The Chronic Consumer

Don’t look now, but it’s already time to think about Christmas shopping! October is just a few days away, which means Halloween will be here before we know it, and then we’ll be into November, Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and December. It’s going to happen quickly, folks!

Every year, I set a goal for finishing my Christmas shopping before Thanksgiving. I usually fail, but this year I’m determined to buck that trend. For instance, I’ve already come up with several good Christmas gift ideas for my husband and son, which means that I’ll only have extended family left to think about. Oh, and random grab-bag type gifts for the various exchanges at the office and other organizations I belong to.

Preparation is definitely the key to successful Christmas shopping. You can’t just wander aimlessly around the mall for hours on end and expect to find the perfect present. You should have a pretty good idea of what you’re looking for beforehand, so all you have to do is go in, find the best price, grab the item, and get out of there. Or, better yet, order everything online so you don’t have to deal with traffic or crowds at all.

Hopefully my plan will work this year, because the last thing I need is to stress over Christmas for the next 3 months!!

I told you last week that I was planning on buying another women’s NFL jersey because I like them so much. I already have a Tom Brady Patriots replica, and this time I wanted to order something different. I spent a lot of time considering which player’s jersey to buy before settling on Alex Smith of the 49ers.

My Brady jersey is a size L, which fits just fine, but isn’t as roomy as I would like it, so I wanted to order the Smith jersey in XL. I couldn’t find that size at any online sporting goods stores except for ESPNShops.com. I kept looking for a few more days, but finally decided to buy from ESPN. Here’s what I thought of the process.

First of all, the ESPN shop’s prices are much higher than, say, Amazon.com or even Dick’s Sporting Goods, but they had the size I needed whereas the other places didn’t. That’s fine, I guess. I’m willing to pay more to get exactly what I want — if I have to, that is.

While I was shopping on the site, I noticed that there was a promo code for $15 off a purchase of $75 or more. I was close to that amount with the jersey anyway, so I decided to buy a Bears t-shirt to put me over the limit.

But when I went through the checkout process, I didn’t see any place to enter the promo code! I’ve been shopping online for years and years, so believe me, I was on the lookout for the promo code box, but never saw it. The only thing I saw was a place to enter gift card numbers (with PINs), and I tried to enter the code there even though I knew damn well it wouldn’t work (which, of course, it didn’t). I kept going, thinking maybe it would be at the very end or something, but no dice.

Oh, another thing about the ESPNShops.com ordering process that bugged me was the way they don’t show you your total price after shipping and taxes are added in. All you get is a subtotal, and you have to confirm your order without knowing what the full total is. Once the order is received on their end, they’ll send you a confirmation email with shipping and taxes included. That’s complete b.s., if you ask me. This is critical information that should be added before shoppers are asked to submit their orders.

Anyway, because of the snafu with the promo code, I had to call customer service right after I placed my order. The girl on the phone said that she couldn’t take the discount out of the order that was already submitted, so instead she would open a new order with the same items (adding the discount this time), cancel the old order, and that would be that.

An hour after talking to customer service, I got a confirmation email for the new order, with the discount code applied and everything. Perfect.

Until yesterday, when I also got a confirmation email for that first order I placed. Yeah, the one that Phone Girl was supposed to cancel!!

So I had to call in yet again to explain what happened and get that first order canceled. This time a different person answered, and he said he would take care of it. But even though it’s more than 24 hours later, the status for that unwanted order still shows as OPEN.

This is crap. I hate having to follow up on customer service requests like this just because employees are too lazy and/or incompetent to do their jobs right in the first place.

The issue is still unresolved as of this writing, but no matter how it plays out, I think it’s safe to say I won’t be spending my money at ESPNShops.com anymore. It’s just not worth the hassle at all!

A good friend of mine is an RN who recently decided to leave her hospital job to become a private caregiver. She just got tired of all the office politics that went on at the hospital, and wants to be her own boss for a change.

The biggest difference between working at a hospital and going into private practice is that she’s expected to have her own equipment now. Fortunately, she got to know a lot of equipment suppliers where she worked before, so getting the right equipment at good prices hasn’t been too much of a challenge. But now she’s got to get a van to haul around her healthcare cart and other supplies from client to client.

Anyway, her tip to other healthcare professionals setting off on their own is to utilize your contacts whenever possible so you can get the best deals on new and used equipment. And if you don’t have any contacts yet, trying buying online from a few discount websites to save as much as you can.

Several kids on my block have electric scooters that they zoom around on all day long. These things look like the stand-up kick scooters that everyone was using about 10 years ago, but they run on a battery and can go up to 10mph. Now that my son has seen everyone else around here with one, he wants one too. And I’m actually thinking about buying it for his birthday in February!

The model I’m looking at is the Razor E100, pictured above. Here are the specifications according to the manufacturer:

• Powerful fun at speeds up to 10MPH!
• Up to 40 minutes of continuous use
• NEW chain-driven, high-torque motor
• NEW twist-grip throttle
• 125mm polyurethane rear wheel
• Rechargeable battery
• Hand-operated front brake
• 8″ pneumatic front tire
• Ages 8+
• Weight Limit: 120lbs
• Product decorations and specifications subject to change.

Now, it says the scooter is for ages 8+, but I’m going to get it anyway — even though my son will be just five on his next b-day. If he has the proper protective equipment when he rides it, I don’t think there’s any real danger of getting hurt. Besides, by the time the weather gets nice enough to ride the scooter outside, he’ll nearly be five and a half !

I really wish they had toys like this when I was a kid. Heck, Razor sells electric scooters big enough for adults, so I might end up buying one for myself too!

I’m the kind of person who firmly believes in taking vacations on a regular basis. Getting away from the grind of daily life is an absolute necessity for me, and I really have a hard time understanding people who feel differently. Like whenever I hear about some employee who hasn’t missed a day of work in 20 years or whatever, I just have to wonder what their motivation is. I mean, it’s one thing not to be able to afford a vacation; I can totally understand that. But if you have the financial resources to take a holiday, then you should definitely do it!

One of our favorite destinations is Walt Disney World in Orlando. We’ve been there too many times to count in the last 10 years and will keep on going back. Because we’ve been there so often, we’ve picked up some tips on how to save money on our Orlando vacations. Here are a few:

• Never buy your tickets at the Disney World box office. Instead, buy them through a reputable discount ticket broker or some similar service. If you’ve got thick skin and can say “no” without feeling guilty, you might even want to try going to a timeshare sales pitch. There are a bunch of these in the Orlando area, and you can get free tickets or buy-1-get-1-free deals at Disney just by sitting through a lengthy presentation. (Not recommended if you have small children in tow.)
• Book your hotels through a discount website. This might seem like an obvious tip, but you’d be surprised at how many people never bother to check for lower rates. My husband and I have had tremendous luck with hotels in the Orlando area, and we always end up staying at a four- or five-star property for less than $100 per night.
• Consider a rental home. If you’re going to be staying for more than a couple of days, you’d likely be better off renting a condo or vacation home for a week instead of booking a hotel. You’ll benefit by having a full kitchen so you can cook meals at home rather than having to go to restaurants three times a day.
• Use coupons. Local establishments like pubs, restaurants, and souvenir shops want your business, so they often offer great deals through coupons and whatnot. Ask the hotel concierge for help in this area, check travel websites, or buy an Orlando coupon book.

Vacationing in Orlando doesn’t have to break the bank. Just follow these tips and you’ll save on your next trip to Disney World!

When I worked full-time in an office (about 10 years ago), I used to love shopping at J.Crew. Their clothes were perfect for the business casual dress code at work, I loved the styles, loved that you could monogram the shirts (yes, I’m a dork like that), and everything fit me very well. Plus their clothes were relatively durable, so I didn’t mind paying their high prices (high compared to, say, the Gap).

But in recent years I’ve been spending less and less money at J.Crew. I now think their prices are pretty outrageous for what you get in return ($68 for a button-down blouse when you can get a comparable item at the Gap for $29). Moreover, they don’t even offer great deals on their website.

For instance, I was just notified today of a special J.Crew coupon code for free shipping. I was excited and actually considered buying something — until I read the fine print. Free shipping only applies to orders of $175 or more and is only valid until 9/19, which is two days from now!

I would never spend $175 just to get free shipping! That’s insane!! Most stores automatically give you free shipping when you spend that much. Heck, the free shipping threshold for most online stores that I shop at is just $50, so this hardly seems like a “deal” at all.

I do still like J.Crew for outerwear and boots (sometimes), but I don’t think I’ll be buying regular clothes from them anytime soon.

I’ll still put the coupon code up here for anyone that wants it:

Just enter SEPTFS at checkout.

I’m well past the days of buying aftermarket modifications for my vehicles. My husband and I own a big van that we use for family road trips and a smaller economy car that gets good gas mileage. Neither of these are the kinds of cars that anyone would bother to upgrade.

But about 10 years ago I drove a brand-new Pontiac Firebird. It was a beautiful ride that got me lots of compliments (and speeding tickets) everywhere I went. A friend of mine convinced me to make several mods to it, including chrome wheels, a custom car spoiler, dual exhaust, and a few under-the-hood adjustments.

All of those parts cost quite a bit of money because I didn’t know about discount websites back then, but I’d have to say the result was well worth it. Maybe when I go through my midlife crisis and buy another sports car, I’ll check into car mods again!

I’ve been buying lots of games for my DS Lite recently, which is unusual for me. I haven’t played video games this much since I was a kid, but Nintendo truly has some fantastic titles available for the DS platform, so I can’t help myself. One game that I’ve been playing for the last couple of weeks is Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney from Capcom.

This game is what’s referred to as a “visual novel.” In other words, it plays out more or less like reading a novel and doesn’t feature any fast and furious action. Most of the time, you’re just scrolling through dialog and choosing from a preset list of actions that your character, the titular Phoenix Wright, can take. In this way, the game reminds me of the Choose Your Own Adventure book series that I read as a kid.

(Do you remember those? You’d get to a certain point in the story and would have to choose from two different courses of action, each one leading you to a different page and a different outcome. Phoenix Wright is sort of like that.)

There are five different stories in the game, and you unlock them in order by successfully completing the previous stories. They’re all murder mysteries, and you take part in the investigation and trial as Phoenix Wright.

During the investigation, you can Examine (evidence and scenes), Talk (to witnesses, detectives, and clients), Move (from one relevant location to another, and Present (evidence or clues to the person you’re speaking with in order to find out more information). During the trial, you can Press witnesses to get them to explain their statements in more detail and you can Present them with evidence from the Court Record when you catch them in lies.

Each case gets progressively harder as you move along, but they can all be solved — even if you have to resort to trial and error to do so. There are also complete walkthroughs available online if you want to see how the cases are supposed to be solved (with no errors).

Overall, I think Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney is a pretty fun game.  I can’t really sit there and play it for hours at a time because I find that all the reading gives me a headache after a while, but I usually pick it up everyday to do a little at a time.

I bought this game for $29.99 through Amazon.com, but felt that price was a bit high for what I got in return. I do plan on getting the next title in the series, but hope to find it one sale for under $20 somewhere.

Anyway, if you’ve never tried one of these visual novels, I suggest going for it. Phoenix Wright is a pretty good place to start!