A Slate full of frugal ideas

Posted by Ted McEnroe January 2, 2009 (4 days ago) at 4:45 pm

We try to come up with lots of our own frugal ideas - but it would be rude to steal them from anyone else. So instead, we’ll just give you this handy-dandy link to a list from Slate Magazine of a few sites that are part of a growing interest in saving money.

Among them, Wise Bread, which seems to be about saving almost anything - the lead story as I write this is about cutting calories. The two-year-old site has a strong following, and is worth a look.

There’s also slickdeals.net, which is a barebones “Here’s some good stuff on sale” site you can scan to your heart’s content.

And there’s much more. Check it out in Slate.

And speaking of good deals - we have a few lingering half-price bargains at NECN’s Project Half Price. There are certificates to Aura, the great restaurant in Boston’s Seaport Hotel, and Asian C, a neat Asian fusion bistro in Hingham, Mass. Plus, half-price coffee deals from the Coffee Break Cafe in Quincy and Braintree, Mass., and even some indoor golf bargains from GolfTEC, so you can get your game in shape while the only things flying outside are snowflakes.

Check them out at necn.projecthalfprice.com.

Gifts $50 and under

Posted by Adam Hart December 10, 2008 at 10:12 am

The holidays are creeping up — do you have your shopping done? Do you have any money left at this point to spend?

Erin Murray, the Boston editor of www.dailycandy.com, joins NECN with some cool gift ideas for $50 and under!

From bronze candlesticks to a Winston’s New England breakfast basket, Erin has the scoop on it all!

And if you’re looking at ways to give gifts that give back, Ted McEnroe has got you covered!

Even more gifts that give back

Posted by Adam Hart December 10, 2008 at 10:08 am

Ted McEnroe, bless his soul, is back with more of those gifts that mean a little something extra. Take a gander at the video. Links can be found by clicking on this post’s title.

[Ted note: Don’t miss the Give List - more than 70 gifts you can give that cost nothing. Nada. Zippo. Zilch. Zero. You get the idea. There are some great ideas… I might have to write more about it later.

As we find ourselves deeper in the holiday season, gift giving begins to move its way to the front burner. But before one can give a gift, one must buy a gift. Or maybe not.

Beth Kanter points out on her blog a few different ways to give this holiday season, including a simple way to get a major corporation to give to the Boston Food Bank.

We also take a look at the site NetworkForGood.org, which helps with online fundraising. They offer the Good Card. Rather than donating in someone’s name, you can make a donation on this card, which the gift receiver can then apply to a charity of their choosing in the Network For Good. If you would like a hard copy of the card, get a jump on it. It takes up to two weeks for delivery.

And if that’s not enough for you kindhearted gift givers, take a peek at TheGiveList.org. It is a list of, so far, 71 ways to give a gift without opening your wallet.

Find a unique gift - buy abandoned?

Posted by Ted McEnroe December 4, 2008 at 2:04 pm

Image via WikipediaIt sounds a little odd at first blush, but if you are looking for an interesting gift for someone, and want to find a deal… you might want to check with Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

State treasurer Tim Cahill is offering up 99 items from the Abandoned Property Division, including collectible coins, watches and jewelry.

You can find the items on eBay at http://shop.ebay.com/merchant/state.treasurer.cahill .

There are some interesting things there - and if nothing else, you can make up a heck of a story about how they were abandoned.

A source for holiday coupons - in a not-so-likely place

Posted by Ted McEnroe November 25, 2008 at 4:20 pm

Image via WikipediaThe techies in your life probably already know Chris Pirillo. He’s one of the most popular tech bloggers out there - in fact, if you search “Chris” in Google… he’s the first name on the list. (Take that, Chris Brown, Chris Columbus, even NECN’s own Chris Collins.)

But one of the things Chris has done on his site is provide coupons and links to great deals. And for the holidays, Chris is reaching well beyond tech to aggregate coupons from dozens of places - including definite non-tech places like Liz Claiborne.

Check out the video, and visit www.pirillo.com - click on coupons.

You Want Sales? You Got ‘Em

Posted by Adam Hart November 20, 2008 at 7:48 am

Everywhere. Sales, sales, and more sales. Stores are offering discounts early on, hoping to give a boost to the holiday shopping season, which is expected to be hit hard by the economic struggles. NECN’s Latoyia Edwards takes us through some of those discount sale details…
Read more

Sharing your (wasted) spending stories

Posted by Ted McEnroe November 6, 2008 at 1:25 pm

OK, this one won’t make you save money immediately, but it does let you have a little fun with the money you have already wasted. The National Endowment for Financial Education has launched a new website at spendster.org that lets you track just how much money you have spent on things that you don’t use, never needed, or just bought on a whim.

The site lets you post videos telling your stories, provides ways to calculate the effect of your wasted spending (by factoring in credit card interest, and so on versus saving the money), and so on. I have only played with it a little, but it does seem to take some of the pain out of where you’ve somehow spent all that cash.

Here’s one video example:

Add Spendster to your page

Goodwill Hunting

Posted by Courtney October 21, 2008 at 12:07 pm

Don’t have a lot of cash, but need a Halloween costume or a winter coat? Head to your local Goodwill store. Turns out, it’s one company that’s thriving, despite the tough economy. NECN’s Amy Sinclair has more.

CollegeFest 2008

Posted by Courtney September 22, 2008 at 11:36 am

Looking for something to do this weekend but don’t have a lot of money to spend?  You might want to check out CollegeFest in downtown Boston.  $10 admission gets you loads of free stuff –food, products and more.  Saturday & Sunday, 9/27-9/28, at Hynes Convention Center.  Doors open at noon.

Get rid of your old books — and make some extra cash

Posted by Courtney September 22, 2008 at 11:25 am

If you love to read but don’t know what to do with all those old books piling up–sell them.  The Booksmith  pays 15% of cover price in cash or 20% in store credit.  They’re one of the few remaining independent bookstores around, and their used selection is hard to beat.  In Brookline & Wellesley, MA.