Book Reviews and Money Saving Tips

Couponing is now a verb. Keeping in mind that part of the text in the title of my blog, is Money Saving, it shouldn’t be surprising that I am doing a post on coupons. I don’t think you need to be either indigent or retired to clip coupons although sadly those two things often go hand in hand. Even the phrase clipping coupons has passed out of the vernacular as many coupons are now printed not clipped. I particularly like grocery coupons that I can redeem for double the face value as long as it is under $0.99. I have been sneered at for couponing by those who feel that coupon clipping (or printing) is demeaning. Au contraire I say, it makes no sense to leave money on the table. If you are planning on purchasing dinner rolls and you can save $1.50 off of your favorite brand by clipping a coupon, you have to be an idiot not to save the money. Admittedly prior to being retired, I didn’t have as much time to seek out coupons as I do now. I didn’t need to read all of the...

Recently a good friend regaled me with his lost car keys story. He was in Walmart buying a new TV remote for his 94 year old father. After acquiring the remote he headed for the front of the store. On the way out the door he started doing the pat the pocket for the car keys. Crap, they weren’t in his pocket, he must have dropped them somewhere from the front door to the electronic section. He carefully traced his steps back to electronics but alas, no keys. He asked the electronics clerk if he had found his keys. The electronics clerk asked him who he was. He reminded the guy he just bought the remote, drew a blank look from the clerk and asked him again if anyone had turned in a set of car keys. After being informed no keys had been turned in, my pal started to panic. First how would he get back to his Dad’s apartment? Then he thought, oh crap, if my wife didn’t bring her keys with her, the closest key is 1000 miles away. Walking despondently to the door, he thought he would check th...

An earlier post mentioned my frustration with trying to make an old Okidata 10ex work with my Vista laptop. That was a dream that remained unfulfilled. Since I like being able to print out stuff, even on vacation, I went to Walmart and bought the Canon iP2600. The setup was a bit tedious but simple. It prints fast and the quality is exceptional. I printed out some photos yesterday on their sample photo paper and they were excellent. No matter how you cut it , this printer is an exceptional bargain. This printer cost $32.00 plus tax at Walmart. I don’t do much printing when I am on vacation but I like having a printer. I look at the convenience and off set the $32 with running to a Kinkos to print out a boarding pass and I am ok with the expenditure. Now the sad part, when the printer runs out of ink, I will throw it out and buy what ever is at the same price point. Replacement inkjet cartridges are $36.00 plus shipping or tax depending on where I get them. Canon brand cartridges are ...

I mentioned in a previous blog I am on a vacation. I lugged an old Okidata 10ex laser along to leave in Florida. I figured once the drum needed changing, I would just recycle it. Since I have thee of them it would be no loss to abandon it. Since my laptop doesn’t have a parallel port I had to figure out how to hook up the laser to my laptop. I found a male USB to Female DB25 adapter at Buy.com for $8.97 with shipping which allowed me to plug my parallel cable into the laptop. I tested the connection before I left home and after fooling around a bit, I got it to work. I dragged the laser down here to Florida and set it up. If you are familiar with lasers then you know that moving them can be problematic. The older lasers had a tendency to bleed toner over the entire printer if tilted. I shrink wrapped the toner cartridge and covered the drum to insure I had no mess. That all worked, no mess. Sadly the rest of it didn’t go as well. The laser self tested just fine. The problem was I...

I’m on vacation but as most Internet junkies I am loathe to be out of touch. I brought my laptop and as backup for the laptop, I brought my PDA which is wireless enabled. I purchased a Comcast approved modem and added seasonal Internet to my TV package. BTW I heard about the seasonal package by word of mouth, I still haven’t seen it on any Comcast site. It turns out in touristy areas like Florida; Comcast has a program that allows you to go month to month on Internet access. The Comcast representative wanted me to have their tech come out to install my modem for $50.00. Since installation was putting a splitter on the cable and sending one cable to the TV and the other to my laptop, I felt I could handle it and I saved the $50.00 installation fee. Once the modem is attached, you call Comcast and provide them with the mac# that is on the modem and you are in business. For $25.00 a month I get a slow but reliable connection to the Internet. Slow as compared to what I have at home bu...

Much ado about nothing comes to mind with all the hype over the release of the Apple i-Pad or the HP Slate. Who knows what Apple originally intended, the bottom line is that their tablet is designed for a “rich multi-media experience”. The HP Slate was originally conceived as an e-book platform that also gradually morphed into a rich multi-media Swiss army knife. I think the pundits are missing the boat. A good e-book platform at a $99.00 price point would be a run away best seller. Another notebook without a keyboard is likely to be not so much. I’m an avid reader. I have 75 books loaded into my pda which also has a version of Excel and Word as well as a version of media player. I purchased an infrared keyboard for it and with it’s built in WIFI it is an adequate substitution for a laptop that fits in my pocket without looking like I am overly glad to see you. The screen is way smaller than a Kindle but bigger than my cell phone. I own it. It is paid for and I own it. See where I ...

As online purchases become ubiquitous it is easier to find yourself purchasing from a charlatan. Here is a site that I use to get a modicum of information regarding online resellers. Of course, use common sense when looking at the review. If it is a brand new site with 5 absolutely wonderful reviews, they may be the site owner’s family. Conversely if there are some simply scathing reviews scattered amongst a preponderance of good reviews there may be some mud slinging involved. I have found the site useful and hope you will too. This is not a paid review, this is my opinion only and I have received no compensation of any kind for writing it. If, by chance, you use the site and discover that I have saved you from a purchasing faux pax worse than death, please feel free to click on my donate money button and pass along some of your savings. LOL