Sweet Annie

Tonight I write this blog with such a heavy heart full of sadness and strangely some happiness too. After 18 years with my sweet Annie, she has passed on today.
I remember the first time I saw her and rescued her from the filth and horrible conditions she was in at birth. My daughter, Britney and I picked her scrawny muddy filthy body up and placed her in the back seat and drove the hour home, all the while promising her she would have a better life and we would be there to love her and she wouldn't have to worry about food, shelter or love ever again. We nursed her through the parvo and made sure she had her shots immediately. She was so grateful, is really the best way to say how she treated our family as she grew into her lab life. She was always nurturing others; cats, kids when they cried, me when I was sick... and she never once asked for anything more than her food, water, a few Oreos snuck in occasionally and a bed to sleep on. I have rarely found a another soul that would/could give so much of themselves as Annie did. She was easily the kindest dog I've ever known, thus earning the name "Sweet Baby Girl".  She had this amazing personality full of spunk and adventure but was always there the minute a kid cried, someone was sick or there was that knock on the door. There was no doubt with any of the other animals that she was in charge of our household. She loved the water, often jumping off the reservoir bridge early in the morning before the kids even got out of bed, I once snapped a picture of her standing on the river bank staring off into the sunrise, wet from her early morning swim, she seemed to be at peace as she stood there seemingly watching the sun rise before she realized I was there watching her. She was so sensitive and kind that when her buddy, Daisy was killed in a freak accident, she refused to eat for days until we had to take her to the vet for intervention. She was so fierce and protective when I needed someone to stand with me to protect the kids, she refused to let anyone bring harm to them often putting herself in the way so that the kids were shielded. During my illness after my accident, she would crawl into bed with me and curl up against my hip or lay her head on my shoulder and let out these big sighs, as if to tell me it would all be okay. She came to the bed each day I layed there unable to care for myself or anyone else and she would put her cold nose on me as if to let me know she was there to care for me now, she would see me through it. I am not sure how I would've made it through all those days without her kindness and constant companionship. She was steadfast in resolve and made sure her family was ok for 18 years. She watched other "friends" pass on during her tenor never once losing site of her kids and her "duties". As she rounded 18 this year we asked ourselves if she would go out in the river again or even on the boat. Each day brought a new set of circumstances for her from slowing down and losing her hearing, to not being able to walk or climb up the stairs. Growing old had become such a chore and with not much dignity involved. Each day I would tell her, "it's okay if you want to go now, you have done your job well and I love you". But yet she held on each day. Maybe it was the treats each day, the random bowl of ice cream she got to finish at night or even just laying there with me getting scratched. I don't know why she didn't let go, I won't ever know why but I knew I had to pay my friend back for all her kindness and unselfish love and do the honorable thing and let her go.  As I carried her to the truck she just looked up at me with those big soft brown eyes of hers and as I layed her down on the vet table to send her off, she refused to move her eyes from me. As my tears fell onto her face and nose, I watched my longtime friend and companion slip away. I pray that tonight she is is with our other dogs, running through the tall wildflowers like she did as a puppy, chasing away the day jumping in the river and going for swims with no more pain. Goodbye my friend. Thank you for all your love and the lessons you have taught me these past 18 years. I will carry you forever in my heart.

Pardon My "Dust"...

Please forgive the blog at the moment as I am working on adding a few new things to the blog! I'd love to hear what you want to see and learn about! Stop in and drop me a line!

Brand Loyalty or Not?

7 Secrets To Store Brands...

By Laura Heller, Forbes.com

10 Secrets About Store Brands

Store brands—those generic labels we often equate with bargain quality—are among the fastest growing and most popular items for sale today. They provide more choices, help us save money and have come a long way from the bottom-shelf, hokey-labeled products from decades past. But not all store brands are created equal. You may be surprised to learn that an in-house brand isn’t always what it seems.
A typical generic product (also called “private label”) yields a higher profit for the store, even when it sells for a lot less than the similar national brand. That’s because there are no marketing or advertising costs involved and why companies invest a good amount of money in creating private labels. Name-brand consumers pay for those Superbowl ads in the form of higher per item prices.


“Private label provides value and it’s higher margin,” says Natalie Berg, Global Research Director at Planet Retail, a retail intelligence agency in London. “In a down economy, it really ticks two boxes—boosts the bottom line and drives loyalty.”
It’s a common misconception that private label products are just the better known brand with a different coat of paint. Not true. There are dozens of small companies dedicated solely to developing store brands and they work directly with the retailer to develop the item, label and price points. Even when an item is made by a large well-known brand, it’s not exactly the same. If a big brand like Heinz or Hunts decided to sell private label, it will make soup or pasta sauce, not ketchup. Companies want to expand their business, not destroy the existing one.
Perhaps most surprising is the number of house brands in the market that we don’t even know are private label. Take White Cloud, for example. Once a widely available national brand of toilet paper, White Cloud is now sold exclusively at Walmart stores. Rock & Republic, a premium denim line available at luxury retailers like Neiman Marcus, will soon be a store brand (as of Spring 2012, it will be sold exclusively at Kohl’s).
The bottom line is that store brands will save you money. A recent study from the Private Label Manufacturers Association found that consumers save an average of 33 percent on the total grocery bill by buying store brands. While most of us don’t exclusively buy private label products, increasing the number of store brands in our shopping basket will have a noticeable impact at the cash register.

Not Just A Cheap Alternative

Store brands are not only the value option, they can be premium and specialty items. Private label organic options and ethnic foods are among the fastest growing product categories, representing value and high quality while offering something unique to the store.

Designer Private Labels

Those "exclusive partnerships" between a famous designer and retail chain are actually new store brands. Simply Vera by Vera Wang at Kohl's and Michael Graves kitchen accessories at Target are manufactured for, and sold exclusively at those stores.

Rising Above

Sometimes store brands transcend their limited availability and become national brands. Martha Stewart once had products only available at Kmart, but today sells a variety of lines at multiple retail outlets including her own web site. Sears Craftsman tools, Die Hard batteries and Kenmore appliances are store brands with arguably more cache and shopper loyalty than the store that started them. Store brands from Safeway like O Organics and the Eating Right labels are sold at other supermarkets, mostly in markets where Safeway doesn’t have stores.

Inspiring Loyalty

Many shoppers express devotion to store brands above all others. Costco, Trader Joe's and Aldi, carry a higher proportion of store brands than other chains. And this is exactly why shoppers keep coming back.

Store Brand Camouflage

Using fancy packaging and strategic titling, retailers sometimes make it difficult to spot the store brand. Look at the label to see who the item is distributed by or for. Often the item will have the store's name or headquarters location--like Target's in Minneapolis.

Size Doesn't Matter

It's not just the big retail chains that carry store brands. All retailers have access to private label options and make sure to stock items in popular categories to remain competitive. Even online retailers are getting into the act. Amazon has the AmazonBasics line of consumer electronics, Denali tools and Pike Street bath and home products.

Inferiority Complex

Store brands aren't always just junk imported from China. Experts note that most food products are likely sourced domestically while all non-food items come from the same places, regardless of brand. All are subject to federal guidelines and safety standards.


In Pictures: 10 Secrets About Store Brands

To Dumpster Dive or Not? That Is The Question....

Is Dumpster Diving for coupons a good idea? Legal? Smart?

*** This is a repost from a blogger I respect and I am glad she has asked this question too!

I’m hearing more couponers and bloggers suggest dumpster diving as a smart way to get coupons for free. What disturbs me is how casual this suggestion is starting to come off – or how shows like Extreme Couponing have even tried to make this practice normalized, or even savvy.

Yes, I’ll admit it. I approached this post with my own hangups about the idea of rifling through – essentially garbage – to find coupons. But for the sake of objectivity, I asked my pal Sarah to help me do some digging on this topic (all puns intended) to arm you with some helpful information, and not just a rant-y post. My goal today is to take a complicated topic in couponing and approach it from a number of angles.

What I wanted to learn was: is dumpster diving OK to do? Are there any laws that prohibit it? And if there aren’t any laws, what other considerations should couponers have before they climb into a dumpster bin?

Let’s start at the beginning: legality

I should first mention that I’m in the State of Washington, so most of what I have to share today will pertain to information I was able to uncover for my state. I should also probably give you some sort of general blanket disclosure here that I am not an attorney and my degree is in English/Creative Writing (not law). So basically, don’t hold me liable.
Disclosures aside, let me share that the Supreme Court has stated that trash is public domain. What this means is that dumpster divers cannot be charged with theft.
However, here’s where things get interesting. States and cities have some say in imposing their own rules on this topic. For instance, if you live in Missouri City, MO or Layton, OH, dumpster diving is a crime. And don’t forget, that recycling materials…go in receptacles. Which are generally located on private property. Here is an interesting response found on a legal forum:

Generally speaking dumpsters are on private property and you have the same rights to protect your property interests as you would with someone trespassing/ damaging any other portion of your property. If the dumpster is on property owned by the overall store/ complex owner they have a right to protect their property.

In her research, Sarah ended up contacting the City of Tacoma’s Solid Waste Department to get what their take was on all of this. Apparently, they don’t want you doing this. At all. Not only would they consider it trespassing if you’re there after hours, it poses a liability to the City if someone winds up injured.
Bottom line, while rummaging through trash may not be illegal per se, you could be up against a property owner who wishes to enforce no trespassing. (I was able to find an instance where two Colorado dumpster divers were jailed for trespassing back in 2006.) While most would be unlikely to report, it is a risk you run when you do a belly flop into a recycling bin.

You might not be alone in that dumpster

And I’m not talking about rats, either. Did you know that identity thieves often target recycling bins to obtain personally identifying information?
If a private property owner catches you pawing around papers in their recycling bin, they may very well suppose you are up to no good. In this YouTube video, Mr. Frugal (AKA Nathan from WeUseCoupons.com) recommends diving when no one is around for this very reason. I don’t know about you, but I would prefer not to have to explain myself to an older gentleman who’s threatening to beat me up with his cane. I also would prefer to not to bump heads with criminals like identity thieves.

Additional considerations

Have you considered what the manufacturers might have to say about all this? Respected coupon guru Jill Cataldo recently shared her thoughts:

With dumpster diving being glorified on TLC’s Extreme Couponing as an acceptable method to get more coupons, look for the coupon distributors like Valassis, SmartSource, P&G and others to further clamp down on what happens to the coupon inserts from unsold newspapers. Many newspapers now have contracts in place that the extra inserts must be “destroyed,” not merely recycled.

While it can be easy to suppose no one cares about what happens to the papers after Sunday, the truth is – the manufacturers do care.
So do the newspapers.
Heather at Queen Bee Coupons wrote a most insightful post recently on the ethics involved of trying obtain free inserts – whether through your mail carrier, “connections,” or dumpster diving. Here’s what she had to say:

Maybe some of you have found a nice “connection” who is hooking you up with coupons for FREE. But it puts the paper at risk to be dropped from the coupon insert network. For example, your Cousin Vinny has a hook-up and he’s getting you 50 FREE Smart Source inserts from your local Daily News each week, you might think it’s no big deal – but if Smart Source found out they’d likely stop putting their inserts in the Daily News, because it’s a violation of their contract with the paper.

With more and more couponers trying to obtain papers by dumpster diving and other practices, we stand a fair chance of seeing limits and restrictions imposed. The more I learn about stuff like this, the more I feel it my job to share it with you. Because if there is something I can do here to make a positive difference for couponers, manufacturers, and stores alike I want to do it!

My Final Thoughts

After lots of research, I’ve come to realize that dumpster diving is a very complex issue. And, quite frankly, it’s one that not all coupon bloggers will see eye to eye on (do a quick search on “how to dumpster dive” and you’ll find no shortage of posts).
Whether or not your state/city/local recycling center/fill in the blank here would permit it, I feel there is case to argue this is not what the manufacturers or newspapers want us to be doing. Given there is a chance it could hurt couponing for everyone, I am not in favor of dumpster diving.

My thoughts....

As I run a coupon exchange across the country that benefits military families, I have found that I speak to my post office (we get our coupons mailed once a week where I live) to see if it is okay to pick them out of the cans at the office and talk to my postman on what is the rules for disposal. They have been very supportive and usually always have their own coupon for me to contribute to the group. I think that it is important that you speak to your city officials and don't just do it so that you are benefitted. Because if the city doesn't want it happening, they will crack down on all couponers. I try to teach coupon ethics in my classes and this is a subject that brings many different responses. But I believe it is always best to check first rather than run the risk of causing problems for everyone. I'd be happy to hear your responses!
Happy Savings!

Julie Ann

 

Major grocer getting rid of self-checkout lanes

Albertsons will replace computers, wants more human contact.     

One of the nation's major grocery store chains is eliminating self-checkout lanes in an effort to encourage more human contact with its customers.

Albertsons LLC, which operates 217 stores in seven Western and Southern states, will eliminate all self-checkout lanes in the 100 stores that have them and will replace them with standard or express lanes, a spokeswoman said.
"We just want the opportunity to talk to customers more," Albertsons spokeswoman Christine Wilcox said. "That's the driving motivation."
Wilcox said the replacement of automated checkout lanes with human-operated lanes likely would mean more hours available for employees to work.
The move marks a surprising step back from a trend that began about a decade ago, when supermarkets began installing self-checkout lanes, touting them as a solution to long lines. Now some grocery chains are questioning whether they are really good for business.
Kroger, the largest grocery chain in the U.S. (with some 2,500 outlets), is experimenting with removing all self-checkouts in at least one Texas store, reports StorefrontBacktalk, an industry publication. Publix, another major chain, is "on the fence" about self-checkout, according to a report quoted in the story.
Self-checkout industry leader NCR Corp., which counts Albertsons among its clients, does not see the grocery chain's move as a threat to its business, said company spokesman Cameron Smith.
He said more than 150 retailers in 22 countries use the company's self-checkout lanes, and not just for groceries. The market is projected to grow by about 15 percent annually, he said.
"Ultimately, customers appreciate the choice of self-checkout," he said.

Class ~ Section 1 Part 1

Class last night was a super packed one, full of the coupon basics. I loved watching the faces of the women present as some you could see got very excited about the material and then in another glance you could see their brows furrow in concentration, wanting to soak in the details I was explaining. I was so happy to see new faces and be able to pass on some knowledge. I look forward to helping others with their savings goals and showing them how to be a better consumer.
With the industry making changes nationwide on couponers, you will see a change in their shopping habits, I believe. No more will people be allowed to clear shelves and managers will get more control on how a couponer is shopping in their stores. Is this a good thing? I am bracing myself for the changes and trying to remind people of coupon ethics. (Yes, you can shop ethically with coupons and be proud for it!) It is unfortunate that some couponers have essentially ruined coupon shopping for others. Will it be impossible to find good deals after the changes? I doubt it but I do believe that it will slow consumer spending in a single transaction. Once again, you will have to be super savvy at the register and be watching the cashier and the register like a hawk for those changes to be effective for you.
Until then... happy savings to you all!

Extreme Couponing Has Taken Off and Retail Chains Are Aware...

Stores Revising Policies To Close Loop Holes On Extreme Couponers

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Several stores and manufacturers are tightening the loopholes that allowed customers to empty store shelves for extremely low prices.
The cable network TLC exposed some of the best ways to go about using coupons in their show called "Extreme Couponing." Since the series began, retailers have been hit hard by people using coupons to get the best deals.
Rite Aid and Target have recently revised their coupon policies and some stores are changing their bar code systems to prevent shoppers from using coupons meant for other items.
Manufacturers are also cracking down. Proctor & Gamble now limits consumers to four of the same coupon per shopping trip.

 

Please make sure you check with your stores for their coupon policies as anyone can copy and paste a store logo onto a document and put it out on the web.

 

Happy Savings!