This came in via the comments section, but I thought it needed it own post.

Bargain Hunter readers can receive half-off an animal massage session from Buddha Dog Animal Massage. Regular rates start at $30. Sessions are with a Registered Vet Tech and Certified Animal Massage Therapist, are at your location in the L.A. area, and will include Acupressure, TTouch, Stone Massage and Reiki, as well as a consultation, physical exam, and a walk before and after if desired (recommended). Massage is especially helpful for arthritic and senior animals, as well as growing young animals, athletic and competitive dogs, working dogs, recovering animals, and fearful and stressed animals, but offers healing benefits to all animals. For more information, please see http://buddhadog.com or call 818-300-4478. Thank You!

No, thank you, Buddhadog!!

This might sound freaky to some of you, but honestly, it can work. I had a crazy Maine Coon cat called Chuy who had some sort of obsessive tail twitchiness that the vet wanted to control with drugs. Instead, I took him to a pet chiropractor in Pasadena who used a form of spinal massage that calmed him right down. All she had to do was lay one hand on him and he would start this insane purr and relax into a puddle of happy grey fur. So, if you have a hyper, weird, sickly, depressed or otherwise out-of-sorts animal, this might be the ticket.

--Post by Mariel

Posted by Julia Scott at 11:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Came across this blog courtesy of Jen's List. It is called Fun and Free Giveaways and it is a light, woman-centric blog with posts most days. (Sounds like another blog I know, eh?) Today the writer has a post about a store giving away a white picture frame with butterflies. In another post she lists three Web sites that give away free stuff. Check it out!

Posted by Julia Scott at 8:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If you are looking for deals that ran in Monday's column, you are in the right place. Bullseye! Below are links to every deal mentioned. In general if you have a hard time finding a sale, please enter a keyword in the search box on the left and search the blog. All the sales with that keyword will come up. Thanks! ~Julia

Free shipping Web site: http://www.insidesocal.com/bargain/2008/05/free_shipping_web_site.html

Popchips Offer: http://www.insidesocal.com/bargain/2008/05/bogo_free_popchips.html

Magic Mountain tix $27: http://www.insidesocal.com/bargain/2008/05/magic_mountain_tix_27.html

Sharper Image coupons: http://www.insidesocal.com/bargain/2008/05/sharper_image_deals.html

CD rates: http://www.insidesocal.com/bargain/2008/05/cd_rates_falling.html

Ann Taylor Loft 20% off coupon: http://www.insidesocal.com/bargain/2008/05/ann_taylor_loft_20_off.html

Two-for-one at Yozen Frogurt: http://www.insidesocal.com/bargain/2008/05/yozen_frogurt_2for1_1.html

Three weeks free at Curves: http://www.insidesocal.com/bargain/2008/05/curves_three_weeks_free_with_m.html

Posted by Julia Scott at 4:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Hi folks, my next theme will be pets! I am not lucky enough to have a furry animal (actually, it's my landlord's fault) but I know plenty of folks do. Please send me any ideas you have for where pet owners can save a buck! The theme is scheduled to run Wednesday, May 21 so send them in soon by leaving a comment on the blog (click on the tiny "comments" link underneath this post). Thanks! ~Julia

Posted by Julia Scott at 5:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

Women in wealthy homes make the majority of buying decisions, a story from Marketing Daily says. "Women make the home appliance decisions in 68% of households, and the travel decisions in 61%. They make the health-care calls, including choice of plans and providers, in 48% of such households, and the home improvement purchases in the same percentage. Two-thirds of wealthy women say they make family financial decisions jointly with their husbands, but fully 22% say that they make all of these financial decisions on their own."

Women in wealthy households, which they define as having a total income of $150,000 or more, don't balk at addressing service and product quality issues.

The story is based on a survey from the Luxury Institute in New York. CEO Milton Pedraza knew before the survey came out that women make big money decisions. "Recently," the story says, "his own wife walked out of a Best Buy store after a salesperson asked why her husband wasn't with her ... taking her $3,000-plus TV purchase elsewhere."

My question is, did they ask these wealthy women how important it is to get a good price? Even folks with tons of money want to save a buck!

Posted by Julia Scott at 11:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Just discovered this Web site. It's called FreeShipping.org and it is a ton of, you guessed it, free shipping codes. You can search by store, category, expiration date, and alphabetical order. The display format is easy to scan so you can figure out quickly if there is a code for your particular needs. Check it out!

I will add it to my links on the right of the blog in case you forget the Web site's address.

Posted by Julia Scott at 8:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Falling interest rates are good for home owners or anybody taking out a loan, but when it comes to lending your own money to others (in the form of a CD), dropping interest rates are bad. I found this out when I opened a letter from my bank last night, which had written to say they were pleased I renewed a 12-month CD at an interest rate of 3.25%. My jaw dropped. That's barely inflation!

I compared my last renewal letter from a year ago and sure enough, my interest rate for the previous 12 months was 5.20%. It dropped almost 2%! Now I'm on the prowl for a better CD rate, and you may want to do the same.

Bankaholic lists the top 25 CD rates. Using the tabs at the top of their site you can compare CDs for various time periods and dollar amounts. As I write this GMAC has the best rate (4.10%) for a 12-month CD with a minimum deposit of $500. It may pay to make a few calls and switch.

Posted by Julia Scott at 7:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

I always get a lot of calls and emails on Mondays, when my column runs in the Daily News, from readers who cannot find one of the deals mentioned. None of the posts actually go away, they just get bumped down by newer sales. The search box on the left will help. To make it even easier, I've compiled all the links below.

B-DAY STEAK: http://www.insidesocal.com/bargain/2008/05/free_birthday_steak.html

DESPERATELY SEEKING: http://www.insidesocal.com/bargain/2008/05/desperately_seeking_lincoln_lu.html

MAIL MOVIES: http://www.insidesocal.com/bargain/2008/05/moves_in_the_mail_4mo.html

BABY CHEAP: http://www.insidesocal.com/bargain/2008/05/babystyle_25_off.html

FREE VEGGIE BURGER: http://www.insidesocal.com/bargain/2008/05/free_veggie_burger_at_johnny_r.html

SHOES $20 OFF: http://www.insidesocal.com/bargain/2008/05/shoescom_20_off.html

$2.99 GAS: http://www.insidesocal.com/bargain/2008/05/299_gas_for.html

Posted by Julia Scott at 2:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If you think you have wrung every last dollar from your budget, these tips, courtesy of the Minneapolis Star Tribune, will help you squeeze out a few more pennies.

+Raise the deductibles on your insurance policies and switch from monthly payouts to one yearly bill.

+Use coupons for everything, not just groceries. Get them from the paper, at online coupon sites, and directly from the manufacturer.

+Sign up for e-newsletters from the stores you frequent. The dispatches often contain coupons or let you know when a sale is going on.

+Sign up for rebate sites like eBates.com or Cashbaq.com, both of which give back a cut of your total purchase.

+Ask for a discount. Call your credit card company and ask for a lower interest rate if you carry a balance month to month (the Fed just lowered rates again). Same goes for your cable company and other vendors. Often asking nicely and pointing out that you are a longtime, loyal customer will persuade them to shave off a few dollars.

+Take advantage of merchant bonus offers when you cash your government stimulus check at their store. Many grocery chains are offering a 10% boost! If you give them your $600 check, they give you a gift card worth $660. That kind of short-term return is hard to match.

Posted by Julia Scott at 11:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Get the low down on 529 college savings accounts at SavingforCollege.com. The site covers everything from the basics of what a 529 plan is to how fees for the plans are steadily dropping. You can also calculate how much college will cost by your child's age. The family of a 12-month old will need to sock away $623 each month to pay for the their total college bill, a whopping $294,496, the site estimates.

Check out their ranking of the least expensive 529 plans (each state has their own) and the top 10 performing plans. They site has a forum page where confused parents of the college-bound can ask questions and share knowledge. The site is free.

Posted by Julia Scott at 1:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I got such a good response from my Sunday story about trimming household spending that I decided to let y'all know how my saving plan is going. Hubby and I made a long list of our expenses, highlighted categories where we can spend less, and made a to do list to trim out bills. I followed through on one of them and made $70 in 7 minutes!!! No joke.

Hubby and I pay $28.15 a month for the Sunday New York Times. That is just over $7 a paper. Yikes! I called the Times to see if they could extend a discount to a longtime loyal reader. No such luck, the lady on the other end politely informed me. But I can already read the sections I like online, I pointed out. No deal, she said. But I can probably get the paper cheaper off the newsstand, I protested. Can't help you, she said.

By this point I had convinced myself to cancel the paper, which is what I told her. Hold on a second...oh my supervisor has approved a 50% off deal for 16 weeks, plus an additional 4 weeks if you pay by credit card. Kaa-zam!!

My bill drops to $70.35 for 20 weeks, down from $140.74. I hope we save as much with the other items on our to do list.

+Call cable company and ask for $10 off a month, we had the discount our first year of service and are considering switching companies

+Look for cell phone plan with fewer minutes but more texts to fit with our usage patterns

+Reduce gasoline bill by working from home more and carpooling

+Don't risk parking tickets, bring change or keep looking for spot

+Shop around for cheaper places to fill generic prescriptions

+Use dry cleaning coupons instead of going to the most convenient place

+When ordering take out, split a dish instead of creating leftovers

Posted by Julia Scott at 12:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

The $600 checks the government is sending out to stimulate the economy will arrive in bank accounts and mailboxes across the country soon. If you are going to spend yours, take advantage of retailers that are offering special discounts tied to the rebate checks. Click here to see when your check will be sent.

Ralphs and Albertsons will add $30, $60 or $120 to a gift card when you exchange your tax refund or economic stimulus check for a gift card. The bonus equals 10 percent of the amount you exchange. The offer starts Friday and lasts through July 31. One per household up to $1,200.

RadioShack gives a 10 percent discount on tabs of $50 or more when you use your stimulus check or tax rebate between May 4 and July 12. The balance will be put on a Vision Silver Prepaid MasterCard that can be used anywhere MasterCard is accepted.

Sears, Kmart, and Land's End offer a 10 percent bonus when you exchange your entire rebate check for gift cards. That means a $600 check nets gift cards worth $660. Bring in your check between May 14 and July 19 to get the deal.

Staples is offering no-interest on purchases over $499 with some exclusions when you use your Staples credit card. Valid April 21 through June 30, 2008. Mention code 31831. Read the fine print at here.

Restoration Hardware is offering $100 off a purchase of $750 or more through Wednesday. Get a voucher here to shop in stores or use code HEMAP804 online or over the phone. You can put off paying for a purchase of $750 for one year with no interest when you use your Restoration Hardware credit card.

If you plan to save your check...

Continue reading "Rebate redux" »

Posted by Julia Scott at 1:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Buying a flat screen TV is a lot more fun than saving your $600 rebate check, but it won't help your solvency. Think twice, be realistic, and consider these tips from the Wall Street Journal before you head to the electronics store.

+Put the rebate towards credit card debt. "A $600 balance on a credit card with an 18% interest rate costs $108 a year" in interest alone. Debt at these rates is not a bargain.

+Start or add to a retirement account or IRA. Max out the limit you can contribute to the retirement plan at your work. Or, if your job does not offer one, start an IRA. "IRA accounts grow tax-deferred, allowing you to earn interest tax-free," the story says.

+Set up a 529 college savings account. The money grows tax free if used for education.

+Create a health savings account. If you are eligible, you can pay for out of pocket medical expenses like co-pays and prescriptions with pretax dollars. There are some limits to how much you can put into the account. Some let you rollover a remaining balance to the next year, others do not.

Posted by Julia Scott at 8:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Here is a Web site that helps you find the best bank for your needs. At FindABetterBank.com you enter your zip code, then rank 12 account features as things you either don't care about, would like to have, or must have. Answer a handful of questions about what fees usually snag you, then sort through the results it spits out. It took me about three minutes to go through the process.

You can rank the results by estimated annual fees (the Web site guesses what you pay according to the info you shared), the percentage of preferred features you ranked or proximity. The results also detail each bank's features, fees, and savings account rates. The site was started by two guys, one with a finance background and one a techie. Their premise was that it is too difficult for people to switch banks and that if the process were easier the better banks would rise to the top.

People have such different needs I do not think there is one "best" bank, but certainly this site can help you find one that suits your lifestyle. Read more about how the site works.

Posted by Julia Scott at 7:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If you read my Sunday story on making a household budget and are looking for the blank budget worksheet, you are in the right place! Download it by clicking here. Note, you need Excel to open this document. The form automatically sums your expenditures, but you may need to add line items for categories not already listed, like Internet connection fees.

Good luck filling it out! It is tough to figure out where every penny is going, but you must know this to get control of your cash flow. Once you have that under tabs, it is a mental wrestling match with your inner spending beast!

Thanks to Rebecca Robins, a CFP in Stevenson Ranch, who agreed to let me share this document with Bargain Hunter readers.

Posted by Julia Scott at 1:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Tipsy shoppers are helping boost Internet sales, a story from the LA Times says.
"BUIs -- those who buy under the influence -- may be the Internet's dirty little secret," the story says. "(Then again, how dirty can you feel when you wake up spooning your keyboard?) And with retail e-commerce up 19% to $136.4 billion in 2007, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce, it's not shocking to realize that some people are boozing and browsing."

Makes sense. A few drinks and that sizzling dress on your screen does not seem like such a stretch. And gosh dang it, I deserve it! Hiccup. But I disagree with the last sentiment in the story - that online shopping is the one thing you can do while drunk that you won't regret. You may be able to return a mistake, but you will probably have to pay shipping and/or a restocking fee. Plus there's the whole hassle of it.

Posted by Julia Scott at 10:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Hi folks, just wanted to let you know the techies at the Daily News are changing the blogs Monday afternoon so there will be no new posts during the then. They say it will take two hours but my guess is a lot longer. I will do my best to get out the daily digest before the freeze but if I don't please check the site to see all the new deals. Hope to be back to normal Tuesday. Thank you for reading the Bargain Hunter and sending me tips! ~Julia

Posted by Julia Scott at 8:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I have received a lot of calls from readers having a hard time finding the site. Yikes! The site is up and running so I'm guessing you mistyped a character in the Web address. Just one wrong letter or punctuation mark will send you who knows where!

I try to answer all the emails and calls I receive about the site, but here is one tip that will take you far. Once you do reach the Bargain Hunter site, bookmark it by pressing and holding CTRL and the D button. On some browsers bookmarks are called Favorites. Next time you want to save a buck, just click on the bookmark/favorites tab at the upper left of your window and scroll down until you see Bargain Hunter. No need to type in www...

Hope that helps! ~Julia

Posted by Julia Scott at 8:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If you can't find a deal, especially one from Monday's column, it may be because newer posts have pushed down the item you are looking for. But none of the deals go away, you just have to look a little harder.

Try using the search box on the left. It's under where you enter your email to sign up for the daily digest. Enter a keyword (like Morton to find the steakhouse deal), click "Search the blog." All the blog posts with that word will come up.

Good luck!
~Julia

Posted by Julia Scott at 2:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

With a spate of real and possible retailer bankruptcies, it is wise not to hold onto your gift cards too long, according to a Wall Street Journal story. "The economic downturn is expected to lead more retailers to file for bankruptcy-law protection, in which case their gift cards may become worthless or harder to redeem," the story says.

Think Sharper Image (which started re-accepting gift cards but with a lot of rules) and Levitz Furniture (which suggested folks with gift cards file a claim in bankruptcy court). Fortunoff, Harvey Electronics and Lillian Vernon have "made bankruptcy-law filings" but say they will continue to honor gift cards. Guess it's time to use that Pottery Barn card!

Posted by Julia Scott at 10:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The $10 coupon book from the Wildlife Way Station in Angeles National Forest has some good discounts in the San Fernando Valley. Mostly buy one get one free offers for food with a few merchant and entertainment discounts.

Discounts include two-for-ones at Baskin Robbins, Domino's Pizza, Yum Yum Donuts, Subway, Falafel Palace, Marmalade Cafe, Casa de Carlos, QDobas, Pizza Cookery, Sid's Seafood (up to $20), and Shalimar Cuisine of India. Entertainment discounts include various offers for Knotts Berry Farm, Ultrazone Laser Tag, Skateland and the Aquarium of the Pacific. Merchant discounts include coupons for Three Dog Bakery, Big 5 Sporting Goods, Baklava Factory, a bunch of car washes, and EZ Lube. There are 101 coupons total.

The coupons are good until Dec 30, 2009. And that's not a typo. Non-profits like Girl Scout troops, public schools, Kiwanis and Lion's clubs, and religious groups sell the books for $10. The WWS and the non-profit selling them split the proceeds. Call the non-profit group you would like to support to see if they are selling them or buy it directly from the WWS by calling Bruce at (800) 345-6371 or emailing a request to Bruce@thekuhngroup.com. I'm told books for Santa Clarita Valley and Orange County are coming in 3+ months.

Note, this is different than the Entertainment book. The WWS takes in wild and exotic animal that need a home and places (most of them) in zoos or animal parks. Thanks, Frank!

Posted by Julia Scott at 12:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

UPDATE: You must send in your used Target bags in the Newsweek cover. Making an envelope out of other materials will not get you the coupon for a free tote.

PREVIOUSLY: Target and Newsweek are working together to give out free re-usable tote bags. Here's how it works: you mail in your Target plastic bags using the Newsweek magazine cover from their April 14 "Who's the Greenest of them all?" issue and they mail you a coupon for a tote that is made of plastic bags.

No postage needed. You just have to get your hands on the April 14 issue of Newsweek. Come to think of it, you probably don't even need that. Here's the address if you want to send in your plastic Target bags in some other material:

Terracycle
121 New York Ave
Trenton, NJ 08638

Since you can squish the plastic bags so much, mail them in any piece of paper by folding it into an envelope.

Caveats: must be mailed by May 31, 2008. One per household.

Posted by Julia Scott at 1:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

If it's not gas, housing, and grocery prices squeezing your budget, it's taxes. Hubby and I are getting hammered by the IRS this year, partly because we sold our condo and can no longer deduct mortgage interest. But we forgot to increase our paycheck withholdings. Ouch!

Short term, we pay the tax man. Mid term - over the next three months or so - we will cut back to recoup the payout, which will likely come from our savings. So where am I cutting back?

+ That girls' getaway to Vegas is gone, baby, gone. SAVINGS: $700
+ Spring facial will have to wait until summer. SAVINGS: $105
+ No new threads. But I do have a $50 JCrew gift card for when I get desperate. SAVINGS: $250
+ Working from home twice a week to cut down on my gas bill. SAVINGS: $50/week
+ Eating in instead of splurging at restaurants with Hubby. SAVINGS: $200
+ Leaving my credit cards at home. SAVINGS: PRICELESS.

That brings my total to $1,305. A good start but not enough to keep the IRS at bay. I could extend the cutback period, but it's awfully hard to keep the belt that tight long term. Any ideas, folks? Email me.

Posted by Julia Scott at 1:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)

UPDATE: My Nitty Gritty Grocery List now includes the Food 4 Less prices for all 35 items. Shoppers not familiar with Food 4 less may be surprised that for many items the grocery chain bumped Vons and Trader Joe's from being the low price leader, which I mark below in bold.

I totally redid my grocery cheat sheet to list just what I consider a "good" price for each item so you don't have to comb through all three store columns. This way if you can't remember the lowest price you can get for an item, just pull out your cheat sheet and the decision is easy.

Remember, grocery prices fluctuate greatly so you will have to update your own list every few weeks.

PREVIOUSLY: Old school coupon clippers make it seem as if saving 50% off your grocery tab is no big deal. As the Bargain Hunter, I figured it would be a cinch. So for "work" I dug through the Sunday newspaper circulars, surfed the Internet for the best online coupon sites, and looked for coupons everywhere. Was I able to drastically reduce my grocery bill? Check out this Sunday's LA Daily News for the full scoop. In the story I tell readers to come here for a full comparison of prices (my "cheat sheet") at two supermarkets I frequently shop at. So without further ado...

Bolded prices mean that store is the clear price leader. If neither price is bolded it means the item was a draw. Items marked with an * frequently go on sale or have coupons available. Use all your willpower to buy them only at these lowest prices!! And remember, sales and coupons can often tip the price in favor of Vons, which doubles coupons up to $1.

Assume items from Trader Joe's are sold under the private Trader Joe's brand unless otherwise noted. A price range is listed for items from Von's because the chain offers a variety of brands. Lower range prices are often the store's own Safeway brand of food.

Posted by Julia Scott at 8:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (9)

You may have noticed the tiny green buttons that started appearing at the bottom of each post yesterday. They say "Share This" and look like a mini wishbone. Clicking the button lets you share a post with everyone else in cyberspace by sending the post to Web sites like Digg, Reddit, and Del.icio.us. These sites rank stories and blog posts by how many votes each one gets. So in theory you can go to one of these sites and read the top ranked stories. Each time you share a post it gets one vote. Vote a lot!!! You can also email a post to a specific person with this button (click on the gray "Send" tab).

I hope you will share blog posts you find useful with your friends and others in cyberspace. Sharing posts will help me spread the word and help others save a buck! Just click on "Share This," then choose the ranking site you want to send it to.

Caveats: there always is one, right? This caveat is that to share a post you need to register on the ranking sites. I like Digg because the site is really intuitive and well organized, so if you only join one consider Digg.

Posted by Julia Scott at 8:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Geri Cook, one of LA's original bargain hunters, has died. She was 83. Cook is the mom of Suzanne O'Connor, who runs BargainsLA, a great source for local sales across the region. Cook wrote the "Bargains" column for the LA Times and also worked for the Daily News for four years. She had a radio programs on KGIL-AM and regularly appeared on KCBS evening news. Read the full obit in the LA Times here.

Posted by Julia Scott at 10:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

...and figure out if they are a bargain! A story from Shop Smart magazine says look for these details to determine if clothing is well made or if manufacturers skimped.

Shirts - Hems should be smooth and free of wrinkles, buttons should be sewn into an extra layer of fabric (look for subtle stitch lines on either side of the buttons), and there should be two layers of fabric across the shoulders. Avoid a shirt with a collar that does not fold down properly - it wasn't been cut right.

Pants - look for neat, tightly stitched seams with no loose strings, invisible hems at the foot (unlike jeans or casual pants), and avoid pairs with sticky or hard to reach zippers.

Jackets - the arm should be made out of two pieces and not pucker along the shoulder. A jackets made of two panels of cloth on each front will fit better than those with darts or seams. High end jackets should have piped lining. Jackets made of wool with a little spandex will wear well and keep their shape best.

Posted by Julia Scott at 7:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The Machinist blogger has figured out a way to access all the Wall Street Journal stories online for free. Normally subscribing costs $80 a year. The deal is that the WSJ wants to get traffic from search engines like Google and sites like Digg that collect popular stories, so the financial newspaper makes most or all of its stories free if you access them through these sites.

Normally, when you click on a link to a WSJ story from an ordinary Web site you get a truncated version of the story and have to log on and pay to finish reading it. "But if you click on a link to that same article in Google News, you'll be sent to the full story for free. This is true, also, of WSJ links on Digg, and probably a few other big referral sites, too," the blog post says.

If some stories are still off limits you can install a referer spoofer, which is totally legal, the Machinist blog claims. For directions click here and scroll down to where it says "The slightly harder way (but you do get all the Journal's stories):"

Posted by Julia Scott at 1:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Major chain stores like Home Depot, Circuit City and Best Buy are quietly adopting policies that let their sales force haggle with customers, a recent story in the New York Times says. Basically the down economy is giving folks like you and me wiggle room because retailers really want to make the sale.

The folks in the NYT story successfully talked down prices by arming themselves with information and playing hard to get. I'm terrified of haggling, but I have a feeling once I do it a few times it will come easy. Here's how to get started:

+ Know the price of the item you want on the Internet and at the store's competitor.
+Tell the salesperson you saw a similar item for such-and-such price selling at X.
+Consider bringing a friend to play good cop/bad cop. One person wants to buy the item, the other doesn't and threatens to leave.
+Tell the salesperson the item looks worn or damaged, if appropriate.

Making stuff up is not good. But if another retailer is selling it for less, that's information that will empower you. Good luck and let me know your haggling stories!

Posted by Julia Scott at 7:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

The March 24 issue of Newsweek suggests a few credit cards for small business owners and some of them sound like good deals, depending on your needs. The American Express Plum Card gives you two months to pay your balance in full without fees as long as you pay 10% of the total due on time.

A business card from Advanta offers no interest on balance transfers for 15 months and an 8% fixed APR thereafter. The Capital One Business Platinum With No Hassle Cash card gives you 1% back on all purchases with no limits. The next year you get a quarter of the previous years' rebate.

Get 5% back on office supplies with the Discover Business Cash Back card. It also gives 2% back on gas and 1% on everything else. Find a card appropriate for you at creditcard.com.

Posted by Julia Scott at 10:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Feeling panicked about the crappy state of the stock market? Me too. But the best strategy is to think long term, according to a Q&A in yesterday's LA Times. Writer Kathy M. Kristof answers these questions: My portfolio lost 20% of its value. Should I sell? Only if you need the money for expenses in the next 12 months. But if you "simply hate the discomfort of the financial turmoil, hang tight," the story says.

I want to take action. Where do I start? Put pencil to paper and write out the worst thing that could happen. Think through the next step and the outcome may not seem so scary. Also consider re-balancing your portfolio.

If brokerage firms like Bear Stearns fail are my stocks safe? If you invest in a firm that is SIPC-insured you will "get back the stocks, bonds, mutual fund shares and cash that were in their brokerage accounts before" the firm went belly up. Check if your brokerage is SIPC-insured at www.sipc.org.

I'm retired, will I outlive my savings? You can "safely withdraw about 4% of the value of your portfolio each year" and chances are you will not outlive your savings, the story says. If your investments have dropped below 4% your spending money