Ten Tips for Better Shopping That Stores Don't Want You To Know

10 SHOPPING TRICKS THAT STORES HATE

Website Consumerist.com... lists 10 tips that will help you save money, but probably won't help the store. That's why they hate them. And you.

Buying Loss Leaders and Leaving: Loss leaders are products that a company sells below or at cost to lure customers into the store.

Why They Hate It: They do not want you to waltz in, buy up all the loss leaders and leave. Often there are limits to how many of each you can buy, if you see something in the ad that says "limit 3 per customer" you may have found yourself a loss leader. Buy it and get the hell out.

Using Credit and Paying it Off on Time: Sometimes stores will offer a "6 months, no interest, no payments" offer on big ticket items. Pay it off on time, and you've used their money for free.

Why They Hate It: These offers are not just to help you buy stuff, it's to trick you into paying more for the item than if you had paid cash. Some people take the cash they would have used to buy the item and put it in a high yield savings account. Then they buy the item with credit and wait until 5.9 months later to pay it off. They've just used someone else's money for 6 months for free.
These offers are dangerous, however, because if you miss a payment or don't pay the full balance off on time, you'll get socked with interest since your date of purchase. The rates are often outrageous, so this tip is only for seriously organized Type-A people.

Saying NO to the Extended Warranty: Stores play on the fact that electronics are a big investment, scaring you into buying an Extended Warranty. Don't do it.

Why They Hate It: The Extended Warranty is basically just a trick to get you to pay way more for the item than you need to. It's very, very, very profitable for the retailer. If you don't believe us, believe Consumer Reports. If you're worried about not having an extended warranty, purchase your electronics with a credit card that offers extended warranty protection. Lots of them do. Just paying for your crap with a credit card can double your warranty, so tell that sales clerk to get bent.

Activating Your Own Phone With A Cell Phone Company: You can buy a used phone, or an unlocked phone, for full price and avoid signing a contract.

Why They Hate It: Cell phone companies want you to sign a contract. They need you to sign a contract. They burn with desire for you to be under contract with them. Cell phone stores sell 2 year contracts. That's what they sell. Not phones. So get a phone, then call the cell phone company and activate it. No contract needed. They hate that so much.

Shopping in the Store But Buying Online: Stores are just places where you can look at things you will later purchase for cheaper online. Look at your new laptop. Try it out. Ask questions. Buy online.

Why They Hate It: They've paid for a store, the electric bill for the store, the employees to answer your questions, and those nice little plastic bags that they want to put your purchase in. Whoops.

Buying 1 When its 2 for $5: "2 for" deals are bull. You can buy one. You can buy 3. "2 for 5" or "5 for 10" means, "Please for the love of Jesus buy this and get it out of the store." You can pay the unit price. (Laws may vary nationwide)

Why They Hate It: They want you to buy more stuff than you need!

Opening A Store Credit Card To Get A Discount, Then Cutting It Up: Mommy buys a bunch of stuff at once, opens the store credit card for the 20% discount, pays it off and cuts up the card. She did this every year when buying our school clothes. We're sure they hate her with the force of a 200 mega-ton bomb, but she still saved 20%.

Why They Hate It: Credit card companies make money from interest and fees. No activity on the card, no interest and fees.

Using Websites to Track 30 Day Price Guarantees: Stores have "30 day price guarantees" to make you think they have such low prices that they're not going to get any lower. They may, but they also know you're not going to keep shopping for some crap you already bought.
Solution: There are websites that will watch your purchase for you and email if it drops in price during the guarantee period.

Why They Hate It: Because they have to give you money. No store ever likes to give you money.

Buying Seasonal Items at Clearance Prices (For Next Year): Seasonal items are a big deal for retailers and once the holiday is gone they need to make room for the next one. Their haste makes waste and you can take advantage of it. Buy now for next year.
Another good idea is to buy "seasonal" candy after the season is over. So what if your M&Ms are brown and orange or red and green. Still tastes like awesome.

Why They Hate It: Stores want you to buy their seasonal crap at full price, when its most profitable, not during clearance when they sell it at cost or below.

Buy "Accessories" on Ebay Rather Than Paying Huge Markups: Retailers will often discount a big ticket item only to charge ridiculous prices for "accessories" that they will harass you to the point of madness to try to get you to buy. Expensive connectors, cables, controllers, leather lotion for your stupid coat you just bought, blank media, storage, etc. Buy this crap on eBay or at least research what it really costs at a retailer that is not trying to screw you.
Case in point: Cables. Best Buy sells the Monster Ultra Series 8' HDMI Video Cable for $119.99. On Ebay the most expensive "Buy it Now" price for this cable is $74.95 with $9.95 shipping. For the exact same thing. And that's for a crazy brand name cable. There are 8' HDMI cables on eBay for $8.

Why They Hate It: Accessories are very profitable. If you got a good deal on a TV, you probably believe them when they say you "need" to spend hundreds of dollars on cables.

Too Early Trivia January 31st, 2007

Question: The average woman spends over $20-thousand in her lifetime on this.

Answer: Clothes she never wears. (Many buy clothes that are too small in hopes of fitting in to them)

Seeking revenge this Valentine's Day?

With Valentine's Day approaching, love is the air -- and so is revenge. Every year jilted lovers send angry notes, funeral wreaths and even dead fish to former partners.

The website www.Poisonpen.com, will, for a small fee, send an anonymous poison pen card or letter to a former lover. And the site's owner says, "We definitely get a bounce in our business at this time of year." In his words, "It's like therapy, only cheaper: "When you care enough to send the very worst."

ALSO: Despair.com offers a photograph of a red rose with the phrase: "You were meant for me. Perhaps as a punishment."

The founder of www.deadroses.com says, "This is our busiest season of the year". Since 1998, he has sent dozens of dead roses across the United States, Canada, and as far away as Sweden and Germany. He makes sure to include the thorns.

Other Web sites also offer to send black roses, just the stems of roses or funeral wreaths. Rather than chocolates you could also send melted chocolates, bittersweet as well as milk, to an old flame.

If none of the above satisfies the desire to get even, www.ThePayback.com offers to send a smelly, dead fish to the one who did you wrong.

Too Early Trivia January 30th, 2007

Question: 62 percent of people say this gives away your personality type.

Answer: The type of car he or she drives.

Top Ten Foods to Help You Sleep (Yes, some are breakfast foods)

TOP 10 FOODS FOR A GOOD NIGHT`S SLEEP
Monday January 29, 2007

What is the secret to getting a solid 7 to 8 hours of sleep? Head for the kitchen and enjoy one or two of these 10 foods. They relax tense muscles, quiet buzzing minds, and/or get calming, sleep-inducing hormones - serotonin and melatonin - flowing.

Bananas. They're practically a sleeping pill in a peel. In addition to a bit of soothing melatonin and serotonin, bananas contain magnesium, a muscle relaxant.

Chamomile tea. The reason chamomile is such a staple of bedtime tea blends is its mild sedating effect - it's the perfect natural antidote for restless minds/bodies.

Warm milk. It's not a myth. Milk has some tryptophan - an amino acid that has a sedative - like effect - and calcium, which helps the brain use tryptophan. Plus there's the psychological throw-back to infancy, when a warm bottle meant "relax, everything's fine."

Honey. Drizzle a little in your warm milk or herb tea. Lots of sugar is stimulating, but a little glucose tells your brain to turn off orexin, a recently discovered neurotransmitter that's linked to alertness.

Potatoes. A small baked spud won't overwhelm your GI tract, and it clears away acids that can interfere with yawn-inducing tryptophan. To up the soothing effects, mash it with warm milk.

Oatmeal. Oats are a rich source of sleep - inviting melatonin, and a small bowl of warm cereal with a splash of maple syrup is cozy - plus if you've got the munchies, it's filling too.

Almonds. A handful of these heart-healthy nuts can be snooze-inducing, as they contain both tryptophan and a nice dose of muscle-relaxing magnesium.

Flaxseeds. When life goes awry and feeling down is keeping you up, try sprinkling 2 tablespoons of these healthy little seeds on your bedtime oatmeal. They're rich in omega-3 fatty acids, a natural mood lifter.

Whole-wheat bread. A slice of toast with your tea and honey will release insulin, which helps tryptophan get to your brain, where it's converted to serotonin and quietly murmurs "time to sleep."

Turkey. It's the most famous source of tryptophan, credited with all those Thanksgiving naps. But that's actually modern folklore. Tryptophan works when your stomach's basically empty, not overstuffed, and when there are some carbs around, not tons of protein. But put a lean slice or two on some whole-wheat bread mid-evening, and you've got one of the best sleep inducers in your kitchen.

Too Early Trivia, January 29th, 2007

Question: People who do this for a living see a 25 percent increase in business in January.

Answer: People who repair the world's copy machines.

Worst Sound in the World!

A researcher (with a lot of free time) was on a quest to identify the worst noise in the world . Top “honors” going to…(drum roll please)…the sound of someone vomiting! Apparently, some guy named Trevor Cox, who’s a professor of acoustic engineering at Salford University, sought opinions on 34 different sounds he put up on the website, www.sound101.org. The project attracted over a million votes, and ranked microphone feedback—that lovely, high-pitched squeal—as the second worst sound.

Crying babies and the scrapes and squeaks of train wheels were tied for third. Meanwhile, some sounds expected to figure highly in the poll did not do so. For instance, fingernails being dragged down a chalkboard came in 16th, while the dreaded dentist’s drill was only 20th…

Too Early Trivia January 26th, 2007

Question: You will spend 41 total days doing this in 2007.

Answer: Listening to the radio. (Planet 94.3)

Too Early Trivia January 25th, 2007

Question: As a nation, we are preparing to eat 43.5 million pounds of this.

Answer: Avocados! Guacamole for the Super Bowl

Too Early Trivia January 24th, 2007

Question: Women are more likely than men to eat this kind of food.

Answer: Food that has been dropped on the floor.

Too Early Trivia January 23rd, 2007

Question: 25 percent of us do this in less than a week.

Answer: Give up our New Year's Resolution

Girl Scout Cookie Survey!

LaRae thinks that Thin Mints and Samoas are the most popular Girl Scout Cookies. Chris believes it is Tag Alongs.

Below are the results of our unofficial on-air poll:

Thin Mints-45%
Tag Alongs-36%
Samoas-10%
All Others-9%

Have a nice day?

Today is set to be the most miserable day of the year. A psychologist claimes that January 22 has become the worst date when common reasons for the blues were talied.
Dr. Cliff Arnalls says his formula takes into account things like Christmas debt, fading memories of holidays, failing New Year resolutions and lack of daylight.
Another British expert (Dr Alan Cohen) agreed. He said: “We see lots of people with depression and anxiety in winter but they do get better.”

Keep your chin up today with these thoughts: You’ll be closer to the HAPPIEST day of the year, June 23 we live longer than ever money doesn’t always make you happy.

Dr Arnalls’ formula is 1/8W+(D-d) 3/8xTQ MxNA.

Key - W: Weather. D: Debt. d: Money due in January pay. T: Time since Christmas. Q: Time since failed quit attempt. M: General motivational levels. NA: The need to take action.

Too Early Trivia January 22nd, 2007

Question: 39 percent of people say THIS is the worst thing about giving a Super Bowl party.

Answer: Cleaning the house beforehand.

Too Early Trivia January 19, 2007

Question: Almost 1/4 of dog owners do this with their pet.

Answer: Kiss their dog on the mouth.

Too Early Trivia January 18th, 2007

Question: This happens to 10 percent of us at night.

Answer: We dream about falling.

Too Early Trivia January 17, 2007

Question: The average adult becomes visibly irritated after 40 seconds of doing this. What is it?

Answer: Waiting for an elevator.

Too Early Trivia January 16th, 2007

Question: In one poll of women, here's what they said they wanted for Valentine's Day.
37 percent prefer jewelry and 32 percent prefer flowers. What is the third most desired gift?

Answer: Nothing (Yeah, they are lying)

Too Early Trivia January 15th, 2007

Question: One in five women say they would give up a life of great romance or personal wealth if they could have what?

Answer: Eternally perfect hair

Cranky.com is it for you?

Baby boomers are getting a little cranky... online. Cranky.com is a search engine specifically for the graying set. The company says their research shows people 50 and older are confused by the volume of results from searches on sites like Google or Yahoo.

Cranky.com shows just four websites, screened for interest to the targeted baby boomers. The company`s founder is no stranger to online success. He struck internet gold with the employment site Monster.com.

Why Cranky.com???

One in many, many TRILLION!!

A Pueblo, Colorado man recently won a Colorado Lottery jackpot of $3.4 million just three years after he won $1.3 million in the same lottery. Since the game was introduced in 1989, the Colorado Lotto has seen two other duplicate jackpot winners. The chances of winning the Lotto jackpot is 1 in 5 million and the probability of winning twice in a lifetime is one in many, many trillion.

The winner wishes to stay anonymous, but credits his faith for his luck. He told officials that the first time he won, he was one week away from filing for bankruptcy and prayed for help to pay his bills before a voice encouraged him to buy one lottery ticket. The man is a devout Christian, and said he plans to continue to support various charities that help children and the homeless.

$800,000 Trailer Follow-up

Residents of the coastal trailer park town of Briny Breezes, Florida have voted overwhelmingly to sell their community to a developer for more than $510 million. It’s a move which could make most of them millionaires, even though some residents bought their homes for as little as $35,000!

The contract isn’t official—and residents don’t get any money—until 2009. If the sale goes through, however, nearly every owner will get more than $1 million.

(About 80% of the town’s shareholders who cast ballots approved the sale, while only 17% opposed it.)

Invented by a man...OBVIOUSLY!!!

DO YOUR `BUSINESS` WHILE PLAYING VIDEOGAMES

Here`s another pimped out porcelain god. A national plumbing products company is trying to get hip to the younger generation by giving away a home-entertainment toilet in Atlanta.
While sitting on this "pimped out" toilet, you can take care of business while playing videogames, or watching your fave movie. This toilet sports a DVD player and a even a beer tap.
Everything is at arms length, including a Velcro strap for all of the remote controls.

House votes to increase Federal Minimum Wage

The Democratic-controlled House voted yesterday to increase the federal minimum wage to $7.25 an hour. It was a move that brings America’s lowest-paid workers a step closer to their first raise in a decade. The vote was 315-116, with more than 80 Republicans joining Democrats to pass it. The measure now goes to the Senate.

It would raise the federal wage floor by $2.10 from its current $5.15 an hour in three steps spaced out over 26 months. It would go to $5.85 an hour 60 days after signed into law by the president, to $6.55 a year later, and to $7.25 a year after that. In case you were wondering, the last increase in the minimum wage happened all the way back in 1997…

If you make 7.25 an hour and work 40 hours a week...you would make $15,080 a year. WOW!

Too Early Trivia January 10th, 2007

Question: Men do this an average of twice a month, women an average of once per week.

Answer: Trim their fingernails.

The view from your window

This is a really neat website. It shows views from different people's windows throughout the world. I really think we could get some great views of Southern Utah. If you have a great shot of a view out your window send it in. Check out the website and see all the beautiful things that surround us everyday, just look out your window.

http://the-view-from-your-window.blogspot.com/

Too Early Trivia January 9th, 2007

Question: 67 percent of men keep this in their vehicles at all times.

Answer: A bottle of cologne!

Too Early Trivia January 8th, 2007

Question: On average this takes 3 minutes and 3 seconds every time you do it?

Answer: Get food from a drive-thru window.

Too Early Trivia January 5th, 2007

Question: The average American is likely to do this over 20 times in a single day. The younger the person, the more they do it, and the more likely they will get told not to do it.

Answer: Open and close the refrigerator.

Too Early Trivia January 4th, 2007

Question: An insurance study found that these are the most dangerous food and drinks to consume while driving....#1 Coffee, #2 Soup-----What is #3?

Answer: Tacos

Don't Open the Happy New Year E-mail!

THE HAPPY NEW YEAR WORM IS SPREADING ON THE NET

The first of the worms in the new year has recorded its presence. An email worm, in the form of a New Year`s greeting, is likely to land in your mailbox and security experts advise you not to open a mail which has a title `Happy New Year` and contains an attachment named postcard.exe, or postcard.zip.
If the attachment is opened, the malware will get downloaded from the internet, which will infect your computer, if it’s running Windows. The worm then starts spamming mail to infect other computers. Experts estimate that more than 160 email servers are now being used by the worm to send itself out.
Security experts also warned that the Happy New Year worm is not recognized by all virus scanners.

$800,000 Trailer???

TRAILER PARK RESIDENTS COULD BECOME OVERNIGHT MILLIONAIRES

Joke all you want about living in a mobile home. A group of Floridians doing just that may soon be having the last laugh all the way to the bank. Their community sits on oceanfront land just south of Palm Beach. It`s the kind of land that makes developers drool, so much so that an offer is on the table that could make the trailer owners overnight millionaires.
The nearly 500 owners have until next week to decide whether to accept or reject a $510 million offer. A 2/3 majority is needed. Many residents are all for it, like the guy who paid $37,000 for his trailer 9 years ago and would now make about $800,000. But several say they`ll be sorry to see their little community go.

ANTI-DRUNK DRIVING CAR

TOYOTA DEVELOPING THE ANTI-DRUNK DRIVING CAR

Toyota is developing a fail-safe system for cars that detects drunken drivers and automatically shuts the vehicle down if sensors pick up signs of excessive alcohol consumption. Cars fitted with the detection system will not start if sweat sensors in the driving wheel detect high levels of alcohol in the driver`s bloodstream.
The system could also kick in if the sensors detect abnormal steering, or if a special camera shows that the driver`s pupils are not in focus. The car is then slowed to a halt. The world`s No. 2 automaker hopes to fit cars with the system by the end of 2009.
By the way, Nissan Motor Co. has already been experimenting with breathalyzer-like devices that could detect if a driver was drunken. (Similar technologies, such as alcohol ignition interlocks, are in use in the U.S. and elsewhere.)