The Chronic Consumer

I’m currently trying to lose about 10 pounds, but I’m not having much luck in that quest. One of the areas that I have a lot of problems with is snacking, and obviously that’s what’s preventing me from achieving my weight loss goals. I love crunchy snacks (potato chips, pretzels, etc.) and crave them between meals. I wanted to find something a bit healthier to replace my chips and pretzels, so I bought Quaker Quakes Rice Snacks for the first time a few months ago. I’m usually not a big rice cake person, but these Quakes are awesome!

Unlike other rice cake snacks Quakes are actually quite tasty and flavorful. My three favorite flavors are the ones shown in the image above: Cheddar Cheese, Ranch, and Caramel Corn. These flavors allow me to feel as though I’m getting a delicious snack, without all the guilt that comes from consuming tons of calories while supposedly on a diet. For example, there are just 70 calories in a single serving of the Ranch flavor (10 cakes). That’s nothing, as far as snacks go! Heck, even if I indulge a bit more and consume a double serving, we’re still just talking about 140 calories — not too bad at all!

I really recommend Quakes Rice Snacks if you’re looking for a way to cut down on calories without giving up all of your tasty treats. Trust me, you’ll be surprised at how good these things taste!

Like most people, I tend to buy lots of souvenirs whenever I go on vacation. In fact, shopping for souvenirs is one of my favorite things to do, and I often head into the gift shop of whatever tourist trap we happen to be at before actually seeing the attraction! Hey, I’m a chronic consumer, so what do you expect!

Anyway, even though I love shopping for souvenirs, one place I never venture into is a hotel gift shop. Those places are geared towards harried business travelers who want to buy something for their families before heading home or towards well-to-do folks who don’t care what things cost. Hotel gift shops are certainly not meant to be frequented by budget-minded consumers who are looking to buy cheap souvenirs to remind them of their summer vacation.

Most of the items you see in hotel gift shops are available at stores outside the hotel at significantly lower prices. So if you go to Vegas, skip the Caesars Palace gift shop and simply venture outside for a bit. Better yet, if you have a rental car at your disposal, take a short drive to the Vegas suburbs and shop at a regular mall out there.

The key to being able to buy a lot of stuff on a limited budget is to find the lowest prices, so do yourself a favor and shop around!

During the summer months when it’s hot and humid, my face tends to look and feel oily and greasy most of the time. This is the kind of problem that I used to have to correct in one of two ways. I could either wash my face 15 times per day or I could add more powder foundation to control the shine.

Doing the former would irritate my already sensitive skin, while doing the latter became quite expensive as I went through makeup quite quickly. Fortunately, I discovered an easier way to deal with these summer skin challenges: Clean & Clear® Oil Absorbing Sheets.

Clean & Clear® Oil Absorbing Sheets are very thin, smooth sheets that feel almost like delicate tissue paper used to wrap expensive gifts. All you do is blot your face with the sheet, and excess oil is instantly absorbed while leaving your makeup intact! After I blot with Clean & Clear® Oil Absorbing Sheets, I immediately feel refreshed, so I have to say that this product is a godsend for me.

The sheets come in a handy packet of 50 that easily fits into a purse, backpack, or even just my pocket. I carry these things around all summer long and also leave a packet in my glove compartment just in case.

If you have similar problems with oily skin and want to reduce shine without further irritation or expensive makeup, I recommend that you try Clean & Clear® Oil Absorbing Sheets. They cost a bit more than $6 at local drug stores for a packet of 50, but I’ve seen a 4-count pack (200 sheets total) advertised on Amazon.com for around $18. That’s essentially a buy 3, get 1 free deal, so I suggest going that route.

My cousin is really into cars and is currently studying to be a mechanic. Even though he’s just 21 years old, he already has a massive collection of body shop supplies and automotive tools to help him keep his ride in tip-top shape. He has spent a lot of money on his tools, but the investment will pay off in the future, as it’ll help him get a good job and also help him save money on his own car repairs.

I know my cousin usually buys these types of products from local hardware stores or specialty supply stores, which probably means that he’s paying a lot more than he has to. I know of several discount websites, such as HandsonTools.com, that offer a huge selection of body shop supplies at great prices.

I keep forwarding links to my cousin, but I’m not sure how much he follows up with them. I’ll just have to keep trying to convert him into an online shopper and hope that he sees the light soon!

There are four “big box” retailers within a 15-minute drive from my house: Target, Wal-Mart (and Sam’s Club), Super K-Mart, and Meijer. Meijer is the newest of the bunch and just came on the scene in this area a few years ago. While I used to divide my time pretty evenly at Target and Wal-Mart, I’ve slowly converted into a Meijer fan. Here’s a quick rundown of the reasons that I prefer Meijer over the other stores.

• Cleanliness. I know it’s hard to keep these huge retail sites clean, especially with hordes of people pawing through the merchandise on a daily basis, but Meijer does a relatively good job. The displays are usually orderly, the clothes are folded, and the bathrooms are actually usable.
• Convenience. This is the only one of the stores I mentioned that’s open 24 hours. Wal-Mart used to be open around the clock, but now they go from 7am to 10 or 11pm (or something like that). I frequently keep odd hours and/or suffer from insomnia, so there’s no telling when I’ll want to go shopping at 2am. Meijer is the only place to go at that time!
• Selection. I like the selection of merchandise available at Meijer. They’ve got a full grocery store with most of the brands that I usually buy, plus they have all the usual products you’d expect from a big box retailer, like cheap clothes, office supplies, automotive supplies, toys, video games, DVDs, etc.
• TV shopping carts. Yeah, the ones that play Barney, Bob the Builder, and The Wiggles videos. For just one dollar, my son can be occupied for the entire visit. It’s so nice to be able to do my shopping in peace, without having the boy whine to go home. Yes, he still gets out of the cart to walk through the toy aisles, but remains quietly seated the rest of the time. I’ll take that trade-off!
• Prices. I’ve found that Meijer offers cheaper prices than Wal-Mart on most items, and is comparable with Target on a bunch of others. While I think Target has the best prices on a storewide basis, I still prefer shopping at Meijer.

I think Meijer is only located in the Midwest, but I’m not too sure on that one. At any rate, if there’s a branch in your area, I highly recommend shopping there as opposed to Wal-Mart, Kmart, or even Target!

Are you the kind of person who spends a lot of money on health products? I’m talking about vitamin supplements, herbal remedies, and even things like colon cleanse products or other detoxifiers.

I usually don’t buy anything beyond vitamins, but as I get older, I’m becoming more and more concerned about my health. As a result, I’m interested in finding out more about these types of health products. Do they work? Are they worth the money? Which ones do you recommend?

I’d love to hear your views here!

I’ve got a couple of laptop bags already, but they’re just cheap ones made of nylon twill. This is fine when I’m just taking my laptop to Starbucks or to the park, but I want something a little more presentable for when I got to business meetings, which is why I’ve been looking around at leather bags.

I found a nice one from Samsonite that has all the features I’m looking for at a price I can afford. For instance, it can hold my laptop plus accessories, which is something my current bags don’t do, and also has an extra accordian-style file pocket. Plus, it looks great and is affordable, as far as leather cases go.

I’m adding this product to my Wish List, and hope to buy it within the next couple of months!

(Click thumbnail to enlarge image.)

I get email notifications of sales and special deals from a lot of different places, including a site called Judy’s Book. Anyway, today I got this alert that sounded pretty good, so I decided to post it here.

For a limited time only, you can save up to 40% off office electronics (like fax machines, shredders, calculators, etc.) from Circuit City. This is available on the web only, and you must use this special promo link to get the discount. (I’ve put it through TinyURL for the sake of convenience, but trust me, it’s legit!)

40% off at Circuit City

I’m not sure how long the offer is good for, but I can’t imagine that it would be more than a week, so you’d better jump on this if you’re in need of new office equipment!

I’m a big fan of Ralph Lauren clothes, particularly the Polo line. I like the classic styles and the fact that you can’t really tell one year’s products from the next. I mean, you could have a Polo shirt, sweatshirt, or sweater from 1997 and it would more or less look exactly the same as one from 2007 — which means you don’t have to overhaul your entire wardrobe every year in the hopes of not appearing hopelessly outdated.

There are a couple of Ralph Lauren outlet stores in the Chicago area. One is at the Premium Outlets in Aurora, and the other is at Prime Outlets in Kenosha, WI (about a one- or two-hour drive, depending on traffic). While I like these stores, they don’t really offer the deep discounts or large selection that you’d expect from an outlet, so I don’t actually shop as often as you might think.

A lot of fellow shoppers have told me that the best Ralph Lauren factory stores can be found in North Carolina. From what I understand, they have a total of five stores in that state alone, and all of the clothes are offered at significant discounts. A friend of mine went out that way on a business trip last year and came back with armfuls of Polos that she bought for something like $9 each — obviously a much better deal than the $39 (give or take) asking price at my local stores. That’s not to say that I’ll be checking into Beaufort NC real estate in order to be closer to these unbelievable prices or anything like that… I just wish that other stores would follow suit with the huge discounts!

I’ve mentioned several times already that my husband and I want to convert one of our extra rooms into a nice home entertainment center where we can watch movies and play video games in a fun area. We’ve got a high-end LCD flat-panel television already, as well as a good surround sound speaker system (that was just delivered yesterday). Moreover, we’ve got several major gaming systems, plenty of the latest video game titles, and stacks of DVDs to keep us busy. Plus, we’re also thinking about getting theater seating (for comfort) and maybe a subscription to DirecTV (for sports).

All that’s left for us to do, really, is decorate the room. I’m leaning towards buying a bunch of movie memorabilia for the walls and shelves, things like framed posters and photos. I’d be open to buying an antique-style popcorn machine as well. I think giving the room a theme like this would really make all the difference in the world.

Anyway, the decor is still up in the air a bit since my husband prefers a more sports-oriented theme, but I’m sure we’ll get it taken care of soon. I’d be okay with sports too; I just can’t wait for the whole room to be finished!