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Black Belt Shopper Bulk Bins, Phone Cards, Printer Ink and Calculators by Larry Wiener
Black belt
shoppers are always running into new offerings and strategies to get good
quality merchandise at great prices. Here are some of the new strategies I
have discovered. More...
Bulk Bins Some supermarkets have bulk bins
where you can buy staples, snacks, and other non-perishable dry foods at low
prices. You often can save money on the packaging and you actually get to
see what you are buying. One chain here in California that has bulk bins is Henry's
Marketplace. When you go to bulk bins, make sure that you are getting
good quality and that the prices really are less than you would pay for packaged
goods.
A British outfit called Skype
is offering an array of phone services that may save you money on long distance
calls. One offering that is free is a PC-to-PC calling service. You
download the necessary software and buy a microphone (about $10) and you can use
that microphone and your computer speakers to talk with anyone worldwide who has
a similar setup. I have tried it and it works great.
Skype also offers a plan that
gives you nationwide phone service for $29 and highly discounted service for
calls to and from overseas. You have to buy special equipment for this
offering and still need a cell phone or regular phone to call 911. This
service is valuable for people going overseas for extended periods of time.
Do you find yourself constantly running out to buy more ink for your printer, often an a high cost? I've been looking into the price of consumables had here's what I have come up with:
First, if you do a lot of printing and only need color for some of it, consider having both a laser and an inkjet. You can now buy remanufactured laser printers for $99 or a little more if you look for a sale and the consumables are cheap.
You can get off-brand ink cartridges at services like 123inkjets for less than your printer's brand name refills, but results have been mixed. Many experts say that you won't get the quality output from the no-name brands that you will from the originals and that the cartridges will go empty soon. You can also bring your cartridges to many Walgreen's stores for refills.
My own experience is that the
no-name cartridges do produce lesser quality than the name brands and I find
that more pages are ruined. You probably will save some money with them,
but to me it's not worth it. My strategy is to use my laser printer for
ordinary printing and use the inkjet when I need a good quality. Buying
remanufactured laser toner cartridges is perfectly fine as the same toner is
used.
You can get a good scientific
calculator for as little as $12, but you may want to go for $15 or $20 to make
sure it has all the functions you need and is durable.
Home Depot has a calculator with
special functions for do-it-yourselfers and financial calculators are readily
available. * * * Copyright © 2007 by Larry Wiener, author of The Black Belt Shopper's Guide. All rights reserved. Want more money-saving tips? Get a FREE Subscription to our monthly newsletter!
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