Shop To It

Good-Bye Shop To It

Thu, 30 Apr 2009 00:00:00 -0500

Saying good-bye to an old friend is always tough. And I'm afraid this is yet another tough good-bye. This is Shop To It's final blog post. Together we have tried to figure out this crazy world of retail since October 2007. As I write this farewell, it's only appropriate that I look back on all the valuable advice we've exchanged over the last 18 months. Here are a few of my favorite reader tips: Tip #1: When it comes to keeping the clutter under control, reader FinallyOrganized shared with us a household rule that "if a new something comes in the house, something old must go." I think this is especially important when bringing in new toys, right kids? Tip #2: Anyone who's buying furniture should heed the advice of McLean. Measure out the dimensions of the piece of furniture you're considering buying with masking tape on the floor of

Tuesday Tips: Window Treatments

Tue, 28 Apr 2009 00:00:00 -0500

I love looking out my kitchen window while I'm making breakfast in the mornings. But I sure don't want people looking in on me as I do this in my green and pink butterfly pajamas. That's why window treatments are a home's necessary evil. They not only keep out peering eyes but they also keep a house cool in the summer and warm in the winter. But they're evil because they can also be so expensive. So here are some tips for buying window treatments on a budget: Tip #1: Custom-made curtain panels are one of the most affordable type of window treatments. The labor isn't as intense, so the cost will be somewhat lower than something more intricate like valances. Tip #2: If custom-made treatments are out of the picture, places like Target and Wal-Mart have lots of options. But look for window treatments that are lined. "Not only

Off the Beaten Path: Falls Church

Thu, 23 Apr 2009 00:00:00 -0500

Sorry Falls Church. Route 7, which you lovingly call Broad Street, has traditionally served as a means for me to get from Alexandria to Tysons Corner. I've failed to check out the cute little shops and restaurants that line your busy, narrow corridor, some of which has a speed limit of a mere 25 miles per hour. I finally stopped the other day and walked by your shops. Here's what I found: New to You, a small shop that calls itself the "Chic Boutique," is a women's consignment store at 108 West Broad St. The shop owner says the store capitalizes on expensive buying mistakes made by women, selling high-end pieces that were bought with the best of intentions but never made it off the hanger. The store is very selective about what it accepts, limiting its labels to designers like Gucci and Louis Vuitton, and styles from the last

Saving Some Green When Buying Green

Tue, 21 Apr 2009 00:00:00 -0500

I love the thought of buying cleaning products that aren't harmful to the environment. So in honor of Earth Day on Wednesday, I went to four stores and one Web site to find out who had the best prices on some of the environmentally friendly cleaning products that have hit the shelves in the last few years. I focused on 7th Generation, a line of all-natural cleaners and recycled paper products, and Greenworks, an all-natural line of cleaners made by Clorox, and looked at how much these products cost at Target, Giant, CVS, Walmart and Amazon.com. After braving the crowds on a recent Sunday afternoon, I concluded that Walmart had the better prices but Target had the most selection. Both stores sell Greenworks but Target also carries 7th Generation, Method and Mrs. Myers. Many of these products were on sale for Earth Day but I compared each of the stores'

Tax Refund: To Spend or Not to Spend?

Thu, 16 Apr 2009 00:00:00 -0500

The last year has been an expensive one for my family. Starting with a broken air-conditioning system and a clogged pipe in our top floor bathroom that leaked water all the way down to our basement and ending with the renovation of two bathrooms and a kitchen. In the end I thought I had become a professional check writer. So it was welcome news when we found out that we would get a small tax refund this year. I knew there was a good reason for having two kids. As much as I would love to run to a furniture store and buy a new couch and coffee table, the voice of reason (my husband) is telling me we need to replenish some of the savings that was used to pay major expenses. So are you getting a tax refund this year? Polling by twiigs.com

Tuesday Tips: Choosing a Moving Company

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 00:00:30 -0500

The last time my husband and I moved, we hired three guys who were recommended by a neighbor. They showed up in an unmarked truck covered in graffiti to move our pitiful collection of furniture. It was a little sketchy but in the end our stuff arrived at our new house in pretty good condition. Things are a little different now with our second move. We have grown-up furniture and a lot more of it. So after several weeks of researching companies and gathering estimates, here are my tips on shopping for a moving company: Tip #1: As soon as your house hits the market you'll start getting promotional cards in the mail and phone calls. Look through them for interesting deals. Research some of the names and see how they fare on consumer review services like Washington Checkbook magazine and Angie's List. Tip #2: Get recommendations from friends and

Hop, Hop, Hop to Ready-Made Easter Meals

Thu, 09 Apr 2009 00:00:30 -0500

The Easter eggs are hidden. The pastel décor is in place. The chocolate eggs and jelly beans are ready to be eaten. Just one more thing -- Easter dinner. If the holiday has snuck up on you and you're in search of a little help from someone else's kitchen, consider buying some ready-made Easter fare. Here are a few local ideas: Just about every major grocery store will sell you a complete holiday dinner for eight to 10 people. Wegmans' Easter package includes a European cheese assortment appetizer for $25, a spiral-sliced ham for $5.99 a pound and four side dishes including spring asparagus, a medley of zucchini, squash, red peppers, carrots and green beans and scalloped potatoes for $29.99. A more economical route would be to make your own sides and explore some of the meats stores like Safeway and Giant are offering. Safeway is also selling hams for

Tuesday Tips: Buying Paint

Tue, 07 Apr 2009 00:00:00 -0500

One of the most expensive supplies in a painting project is the paint. It's hard to believe, since it's just paint, but paint a room with cheap stuff and it shows. High-end paint can run you $100 a gallon. So here are a few tips on buying paint without taking out a second mortgage on your home: Tip #1: If you're painting to sell a house, consider using a lower grade paint in a neutral color and a flat finish. A new owner will likely paint the room their own color anyway and you haven't spent a ton of money to make your house look nice while it's on the market. "You're not going to get a lot of wear in the time from when you paint it to when you sell it," said Bill Thornton, owner of Potomac Paint, a paint store in Alexandria, Arlington and Chantilly. Tip #2:

Cool Store Alert: West Elm

Thu, 02 Apr 2009 00:00:00 -0500

Every spring I try to turn my small patio into a relaxing, beach setting. I use colors and lots of candles and lights to make it happen... sort of. It never quite works out the way I want it to. Which is why the recent West Elm catalog caught my eye. The Brooklyn-based furniture company, launched by Williams-Sonoma in 2002, features sleek modern wood pieces with neutral colors. Much of it is loungy, with cushy sofas and inviting outdoor reclining chairs. The pieces are created to appeal to people living in apartments or lofts, says a company spokeswoman. But the furniture has also been a draw to designers across the board. But what really attracted my eye were the prices. The catalog is having a 10 percent off sale on its outdoor pieces. So you can get a two-person lounger made of nyatoh wood in a white or chocolate weather-treated

Beating Retailers at Their Own Game

Tue, 31 Mar 2009 07:44:26 -0500

You walk into a store, browse the shelves, pick what you want and pay for it. Shopping seems simple enough, right? But retailers have tricks up their sleeves to make us buy certain things that we consumers don't even know about. That's according to Martin Lindstrom, author of "Buyology: Truth and Lies About Why We Buy." The book is based on several years of research and Lindstrom's background as a marketing and advertising advisor to the retail world. I asked him to give Shop To It some tips on how we should shop. Here's what he had to say: Tip #1: Leave the kids at home when you shop. Retailers will gear more and more of their advertising toward parents with children. Why? Because kids influence 80 percent of their parents' buying habits, say Lindstrom. It's not just candy and toys either. Lindstrom says kids have the power to influence

Emptying the Electronics Graveyard

Thu, 26 Mar 2009 00:00:00 -0500

An electronics graveyard. We all have one in our houses. Mine is deep in the bowels of my basement in a backroom closet. You open up the door and out comes cell phones, laptops, a VHS player and dozens of cords and adaptors. I could sell them on eBay, but the process can be a tad time consuming. Salvation Army won't take outdated laptops and you can't just throw them in the trash. Gazelle.com may be the solution. This two-year-old Web site buys old electronics and sells them to other retailers and wholesalers in return for an Amazon.com gift card, a check or a payment through Paypal. You could also choose to have the money go to charity. The company says they pay users an average of $115. Any device that's deemed to have no value gets recycled by the company, which is about 10 percent of items that get

Rethinking Coupons

Tue, 24 Mar 2009 00:00:00 -0500

Don't mess with coupons. That's what I learned from last week's Shop To It post where I mused about not understanding the lure of those little pieces of paper that give you discounts. Some of you found it bizarre that a shopping blogger would turn up her nose at coupons. Because of your comments I have vowed to give them another try. For a whole month I won't make a single purchase without using a coupon. If I'm grocery shopping, I'll vow to use at least five coupons on things that I normally buy. If I'm buying clothes for my kids or shoes for myself, I'll whip out a coupon like nobody's business. I'll let you know how I did and maybe I'll become a coupon addict. But I'm asking for some help here. I think it's only fair that I tell you my three biggest beefs against coupons: --I'm

Did You Know...?

Thu, 19 Mar 2009 00:00:00 -0500

...That you should never go shopping hungry, even when you're not buying groceries? And some retailers use certain scents like the smell of fresh-cut grass to make us buy. That's according to a new book by Martin Lindstrom called 'Buyology: Truth and Lies About Why We Buy.' The author spent three years and $7 million studying the brains of consumers as they shopped and watched commercials. His book reveals a lot of interesting discoveries about how we buy or not buy. ...We shoppers spent 0.6 percent more in February than we did in January, according to the National Retail Federation? The bad news, at least for retailers, is that we spent 5 percent less this February compared to last February. So what did we buy? Mostly clothing and accessories. Electronics, appliances and furniture were next in line. ...If you feel really unorganized, now may be the time to invest

Coupons for a Price: Deal or No Deal?

Tue, 17 Mar 2009 00:00:00 -0500

I'll be honest here. I've never really understood the lure of coupons. I've tried using them but I only last a few shopping trips and then I give up. To me it doesn't seem worth the 25 cents in savings or the fact that you have to buy more of what you normally do to take advantage of a few cents off. Plus I have yet to find an easy way to organize them so that I remember which coupons I have and when they expire. So I was intrigued by Entertainment Book, a thick $30 book of hundreds of coupons at restaurants, Web sites, retail stores and service firms. I thought that since I was paying for the coupons, they'd be a bit more substantial than what you find in the Sunday newspaper. In Entertainment Book, which has been around since 1962, you'll find everything from 20 percent off

Gifts O'Plenty for St. Patrick's Day

Thu, 12 Mar 2009 00:00:03 -0500

You get invited to an Irish friend's house for St. Patrick's Day, where you'll have an evening of traditional Irish fare. But you can't possibly show up with a case of green beer and a necklace of blinking shamrock beads. Some local Irish shop owners offer up their ideas for serious Irish gifts: Dirt. Yes, that's right, dirt. It's actually from Ireland and it hasn't been allowed to leave the country until recently, according to Patricia O'Theobald, the new owner of Irish Walk in Alexandria. So for nearly $50 you get a Belleek bowl, a bag of Irish dirt and shamrock seeds. And when the shamrocks die off you still have the Irish pottery. Irish Walk is also starting to sell Finnian statues. The Irish figurine ranges from a small ornament for $4 to five-inch statues for $60. An Irish host may also appreciate a shephard's pie in a ceramic