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October 2009
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Terri Gruca: September 2009 Archives
Furniture Tent Sale Grocery Savings The site lets you add items to your grocery list and even puts which stores are offering the sales so you'll know if you need to make more than one stop. They've also got coupons right there on the site to help you double your savings. This site covers 55,000 zip codes right now. So check it out to see if your area is available and check back because they are adding new zip codes constantly. It's a really convenient way to save money and organize your shopping trip before you go to the store. And the best part--it's FREE. All you do is sign up using your e-mail address, add a pass word and start saving. Facebook Freebies Check them out: • Free Christmas Gifts - Facebook can be a source of great (and completely free) Christmas gifts. Like this one--become a fan of Walgreens by Friday, October 2 and you'll receive a free 5X7 photo book. You will have to pay a small shipping fee, but this would be a great gift for plenty of people on your holiday shopping list. • Free Beauty Products - Plenty of businesses offer up Facebook freebies. Herbal Essences is holding the Gorgeous Giveaway for Facebook Fans. Once you become a fan, RSVP to the Herbal Essences Gorgeous Giveaway and come back to the page on October 2 for the details. You'll get a chance to try any Herbal Essences shampoo or conditioner for free. • Free Food - Restaurants love to give away food on Facebook to their fans. Become a fan of "Woody" on Facebook and if he makes it to a million fans by September 30 everyone will get a coupon for a free burger at TGI Fridays. Once you become a fan, make sure you click the "register" tab and enter your email address in order to get your free burger coupon. • Free Sweepstakes Entries - There are lots of opportunities to enter exclusive contests and sweepstakes on Facebook. Become a fan of Dave & Buster's for a chance to win a trip for two to New York City. Remember you can always become a KVUE news fan on our KVUE Insider Facebook page and see all kinds of cool behind the scenes pictures and videos. Restaurant Savings Through today, Wednesday September 30th, you can save 80 percent on gift certificates by using the discount code word CHEF. That means the $25 gift certificates that normally cost $10 can be purchased for just $2. Remember to read the parameters for each certificate. Many restaurants require you to spend a certain amount in order to cash in the gift certificate. It's still a great way to cut your costs when you eat out. Travel Deals • Southwest Airlines is having an airfare sale. Flights will cost you as little as $59 one way. You've got to purchase by October 15th for travel through February 11, 2010 and there are some holiday blackout dates. • If you like cruising you may want to check out some of the deals being offered by Royal Caribbean. They have some really amazing prices if you want to take a vacation around the holidays or the first of the year--including a two night cruise in the Bahamas for as little as $150 a person. Anyone who owns a late-model Toyota or Lexus is told to immediately remove the floor mats on the driver's side of the cars to avoid the accelerator sticking. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration issued the warnings today. "This is an urgent matter," said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. "For everyone's sake, we strongly urge owners of these vehicles to remove mats or other obstacles that could lead to unintended acceleration." You may remember we reported on this a few weeks ago after a California family died in a fiery crash when their accelerator became stuck. Here's a look at what happens: These are the models the NHTSA is currently warning owners about: According to the NHTSA "In September 2007, Toyota recalled an accessory all-weather floor mat sold for use in some 2007 and 2008 model year Lexus ES 350 and Toyota Camry vehicles because of similar problems." "Today's advisory was precipitated by continued reports of vehicles accelerating rapidly after release of the accelerator pedal. The incidents appear to be related to factors including the use of a variety of unsecured mats, the particular configuration of the accelerator pedals in these vehicles, and the unique steps needed to shut off the engines in some of these vehicles with keyless ignition." For more information call the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's Hotline at 888-327-4236 or the Toyota Experience Center at 1-800-331-4331 or the Lexus Customer Assistance Center at 1-800-255-3987. Update: Toyota now has an entire section devoted to this issue. The company also lists the following advice for anyone who's gas pedal may get stuck while they're driving. • First, if it is possible and safe to do so, pull back the floor mat and dislodge it from the accelerator pedal; then pull over and stop the vehicle. • If the floor mat cannot be dislodged, then firmly and steadily step on the brake pedal with both feet. Do NOT pump the brake pedal repeatedly as this will increase the effort required to slow the vehicle. • Shift the transmission gear selector to the Neutral (N) position and use the brakes to make a controlled stop at the side of the road and turn off the engine. • If the vehicle is equipped with an Engine Start/Stop button, firmly and steadily push the button for at least three seconds to turn off the engine. Do NOT tap the Engine Start/Stop button. • If the vehicle is equipped with a conventional key-ignition, turn the ignition key to the ACC position to turn off the engine. Do NOT remove the key from the ignition as this will lock the steering wheel.
The national index, which is called the Consumer Price Index found that overall food prices rose 0.1 percent nationally. The Texas Farm Bureau began the Grocery Price Watch earlier this year as a way to evaluate 16 staple grocery items at various supermarkets across the state. Twenty-five shoppers volunteered for this latest survey. Volunteers did their price checks the week of June 21-27. Here's a snapshot of some of what the agency found: "Survey results showed that nine of 16 items decreased in price over the last quarter. The total list of items, on average, fell roughly 1.42 percent (74 cents), from $51.97 in April to $51.23 in June," according to the Texas Farm Bureau. Are you noticing a difference? I've noticed milk and bread seem cheaper. The Farm Bureau says chicken prices are down, however at my grocery store they have jumped quite a bit. I bought a big package of boneless, skinless chicken breasts two months ago for around $13 and recently spent $15 for the same size package. The Federal Government wants your bright ideas. According to the DOE, "The legislation challenges industry to develop replacement technologies for two of today's most widely used and inefficient technologies: 60W incandescent lamps and PAR 38 halogen lamps. It also calls for development of a 21st Century Lamp that delivers more than 150 lm/W. The competition will award significant cash prizes, plus opportunities for federal purchasing agreements, utility programs, and other incentives for winning products." We're talking $10 million dollars. The New York Times says, "The L Prize has garnered significant attention in the lighting industry because 60-watt incandescent lamps represent 50 percent of all the lighting in the United States, with 425 million sold each year. The Energy Department says that if all those lamps were LED equivalents, enough power would be saved to light 17.4 million American households and cut carbon emissions by 5.6 million metric tons annually." Phillips became the first to enter the competition. It's not just for big companies. You can find all the competition requirements here. There was an interesting experiment I came across the other day on YouTube. A couple of guys from Austin decided to try to give away $200. They stood along a busy stretch of road where many homeless people typically stand. Peter Nevland created a cardboard sign that said 'free money' then tried to give away the cash. It's pretty interesting to see how people responded. Would you have taken the money? Parents are being told to check their medicine cabinets for certain types of Children's Tylenol. The makers of the medicine announced a voluntary recall today of certain lots of Children's and Infants' Tylenol liquid products manufactured between April 2008 and June 2008. However the company says, "The packaged product, shipped to retailers by the company, has met all specifications." The company sent this letter to health professionals which provides a bit more information. There are 21 affected products that you should look for in your own home: If you have questions you should call 1-800-962-5357.
Starbucks launched a new app yesterday for iPhone users that allows them use their phone as a Starbucks gift card. You just upload the number off your activated gift card and your phone becomes the gift card. Then you can add money to it to keep it active. The coffee company is also testing out an app in California and Washington that will allow users to use their iPhone in place of a debit or credit card. Tyler told me about this other app called Card Star that turns all of your membership and reward cards into bar codes so you no longer need to carry them in your wallet. The bar codes can be scanned right at the checkout counters. It can keep everything from grocery store savings cards to frequent flier miles card numbers. You can download the app free. And don't worry, if you're like me and you don't have an iPhone, the company is working on an app for Blackberry users.
Half Price Deals Clothing Deals Food Deals Magazine Deals Plant Swap Museum Deals
A nationwide survey of more than 4,400 workers by CareerBuilder found 61 percent of workers admit they always or usually live paycheck to paycheck. That's up from the 49 percent in 2008 and 43 percent in 2007. More than 21 percent of workers say they've reduced their 401(k) contributions or personal savings in the last six months to get by. More than a third of workers (36 percent) say they do not participate in any retirement programs. What are your money struggles? I'm working with the Financial Planning Association of Austin to put together some money blogs in the next few months. So if you've got a question or a topic you'd like to see covered, send me an e-mail.
Last week we reported that Austin and San Antonio were expected to be the first cities to really bounce back from the recession. Now a new study by the Brookings Institution named Austin one of the 20 best performing metropolitan areas in the second quarter of 2009. In fact Texas had five of the top 20 best performing metro areas--Austin, Dallas, Houston, McAllen and San Antonio. The report tracked 100 U.S. metro areas and found Austin was a leader in percent change in gross metropolitan product to percent change in housing prices.
According to Census data released just last week, "Real median household income declined by 3.6 percent between 2007 and 2008, from $52,163 to $50,303, following 3 years of annual income increases." USA Today took an interesting look at that data. It found that "The incomes of the young and middle-aged -- especially men -- have fallen off a cliff since 2000, leaving many age groups poorer than they were even in the 1970s." And your age may help determine your fate. According to the Census, if you were born before 1955, you're enjoying a four-decade run of historic income growth. Anyone born after that is now suffering from a sinking paycheck--a problem that could take decades to correct. A new study on cars, child safety seats, back to school products, handbags and pet products finds more chemicals than you might think, but also manufacturers that are limiting the number of chemicals being used. Healthystuff.org is a non-profit research group based in Michigan that began testing toys after the big recalls a few years ago. Yesterday the organization came out with its latest test results of 900 products. Before I share some of the findings, keep in mind lead is hazardous when ingested and more dangerous for young children because their brains are still developing. So someone would have to either come in contact with the lead on their hands and transfer it to their mouth or ingest an item with high levels of lead. Here are the key findings according to the organization: I'm curious what you think about all of this. Clearly some manufacturers are making products without all of these chemicals. So do you think manufacturers should be required to follow stricter guidelines? Should they be testing their own products? Or do you think this is much to do about nothing? Share your thoughts below.
Longhorns Burger Deal New deal web site It can be anything from restaurant deals to museum passes. The site just launched in Austin a few weeks ago and I bought one of the deals the other day because it was such a good deal--I got $50 worth of food and drink at the Woodland for just $25. Here's how it works. You get the e-mail with the deal of the day. If you decide you want to purchase it, you click buy, fill out your credit card information, etc. Then at the end of the day if the site has sold the amount needed (it will tell you right below the deal if they have secured enough purchases) it will send you an e-mail with your coupon. If you decide the deal is not something you're interested in, just delete it and wait for the deal tomorrow. There are two dozen cities across the country that this site advertises daily deals for including Charlotte, Minneapolis, Dallas and Chicago. So if you're traveling to any of these destinations it's a great way to secure some deals before your trip. Halloween Costumes Free Prostate Cancer Screenings Travel Deals
It's all part of Austin Restaurant Week. All the participating restaurants offer three-course prefixed menus for between $25 and $35. For example, diners can get three-course meals for either $25 or $35 at restaurants like the Driskill Grill, Eddie V's, Paggi House and Roaring Fork Steakhouse. You can read the menus for all of the restaurants here. The specials run from now through September 16th and September 20th through the 23rd. My husband and I took advantage of some of these deals in the Twin Cities and they were fantastic. Austin is only on its second year of this promotion, so let me know what you think. This is a twice a year event designed to help support local restaurants. It also raises money for Austin non profits. This season AIDS Services of Austin and the Sustainable Food Center will receive 5 percent of the money people spend.
Keep in mind the survey was conducted over the phone and asked about 2,300 people who consider themselves "online economic users". That means they go online to keep up with the economic news or manage their finances. Of those people 75 percent of them say they go online to relax and take their mind off the recession. The most popular things to do are watch videos (54 percent), listen to music (50 percent), play online games (37 percent), chat with friends (33 percent). It seems to me more people are just going to the internet for all of their needs. What do you think?
All you have to do is use the discount code word NINETY. That means the $25 gift certificates which you normally buy for $10 will only cost you $1. One reminder-- once you make the purchase an offer will pop up saying it you can get $10 back. Do not accept this. I've written about this before on this blog and it will tie you in to a recurring charge. Just click no thanks and you're good to enjoy your savings.
Starting Monday the company plans to sweeten the deal a bit to lure in new customers by offering a 60 day money back guarantee. If you don't like the car you guy GM will give you your money back, no questions asked. There are a few catches: GM will have more information out on a web site starting Sunday. The program is similar to the one Hyundai offered at the beginning of the year, where people who lost their jobs could return their car and get a refund. However, GM Marketing Chief says the company did this years ago in the United Kingdom. Back then only "2 to 3 percent of buyers brought vehicles back for refunds", about what they expect from the U.S. According to USA Today, "GM sales of new vehicles in the U.S. are down a hefty 35% this year through August, according to industry tallymaster Autodata. The entire U.S. new-vehicle market is down almost 28%, so GM is underperforming a very bad market. GM's share of U.S. new-vehicle sales is just 19.5%, down from 21.7% a year ago."
In fact, more than 25 percent of Texans are without health insurance. These are numbers from 2008. To give you an idea of how bad it is--nationally, "the number of people without health insurance coverage rose from 45.7 million in 2007 to 46.3 million in 2008, while the percentage remained unchanged at 15.4 percent." Barbara sent me an e-mail and told me about this national website which can help. It's called Where to Find Care.com. You plug in your zip code and find a list of free health care clinics close to you. Thanks Barbara for the tip. If you have a money saving idea worth sharing feel free to send me an e-mail.
Well the Environmental Working Group recently published a report showing the amount of radiation in 1,000 different cell phones. And USA Today published a brief article about this issue as well. The Federal Communications Commission sets standards for cell phone radiation. Currently it requires all cell phones emit 1.6 W/kg or less. And it does require manufacturers to submit this information to them each year. It is called SAR or Specific Absorption Rate. How to find your cell phone SAR You can go here to this website and look up a specific cell phone. However I found it easier just to look on my phone for the number and then type it in here on the FCC's web site. It's a little confusing, but you'll type in the first three letters and/or numbers after the FCC Id, then the final letters or numbers after that in the bottom box. Once you pull up the report on all of those types of phones you want to look for the SAR Report. You'll want to use this route if you're like me and you have an older model phone. However, if you have a newer phone, he Environmental Working Group made it a bit easier to find the SAR for 1,000 of the most current cell phones. If you look to the right of the list you'll find a section where you can type in the provider and the manufacturer of your phone and see where your cell phone ranks. Here's a look at the EWG's top ten list of phones that put out the least radiation: Do you worry about your exposure to radiation? Do you think this information should be part of what is shared with you when you buy a phone? Share your thoughts below.
Enjoy! Free Prostate Cancer Screenings • When/Where: Free mammograms New Coupon Site Childcare Help Here are the schools that are participating: • The Goddard School • The Goddard School • The Goddard School • The Goddard School Food Deals Fashion Deal Music Deal Travel Deal
"Dell was the security champ among the Fortune 100, spending $1,164,625 protecting CEO Michael Dell in 2008. 'The board believes that Mr. Dell's personal safety and security are of vital importance,' says the company proxy. Dell spokesman Jess Blackburn added that it would be more appropriate to look at salaries, bonuses and other perks, and not focus on security alone." Maybe it's no surprise. Rasmussen Reports recently asked people to rank professions and they put CEOs at the bottom. (Yes, I know, journalists weren't much better. I'm hoping you all disagree.) You can check CEO pay for companies across the country here. You'll find a list of the top 100 paid CEOs here. Michael Dell is not among those top 100. In fact, you'll find a lot of media company CEOs, financial corporation CEOs and oil company CEOs. The most interesting data from this website is a look at how much the CEOs that received all the TARP money make. What do you think? Are CEOs making too much money? Do companies spend too much to protect their CEOs? Add your thoughts below.
Companies can get hundreds of job applications, resumes when they post jobs on their websites, but Twitter allows them to get "just enough job leads--but not too many." Recruiters have even set up shop on Twitter, like TweetMyJobs is one of them. Do a quick search for "Jobs" on Twitter and you'll find all kinds of employers with job links. Then just follow and watch the job postings pop up.
There are several online tools to help you better manage your finances and prepare for the unknown. I've written about some of these before, but thought this would be a good reminder. Mint.com not only helps you determine how much you're spending on everyday items, it can tell you where to find the best products from bank accounts to 401K savings plans. Lending Tree has its own Money Right Tool. One of the best features on this site is how it can estimate how long you can go without a paycheck. There's also Wesabe.com. This site lets you tag items as a "splurge", "groceries" or even a "want". They're all pretty similar to the help Quicken has provided me and my husband over the years with its software that you can download to your computer. However Quicken is now also offering online help similar to these other sites. Quicken even has a free app for people with iPhones--that way you can manage your money as you spend. Seeing is believing. Quicken really helped my husband and I see where we were spending our money and has definitely helped us save. The one concern with some of these sites is that people are plugging in their account information to an online website. Most promise security but I, myself, haven't used them. So be sure whatever information you plug in is put into a secure site (one that has "https" or a lock at the top of the page). And be sure you read the privacy promise on these web sites. If you've had success using any of these sites share your experience below and tell people what you like or dislike about these sites.
It's not all bad news. Employers cut 216,000 jobs in August, fewer than what employers cut in the past few months. Experts say we still need to create 9.4 million jobs though to get back to the level we were before the recession began. Slate.com has created a really great map that takes you through the unemployment numbers each month since 2007. It's a fascinating look at how many jobs have been gained and lost in the past few years and when certain states and counties really started to see drops.
It's a system created by the Retail Equation, which reports that return fraud and abuse is a $15.5 billion a year problem. By scanning people's licenses retailers can deny a return or exchange. People can even be labeled a return abuser. You can find out if you are on any list by going here and e-mailing the company to see your report. There's an interesting article about this trend in the Retail Customer Experience.com says, "A tough economy means tighter return policies are inevitable, and having across-the-board, codified policies and an automated system ultimately will improve the customer's experience." Do you think this is fair to deny people a return or exchange? Share your thoughts below.
Thanks to everyone who's been e-mailing me their finds. I always appreciate it. Enjoy! Food Deals • Show your team spirit, get a free sandwich. On Labor Day, September 7th between 10:30a.m. to close, the Chick-fil-A in Austin and all the stores around the country are offering a pretty sweet deal. Anyone who comes in wearing sports related apparel, we're talking a t-shirt, jersey, ball cap, socks, whatever for your favorite team, gets a free Chick-fil-A chicken sandwich. That's every person who sports their favorite team's logo. Thanks Ashley for the tip! You can also sign up to be part of the chicken wave for a chance to win other free food prizes. • Sign up for Carino's Italian e-club and get e-mail for all kinds of coupons including this latest promotion for kids. Between September 4th and September 13th your kids eat free as long as you purchase a regular price adult entrée. They call it a back to school treat. • Flemings has a special September Prime Burger promotion which just started yesterday. Come in and sit at the bar every Wednesday from 5 to 7 pm and enjoy complimentary mini burgers of the restaurant's five new prime burgers. • Helping someone else is a piece of cake. The Cheesecake Factory is giving away free slices of Stephanie's Red Velvet Cake Cheesecake to the first 500 guests who donate two cans of food. It's all part of an effort to drive out hunger. And on September 30th, they'll donate 10 percent of your guest check to a local food bank. Travel Deals • Southwest Airlines is also offering a friends fly free deal when you book a flight and hotel to Orlando or Las Vegas. The offer is good through September 29th. • Matt e-mailed me about a great web site worth checking out. It's called Twavel.com. It compiles all the best travel deals from Twitter.
Here's the deal, according to the NPD group more men are buying underwear. That may not seem like a big deal but an article in the Washington Post says, "Sales of men's underwear typically are stable because they rank as a necessity. But during times of severe financial strain, men will try to stretch the time between buying new pairs, causing underwear sales to dip." Last year men's underwear sales slowed, but researchers say sales are picking back up. According to Mintel, "men buy an average of 3.4 pairs of underwear in a year. But from 2004 to 2008, the proportion of men buying single pairs at a time increased from 5 percent to 8 percent, while the share of men opting for packs of four or more fell slightly, from 68 to 66 percent -- indicating that shoppers may be trying to save money by buying only when necessary." You may not want to read too much into this. During the Depression sales of lipstick soared 25 percent, they also rose 11-percent in 2001--two other troubling economic times. That triggered what many began calling the "lipstick effect". However, an article in the Economist says, "Reliable historical figures on lipstick sales are hard to find, and most lipstick believers can only point to isolated, anecdotal examples as evidence of the larger phenomenon. Data collected by Kline & Company, a market-research group, show that lipstick sales sometimes increase during times of economic distress, but have also been known to grow during periods of prosperity. In other words, there is no clear correlation." I'm guessing we're all holding out for some hopeful sign the economy is beginning to bounce back. What do you think? Should we pay attention to the men's underwear index or the lipstick effect? Add your thoughts below. |
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Terri Gruca anchors KVUE's 6 and 10pm newscasts. She brings you the latest consumer news and tells you where to find the best deals.
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