Perspective

This video is not new, although Sarah McLachlan does have a new Christmas album out this month that is supposed to be very good. I believe this song is off her last album, and while you may have heard the single before, the video itself is inspiring and beautiful. I actually got choked up the first time I watched it. Take a look and keep it in perspective this holiday season.

For online shoppers

If you'd rather avoid the frantic and often chaotic over-packed malls this holiday season, I for one do not blame you. However, browsing items online is difficult when you are buying for someone and you are not sure what to get them. The simple efficiency of the internet eliminates the tactile nature of what happens when you go through a store and get to pick up items, feel them, or even smell them, which may often help you to decide what to purchase. For these instances, I've found a website called, very simply, Gifts. This is a great creative resource that you can use for gift shopping year-round, and has a variety of categories to help you narrow your search, including gender, age, occasion, etc. If nothing else, this tool can even help you decide what to get before you go out to the stores themselves, by helping you brain storm and sort through ideas.

Pretty much as cheap as it gets

I'm sorry, but I just had to post about this. Apparently Britney's publicist thinks that the best way to revive your career and recover from a divorce from the biggest loser on the planet is to become best friends with the most famous celebrity with the least amount of talent (I'm being generously discreet there--she is actually famous for doing something). In any case, these two have been a few skin grafts short of becoming conjoined twins lately. You would think that hanging out with an heiress would be extravagant, but true to the Paris Hilton textbook, Britney has stopped buying (and wearing) underwear, and at a recent outing (above) couldn't afford the top half of her dress. As if that weren't tragedy enough, if I can direct your attention to their lower halves, the girls could only afford one pair of fishnet stockings between them, each wearing one leg on their right side.

Please cover your mouth while you watch this...

Moving past the whole Clay Aiken thing, the new reason to tune in to Regis and Kelly in the morning are the segments they are featuring on inexpensive gift ideas. Today, they had some unique ideas for hostess gifts that are bargain alternatives to your traditional bottle of wine. One that I thought that was rather clever was taking a decorative glass bottle of olive oil (which could be found at stores like Pier 1, a long-time favorite of mine) and wrapping it in a new decorative dish towel. Both clever, and functional, and in the end, quite a bargain!

Watching out online,

With more and more consumers turning to online markets to get most of their holiday shopping done, its important to be aware of what transactions and information you are using online. Many scams are conducted via email in the guise of bank or PayPal concerns or requests for information or confirmations. Do not be fooled into replying to these, as doing so can result identity or monetary theft in some form. Recently, I came across a great resource when it comes to dealing with these issues. This website, called Anti-Phishing provides information, archives, and mapping on these online crimes, called "phishing" or "pharming." According to their main page:

"What is Phishing and Pharming?
Phishing attacks use both social engineering and technical subterfuge to steal consumers' personal identity data and financial account credentials. Social-engineering schemes use 'spoofed' e-mails to lead consumers to counterfeit websites designed to trick recipients into divulging financial data such as credit card numbers, account usernames, passwords and social security numbers. Hijacking brand names of banks, e-retailers and credit card companies, phishers often convince recipients to respond. Technical subterfuge schemes plant crimeware onto PCs to steal credentials directly, often using Trojan keylogger spyware. Pharming crimeware misdirects users to fraudulent sites or proxy servers, typically through DNS hijacking or poisoning."


They even provide a reporting service, where you can email attacks you come across to reportphishing@antiphishing.com.

Monday, Monday

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and have hopefully by now digested all that turkey and stuffing, and worked off some of those calories by grabbing some fabulous bargains! This year’s Black Friday sales were greater than expected, with a respectable 6% growth from last year’s figures. Apparently, the American Black Friday phenomenon has also gained perspective with international markets, as tourists from other countries now flock to major U.S. cities to experience the event and perhaps get their own deals. I noticed another trend in my area, as it seems a long day of bargain hunting following a day of cooking and feasting is most satisfied by a good ol’ Friday night pizza. The local pizzeria’s in my town had crowds waiting out the door as dozens of people found it was most convenient to eat their pizza with one hand and comb through their deals with the other.

In the spirit of this, and as promised in a previous article, I have a great tip for a cheap home made pizza for those times when you just can’t afford to order out. This solution also comes courtesy of Walmart, where they sell a Sam’s Choice pizza crust mix in a pouch that retails for about 33¢! After adding the water to make the dough, I find that it takes only 2 packets to make a pizza the size of a regular sized cookie sheet. After you’ve spread the dough, brush it with a little olive oil, then spread on your choice of jarred pizza sauce and grated cheese, and toppings if you choose. To keep costs as low as possible, you can get many of your veggie toppings from a can such as sliced black olives and mushrooms, but you can also get fresh or frozen peppers or broccoli, or tomatoes. Pick up a small pepperoni and slice it yourself if you are a meat-lover, or take out some hamburger from the freezer and fry it up in a frying pan before adding it to your pie. It only takes about a half an hour to cook them up, and the results are delicious. Another fun recipe you can make taking advantage of the low cost of the dough packets are an appetizer veggie bread by mixing the dough as directed then brushing it with Italian dressing and then adding veggies such as broccoli, peppers, or olives, and then topping it with shredded cheddar or asiago cheese. This a quick and cheap option for small dinner parties when you want to serve appetizers that don’t cost a lot!

Black Friday article

The Yahoo homepage is featuring an article on "How to Shop like a champ on Black Friday", the biggest shopping day of the year. "Black Friday" is a reference to when most stores convert their budgets into profits, turning from red to black. The article features tips on finding the best deals and how to strategize your shopping trips.

Inside Scoop!

Starting tonight, Bath & Body Works will be airing a commercial for the first time ever. The 15-second spot will be featured on all major networks, including during top-rated shows like Deal or No Deal and Grey's Anatomy. The ad will be highlighting a special deal for this Friday only; when customers spend $30, they can receive an eau de toilet in any signature fragrance of their choice while supplies last. If you're a big B & BW fan, take advantage of this special offer!

Call farther for cheaper

With Thanksgiving coming up on Thursday and the rest of the holiday season sure to follow, reconnecting with family near and far is an important priority. I recently came across a great option for people who find their genetic counterparts more geographically dispersed. The PennyTalk calling card offers 1¢ rates for calls made within the U.S. and international rates starting at only 2¢. In many cases, these rates are quite the deal, but keep in mind these usage agreements: the minimum dollar amount card you can purchase is $25, all calls have a 49¢ connection fee, and there is a monthly service charge of 99¢. Even with these small fees, a card like this may be of particular use to people who need to make semi-frequent international cards, as the PennyTalk calling card can be used to call more than 250 countries. Additionally, the card can be used with your cell phone, and certain phones can be entered into your account so that you do not have to use a PIN when dialing from them.

Pizza Pizza

Pizza is a Friday night staple, but sometimes it can cost you quite a bit to have something from the hut. I hate to say it, but a great alternative I have recently discovered is found in the Super Walmart deli section, where you can find among the ready to serve prepared foods is a supreme style pizza
for only 8.50. At a 16" inch diameter, which is comparable to your average medium sized pizza, and comes with premium cooked sweet Italian sausage, roasted mushrooms, pepperoni, three kinds of pepper strips (red, green, and yellow), tomatoes, onions, and a three cheese blend. It takes about 20 minutes to heat up in the oven, and tasted like a delivery style pizza only with less grease. Remember when you pick one up, that grocery stores are not allowed to charge tax on prepared foods unless they have a place for you to eat it right in the store.

Enjoy pizza on a regular basis? Keep an eye out for an upcoming post with cheap pizza tips and recipes!

Parody of Friends

Because you gotta have Friends

In honor of the release of the complete boxed set of all 10 seasons of Friends on DVD, this Friday’s bargain-priced parody is of the Friends, my favorite show, may it rest in peace.

Get Hairapy

I just got my sample of Sunsilk shampoo, conditioner, and volumizing creme in the mail, along with coupons for a dollar off Sunsilk shampoos and conditioners, and a dollar off Sunsilk cremes and masques. If you haven’t taken advantage of this sample, click here to sign up.

Another achievement for VicPicks!

Since we just celebrated our 1 month anniversary, VicPicks has been added to the Under Thirty Honor Roll! Check it out here.

Yay!

The new carnivals are up and the 48th Festival of Frugality is at Experiments in Finance. VicPicks is featured as a top Editor's Pick and the inspiration for the accompanying cartoon in the post!

Keep an eye out...

Working with a number of anonymous sources, I'm preparing some "behind the scenes" informational articles on some of your favorite bargain destinations, such as WalMart and Old Navy, and others. These articles will feature tips, tricks, and inside info. from former employees. Keep an eye out for it, and if anyone has any specific questions about anything, leave a comment and I'll see what I can find out for you!

Check out your local Old Navy sometime this week

Many Old Navy stores right now have 50% off already reduced clearance. I got a white dress shirt that was originally $24.99, for only $4.47!

The secret to homemade peanut butter cups

My homemade dark chocolate peanut butter cups


Any chocoholic candy lover will most likely profess to a deep affection for peanut butter cups. In a recent post, I discussed how much I not only enjoy Reese’s cups, but also the seasonal varieties of them in their egg and pumpkin forms. I, and I’m sure many other cup lovers, have noticed that the peanut butter found inside is not the same as what comes out of the jar. Many theories have been proposed over what the difference is. Perhaps it is a special “candy” peanut butter that Reese’s makes. Maybe they add extra sugar to it and change the consistency. Well, as promised, I am about to reveal the secret to making really great homemade peanut butter cups: graham crackers. By simply adding graham cracker crumbs and a little bit of granulated sugar to that regular old peanut butter from a jar, you can achieve the same taste and consistency of the popular commercial candy. For the complete recipe:

*Place plain graham crackers inside a ziplock bag and seal it completely. Using a mallet or the bottom of a mug, crush the crackers completely until you have fine powdery-like crumbs. Add a small amount of granulated sugar to the mixture and mix it with the peanut butter in equal parts. You may warm the peanut butter slightly on low heat in the microwave to make mixing easier.

*Use metallic cupcake liners to place inside regular sized cupcake pans. Depending on your mood/taste, melt milk, white, or semi-sweet chocolate chips (or even get creative and mix different kinds together) using a double boiler method (one smaller pan inside a larger pan filled with water). This method is preferable over using a microwave as the chocolate will remain hot and melted throughout the entire process. It takes about 2 regular sized bags of chips to make 12 cups.

*Make sure the chocolate is completely melted and is a smooth liquidy consistency before starting: you can add milk and/or butter or margarine in small increments to the mixture to aid in achieving this.

*When the chocolate is the right consistency, use a tablespoon or small ladle to spoon a small amount of chocolate into the bottom of each cupcake tin. You can use a spoon to spread the chocolate to the edges so as to make a small nest in the chocolate.

*Using a teaspoon, place a small amount of peanut butter in the center of each chocolate nest, and then spoon more chocolate over them until they are completely covered. Shake the pan a few times to make sure you get the chocolate to completely cover and surround the peanut butter.

*Place the pan inside the refrigerator for a few hours to let the chocolate completely harden. When they are ready, the cups should easily slide right out of the pan and will be able to be unwrapped from the metallic liners very easily.

Admittedly, the directions are little ambiguous at times as I only recently tried this myself for the first time last week. Use your good judgement and make sure to taste test your mixtures as you go. You can even get really fancy and melt a contrasting color of chocolate and drizzle them over the tops of your cups. Make some this weekend--believe me, they’re really not hard to make at all, and you will love the delicious results!

New Article on Online Shopping

This weekend's food issue USA Weekend magazine features an article by Walencia Konrad with tips on how to find "Deals and steals at online shopping sites." Among some of her suggestions are how to find free shipping and the best ways to compare prices. To check out the article, pick up a copy of the print publication in this weekend's paper, or you can read the full article in the MoneySmart section at the USA Weekend website.

Shakira - Whatever, Don't Matter

Sometimes satire is the sincerest form of flattery, or is it?