User Beware: Coupons May Cost You More Than They Save

Photo credit: © Mandy_Jansen

You’ve seen them. They come in a variety of forms and sizes: from the big cardboard mailers Bed Bath & Beyond sends out to the credit card like design used by Office Depot to the standard old thin-stock magazines that come in the weekend paper. I’m talking about coupons, which are seen as a way to save money on anything from grocery items to restaurant meals, office supplies, clothing and personal services. Some people have even made a side hustle of collecting and selling coupons on the web, while a few have even developed methods of using coupons to get stores to actually pay them and still others have made small fortunes teaching people how to be an “extreme coupon” clipper. You do, however, need to be careful, as sometimes coupons can cost you both time and money rather than saving you.

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hhgregg Fails to Back Up Ad Claims

Ever since Circuit City and CompUSA entered bankruptcy and closed down their stores a couple years ago, Best Buy had been the only viable and trustworthy local option for consumer electronics and appliances in my area. Then, during the summer, the empty Circuit City location began a transformation into a new hhgregg store and I was hopeful that competition and options would come with it. When my father told me that we was looking to upgrade the television in his living room from the paltry 32 inch screen that was currently in place, and that the model he was interested in was at the recently-opened hhgregg location, I figured it would be a great time to not only check the place out for myself but do a review of it as well. As it turns out, my original hopes turned out to be just that: hopes, as my experience with the newly local retailer fell far short of my expectations, especially considering all of the claims they make in their tv and radio ads.Keep going…

Black Friday Proves People Are Just Lazy With Finances

Photo credit: © Mills Apartments

Thanksgiving is supposed to be a time abut being with family and friends, giving thanks for what we have in our lives, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, and perhaps some football as well. Once the day is over (and now with stores opening at midnight, probably before the day is complete) people’s attentions turn to the next “holiday” that immediately follows: Black Friday, the unofficial kick-off to the holiday gift-giving season. While Thanksgiving is supposed to be about giving thanks and being with loved ones, thousands of stores require employees to cut short their holiday in order to return to work to stock shelves and prepare for the throngs of shoppers that will descend upon the stores come the early morning hours of the fourth Friday in November. Keep going…