Shopping On A Budget

Most of us struggle to find clothing for girls that don't make your favorite five-year-old look like a midget Britney Spears. There are plenty of stores to find age appropriate items like Old Navy, Children's Place, and the Gap. These stores offer great pieces, for reasonable prices. Always buy items like pants and jackets one size up, so that it can last into the beginning of the following year.

H&M has some of cutest clothing for girls at even cheaper prices than the GAP. Avoid department stores that tend to price childrens clothing at the same price point as adults. There is no justification for a 4T Ralph Lauren skirt to cost that same as an adult skirt. The one exception is at Macys, which has great deals on children's clothing during their major sale events.

The best store to bargain shop for girls is at Target. The options are limitless and the clothes are well constructed with most items in the $10-$17 range. Plus shopping at target is very acceptable (unlike K-MART), so you can save money without worry about the "cool" factor.

It seems like the designers for boys clothing are hell-bent on making them look like little action heroes. Bargain shopping for these tykes is an art form that few know how to do. Target has great stuff for little guys, with Children's Place giving the most for your bucks. However, SEARS is also a great place to find cute little items from designers like Sean John and Levi, for very reasonable prices.

Although Old Navy is great place for basics like Cargo pants, the really cool stuff is at GAP. Bright colored lumberjack jackets and knit caps will keep your little guy looking stylish. Another good place is Marshall's and T.J. Maxx. Usually both these stores have nice suits from designers like Polo Ralph Lauren for such a bargain that you could also pick them up a little toy to make up for forcing them to go shopping.

Further signs of a shift in the market include both Morrisons and Tesco selling energy efficient lightbulbs at low prices, while Asda, the Co-op and Somerfield greatly increased the proportion of in-season vegetables produced in the UK.

But the survey, carried out by the independent group Sustain, says no retailer has yet risen to the challenge of being a truly green business, with even the top performers failing to implement basic measures. No supermarket got top marks for the amount of British in-season produce on sale, while the report noted the "wildly varying performance" in terms of unnecessary packaging and plastic bags.

Larry Whitty, chair of the NCC, said: "The food we eat is responsible for one-third of our impact on climate change. NCC's research has spotted important signs of progress right across the market ... but much remains to be done if supermarkets are to become truly green grocers."

Meanwhile, separate research being published today by the Climate Group reveals poor consumer awareness of companies taking the lead on climate change. The research shows that two-thirds of people were unable to name any brands that are taking a lead, but said 80% of consumers were making some effort to be green.

About the Author:
Jon Caldwell is an avid bargain shopper consumer. You can check out his latest shopping spree at http://www.bargain-shoppers.com/bargain-shopperscat/bargain-shopperslist.php

Gas Reward Cards - An Extra Gallon Can Truly Help

By Derek Lenehan

I'd like to share an experience I had a few weeks ago. I was putting gas into my '92 Eagle Talon at a gas station a couple miles from my home. Perhaps I hadn't anticipated rising fuel costs, or I wasn't conscious of my wallet contents, but I filled my car with $32 of regular unleaded, and I only had $30 on me. A mere two dollar oversight.

I did what any typical driver would do in this situation: I began raking beneath my seats for any change I could find. A chipped fingernail, two packets of barbeque sauce and an unopened piece of mail later, I had discovered only 98 cents comprised of mostly pennies with a couple nickels encapsulated in an unknown sticky substance.

I asked the portly station attendant if he could spot me the $1.02 that I lacked. He sized me up while spitting tobacco juice into a Fanta can, and promptly said no. I waited for a kind-hearted customer to arrive that I could beg from, but that proved fruitless after a half hour. Never fill your tank around 3:45 a.m., it's asking for doom.

'How could this have been avoided?' I asked myself while walking the distance back home to retrieve a dollar and two cents. I thought real hard and realized that I wanted two things to change. First, I didn't want to have to rely on my spotty memory and cash. Second, I wanted to be repaid for this fiasco, I wanted to get a reward to soothe my ruffled feathers.

The answer became simple. I'd seen the ads everywhere, and why I hadn't done it before was a mystery. A credit card that features cash back on gas purchases. Several companies offer them with a cash back reward of about 5% on any money spent on fuel.

I did the math while attempting a shortcut through a golf course. 5% on my $32 purchase was $1.60. Combined with the sticky change I had mined from beneath my seats, I would have able to pay for the fuel and even thrown in a half gallon of generic iced tea.

I realized shortly after, while walking across the fairway on the scenic and lovely 14th hole, that the rewards aren't typically instant. This information only had me down for a moment or two, because I realized that if I'd had a gas rewards credit card from the first day I had a car, the cash back I could have amassed over time would have been easily enough to pay for the entire tank. Maybe two.

I got home at 5:54 a.m., pawed through my change jar and took what I needed. A police officer stopped me while I was walking back to the gas station, and was kind enough to give me a ride back. I paid the bill, drove back, immediately went to bed as the sun was rising, and dreamt of fuel-beneficial credit cards and a better pair of shoes.


About the Author:
Derek Lenehan attends Kent State University in pursuit of a major in Journalism. He is also a credit card commentator at CompareCC.com, a site dedicated to providing the largest selection of gas reward credit cards available online.


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