My wife and I received a T.J. Maxx gift card this Christmas from someone appealing to our frugal side.  I admit, I haven’t been to a T.J. Maxx store in a long time, but thoroughly enjoyed browsing the aisles with my wife last Saturday.  One of the things that struck me was the number of name-brand items on sale at clearance prices.  Not fully understanding the store’s off-price strategy I was off to learn more.

Off-Price Retailers

First, a little history on the industry straight from the T.J. Maxx website:

Off-price retailing grew in the recession of the mid-’70s when consumers had limited discretionary income.  Consumers wanted to save money without sacrificing quality and fashion.  Shopping “off-price” provided the perfect solution.  Through the years, the off-price industry has continued to grow.  The recession of the early ’90s reinforced consumers’ value-oriented; mentality and heightened the demand for quality fashions at reasonable prices.

Sound familiar?  If the blurb on their website had not reference the recessionary times of the mid-’70s and early-’90s I would have though they were describing the consumer sentiment of today.  After all, many folks are hunting bargains without sacrificing quality.  To me, that is the mantra of the frugal shopper.

Our Finds

The hardest part of spending money with a gift card is trying to decide what to buy and stay within your budgeted amount.  Our gift card was for $25.00, which normally wouldn’t buy much, but as we shopped the items at our local T.J. Maxx store we were able to find three much-needed household items to toss in our shopping cart.

19-piece ultimate measuring set.  Just like the label says, this is the “ultimate measuring set.”  Up to now we’ve collected a mix-matched set of measuring spoons and cups of various sizes, colors and brands.  Now we have a complete, matching set and can retire our current measuring devices to back-up duty.

Shower curtain 3-pack.  My son loves to play “splash the parent” in the bath tub, so we’ve employed a plastic shower curtain liner for some time to protect us (and the bathroom floor). Unfortunately, these things tend to collect mildew pretty quickly, and there are only so many times you can clean with vinegar before they need replacing.

8-piece prep bowls with lids.  My wife enjoys watching the occasional cooking show, and is always envious of the little glass prep bowls everyone uses to separate their spices and various ingredients.  Well, now she has her own!  We have also discovered these are the perfect size for pouring up a little homemade honey mustard or similar sauce for dipping meats and veggies.

We took home all three items for just over $25.00 (the difference was less than a dollar). It felt good to pick up three things we needed, but had put off purchasing because of their expense, even in discount stores.  We didn’t even make it to the racks of discounted, name brand clothing, but plan to as the seasons change and the kids need spring and summer clothing.  From now on, we’ll check off-price retailers before stepping foot in a mall!

As most of you know, I don’t do a lot of shopping. But when I do, I like to get a bargain, and I usually find them online. I recently discovered a fun site that offers one item a day at a rock bottom price. Dillyeo.com appeals to me for a couple reasons.

Deals at dillyeo.com are typically some of the lowest prices anywhere on the internet.  I like that there is only one item per day, so I can’t visit the site and go nuts ordering fifteen things in one sitting.  If I like the deal of the day, I can order it.  If I am not interested, I pass.

Dillyeo.com offers a wide variety of products–everything from electronic gadgets, such as iPods, cameras, and GPS devices, to deals on clothing and household appliances.  Here’s a sampling of deals from the past several days:

Recent Dillyeos:

• 9 in 1 Sports Combo Kit For Nintendo Wii
• Hamilton Beach Wave Station 12 speed Blender
• Jockey – 3 Pack Tagless Crewneck T-shirts
• Advent 4″ Touch Screen Gps W/Mp3 & Fm Modulator
• Travel Concepts Destiny 6 Piece Luggage Set
• Soyo 22″ LCD HDTV
• Samsung S1070 10.2 Megapixel Digital Camera

If you have a little Christmas cash to spend I encourage you to check out dillyeo.com (after you save a good portion of that cash, first!).  I plan to bookmark the site myself in the hopes that I can catch a few good deals here and there.

Use coupon code dillyeo09 between now and January 11th to save 10% off any Dillyeo.com purchase!

What’s the deal of the day today?  Click Here to See!

There is plenty of career advice floating around the web offering tips for how to get a raise.  Ideas range from proving cost savings to your boss thanks to your efforts, or cross training in a particular specialization that makes you stand out from coworkers.  But what happens after you receive the raise?  If you are like most people the slight bump in your paycheck will be frittered away thanks to an equal bump in your lifestyle.  With 2009 right around the corner, hopefully at least a couple of you are expecting a raise at work.  Here are a few ways to make that raise really effective.

Put a freeze on your lifestyle, but not completely.  I like the idea of holding expenses after getting a raise and pocketing the entire amount into a savings account at ING Direct.  However, that isn’t very realistic.  Besides, you likely earned that raise through hard work, and should enjoy at least a portion of it.  I recommend increasing your savings contributions to various savings vehicles (see below) by about half of the amount of your new raise.  With the remaining half, go ahead and sign up for that Netflix account, or gym membership, or buy that new golf putter you’ve been eying.  Success with personal finances is about finding balance.

Where to save half of the new raise.  The first place to start is your 401(k) plan at work.  Chances are you are contributing a percentage of your income, so this boost in annual salary will automatically boost your 401(k) contributions.  Still, if you aren’t contributing through a match, I consider boosting another percentage point or two using proceeds from your new raise to obtain the match.

If you are already contributing enough to receive a match in your 401(k), consider adding the remaining 50% of your raise amount to a Roth IRA.  The earnings here grow tax-free, and you can withdraw your contributions any time without penalty.  If you have already maxed out IRA contributions for the current tax year then simply dump half that raise in your taxable savings account, such as a high yield online savings account or brokerage account.  The idea is to get the money out of your primary checking account, where it will just be frittered away in DVDs and extra stops at Starbucks (at least that’s where mine would probably go!).

Should I accept a raise, or a bonus? Some companies are offering bonuses in lieu of raises this year to lessen the increased salary budget for next year.  If given the option, take a raise over a bonus, even though the lump sum from a bonus looks appealing.  Raises are permanent (well, as permanent as anything in the job market can be these days).  Things like matching retirement funds, life insurance proceeds, etc. are based on your annual salary, and with some creative accounting companies are often able to avoid these increased expenses by offering year end bonuses instead of increasing your salary with a raise.

Time’s almost up! Here are a few last minute gift ideas that don’t require standing in line on Christmas Eve.  My personal favorite is an Amazon gift card, which may be printed out or emailed to the recipient.  You can buy just about anything at Amazon these days–books, DVDs, electronics, even groceries!

Amazon Gift Card.  Amazon.com used to be the one-stop shop for buying books online. In fact, it still is.  But Amazon now offers so much more!  I have bought everything from packs of diapers to household appliances from Amazon, and I’m sure an Amazon gift certificate would go a long way towards pleasing someone on your list.  They offer several options for procrastinators like print from home or email delivery, so no waiting on a gift card via snail mail–perfect for last minute shopping.

Netflix Membership.  Plans start at $4.99 a month, and are a wonderful last-minute gift idea for the movie buff in your life.  Simply select the plan, length of time you would like to gift and you’re all set.

Magazine Subscription.  My first introduction to the world of personal finance was taking up an interest in magazines like Kiplinger’s Personal Finance, Money, and Smart Money.  All offer great personal finance information on topics such as debt reduction, investing, household finances, etc, and make a great gift for a twenty-something just starting out (I personally like Kiplingers best, but subscribe to all three). Also check out my personal favorite, Backwoods Home Magazine.

Cash. If all else fails, give cash.  Cash is the universal gift. It can be spent anywhere that accepts money!  No worries over expiration dates, stores going bust and gift cards becoming invalid.  And one of the best things about cash is the recipient doesn’t have to spend it at all.  Maybe they can use it to add to their debt snowball, or get a jump start on an emergency fund.

I know it is en vogue to bring back things from the past, but this is a trend I thought had gone forever:  layaway.  With tightening credit policies, and maxed out consumer debt, it seems layaway is making a comeback.  Personally, I am not a big fan of layaway, ranking it somewhere between using a credit card and taking on a rent-to-own contract.

An Alternative to Layaway

In the Frugal household we have created our own sort of layaway plan.  When we have our hearts set on a big-ticket item we relabel a “subaccount” at ING Direct and transfer a little money there from each paycheck.  For instance, we recently needed to save up a couple hundred dollars for new tires.  Rather than charging them, or financing them through the tire dealer, we gave a subaccount the nickname “Tires” and transferred $25 a paycheck (every two weeks) into this account.  In just a couple months we had enough money to pay cash for new tires.

The account described above is often referred to as a sinking fund, where funds are “sunk” in regular intervals to pay for an item.  The concept can be expanded to cover annual, or semi-annual, insurance premiums and other infrequent expenses.  When you think about it, an escrow account at your mortgage is just a sinking fund where a little money is siphoned away from each payment and held to pay insurance premiums and tax bills.

Layaway is Just a Forced Savings Account, With Bad Terms

My main problem with layaway is that is really a forced savings account with fees and sometimes a nasty cancellation policy.  Instead of agreeing to purchase an item by a certain date, and risk being charged if that date comes without full payment, why not just save up the money in the same increments over the same amount of time?  That way, if something comes up and you cannot buy the item when the time comes you can easily back out of the purchase.

When I told my wife I was preparing this piece for Frugal Dad she shared a layaway nightmare she had as a young teenager.  Guess jeans were all the rage, and while at the mall with a couple friends my wife put a pair on layaway along with an $8.00 “down payment” so the store would agree to hold the jeans.  The idea was that she would later return with her mom and get the jeans.  They never returned, and my wife was out $8.00.  It was a painful experience, but it must have cured her.  That was the last thing she ever put on layaway!

Today’s guest post comes from PT, who writes at Prime Time Money: a site dedicated to helping you save more money, get out of debt, and live a more frugal life. Be sure to check out the rap video PT made about saving money for his first baby, due in 2009.

The holiday shopping season is upon us. Many consumers will be heading out stores soon to find the best deals on stuff they want or stuff they want to give others. “Stuff” has it’s place in this gift-giving season, but gift cards are actually one of my favorites items to give and to receive for most situations. I like gift cards because they’re a consumable gift and they take some of the hassle out of shopping. Gift cards aren’t without their downside though. Some people aren’t a fan of them, calling them restrictive and impersonal.

Whether you love them and give them out, or hate them but still get a few, here’s a few tips for making the most of your gift cards this holiday season:

Giving Gift Cards

If you’re the type that loves to give out gift cards, check out these tips:

Choosing Between Generic Card or Store Brand Cards

There are two basic categories when it comes to gift cards. Those that are basically like a prepaid credit card (generic), and store-specific cards. What type you get depends on the type of person you’re buying it for. The most hard to shop for group of people, teenagers, are also the one’s who would be most likely to want a generic gift card or even just cash. Any other person and you run the risk of seeming too impersonal. So, if you go generic, make sure it’s for a teenager.

For most everyone else, a store-specific card would be appropriate. Do your best to match the store with what you know about the person. If they’re a reader, give them an Amazon.com or book store gift card. If they like sports, consider a gift card to a sport apparel store, or to a ticketing website, where they can find tickets to all types of sporting events. Gift cards for consumable experiences (movies, restaurants, events) are always best in my opinion. I love gifts that don’t clutter up someone’s house.

However, please be careful what store you purchase your gift card for. Stores that go out of business or go bankrupt might not honor the card after a certain point. So aim for cards from stable companies.

Also, it’s important to note that some generic gift cards often come with fees. Stay away from these types.

Don’t Buy Gift Cards for These People

Unless they ask for it, I wouldn’t suggest getting a gift card for your significant other. This is the one person in the world that you should know exactly what to get and not resort to a card. Additionally, you wouldn’t want to get young kids a gift card either. Kids enjoy unwrapping actual gifts. Lastly, older people who don’t go online or out that much wouldn’t have much use for a gift card either.

Use a Gift Card to Inspire

Gift cards can be used to inspire a person into certain actions that you or they desire. For instance, if you know someone who never takes the time to treat themselves, consider giving them a gift card to a spa or ice cream shop. Know someone who talks about learning a musical instrument or being more physically active? You can get gift cards for music lessons or sports/active programs. I once gave a restaurant and movie gift card to my bro-in-law because I wanted him to take my sister out on more dates with just the two of them. Sneaky, but it worked!

Look for Kickbacks

Some gift cards come with an incentive for the person doing the giving. Last year I bought a $25 restaurant gift card, and received my own $10 card for free. It was for a place that I frequent, so I felt like it would be put to good use. You might consider this even if you aren’t giving the card away.

Receiving Gift Cards

If you receive a gift card this year, keep these points in mind:

What to do with Gift Cards You Don’t Want

Let’s say you get a gift card that you didn’t really want. For instance, you’re not a coffee drinker and you get a gift card from Starbucks. What a waste, right? Well consider these options:

• Re-gift the card to someone you know is a coffee drinker.

• Browse the various gifts, music, and food at your nearest Starbucks. There may be something besides coffee that you’ll like.

• Use one of the websites that will allow you to trade for a different card or send you a check for your unused gift cards.

Use Them or Lose Them

Unfortunately, some gift cards come with expiration dates. So make it a point to place all your gift cards in a highly visible spot so that you’re sure not to forget about them and let them expire.

Have any other tips related to gift cards? Share them in the comments below.

Photo courtesy of DBarefoot

Were you up and out at 4:00am to take advantage of Black Friday sales? Me neither.  I prefer to do most of my Christmas shopping online, and have taken advantage of some great online deals from Cyber Monday up to the week before Christmas by surfing online rather than standing in line.

I thought I would share with you a few gifts we have received over the last couple Christmas seasons that have improved our frugal household.  If you are still looking for gift ideas for a frugal friend, you can’t go wrong with one of these selections.  Note, a couple of these suggestions are not cheap, but will help you or a friend become more frugal.

Black & Decker Energy Saver Series Power Monitor. Here is one we don’t have, but it is on our Christmas list this year.  I’ve become a bit obsessive about ways to cut our utility bills (yes, I admit it, I have a problem!).  It hurts opening those huge energy bills in the extreme summer and winter.  This gadget allows you to see the effect of each electrical appliance as they cycle on and off, and using info from your electric bill, you can estimate how much those appliances are costing you to operate.

Programmable Thermostat.  Our utilities were out of control before switching to a programmable thermostat.  We managed to shave nearly 20% off our utility expenses by allowing the night temperature to float up in the summer, and drop lower in the winter.  Just before the alarm clocks go off each morning, the thermostat returns the inside temperature to a comfortable for the morning routine.  A 5-1-1 or 5-2 model even allows you to set a different schedule for sleeping in a bit on the weekend (unless you have small kids).  With utility costs continuing to rise, it won’t take long for this one to pay for itself.

The Total Money Makeover. This one remains in my top two favorite personal finance books.  Oddly enough, I heard the audio book first while commuting after accepting a new job in a new town.  I was hooked, or “gazelle intense,” as author Dave Ramsey likes to say!  I credit Dave, and this book, with helping turn around our financial lives.

The book is not overly complicated, is inspirational, and is written in a tone you’d expect from Dave Ramsey. It would make a great gift, and I recommend a copy for yourself if you have never read it.

Your Money or Your Life. I already mentioned The Total Money Makeover, but this book is my other favorite money book. It is the book that got me interested in the idea of personal finance to begin with, and it introduced the concept of financial independence.  Written in the 1990s, the information is timeless and thought-provoking.  When I read this book I finally made the connection between work, earnings, and life energy.  I realized that trading my precious life energy to pay for additional stuff was simply not worth it–that I could enjoy a more simple way of like and work less for it.

TiVo Series2 80-Hour Dual Tuner DVR. We’ve had our TiVo for a couple years now, and I have to tell you it is one of the best purchases we have ever made (this was a present to ourselves).  For a while we were renting a DVR from our cable company, and the digital service that went along with it. Then, I discovered TiVo.

I like the TiVo interface much more than the one that came with the cable box, and I like the fact that I own the machine outright. If I move, I can take it with me. If I want another one for the living room, I can buy one. No extra rental fees from the cable provider.

We have really cut back on television viewing, but enjoy the efficiency of watching a program on TiVo.  Fast forwarding through commercials cuts way down on television viewing time.  I also like the ability to log into my TiVo box from work, or on the road, and select a program to record via a web interface.

Programmable 5.5 qt. Crock Pot.  We stay pretty busy around the frugal household these days.  A couple times a week we have after school activities and sports practices on the same night!  Not much time for meal preparation on those days.  And that is where our crock pot comes in handy.

Our favorite meal is a large pork roast rubbed with garlic salt and cooked slow all day in a crock pot and about a 1/2 cup – 1 cup of water.  We have enough meat to slice for homemade barbecue sandwiches for days–delicious!

Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Magazine Subscription. For one dollar a month (assuming a $12 annual subscription) you can get some of the best reporting on investments, taxes, insurance, paying for college, planning for retirement, home ownership, major purchases such as cars and computers and other personal finance topics. Over the years I have also subscribed to Money, Smart Money, and a host of other finance magazines, but Kiplinger’s remains my favorite.

Money Jar Bank.  Think of this as a new-age piggy bank.  It is essentially a sturdy, plastic jar with a special lid that contains an LCD display and keeps a running tally of your savings as coins are added.  A word of warning, the jar contains small parts that may present a choking hazard for younger children. However, if you have an older child, and are interested in fostering their savings habit, this is a great gift idea.

Presto 22-inch Jumbo Electric Griddle.  I mentioned that we stay busy and have little time cooking most weeknights. To further complicate matters, we are experiencing more cold, rainy weather than we are used to.  This makes grilling outdoors tough. Our solution? An indoor griddle.

The griddle was given with the idea we could use it to make pancakes and breakfast foods, but we found it to be excellent for cooking slices of chicken, pork, and thin steaks indoors. As fattier meats cook the grease runs down into a drip container making meats a little healthier.  Cleanup is a snap thanks to a non-stick surface.

Money Mammals. We were lucky enough to receive a copy of Money Mammals from the creator, and my kids really enjoyed it.  In my review I posted here at Frugal Dad, I called Money Mammals the Little Einsteins for personal finance education for children.  It remains a unique product, and would make a great gift for little ones on your Christmas list.