Fortunately, I was able to get a great deal on Black Friday. I need a new Apple iMac because I can no longer get updates for mine. It’s 12 years old. I’ve been watching the prices for the Apple 27” iMac with Retina 5K display for months. Finally, for Black Friday, Apple reduced the price $600. Read more →

If you read my newsletter (sign up here if you haven’t seen it yet), you know I advised consumers to start their Black Friday shopping for several weeks ago. My advice today is to keep comparison shopping and add some of the stores that WalletHub.com recommends as the best, and of course, leave those at the bottom of its list until last. Read more →

I just wanted to write and let you know today about what's going on with my newsletter. I scour personal finance websites every week to find the best tips for people to use in their personal finance lives. I've been getting a lot of positive feedback on it. Recently, J. Money of Budgets Sexy took a look at my newsletter. Read more →

It’s Halloween, time to get the treats ready, and maybe a costume for you and the kids, too. I got a kick out of reading an article from my blog coach, J. Money at Budgets Are Sexy, on some good – and frugal costumes. Among them is static cling, wear normal clothes and safety pin socks and lint to it. Read more →

It’s good news that a new federal safety standard for clothing storage units has finally been adopted that will reduce injuries and deaths from furniture tip-overs. In writing about consumer product safety for decades, it’s been discouraging to read about and report on tip-over deaths through the years. Read more →

Are you planning to dress up for Halloween this year? Have a party? Hand out candy? When I worked in an office and had co-workers, I dressed up often for Halloween. See the photo to the left. I was “Miss Orondo,” Orondo being the rural center where I grew up in Central Washington. Read more →

I’m so excited that J. Money of Budgets are Sexy wrote an entire article about my newsletter Thursday, even including all of my top 10 tips from last week, for his readers. I have more than 100 new signups for my newsletter as a result. Take a look what J. Money had to say: Read more →

Wedged between Labor Day and Black Friday sales, October isn’t the best month to find bargains, but do research and you could find noteworthy deals even for early holiday shopping. I’ll be shopping for summer clothing where deals of up to 70 percent can be found. Read more →

It’s difficult to figure out what to write about here. The death of Queen Elizabeth II? Or the death of my daughter-in-law’s father George Waegell? Or getting together with my high school friends and remembering those days so many years ago. Thankfully, my blogging friends helped solved my dilemma ... Read more →

Recently, I received a package with a sheet of plastic in it that said “Micro-Pak Enhanced PE Sheets.” Wondering what it was, I saved it. Micro-Pak Enhanced PE Sheets are intended to control, inhibit, and mitigate odor causing bacteria, mold, and mildew on products enclosed in packaging intended for shipment. Read more →