Thing 44 -- The Economy

This is certainly a timely Thing. I spent a lot of time browsing through it. Looking at FuelEconomy.gov, it was nice to see that I get at least as good mileage as the average for my cars. GasBuddy confirmed that the Holiday Station that seems to consistently have cheaper gas than other Holiday stations really does.

Frugal Dad had some good hints. We actually switched to cloth napkins within the last year. Wisebread, though, had a link to an 80% off clearance for one of my favorite catalogs. Don’t tempt me; I don’t need more clothes.

I didn’t spend too much time on cell phone plans. The cheapest plan is still not to have a cell phone.

I haven’t used any of the online classifieds services, but there is a new one serving neighborhoods in the Twin Cities called buythechange. Check it out at http://www.buythechange.com/neighborhood-list. I don’t tend to go out of my way for garage sales, but I do like thrift stores and there are a lot listed on the Thrift Store Finder.

Retailmenot was not just coupons. One item was just an introductory price. Still, these sites are worth checking if only to find a free shipping coupon (usually expired, but worth the look.)

I’ve used the U of MN Extension gardening site before. It couldn’t tell me how to get more sunshine on my heavily wooded block, but was otherwise helpful for this transplanted southerner. I’ve got one word for the chicken farmers out there, though: H5N1.

Some of the most useful-looking sites were the financial sites. After exploring WhatBills.com and ClearCheckbook, I decided that—slick as they are—they didn’t do anything that Quicken didn’t except send e-mails. I just don’t trust putting critical information like my check register online.