The Chronic Consumer

I’ve been spending the last few days going through my closets and drawers to try to get a bit more organized. I want to give a bunch of clothes to Goodwill to reduce some of the clutter, and also just throw all the unwearable stuff out.

While I was going through everything, I discovered that a lot of my clothes don’t fit very well anymore. Most of my pants and jeans are too big in the waist now, which also makes them too long since they hang lower. I guess this is one of the bad side effects of weight loss, that your clothes might end up not fitting anymore!

So now I’ve got to buy a whole new wardrobe for the fall. I work at an office job a couple days a week, and on those days it’s essential that I look presentable, so I really have no choice here. I wish I didn’t have to spend all this money on new clothes, but I guess I should just be grateful that I’m buying smaller sizes instead of bigger!

I enrolled in a free shopping rewards program through my credit card provider several years ago. Basically what happens is I earn one point for every dollar I charge to my credit card, and can redeem my points for merchandise such as restaurant gift certificates, home electronics, hotel stays, and more.

Of course, all the good prizes require much higher point totals to claim, so I figured I’d just let my points accumulate for a while before trying to redeem them. Well, after five years of regular credit card usage, I had enough points to get a free third generation iPod Nano. I went with the 8Gb model in black.

This is my second iPod Nano (I still have a 1st gen that I use regularly), and third overall. I wanted this player because I simply ran out of storage space on my 1st gen Nano, so this purchase was actually necessary. I briefly considered buying an 80GB iPod Classic, but didn’t like how bulky the product was.

Anyway, after several months of near-constant usage, I have to say that I am very impressed with the 3rd gen iPod Nano. In addition to the music and photos that the 1st gen can handle, the 3rd gen can now play videos. It’s a tiny 2-inch screen, to be sure, and it takes a bit of extra work to convert videos that you don’t buy from the iTunes store, but it’s still a cool feature.

In addition, the 3rd gen Nano is completely redesigned from the 1st gen. Whereas the 1st gen was tall and thin, the 3rd gen is short and squat (2.75 inches tall, 2.06 inches wide). I think I read somewhere that this redesign was commissioned in order to deal with bending/breakage problems people had from shoving their 1st gen into their pockets. At any rate, the 3rd gen looks great — much better in person than in pictures, I might add.

Another new feature is Cover Flow, which allows you to browse your music by cover art. I don’t use this feature very often, and in all honesty, could take it or leave it.

Thus far, my 3rd gen iPod Nano has worked flawlessly. I’ve had zero problems in terms of playback, iTunes compatibility, battery life, sound quality, or anything else. In short, this product fully lives up to the iPod reputation of superior performance.

Overall, I fully recommend the 3rd Gen iPod Nano 8GB. It’s a terrific little MP3 player — made all the better considering the fact that I got mine for free!

I was reading through the Forbes.com archive earlier today when I came across an article highlighting the world’s 10 biggest shopping malls. I figured a good portion of them would be right here in the United States, but that’s not the case at all. Most of the largest malls in the world are located in Asia, and have been built in the past four years. So that means if I want to hit these places, I better start checking into an affordable jet charter company or something like that!

Anyway, here are the World’s 10 Largest Shopping Malls according to Forbes:

1. South China Mall — Donnguan, China (7.1 million sq. ft.)
2. Golden Resources Shopping Mall — Beijing, China (6 million)
3. SM Mall of Asia — Pasay City, Philippines (4.2 million)
4. Cevahir, Istanbul — Istanbul, Turkey (3.8 million)
5. West Edmonton Mall — Edmonton, Alberta, Canada (3.8 million)
6. SM Megamall — Mandaluyong City, Philippines (3.6 million)
7. Berjaya Times Square — Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (3.4 million)
8. Beijing Mall — Beijing, China (3.4 million)
9. Zhengjia PLaza — Guangzhou, China (3 million)
10. SM City North Edsa — Quezon City, Philippines (3 million)

As you can see, there’s only one mall in all of North America on this list, and it’s in Edmonton, of all places. What about the Mall of America? Where does that one fit in? Well, according to Wikipedia, the Mall of America has 2.5 million square feet of retail space available, so that gives us some idea of how it stacks up against these megamalls from the rest of the world.

Boy, how I’d love to spend a few days shopping in these places! Just a pipe dream, though, I’m sure….

As many of you already know, I purchased an HP rx1955 PDA quite a while ago. I love my device and have use it on a daily basis. Up until recently, however, I didn’t have a proper case or cover for it. I was just using the rather cheesy one that HP included in the box. But I really want to take care of my PDA, so I decided to buy a good protective case for it.

After doing some research, I thought the Krusell Leather PDA Case would be my best bet. I was initially attracted by two things: the case came in soft black leather, which is what I wanted, and the case was specifically made to fit HP products. I went ahead and bought it, and here’s what I think about it.

Pros:

• The cover fits perfectly, leaving easy access to the buttons and stylus.
• It looks nice and sleek.
• There’s extra padding on the front, which of course covers the screen.
• The cover has a very secure snap closure.
• The swivel clip is handier than I ever expected it to be, and can also be removed quickly if I find it to be too bulky for the situation.
• There are handy memory card storage slots inside the cover.
• The price was very, very reasonable.

Cons:

• It’s rather difficult to close the case and snap it shut. I really have to stretch the cover in order to get it closed. Plus, the fit is so tight that sometimes the power button gets pushed on, which is obviously something I don’t want.

As you can see, the pros heavily outweigh the cons for this product. I am extremely pleased with the quality and functionality of the Krusell Leather PDA Case, and would definitely recommend this product to all of you. You can’t go wrong here!

I haven’t been watching too much of the Olympics, but one thing I have noticed is all the different uniforms each country’s team has. They each wear such vastly different outfits from sport to sport that I can barely tell who’s competing for whom.

The baseball and softball uniforms are pretty straightforward, I guess, but if you can look at the synchronized swimming or equestrian clothing and tell me which countries the athletes represent, then you’re far more attuned to everything going on in Beijing than I am!

Anyway, I don’t know how many of these Olympic items are actually for sale. I know there are quite a few online retailers where you can purchase official gear and whatnot, so you might want to check into that if you’re so inclined.

I’ve been very diligent about using coupons recently because now that prices are rising across the board, they actually seem worth it. Today, I went to the grocery store armed with a bunch of coupons I’d been saving for a couple weeks, and ended up having an excellent day.

My original total was $153.38, but after the coupons, Preferred Customer discounts, and other in-store deals were subtracted, the total came all the way down to $121.80 — a total savings of $31.58! While that’s certainly not enough for a stay at one of those swanky St. Barts villa rentals that my aunt and uncle go to during their vacations in the Caribbean, it is enough for a trip to the movies, a couple of pizzas for a football game, or half a tank of gas. I’ll take it!

If you’ve never been particularly big on coupons, now is the time to reevaluate that position. The savings really do add up, and all you have to do is spend a few minutes taking your scissors to the Sunday newspaper!

For a limited time only, you can save $10 on any order of $60 or more at FoxStore.com by using Google Checkout as your payment method. This discount will automatically be applied when you select Google Checkout, so there’s no need for a coupon code or anything. The offer is valid from now until Septmeber 9, 2008.

I don’t know about you, but I’m always up for adding to my DVD collection, so you better believe I’ll be taking advantage of this deal myself! Check it out today!

Now that I’ve been faithfully (and successfully) working out at a health club for six months, I’ve been thinking about whether or not it would be worth it for me to buy exercise equipment for my home. I know that doing so would save me money in the long run, as I wouldn’t have to pay membership fees and dues anymore. But obviously this would only be the case if I continued to work out as diligently at home as I do at the club.

I wouldn’t be able to buy a bunch of equipment right off the bat, so I think it would be best to start with a treadmill. I like the versatility that treadmills provide, as I can adjust the speed and incline at which I walk or run, which gives me a chance to tweak my workouts according to what I want to accomplish on a particular day.

Also, I’d like some kind of weightlifting station so I can work on my muscle tone in addition to doing cardio exercises.

I don’t have the funds to run right out and get this equipment now, but my husband’s Christmas bonus will be here in just a few short months. That gives me plenty of time to shop around!