Ways to Get The Absolute Best Price Online

When you’re shopping online, prices on everything from toilet paper to TVs could fluctuate several times a day. Dynamic pricing, a strategy that the travel industry has been using for years, is now being used online for many consumer goods. While dynamic pricing makes online shopping more complicated, there’s a silver lining: By following a few simple steps, it’s easy to land rock-bottom prices.

Use price-tracking apps - An app like Price Tracker, available for the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad, can help you stay on top of Amazon.com price changes. The Price Tracker Platinum app for Android provides price tracking for Amazon.com, Walmart, Target, and eBay. The Decide app, available for the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad, also monitors prices and determines whether now is the right time to buy a particular product.

Use price-tracking sites - Check out CamelCamelCamel.com to receive Amazon.com price drop alerts, price history charts, and price watches. Also follow CamelCamelCamel on Twitter to stay informed of additional sales and promotions. Decide.com is another useful site that tracks products.

Comparison shop - It’s easy to compare prices by visiting multiple sites. But to save time, there are a variety of price-comparing sites to help find the lowest prices. Consider PriceGrabber.com, Pricewatch.com, and Shopping.com.

If you see a product’s price drop after a purchase, take a screenshot - If you purchase an item online and later find a lower price for the same item from the same retailer, take a screenshot of the price. While there are no guarantees, if you email the screenshot to the retailer, you might be able to get a refund for the difference.

Clear your cookies before shopping - Sometimes retailers lure new online shoppers in with lower prices. Trick a retailer into thinking you’re a new shopper by clearing your cookies before your next visit. Websites use cookies to track your visits, spending habits, and past purchases – and sites can offer you higher or lower prices based on them.

Try the abandoned cart strategy - In A Sneaky Way to Get Discounts Online, you fill up your shopping cart on a retailer’s site but don’t buy anything, Here’s how it works: Shop the site and add anything you want to your cart. Proceed to check out and fill out enough of the form to enter in your email address. But don’t complete the sale. Wait a day or two and see if you get a special deal or discount in your email inbox.

Check your site’s settings - According to a KABC-TV article, if you’re shopping for products on Dell’s website, there’s a way to save hundreds of dollars at checkout. It begins by choosing the correct setting up top.

Check all options on a retailer’s site - On Amazon.com, be sure to scroll down to see similar products at cheaper prices; the featured or sponsored products up top can cost more. This applies to other sites as well, like Etsy.com. Some sites list product search results by price.

Search for promotional codes - In addition to finding the lowest available price online, there are usually additional coupon codes to consider. Simply enter a search for [product name] + “coupon code” in your favorite search engine. Check out RetailMeNot.com, CouponCodes.com and Coupons.com.

Look for shipping discounts - Never pay full price on shipping unless you absolutely have to. You might come across free or discounted shipping offers during your search for coupon codes. Also check out FreeShipping.org for additional deals. (Adopted From http://www.moneytalksnews.com)

Vitamins For The Mind! - Forgiveness - the Gift You Give Yourself

Many people seem to have a misunderstanding about what it really means to forgive someone for a wrong done to them. This article will explore a little bit about what forgiveness is and the reasons why forgiveness is important.

The first thing that needs to be pointed out is the most important part about forgiveness - that   forgiveness is NOT a gift you give to another, but rather something you do inside of yourself, for yourself. The other person need never know. You can choose to extend forgiveness to the other person, if that is your choice, but it is not necessary in order to forgive inside of yourself and heal the pain you carry for a wrong another has done to you or that has affected you.

Forgiveness doesn't mean reconciliation - nor does it mean you have to allow a behavior that can hurt you to continue to hurt you. Forgiveness is, in essence, the acknowledgment inside of yourself that the person who has wronged you in some way is a fallible human being - and that, like a human being, they made a mistake worthy of your forgiveness.

Everyone deserves forgiveness inside of themselves, because to hold on to old wounds defeats you as a person. It closes off a part of your heart and self that you cannot give to anyone else as long as you hang on to the anger and bitterness that remains in you when you do not forgive. However, I do not believe the other party who has wronged you always deserves that forgiveness to be extended to them. And many times, they do not deserve reconciliation. Forgiveness IS a choice - you have to choose to forgive and let go of the pain.

Reconciliation and forgiveness are two separate things - they are not mutually exclusive. Forgiving someone does not mean you have to reconcile with that person. If the other person has wronged you so severely that you simply could not trust to allow this person in your life in any capacity - reconciliation is not possible, but forgiveness is.

Forgiving doesn't mean opening yourself back up to be hurt again. Forgiving doesn't mean allowing the other person's behavior to continue.

Forgiveness sets you free. Forgiveness lets you remove the pain you carry inside of you that you feel was done by  another's wrongdoing. The other person need not admit the wrongdoing. The other person need not make amends. The other person need not do anything. Forgiveness is something done inside of yourself, to release you from the pain of the wrongdoing.

Forgiveness means letting go of the pain inside of you, while still allowing you to seek justice served morally or legally. Life moves forward without the weight that holding on to a lost cause brings.

Remember, forgiveness is not a gift you give another, but something you do inside of yourself - for yourself. When you look at it this way, forgiveness is possible in any situation, once you are ready to release the pain of the wrongdoing and move on with your life.

Recipe of the Month - Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Pretzel Nuggets

Ingredients:

• 1 container of Peanut Butter Filled Pretzel Nuggets (I use a 44 oz. size of Herr’s nuggets from Sam’s Club.)
• 1 lb. pkg. of milk chocolate wafers (ex. Wilton’s) or 1 lb. of Nestle’s milk chocolate chips.
• 1 pkg. of white chocolate wafers

Directions:

1. Put some water in the bottom of 2 double boilers (or smaller pots setting in bigger pots with water in them will work). Add chocolates to pots on top. Turn on low & melt each of your chocolates. Stirring occasionally.
2. Empty nuggets into a large flat baking pan w/sides (may have to use more than one pan). Make sure the nuggets are in a single layer. After chocolates melt take a spoon & scoop up some of the milk chocolate & drizzle it rather heavily over the nuggets. Continue until all nuggets are covered (to whatever degree you like). Let dry & turn nuggets over & repeat. After both sides are dry drizzle a lighter coating of the white over each side (letting dry between coats). When dry break into separate pieces & store in a Tupperware container for your family or for a gift put in Christmas tins. (This produces a much quicker batch of candy than individually dipping each nugget. Any left over chocolate can be used to dip/cover oreos, peanuts, strawberries, etc.)

Man Sick Of Getting Clothes For Christmas

Christmas is just around the corner so it's time for me to share some gift ideas for those special men in your life! Buying gifts for men is not nearly as complicated as it is for women. Follow these rules and you should have no problems. 

Rule #1: If you are really, really broke, buy him anything for his car. A 99-cent ice scraper, a small bottle of deicer or something to hang from his rear view mirror. Men love gifts for their cars. 

Rule #2: Do not buy men socks. Do not buy men ties and never buy men bathrobes. If God had wanted men to wear bathrobes, he wouldn't have invented Jockey shorts. 

Rule #3: You can buy men new remote controls to replace the ones they have worn out. If you have a lot of money buy your man a big-screen TV with the little picture in the corner. Watch him go wild as he flips, and flips, and flips. 

Rule #6: Do not buy any man industrial-sized canisters of after shave or deodorant. We do not stink - we are earthy. 

Rule #4: Buy men label makers. Almost as good as cordless drills. Within a couple of weeks there will be labels absolutely everywhere. "Socks. Shorts. Cups. Saucers. Door. Lock. Sink." You get the idea. No one knows why. 

Rule #5: Never buy a man anything that says "some assembly required" on the box. It will ruin his Special Day and he will always have parts left over. 

Rule #6: Men enjoy danger. That's why they never cook - but they will barbecue. Get him a monster barbecue with a 100-pound propane tank. Tell him the gas line leaks. "Oh the thrill! The challenge! Who wants a hamburger?" 

Rule #7: Tickets to a professional sports game (any team within 300 miles) are a smart gift. However, he will not appreciate tickets to "A Retrospective of 19th Century Quilts." 

Rule #8: Men love chainsaws. Never, ever, buy a man you love a chainsaw. If you don't know why - please refer to Rule #4 and what happens when he gets a label maker.
Rule #9: It's hard to beat a really good wheelbarrow or an aluminum extension ladder. Never buy a real man a step ladder. It must be an extension ladder. 

Rule #10: Rope. Men love rope. It takes us back to our cowboy origins, or at least The Boy Scouts. Nothing says love like a hundred feet of 3/8" manilla rope. 

Rule #11: Buy your man Duct Tape. This is a man's most universal repair tool. All men know, if you can't fix it, duct it. (Adopted from http://mymerrychristmas.com)

What Is Your Home Worth In This Market?

Post-Split Holiday Do’s And Don’ts

Making merry can feel daunting and unappealing after the demise of a marriage, but by taking the right steps, you can have a spectacular solo holiday season. Here are some moves to make (and some to avoid!) when making the most of your new singlehood.

• DO start your own new traditions. “Divorce is the perfect time to assess and re-create your life as you want it to be,” says Elinor Robin, Ph.D., mediator with A Friendly Divorce in Boca Raton, FL. Also, “Ask yourself, ‘What do I really want to do over this holiday?’ and design rituals you’ll want to follow for years to come,” says Robin. If you see this as your chance to play host, for instance, arrange a signature event you can hold and call your own -  maybe a New Year’s Day bagel brunch or a pre-midnight Mass dinner.
• DO reach out to friends and family far and wide. People can get stuck in a holiday rut during a marriage - they go where they always go, see the same people each time. But now you’re free to connect with folks you might be missing or new people you find interesting. “If you worry that you might feel trapped with people you don’t know that well, create limits on the time and activities so that you don’t feel overly obligated,” suggests Sam J. Buser, Ph.D.
• DO treat yourself. Put yourself at the top of your gifting list. Showing self-love needn’t be with a material  object. “Take care of yourself during the holidays,” says Latz. “De-stress in healthy ways, with exercise and/or a massage.”
• DON’T succumb to peer pressure. “Well-meaning friends and family often try to prescribe what traditions are good for you during the holidays, yet you may need to re-evaluate priorities and re-examine expectations,” says Wolfelt. “Ask yourself: ‘Do I really enjoy this, or am I doing it just to be doing it in the spirit of tradition?’” If you’re not in the mood for your aunt Sarah’s rubbery latkes (or her probing questions), skip  her Hanukkah party.
• DON’T fight the memories of spending holidays gone by with your ex. “It’s all but impossible to block out holiday memories spent with a former spouse, and these memories can bring about sudden, sharp feelings of grief,” says Wolfelt. “This is a normal, necessary part of the divorce experience. When and if it strikes, be compassionate with yourself and don’t be ashamed of your vulnerability.” Rather than deny it when strong feelings surface, Wolfelt suggests calling a supportive friend to share the experience.
• DON’T isolate yourself. “Don’t make the mistake of totally withdrawing because you don’t want to ‘burden’ people,” says Wolfelt. “Look for family and friends who can provide non-judgmental support. Simply being out among people may positively affect your mood, even if flying solo - go ice skating, poke around a gourmet grocery, take in a holiday concert.
• DON’T go overboard. Whether it’s pigging out on pumpkin pie or getting into debt with a mile-long gift list, temptation runs rampant during the holidays.
• DON’T leap into something deep too quickly. Parties, attractive new people, and possibly even a few dates come part and parcel with this festive time. Which is all good - as long as you avoid dating with your eggnog goggles on. “Don’t jump into a new relationship just because you prefer not to be alone,” says Robin. “Enjoy the holiday season as a single!” If you are seeing someone new, “Put some limits on joint holiday plans to reduce expectations and anxieties,” says Buser. Take your time, get your bearings, and move ahead slowly, making sure that taking care of yourself is job number one. (Adopted Fromhttp://yahoo.match.com)