Retailers Selling Used Underwear?

This morning NBC’s Today Show shared a hidden camera investigation of numerous big name retailers like Victoria’s Secret, Macy’s Bloomingdale’s, The Gap, etc. selling “used” underwear.  The thought of wearing underwear that someone else had on is detestable.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

However, I worked as a manger for both the Gap and Victoria’s Secret for several years.  Returns were at the managers discretion unless the merchandise was in some way defective.  We would scrutinize returns to ensure that if they were accepted that any worn merchandise did not make it back onto the sales floor.  Needless to say, I was more than alarmed when I saw what these retailers were allowing.  Could it be that the slump in the economy has caused retailers to no longer be concerned with consumer protection laws?  To be on the safe side, following the following tips when purchasing your undergarments:

• Have a bra fitting.  Believe it or not, 80% of women wear the wrong bra size.  Allow the salesperson in the store to fit you in order to increase the chances that you purchase the correct bra size.
• Try on a few different styles.  All bras are not constructed the same.  Try on a few different styles to see what you are comfortable with.  You may only like a full coverage bra or maybe a demi or push-up style would suit you best.  You will not know until you try.
• Be practical.  Are you seriously going to wear a nylon or mesh thong every day?  Make practical choices, like cotton, for everyday underwear and save the others for “special” occasions.  Cotton underwear promotes genital health since it allows the vagina to breathe.
• Gently launder all undergarments prior to first use.  I use to hate to do this but after working in retail I make it a priority.  Someone trying on a garment is enough to spread infection so, do you due diligence and control the things you can control–wash it.

Following these tips can ensure we make more informed purchases and protect our health in the process.

How To Set Your Christmas Budget

I know this may be late, but this is very useful information in preparing and shopping for the holidays.  Be enlightened!

Step By Step Guide for Making Your Christmas Budget

1. Make a long list of everyone to whom you want to give a Christmas gift.

Be sure to include the following groups of people:

• Family – aunts, uncles, children, spouse, cousins, siblings, grandparents, and even the stray dog your brother-in-law adopted.  Include everyone you WANT to give a gift to.
• Co-workers – partners, bosses, co-workers, support staff
• Church friends – Bible school teachers, church staff, grandparent figures
• Community friends – neighbors, fellow volunteers, clerk at the grocery store
• Those who provide services – paperboy, mail man, pizza delivery boy, yard worker, pool cleaner, teachers
• Anyone else – feeling jovial?  Put them on the list.

2. Determine how much you can afford to spend on Christmas.

This calculation can be relatively simple.  How much money can you save between now and December 25th? How many of those dollars are you willing to dedicate towards Christmas gifts?

Christmas Spending Rule:

How much you can afford to spend must be an amount you save in CASH.  This is not an ‘if-I-were-rich-I-would-budget-this’ list. This is how much you actually have to give for Christmas.  If the number is low, that is fine.  Christmas is not about financially crippling yourself so someone can have a pair of socks that will go in the trash before January. Christmas is about expressing love and appreciation.  Both of which can be done without money.  Christmas can be enjoyed without money.  Be sure that your budget is reasonable in relationship to your income.  This can be done by making sure your total amount fits within recommended budget percentages.

3. Prioritize your list from step #1.  Make it a short list.

If married, before prioritizing the list, pray that God will give you the patience to work together – not against each other.

You might want to cut out your Great Aunt Sally, but your wife has given her a gift every year for two decades.  She might want to remove a business partner who doesn’t deserve anything, but you want to grease that relationship.  This process could be painful, so prayerfully get on the same page before you start.

At this stage you are just going to separate each name into three groups – paid gift, made gift, no gift. Since you know how much you can afford to give you will have a better sense of how many people can be on your paid gift list.  Knowing your time, available you can limit your made gift list. The others – no gift, but perhaps a Christmas card.

4. Assign and complete necessary preparations.

Paid Gift List:

Beside each name on the paid gift list, assign a budgeted amount.  For example, dad might get $50 and cousin Steve $25.  Be sure that total does not exceed the amount in Step #2.  The only rule here is you cannot overspend that amount on that person.  Here are 8 tips to save money on your Christmas shopping.

Made Gift List:

What will you make?  Cookies and other Christmas treats are a great idea for close friends, neighbors, and colleagues.  For family, a customized card with a picture of the kids will suffice.  Need some guidance?  Here is a list of 50 Personalized Christmas Gift Ideas.

No Gift:

If they made it on your first list you might just send them a personalized card.

Merry Christmas Uncle Joe.  We just wanted to let you know that you are a special part of our family.  Thanks for all the time and attention you give to our kids.  We’re blessed to have an uncle like you.

5. Make the budget work.

Don’t spend more than you budgeted.

If your budget is tight, you will need to capitalize on a free valuable resource – CREATIVITY.  Creativity must be combined with another necessary ingredient – TIME.

Time + Creativity = Awesome Valuable Christmas Presents for a Lower Price

How do you set your Christmas budget?  How soon do you start saving money for Christmas?

Source:  http://www.christianpf.com/how-to-make-a-christmas-budget/

Andrea’s Beau

While reading a blog devoted to hair care, I ran across the company Andrea’s Beau.  She specializes in hair ornaments for women and girls and I was blown away by her beautiful creations.  Her intricate, detailed handywork would be a treasure for anyone desiring that special piece for that special occassion.  With a background deeply rooted in fashion, it was only natural for Andrea to fall in love with color, textures, and fabrics.  Here is the company’s mission:

Our primary goal is to create irresistibly pretty accessories for girls and women.

Andrea’s Beau products are handmade in the United States by a team of remarkable women who love the idea that their creations adorn girls and women throughout the world. Our flexible work schedules allow these women to balance their professional and private lives. We don’t outsource because we believe that the personal connection each of us feels toward our beautiful products fosters a joyful atmosphere in the workplace, results in superior workmanship, and elevates our brand.

Our goal is also to ensure that we reach excellence in customer service, environmental practices, and charitable acts. We measure our success by our own smiles at the end of a work day and by the outpouring of laudatory comments we receive from our customers.

Andrea’s Beau products can be purchased online or you may be able to find her products locally by searching at www.andreasbeau.com.

“Exquisite ribbon, a silk flower, beaded trim, a passementerie tassel… each inspires me to create ornaments that delight not only the wearer, but all who see her. If my designs evoke a delighted ‘ahhh!,’ I’m happy.”
— Andrea

Donate Your Dress

As you know this is prom season for many high school students.  On average, families spend around $1000 for this once in a lifetime experience.  With many families having to tighten up on their budget, the prospect of preparing for the prom can be very overwhelming.  There are ways to help.  Many of us have been in weddings and have evening wear sitting in our closets that will never wear again.  There is an organization called Donate Your Dress that helps underpriviledged teens.  Here is more information:

DonateMyDress.org is the first national campaign designed to encourage girls around the country to donate their prom and special occasion dresses to those who cannot afford to finance the costly experience of going to their prom, sweet 16, quinceañera or formal on their own. The site features a directory of local dress drive organizations across the U.S. that will enable girls to easily find out where in their local markets they can donate a dress or receive one. In addition, DonateMyDress.org contains information on upcoming local events, a photo gallery of real girls donating and receiving dresses, as well as links to content on prom and quinceañera planning, hair and makeup tips, and other worthy causes.

DonateMyDress.org is part of the Hearst Teen Network, which includes the industry’s leading teen brands — CosmoGIRL!, Seventeen and TEEN — as well as MisQuinceMag.com, MyPromStyle.com, eCRUSH.com and eSPIN.com. With more than three million monthly unique visitors, the Hearst Teen Network is one of the top 10 ranked entertainment news web sites, according to ComScore Media Metrix.

Princess and the Frog

Finally, we have the full trailer for Disney’s The Princess and the Frog, which features their first African-American princess!  Sure, they gave us the Shana and Thes Proud Family with Penny Proud to pacify us but, she was not a princess.  So, I’m sure many of you share the same sentiments that I did when I initially began to hear rumors that they were finally going to have a princess my daughters could relate to.  I pondered the many storylines the rumors reported.  Some of them made me angry and other made me laugh at how trivial many people believe African-American culture is.  Nevertheless, right now I plan to support this film because I would like to see more like it.

Disney estimates they will make a ton of revenue from the Tiana dolls, manufactured by Mattel.  They are hoping she will help carry them through tough times.  In addition, Mattel has plans to launch their first complete line of African-American dolls.  The So in Style Dolls will launch in the fall, just in time for the holiday shopping season.  Reportedly, the line differs from its previous releases of African-American toys.  The new line is set to have more realistic features like fuller lips, different noses, and complexions, etc.

Recession Busting Tips: Pt. 2

1.  Pack your lunch. Think about it, if you spend $5.oo a day on just lunch and an average work week is 5 days, that’s $25.00 a week, $100.00 a month!  What can you be doing with that money?  It’s alright to treat yourself, but it can be expensive doing it every day.

2.  Use your leftovers. It makes a great lunch the next day and it saves time, as well as, money.

3.  Carpool. If you have someone who works in the same area, rotate carpooling duties.  This is a tried and true way of saving on gas and giving your car a break.

4.  When shopping, make a shopping list and STICK TO IT! This is a challenging area for me.  With two toddlers, I use a lot of my energy just trying to get them in the car!  Sometimes it’s hard to avoid impulse shopping (that’s an area I am working on), but preparing before you go to the store can help streamline your purchasing.  Go ahead and go thru the sales flyers and have your coupons ready, it makes for a more productive trip.

5.  Distinguish between needs and desires. We often justify our “extra” purchases by saying, “I really need this.”  But, in fact, it is something you really want.  Look at what it  takes for you to live.  Yes it is alright to enjoy some of the “extras” in life, but in moderation.  Furthermore, plan for the extras-entertainment, cosmetics, electronics, etc.,whatever it may be.  Look at what you need and what you can realistically afford.

6.  TITHE, TITHE, TITHE. “Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me.  “But you ask, ‘How do we rob you?’   “In tithes and offerings.  You are under a curse—the whole nation of you—because you are robbing me.  Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.  I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit,” says the LORD Almighty.  “Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land,” says the LORD Almighty.”  Malachi 3:8-12 (NIV) We must never neglect our obligation to honor God with the first fruits (10%) of our labor.  As believers, there are some bad things that God doesn’t allow to happen, because we are faithful in paying our tithes.  It may not all be monetary, but it will be what we need at that time.

Saving Money Online

Good day ladies!  I hope you are having a wonderful Monday.  I just wanted to offer to you some the sites we’ve found that will help you save money.  We are always trying to find ways to make our dollar stretch, as we know you are.  There are a number of online resources where consumers can print coupons, get rebates for certain online purchase, or receive coupon codes when purchasing online.  These sites have been used by us or they came highly recommended.

www.CouponMom.com

In addition to providing a host of printable grocery and dining coupons, the site lets you sign up to receive weekly coupon and deal alerts for any item on your shopping list. A page of sample and free trial offers yields coupons on diapers, free formula and deals on other baby and child-care essentials. 

Sample coupons: Save $5 on any Leapfrog Didj educational videogame (regularly about $30) with a print-out coupon. Expires March 28. Save $5 on one Huggies Gentle Care diapers product (regularly $14 for a 40-pack) with a print-out coupon. Expires April 12.

www.Upromise.com

Take five minutes to register your credit cards and store loyalty cards online with this free rewards program, and every purchase you make at participating retailers will earn you cash back that gets deposited into a 529 college savings plan. Link to The Children’s Place through upromise.com, for example, and 4% of your purchase will go into a 529.   It isn’t a ton of money, but think of the savings over time.  Every bit counts!  The site’s eCoupons feature lets you click on coupons to load them onto a grocery store loyalty card. Just swipe your card at checkout to redeem them.

Sample coupons: Save $5 when you buy any two 23-ounce containers of Similac baby formula (regularly $27 each) with a print-out coupon. Expires March 31. Save $1 when you buy any two boxes of Post kids cereal, like Honeycomb or Fruity Pebbles (regularly about $4 each). Expires March 31.

www.RetailMeNot.com

This free site allow consumers to access online coupon codes.  Just type in the name of the retailer and it gives you a list of current codes and those that are no good or have expired.  Readers can sign up for updates for the favorite stores.

Sample coupons: Save $10 on your next American Girl online purchase of $30 or more by using code 161357 at checkout. No expiration date noted. Get free shipping (regularly $10) on your purchase at BabyAge.com with coupon code FUNFUR3 at checkout. Expires March 31.

www.Coupons.com

This site puts you in the mind of clipping coupons in the Sunday paper (which is the “gold standard” for those faithful coupon clippers).  Chose the coupons you want and print.  Put in you zip code and coupons for local retailers are included.  Readers will have to download their software to be able to print out coupons.

Sample coupons: $20 off at H&R Block

www.CouponCabin.com

This is one of my favorites!  It combines printable coupons, coupons codes, and sales alerts in a very user friendly form.  Staffers check the validity of the coupons and it is updated 3x a day.

Old Navy Discounts

Good day ladies!  I know many of you are preparing your spring wardrobe.  Whether it  be for yourself, the husband, or the kids, you are looking for deals while remaining “fashion forward.”  Old Navy has a great resource for their coupons.  Go to www.OldNavy.com and click on www.OldNavyWeekly.com in the upper right hand corner.  It will allow you to “hunt” and click on various deals, with are constantly changing.  They vary from dollar or percentage off coupons that are to be used in the store that week.   The coupons can either be printed out or sent to the email address of your choice.  It’s just that simple!

Recession Busting Tips: Part One

Well Sisters,  I have spent the last few days pondering more ways to tighten my family’s belt.  I like to think that for the most part I can be pretty frugal although my husband and I both have our guilty pleasures.  We had a tremendous lifestyle change after I stopped working near the end of my second pregnancy.  We suddenly snapped from two incomes to one.  We did not prepare as well as we probably could have but we certainly learned the difference between necessity and desire.  At any rate, here are a few tips to help us all ride the economic wave.  And, of course, please share any tips you have with your SISTERS!

Recession Busting Tips: Part One

1. Buy whole chickens. All of the poultry eaters out there have already noticed the rising prices.  A great way to combat this is to stop paying for convenience.  Instead of purchasing chicken parts or whole cut-up chickens, purchase whole chickens and cut them yourself.  In most cases, you will save between $.75 to $1.00 per pound!  That is savings that can add up!  You’ll need freezer bags and a good pair of poultry shears to do the job, but it’s worth it.
2. Make your own cleaning supplies. Not only is this better for the environment, but you can save a ton.  There are several websites dedicated to do-it-yourself cleaning supplies and tips.  We even have several articles dedicated to it.  You can check them out here.
3. Bye-bye acrylic nails. I know a great deal of women just refuse to cut back in the area, however doing so can save a bundle.  On average, acrylic nails will cost $22 (plus $4 tip) every two weeks.  That’s a cost of $676 a year!  Many women attempt to do it themselves at home but that increases the risk of infection and fungus even more.  Try a healthy diet with vitamins and at-home manicures or barter with a friend.  It’s worth it!
4. Turn off that fan. Use the kitchen and bathroom ventilating fans sparingly during cold weather. In just one hour, these fans can blow away a houseful of heated air. Turn them off just as soon as they have done their jobs.
5. Have a garage sale! I admit I’m still getting my nerve up to try this tip, but from what I’ve seen the benefits are great.  You clear out unwanted or underused items and make a little cash in the process.  Alternatively, you could schedule a pick-up with Goodwill or the Salvation Army and tax the tax write-off.  Either way, you save.
6. Clip those coupons. Use coupons whenever you can.  They are especially great in combination with in-store promotions.  You can save as much as 80% on some items and more if you catch a BOGO.  Sign-up with websites like CouponMom.com and SmartSource to get a heads up on the coupons that will be featured in Sunday’s Paper.

Stay tuned for more tips….

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