Looking for Free Boxes? Try the Post Office!

Revisions:
6-22-11: Initial release.

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A few weeks ago I was at my local USA Postal Office, and I was asking them about what I would need to do to ship a gift to my friend in Canada. After learning a bit about the customs forms I would have to fill out, I then asked the post office worker what should I do about boxes.

He then told me about this flat rate program about cardboard boxes made specifically for this purpose, and he pointed me to a shelf of boxes behind me. As I looked at it, I then asked him can I take the box home ahead of time and package my materials there rather than try to do it at the post office and he said yes.

At that moment in time, I just had a revelation.  My brother told me that if he needed a free envelope for storing his school papers, he would stop by the local post office and just nab a whole bunch of expensive envelopes. He didn’t pay for them because the train of thought is you will mail it out and at the time of mailing, you will get charged for the postage (which includes the weight of the envelope).

However, if you are savvy, maybe you just take the envelopes for your own personal purpose and never mail anything out! In return, you got free envelopes! I didn’t believe it, but when I went to the post office and realized I can take home a bunch of boxes (which I could use for personal storage), I just had a great epiphany.

Say what you want. Am I cheap bastard? Perhaps. But do you want to go to the store and shell out a couple bucks to buy a big plastic bin to store your junk, or would you rather use a free cardboard box? >_>

So the next time you need a box for storage, or moving, look no further than your local USPS post office building. They have what you are looking for and you just hadn’t realized it!

Resale Shops – Fantastic Deals for Low Prices

Revisions:
11-22-10: Initial release.

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Right now in the United States, it is approaching Black Friday, but more importantly, the Christmas holiday season is almost upon us.  Yet, despite the bounce back from the recession, many families and individuals are strapped for cash, even myself.  Hey, not everyone can be a millionaire, right?

With that said, where I live there there is a Goodwill store. If you are not familiar with this type of operation, how it works is people come and donate stuff to the store, which includes almost everything:  TVs, shelfs, clothes, bikes, silverware, and just about anything imaginable to man.  In return, they give you a form that you can use to file on your taxes so you can get a larger reimbursement from the government.

Buy.com – Over 400 Black Friday Online Deals, Starting Today!!!

Let’s face it, for the next day or two, there will be black friday posts here.  Today’s post I found out that some sites are starting their online black friday deals early, like Today!!!  Woot!

If you go to Buy.com, you can find over 400+ items that are on sale, some are which are pretty good like movies, xbox, playstation, and more!  So check it out, and score while you still can.

Link

Best Buy – Black Friday Door Busters!

Don’t get me wrong, Best Buy is a good company, and sometimes they got some stellar deals.  Although I have moved onto Fry’s Electronics. 🙂

Anyway, with all grudges aside, take a look at the link below for some amazing Door Buster Deals.  These are deals you can only get at the door, and these aren’t in the newpaper ads.

Link

However, the rules are crazy!  Check this out:

How to Shop the Friday Doorbusters Specials at Best Buy

Hoping to get in on the amazing deals at Best Buy on Friday, November 23? You’ll need to get there early in the morning, way before the stores open at 5 a.m.

Here are a few things to know before you go:

Prior to opening, a line of customers will form outside the store.

Starting at 3 a.m., with the front of the line, employees will hand out tickets to customers for Doorbuster and Bonus Doorbuster products (these are the front cover and BestBuy.com limited-quantity items, excluding CDs, DVDs and video game software).

The tickets, limited to 1 ticket per customer per item, will grant you the ability to buy the Doorbuster items.

These tickets are valid for a limited time. The products requiring a ticket must be purchased, or in your hand, by 9 a.m. This is when the remaining inventory, if available, will be released to the general public.

We are unable to guarantee all customers in line will receive a ticket. See Customer Specialist for details.  
So are you ready?  I know I won’t be there, lol!. – Versatile1

6 Ways to Save Money This Season

Excerpt from this source.

All Financial Matters offers six interesting ways to cut costs between now and the end of the year, and although we don’t completely agree with a couple of suggestions, we still think it’s worth a look.

1. Actually look at the price tag before you buy each and every thing for the rest of the year.

2. Avoid items marketed for the season. Their example: red and green candles work fine—you don’t need “Christmas” candles.

3. Don’t overspend on food. The concept of multi-day leftovers is as integral a part of Thanksgiving and Christmas as presents or family, but you’re not actually required to make so much food that more is left over than eaten.

4. Buy fewer gifts.

5. Buy cheaper gifts. We think the “buy cheap!” approach is smart, but the other half of this suggestion is “the gift wrapping is more important, so wrap them up beautifully,” but that only works if you make sure you don’t pay a fortune on gift wrap.

6. Make compromises with family and friends. “If you have a large family why not openly set limits on who buys gifts for whom or how many can be purchased?”

We don’t like this last one; this writer can speak from experience about the topic because his family follows a similar “compromise” strategy every year. The problem is that it takes a lot of the fun out of gift giving by layering a set of external rules on what should be a selfless, personal activity. We like “buy cheaper gifts” better.

There you have it.  Want to save money?  Try those tips above and leave a comment! – Versatile1

[How To] Save Money By Cutting Hair at Home

Everybody has to cut their hair right at some point or another right? Just so you know, I’m talking about the hair on your head. 😛

Ok, so if you go to the barber shop, depending on where it is and if you got any deals, hair cuts easily range from $7 up to $20. If the average haircut with taxes is a clean $15, and you cut your hair once a month, that is a grand total of $180 a year. Now if you have family members, and it costs more or less the same per person, and factor in driving to the barber shop and other misc items, cutting your family’s hair could easily go over $300 a year! This isn’t pocket change!

What can you do to alleviate the costs? Simple, buy a haircut kit, and learn how to cut each other’s hair if you have a family, or if you live by yourself, cut the hair yourself or get a friend to help you.

Tools needed:

1) Hair cuttery kit. You can find these at stores like Wal-Mart, Target, Walgreens, any convenience store really.

2) A penny. On the electric razor, you may need to adjust the power of the blade. To do this, you need a penny or a flat head screw driver to adjust the power.

3) Hair cut tutorials: Find pictures of hair styles you like and try to cut it like that. Or stop by a local barber school, and see how they cut hair. Did you know if you go to a barber/cosmetology school, you can get your hair cut for low prices, or even for free? The only caveat is you may have to sit around longer as the students perfect their technique.

Google for hair cut tutorials and you shall find some. Here is one that has a link to a bunch of sites and tips for cutting hair. Source

4) A handheld mirror. This will prove to be of use when you cut someone else’s hair or your own hair as you can see what is happening in real time.

After some practice cutting each others hair, or your kids hair, you will turn that $10 haircut investment into a money saver. From time to time, don’t forget to clean out the hair and oil up the blade, and this will last you forever.

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Tips for single male guys who want to save money on hair cuts

For single men, maybe you don’t want to go to the barber shop and waste your money. If you have a hair cut kit, this is what you can do.

1) If you shave your head, then thats the easiest thing to do. Put the razor on the smallest blade setting and have at it.

2) If you want to cut your hair in a particular style, I recommend going to a barber first. Afterwards, say every week or so, stand in front of the mirror and shave the sides of your head and whatever to keep it maintained. Remember, when hair is short it is easy to cut it and make it presentable. As hair gets longer, it will be easier to notice if you screw up cutting your own hair. 😛

3) As another tip, try getting a handheld mirror. When you stand in front of the bathroom mirror, use that to cut the hair you can see on the sides of your head and whatnot. To cut the hair on the back of your head and for trimming, this is where the handheld mirror is useful. You can hold the mirror in one hand, and look at that mirror to see the reflection of your head on the bigger mirror while the other hand cuts your hair. It takes awhile to get used to, but with patience, you can get a nice haircut done.

Practice makes perfect!