Although I don't find the economy to be one of my favorite topics...especially in light of today's budget shortfalls...I must admit these sites were fun to use and could be very helpful for people. I love shopping sites that give tips for saving money, or help with comparison shopping. It always makes me feel better when I know I'm getting a good deal. So I enjoyed using myrateplan.com and wisebread.com. I took another look through Craig's List. I purchased an iPod through it a year or so ago and found the service to be great - and it's always good to take another look.
I get frustrated easily by the sites that tell you how you can save so much money, like the "frugal dad" site. I guess I've always been a penny pincher, so I don't do many of the things that the "average person" does, I guess. It's always bothered me when I read an article about saving money and they give suggestions like "skip buying your morning speciality coffee" (never have done that), cancel your magazine subscriptions (don't get any now), eat at home, rather than eating out (we don't eat out very often now), and that type of thing. I've just always been a very frugal person and I've been fortunate to have a husband who feels the same way.
The gardening sites are fun - but I must admit I'm not much of a gardener, so I probably won't get into that any more than before. I'm also not big into garage sales - so although I checked them out, I didn't find too much of any interest to me.
I do have a couple of recommendations:
1. Many of the local radio stations give special deals to their listeners. For example, Spirit 92.9 in St. Cloud has a local "Shop n' Save" website: https://www.rabmarketing.com/auction/main.cfm?mid=68 where you can purchase $10 gift cards for $6. If you know you're going out to dinner at one of these locations, you can save money right off the bat by purchasing one of these.
2. I also like the clubs that Famous Dave's, Cold Stone, Luciano's Pizza and several others have that send you emails with special savings or even free deals on your birthday or other holidays. Since I go to these places anyway (and they're kinda pricey at full price) it really helps to have a coupon along.
3. Before shopping sales at various locations around town I will often visit their websites to check out the deals. Sometimes I can find something I love at Kohl's or Herbergers - but will notice that the price is cheaper online.
4. When shopping for computers through Dell - check out the website and newspaper sales. Do your homework. Then actually call them to do the ordering. They will quote you a price. You can compare that to what you see online and often will become eligible for special savings. The last computer I bought I received an upgrade to a higher amount of RAM just because I asked about it.
My only other suggestion is to just not buy it.
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