The Chronic Consumer

Have you sent out your holiday cards yet? It’s December 13, and I still haven’t gotten around to mine! I had originally planned to do them right at the beginning of the month, but of course I got sidetracked by other stuff and put the cards off until now.

I have to do them today, however, so I’ve already got everything I need set out on the kitchen table, including my mailing list, the cards, envelopes, stamps, and even a whole cannister full of promotional pens to write with. I would start now, but I’m kind of hoping that Jerry will wake up soon, see everything on the table, and offer to help.

Ha, who am I kidding?! I better get started myself, or I’ll just be looking at even more delays.

I just wanted to take a moment to wish all of you a very happy Thanksgiving! I hope you’re able to spend the day with loved ones and I hope you spend some time reflecting about all the good things in your life. I know there’s a lot of uncertainty surrounding jobs and the economy, but try not to let those thoughts intrude on the good times today.

Personally, my family has a lot to be thankful for, including our health first and foremost. We have the same financial worries as everyone else, but we’re not going to focus on those today. Instead, we’re just going to be thankful for what we do have, including a huge feast consisting of a big turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes with gravy, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, green beans, and pumpkin pie with whipped cream. Seriously, I’m going to need to take diet supplements for a month to undo the caloric damage from this meal!

Have a great one!

There’s good news for people who didn’t receive a rebate check from the IRS this year as part of the government’s economic stimulus package. If you didn’t qualify based on your 2007 tax return, you could qualify based on your 2008 return — particularly if you’ve been laid off or your income dropped dramatically because of the bad economy.

I just read an article saying that another $10 billion in rebates will be distributed in 2009, and the IRS will soon post guidelines on their website telling you how to figure out if you qualify for a rebate.

Rebates come in different amounts based on a variety of factors, beginning at $300 or $600 per individual, and culminating at $1,200 per married couple. Additionally, each child claimed on your tax return could net as much as $300 as well.

Most of my friends received rebates in 2008, and were able to use the money for a variety of things ranging from home improvement repairs to paying off credit card debt. One guy I know even put his rebate towards CDL training so he could get a better job, which I thought was a smart move. No matter what you end up doing with it, a rebate check from the IRS can really make a difference in your finances.

Anyway, keep checking back at the IRS website for more info and get your taxes filed on time this year!

I can’t believe that this is the 500th post here at The Chronic Consumer! In all honesty, when I first began this blog, I didn’t know how long I’d be able to sustain it with new material. Although I think I shop a lot, I certainly don’t buy something new every single day, so I was worried that I’d quickly run out of things to post about.

Fortunately, that hasn’t happened thus far. I’ve been writing here since May 11, 2007, and have made it to 500 posts already. I’m pretty happy with that!

This is just a reminder to all of you that Grandparents Day is next Sunday, September 7, so if you’re planning on purchasing a present for the occasion, you’ve only got one week left to shop.

I don’t think I’ve ever remembered this “holiday” before, but this time I might go ahead and get something for my mom to celebrate the fact that she’s a grandmother. A greeting card for sure, and then perhaps a fun photo product with my son’s picture on it.

Or maybe I can get a free day for myself by dropping my son off with enough money to take grandma to the zoo. They would both enjoy that and I could get a lot of work done with the boy gone all day. Now that sounds like a great plan!

This is a test post made from my cell phone. It is just from the phone browser itself, not from a third party app like Utterz or anything like that. If this works, then I will be able to post a bunch more stuff from my various shopping excursions!

Crossing my fingers now….

I purchased a Kindle ebook reader about six or seven weeks ago, and am planning to write a detailed review of the device pretty soon. I waited so long because I wanted to really get to know the device and experience its pros and cons over an extended period before writing about it.

Without giving away too much right now, let me just say that I love the Kindle and am very happy with my purchase! Almost everything about my experience with the device has been terrific, from the moment I received the device until now. In fact, probably the biggest beef I have about Kindle is the way it comes in such nice packaging. I didn’t want to risk damaging the package with my box cutter, so I tried to get the shrink-wrap off by hand, which took me forever!

At any rate, I’ve definitely got enough experience and info to write my review. I just need to set aside some time to do it!

I know this isn’t exactly related to shopping, but I’m so bummed about the news that I just had to post it. Bennigan’s, which has been one of my favorite restaurants since high school (20+ years) is closing because of bankruptcy. Its parent company, S&A Restaurant Corp, filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy today, and plans to close many of the 21 Illinois Bennigan’s locations.

According to an article in the Chicago Tribune, the Bennigan’s bankruptcy filing was unexpected, with restaurant managers getting phone calls in the middle of the night telling them to close the stores immediately. In fact, the article went on to say that a new employee showed up for his first day of work today only to see the restaurant shuttered. He didn’t know what was going on until a couple of passersby told him about the bankruptcy!!

Chapter 7 — the Bennigan’s bankruptcy in this case — is used when a company is going to liquidate its assets, as opposed to Chapter 11, which is used when a company plans to restructure. So it looks as though Bennigan’s will be gone for good pretty soon.

Again, I’m totally bummed by this. I’ve had such great times at Bennigan’s over the years… I always went there with my friends in high school and college, and even afterwards in my early to mid-20s. Food and fun at Bennigan’s, right????