.

Crocs - The manufacturer recycles the shoes into new ones and donates them poor families. Mail them to Crocs Recycling West, 3375 Enterprise Ave, Bloomington CA 92316.

Formal wear - Here are two options, aside from Goodwill and Salvation Army, where you can drop off that fancy dress you'll never wear again. OperationFairyDust.org and CatherinesCloset.org.

Hangars (wire) - remove the paper or cardboard and you can...

A post last week about the used book store A&M Book Cellars spurred a lot of discussion, including a tip from one reader about a Web site that facilitates the swapping of paperbacks. It's called PaperBackSwap.com.

"You list the books you want to swap," a reader named Tara e-mailed me. "In return for sending off books, (and for posting your first 10 books), you get credits to request books to be sent to you. All you pay is postage (avg $2.20/book) when sending a book, nothing to receive a book. The mailing info prints from your computer and you can wrap the book for shipping with two pieces of paper."

Got more questions? Check out this quick tutorial on how the site works. When searching for a book you can specify if you want a paperback, hardback, audio cassette, audio CD, or large print.

Registration requires you to share an email, set up a password, share your address and phone number. You must be 18 to join. Membership is free, though it may go up at some point to $10 or $20 a year.

After joining you have to list 10 books to get started and request books from other members. Thanks, Tara!

Get discounted $7 VIP tickets to the Warehouse denim sale through Goldstar. VIP tickets are normally $15 online or $25 at the door.

The sale starts September 6 at the LA Convention Center. Or RSVP and get in free (normally $5) the second day of the sale, September 7. Both days the sale is 10 to 5.

I have not been to their sale (it comes twice a year to LA) but here is their pitch. "The Warehouse Sale is an exclusive, invite-only denim sample sale that offers the newest and hottest styles of the season in your favorite brands for both Men & Women. Get ahead of the trends and be the first to rock up-and-coming labels. With everything priced BELOW WHOLESALE, we make it easy for you to try new styles or brands without guilt."

The first 200 customers on VIP Day get gift bags. Community dressing room is available. The sale is at the Los Angeles Convention Center, Concourse Hall, 1201 South Figueroa Street Los Angeles. Structured Parking at the West Hall. (Entrance from Cherry St.)

Get in free to the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena the first Friday of the month from 6 to 9 pm. That's tomorrow!

The museum has an exhibit on war posters from WWI and WWII that opens tomorrow. Sounds like it would be a fascinating study of American culture and propaganda.

The museum also has an exhibit on Marcel Duchamp, who drew a picture of the Mona Lisa with a mustache, and Ragamala paintings from India and Nepal.

Visit them at 411 W. Colorado Blvd. in Pasadena. (626) 449-6840. Thanks, Bargainsla!

Wow, I totally missed the boat on this one. Last week Vons decided to limit its coupon doubling program so shoppers get a maximum discount of $1, just like Ralphs did a few months ago. Coupons worth $.51 or more will be capped at $1.

Once already Vons announced it was cutting its coupon doubling program, according to an LA Times story.

"Vons is known for its coupon flip-flops. Two years ago, the chain said it was taking a scissors to its double-coupon policy, but it eventually brought back the promotion because of competitive pressures."

But with Ralphs' coupon doubling program gone, I doubt Vons will feel enough competition to bring it back. It's unclear from the story when the new Vons policy will take effect.

Get 15% off certain groceries and household items when you agree to purchase them regularly through Amazon.com's subscribe and save program.

The way it works is you sign up to buy, say toilet paper, every one, two, three, or six months. You get 15% off the Amazon price and free shipping. They email you when a shipment is coming and you can change the delivery schedule or cancel whenever you want. It saves you the trouble of going to the store and remembering not to run out of tp, though I suppose you have to monitor their prices once you sign up.

Eligible items include dozens of products in six categories, including household supplies, food & snacks, personal care & beauty, health & wellness, baby & child care, and nutrition & energy bars.

For a 15-pack of Luna bars they normally charge $16.56. Through the subscriber program you save $6.02 on shipping. The 15% subscription discount comes to $2.48, bringing the total to $14.08.

That's $.94 per bar, much lower than the $1.50 you typically pay in grocery stores. Not sure that beats Costco. Any Costco fans know how much they cost there?

Get a free appetizer or dessert at TGI Friday's when you sign up for their "Give me more stripes" program. Enrolling requires you to share your name, email, address, dob, and create a password for the site. You must be 18 to enroll. Unclear when the promotion ends.

To get the deal, visit their homepage and click on "Give me more stripes." Chose your card and you are on your way. I joined and they say they will mail me my card in about two weeks.

The freebie, however, took about 10 hours to materialize. I finally received the coupons via email. Another reader said she got hers immediately so I'm not sure why mine were delayed.

Browse their appetizers menu and dessert menu. Find a TGI Friday's near you. Thanks, Tina!

Consider checking out the Albertsons 8-hour sale this Thursday, September 4 from 1 to 9 pm.

Boneless, skinless chicken is $1.79/lb when you buy 5 pounds or more. Vine ripe tomatoes are $.69/lb and 15-ounce bottles of VO5 shampoo and conditioner in select varieties are $.69 each.

Discounts vary by store. To stay on top of grocery sales, check the Tuesday newspaper because that's when the markets distribute their sale flyers.

Find an Albertsons near you.

RealMemories.com is a site where you can upload digital photos to be framed. The main perk of the site is getting to see how the picture looks with the frame and mat of your choice before buying it. There are dozens of frames (starting at $19) and photo sizes you can choose from. Mats ($4.50 per photo) come in only three colors, white, cream and sand. You can add a caption for $4.50.

The site lets you alter your photo. You can see any picture in color, sepia toned, or black and white. You can crop the photo, change the contrast and reduce/increase the brightness. You can also save as many as 50 photos on the site and send framed pics to multiple addresses.

On the FAQs page under quality it says their frames are made of wood. Hardwood? Plywood? Particle board? Details are lacking.

I uploaded an old shot from my honeymoon, chose a basic frame, 5" x 7" print size, and basic mat and the total came to $42. Hmmm...me thinks I could do this a lot cheaper at Aaron Brothers, especially if I had a coupon. But for some, framing a photo online may be easier than visiting a store.

United Airlines has dropped their plan to charge coach passengers for meals on some overseas flights. Yay for the little guy!

Not that I'm complaining, but with switches like this and all the new fees airlines have added recently, it is hard to keep straight which company charges for what.

Luckily, Independent Traveler has a handy story on what 12 major airlines charge for snacks, meals and drinks. The list includes AirTran, American Airlines, Continental, Delta, Frontier, JetBlue, Midwest, Northwest, Southwest, Spirit, United, US Airways.

For a list of checked bag fees, visit this site from Magellan's.

I needed sesame seeds for a spam sushi dish I was making (basically a California roll with spam instead of crab) and found all the options at the grocery story very pricey. Name brands were $5.59 for 1 ounce or $6.59 for 2+ ounces.

How expensive can harvesting sesame seeds be, I thought as I opted for the cheaper, albeit much smaller container. I suspected it was more a case of grocery stores taking advantage of shoppers. Is there any substitute for pricey sesame seeds, or cinnamon, or parsley?

As it turns out, there is. Near the meat section I happened to spot a makeshift rack of Tampico spices. Sesame seeds were $.99! Tampico spices came in plastic envelopes, not stackable containers, which makes them a teensy bit harder to store. But in my mind it was no contest.

I victoriously swapped the $5.59 container for the $.99 envelope, leaving the pricey seeds next to the cheaper alternatives in hopes it might catch another customer's eye. From now one, I head to the Tampico rack for spices.

As promised, follows is Woot.com's list of 10 things to look forward to at the RNC. Last week they poked fun at the DNC.

As I said then, if you have no sense of humor please skip to the next post.

1. Men's rooms specially designed to allow for a wide stance

2. Over enthused delegates start drilling for oil on convention floor

3. Sarah Palin stopped by security, asked for ID

4. Enraged, chanting crowd burns effigy of Keith Olbermann

5. Confused Ron Paul delegate forgets which convention he's at, shows up wearing Iron Man costume

6. Repeated attempts to...

I was listening to NPR Friday evening while preparing for my garage sale, see below, when a story on the effects of financial stress came on. Basically, it exists and is rising.

I know whenever Hubby and I have a big financial decision to make it creates a lot of hand wringing and furrowed brows. An About.com story explains how "anxiety over money can negatively affect health in several ways."

People cope by self-medicating with alcohol, smoking and food. They cut out health care and other expenses that improve their well being. Folks may lose sleep, which can affect critical thinking, and experience "unhealthy emotions" like anxiety, frustration and hopelessness.

So what to do? First take this true or false quiz to determine in 10 questions if you suffer from financial stress.

Then make a household budget (here's info about mine). If you need motivation here are 12 good reasons to start a budget .

Get tips to get out of debt here. Good luck and remember to ask for help when you need it.

Get free WiFi at most Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf stores, no purchase necessary. The company is rolling out Internet hookups at 171 stores in the U.S. to attract more customers and because they realize people want to be connected 24/7.

Virtually all stores in CA, AZ and NV (but not kiosks) should have them by the end of the month, a PR rep tells me. The number of hours you can use their WiFi connection is not limited and you don't need to create an online account to get free access.

To find a Coffee Bean with free WiFi near you, visit their store locator page, enter your location and check the WiFI box.

I loathe having a cluttered house, especially when it gets to the point where there is so much random stuff laying around that the apartment feels crowded after a good clean. Time for a garage sale.

I started collecting sale items a week before the sale. Unused art supplies, jazz CDs, books, clothes, a desk. The mound in the living room became so large Hubby, enemy of getting rid of things, finally asked what was going on.

"I'm having a garage sale Saturday."
"But some of my things are in there."

I assured him the contents of the pile were negotiable, but that none of the stuff had been used since we lived in our current apartment (almost two years). Hubby was especially adamant about a set of lefty clubs. He could start playing golf any weekend now, he said.

Riiiiight.

I posted an ad on Craigslist, put up a few sale signs around the neighborhood and at...

Didn't fill up your gas tank before Hurricane Gustav hit New Orleans Monday? Tsk tsk. That's risky business. There are a ton of oil refineries in the Gulf of Mexico. But this time you get a pass.

Prices have yet to rise in the aftermath of the storm because no one is sure yet how much damage it caused to oil refineries, says a CNN story.

The CNN story quotes Doug MacIntyre, a senior oil market analyst at the Energy Information Administration. "'If there's no damage to refineries and they're able to get back up relatively quickly, we would assume gas prices would continue the downward trend that we've seen over the last few weeks,' said MacIntyre."

The AAA Fuel Gauge Report shows prices are steady in recent days across the nation and in the Golden State.

Here are all the deals from Tuesday's column.

Bargain books

Bad spelling - good deals

Nickel wine

Theater perks

Upholstery sale

Don't miss a deal email me to sign up!

$1 scoop Tuesdays

Lincoln Lunch: Chicken Shawarma