Back in the mid to late 70s, my mom made my sister and I sock monkeys. Sock monkey dolls have been around since the early 1900s and have always been made with Rockford Red Heel® socks, positioned so that those red heels become the mouths of the cute monkey toys. I loved mine to pieces, literally I think. I cannot find it anywhere and seem to recall the stuffing eventually coming out of the thing. Sadly, I am pretty sure I will not be able to talk mom into making me another.

The good news is that I do not have to depend on mom if I want to get my hands on another sock monkey. You can buy a vibrant, updated sock monkey at www.genuinemonkeez.com. They sent me a Colonial Candle Sock Monkey night light to try out and the entire family has fallen in love with the cute little guy. It’s a little bit of nostalgia in the face of the modern world. And, it’s been a great way to introduce my six-year-old daughter to the classic Sock Monkey of my youth. The updated versions come in red, blue, green and orange and really appeal more to kids my daughter’s age than the classic brown monkey dolls. Plus, this version has magnets in the hands and feet that can cling to one another or any metal surface. The options for fun are endless. The site offers clothing for the dolls and related accessories. That’s where you can find the link to buy one of the night lights like the one I have pictured in this review.

Vibrant, stained-glass style colors.

The warm glow of the light when it is switched on in a dark room.

…and more.

Now that I am back in town, I am back to my couponing hobby. I love getting more “bang for my buck”, so to speak, when it comes to groceries and personal care items. I have found that if I plan carefully, I can combine weekly sale prices with coupons and often come out on top.

This week at Publix I came home with 10 free packs of Bic Soleil Bella razors, 8 free packs of Fisher Fusions fruit and nut mixes, as well as 6 free pints of Starbucks ice cream and a couple of Morningstar Farms entrées. I also bought a couple of pints of Starbucks for less than 25 cents each last week, before the very cool $2/1 coupons that came out in this past Sunday’s Smart Source insert. We love coffee ice cream that actually tastes like a cup of rich coffee.

Now, if I only had a bigger freezer.

In addition to the free food items I got this week, I also picked up a couple packs of Perdue breaded chicken breast nuggets – which came out to about $1.20 a pack after the Buy One Get One sale and coupons in this Sunday’s Smart Source. Even without the coupons these nuggets were a great deal with the Publix sale price.

I picked up a couple of Duncan Hines cake mixes for about 35 cents each after using Target coupons (my Publix will accept Target coupons as “competitor” coupons). I like to make my cakes from scratch, but at that price it will be nice to have a couple of mixes on hand.

There are a lot of good deals this week if you carefully pair the sale prices up with coupons. I’m looking for my coupons for Honey Maid graham crackers and Dannon kids’ yogurts. Free or almost free will be the outcome if I can locate those particular coupons.

Money is tight for everyone. Be a smear shopper. Make sure you get your hands on the weekly coupon inserts. Save them from week to week, because they might not garner the great deal for a month or so out – but it will always be worth it. I go to my local Wal-Mart where they package two copies of my local paper on Sundays and sell them for the price of one. I pick up two or three sets and I always recoup my investment tenfold. Be on the lookout for coupon booklets available at grocery stores. Look for online printable coupons (they tend to have the highest dollar amounts).

About an hour or so of planning a week for me always returns great results.

If you happen to have saved your Buy One Get One Free Schick Disposable Razor coupons from the April 5 Smart Source coupons insert, now is the time to use them. Publix has Schick Disposable Razors Quattro High Performance 3-packs or 3 or 4-packs for Buy One get one Free this week. Since you can legitimately combine the manufacturer’s B1G1 coupon with the store sale, you walk out just paying tax for two packs of razors.

Overall, you save $6.29 x 2 = $12.58

About a year ago, I noticed the prices for razors and replacement blades went way up. Turns out it was due to an increase in steel prices. Now, more than ever, free is a very good thing.

I have been carrying Coach bags for about 15 years. I’ve not bought a new one in at least eight years, though. The bags I have are the classics that were made in the United States with glove-quality leather. They have lasted through abuse and many years and still look wonderful. I’ve never had to be particularly careful with them and they retina both their youthful looks and their sturdy construction. My favorites have been my Willis briefcase style bag and my handy Rambler’s legacy bag.

So, I noticed that this past month Dillard’s had been offering their Coach bags for 30% off. I took a couple trips in to look around and finally ended up with the black leather and brass Julianne. Ideally, I wanted the smaller black leather Sabrina, but even after calling around to several stores I could not locate one.

So, I took the bag home and that was when I started having my second-thoughts. First of all, the Julianne is bigger than any purse I have ever carried. Even with nothing in it, the bag is a tad awkward. It’s comfy, but it’s just plain big.

Then, as I went about my way doing Christmas shopping I noticed how MANY people are carrying Coach bags – it seemed like every 4th woman I passed was carrying Coach. Most were carrying the cheesy fabric “Signature” bags that scream, “I own a Coach!” When I began carrying coach, I did so for the streamlined simplicity of their styles, the unsurpassable quality of the leather, and the fact that carrying a Coach was still something rather unique. I do not want to be just another face in a sweltering crowd of Coach devotees.

And then there is the fact that Coach bags are all made in China now. Not only have they largely come away from using quality leather for their new designs, they are farming the work out to Chinese factories. I like to buy American in general, and when it comes to Coach, there is something absolutely special about their New York craftsmanship that is sadly long gone now.

So, I took the Julianne back to Dillard’s. I will just get out my classic bags and give them a little TLC with some milk oil. One needs a new D-ring, but the local Coach store can send it off for repairs, so there is no need for me to buy a new one. I’m good with the old, American-made, understated Coach bags I already own.

I was on the fence before about getting up and doing any shopping on Black Friday. In fact, even after going through the ads in the paper this morning, I was unsure if it was really worth it. I only saw a handful of things I thought might be worth my time and money.

Somehow, though I ended up with a list of 7 stores I want to try and go to. Some are actually only back-up plans if items I want at other stores are not available. I’m most intimidated about Toys R Us. I went last year and the line was long, the crowds cranky, and the 2nd line to get into the electronics section was hideous. Last year I was not interested in the electronics, but this year I want to try and buy some games for the Nintendo DS I just ordered for my daughter on Amazon. The DS is being sold in bundles at all the stores tomorrow and includes games that look pathetically worthless. The pink DS I want is the same price everywhere, so I just decided on Amazon since I had over $35 in gift certificates that needed to be used there.

I’m not sure you will find me anywhere at 4 a.m. I might get up and go around 8, though. I do not enjoy the pushing crowds or the fist-fights. My dad says he called his local Wal-Mart and since they are open 24-hours, they are not closing and re-opening the store for Black Friday. They are letting people inside and will simply have the Door Buster items on the floor in shrink wrap. At 5 a.m. they will cut the shrink wrap. Anyone else see the problem there? I would not want to be within 100 yards of that mess.

In the past, I have allowed my daughter to choose one fairly expensive Christmas gift and then supplemented with a generous handful of lesser gifts. Sine I buy throughout the year, she ends up with dozens of things each Christmas, many of them quite nice. I just happen to be able to buy more by taking advantage of fantastic sales throughout the year.

I was going to pass on a a high-end gift this year and stick with the styling head I have been talking about, as well as some Hannah Montana t-shirts, makeup kits, a PC video game, and assorted princess items. Oh, and a computer with a flat panel monitor that a teacher at school gave me to give my daughter.

However, Gigi reminded me that she has wanted a Nintendo DS for the last year now. It’s not prohibitively expensive, but in light of the economics of our times and my dogged determination to save for a house, I have to think twice before just running out to buy one. The console retails for around $130 and each game is about another $30. How long will it be relevant before I need to chuck the whole kit and caboodle for the next great thing?

Any comments? I would love to hear from any of you who think the DS is worth it.

I know there are people out there who are close to impossible to buy gifts for. So, with that in mind, I am going to feature some of the cute t-shirt designs I have on hand. You can order them on an array of shits, hats, even boxers and things. If you happen to like one of my designs and want it on a different item, let me know and I will set that up for you and adjust it for minimal price mark-up – so you will get what you want and at a great price, too.

Here is my sexy, cute cupcake design…

So, I opened up the Kmart ad this morning that went out ot those who get the Sunday paper. We don’t get the Sunday paper, though, so it just came in the mail yesterday. Kmart has several different models of Barbie styling heads on sale for $9.99.

The pictures shows a plain looking Barbie head and one with a princess crown, etc. The text near the picture says that the assortment may vary from store to store. Neither head had hands showing, which seems to be a *must* for my daughter. I can just envision the 25 layers of nail polish she will apply in the first 24-hours.

So, it came down to me showing Gigi the various models online, so she can see the differences. She was the most enthusiastic about the Cloe Bratz torso model – although I understand that is not technically a Barbie head. Still, it IS in the back on my van as I type this, so it felt good to know I chose right.

Still, those $10 heads are appealing to the wallet. Wow, that last sentence sure came out sounding creepy.

I am a recent convert to the tradition of standing in line at insane pre-daylight hours on the day after Thanksgiving looking for “door-buster” sale prices. My family was always into it, but I was more interested in the extra sleep after turkey day.

Since my daughter has been born, I have been more interested in the Black Friday sales. Why? Well, toys and electronics tend to be the two shopping categories where you can find the honestly good deals on the day after Thanksgiving. I have stood in line at toy stores the last couple of years to buy items that already happened to b on my daughter’s wish list, so that I could snag the items at the best price of the season.

I’m already looking at the Black Friday ads that one can find all over the internet and trying to plan whether or not I will bother to get op at the crack of dawn on the day after Thanksgiving, and if so – which stores and in what order.

My daughter wants a Barbie styling head. I have been looking around and most of them retail for between $30 and $45, depending on the style. I found a Bratz styling head at Toys R Us that showed a $14.99 clearance price and even though the full price scanned, the manager honored the sign for me. A Bratz doll is not my first choice, since up until now I have been firm in not letting Gigi have Bratz – but, the price was right. However, it looks like if I want to get up early on Black Friday, I will be able to get a Barbie Island Princess styling head slash karaoke machine for $14.99. I might just have to make a switch.

And so, I leave you now. I need to get back to browsing Black Friday ads.

Ok, so I just wrote that article about using layaway and how people are using credit cards less than usual this Christmas shopping season. No sooner had I published the article than I found some cool, related stats on a study released today by the National Retail Federation.

They surveyed 8,758 consumers on their proposed holiday shopping habits and among other findings, they found that shoppers who will use credit cards as their primary method of paying for holiday gifts will fall when compared to a similar survey taken in 2007.

Yay for the American consumer public for finally getting it through their collective heads that credit is not the way to go. This has been a long time coming, although most people only finally saw the light this year before the presidential election and during the bank bailouts.

I had never been to one of the Gymboree outlet stores until we went today to the location at the Leesburg Corners outlet mall. So, I really had no idea what the Gymboree outlets were all about. I guess I assumed they would simply have older lines comprised of surplus pieces. I assumed the prices woud be lower.

For the most part, I was wrong. The lines are older, though. In fact, the girl working there told me they are exactly one year behind the retail stores when it comes to which lines they carry. However, the clothing is not surplus or extra. The company actually keeps making the year-old lines for the outlet stores, complete with a unique label system. They even sometimes change the pieces a little, perhaps offering a different color t-shirt to go with a line, for example.

I found the clothing pretty close to the retail end in pricing. I was specifically looking for bike shorts for my daughter to wear under her dresses for kindergarten this fall. I thought they would be up to their eyeballs in bike shorts, since at the retail stores the bike shorts in any given line are usually still there in gobs when the line goes to markdown. They only had three colors of bike shorts today. The clerk said the company just doesn’t send them many, ever.

Overall, I prefer the prices on the current lines in the retail stores — in the back of the stores on the markdown racks.

It was like the Heavens had opened and rained down blessings when Wal-Mart announced their new $4 for some generic prescription drugs. That was back in 2006 and most major retailers followed Wal-Mart’s lead, creating an ever competitive market for prescription generics.

That kind of competition is always good for the consumer. Proof of that lies in Wal-Mart’s new plan to 90-day supplies for $10 of nearly 350 generic medications and to add discounts to several women’s medications. They also plan to lower prices on over 1,000 over-the-counter drugs to $4 or less.

The women’s medications that have been added to the discount program will be available for $9 (or 90-day prescriptions for $24) for a 30-day supply and include drugs for breast cancer and hormone deficiency.

Generally, I prefer to shop at Target over Wal-Mart. When the new prescription drug plan began at Wal-Mart in 2006, it was exciting and diverted a lot of my business back to Wal-Mart. As other stores began to offer generic prescriptions for prices close to Wal-Mart, I found myself shopping there less and less once more. With this new 90-day program, I can safely say I will be do more errands at Wal-Mart again. It’s worth it.

Yes, I think outlet malls rock and that is saying a lot, since I don’t generally like malls.

When I lived in Martinsburg, WV after college (a long, long time ago), there were two huge outlet malls in town. My favorite was called the Blue Ridge Outlets and they had been put together by a local developer (who also bought the old City Hall downtown and renovated it into his personal home!!!) and were housed in these old textile factory buildings that were about the coolest thing I had ever seen. They had all kinds of original exposed brick and ductwork, but also lots of new and lush hardwood and glass. They were amazing. Sadly, they are no longer open. I have heard the buildings now house the Blue Ridge Community and Technical College. I would love to see that.

I am still a fan out outlet stores, though. I just don’t always know where to find them. I’ve found a very cool guide: the eFactoryOutlets website. It’s an online guide to premium outlet stores, outlet malls, and factory stores in America. I just clicked on Florida on their locator map and got a full page of results. I had all but forgotten that the Prime Outlets at Ellenton aren’t too far from here. I just e-mailed my sister about setting up a trip for this weekend.

Yay for me!

I have some family members who are difficult to buy for on special holiday and occasions. It’s not that they are critical or even picky. It’s just that they pretty much have everything they really want and need. One year I finally hit on the idea of making personal photo gifts for them.

For example, a couple of years ago I made my step-mother a moue pad with a photo of her new grand-daughter on it. I have made t-shirts for my dad. I’ve done some stunning photo calendars for various relatives (and made one for myself in the process!). Before I was divorced, I used to have a mug made for my daughter’s father each Christmas with pictures of Gigi from that year, so he could have a handy little record of how she changed over the years.

In a society where most of us have too many decorative frames, coffee table books, and impersonal tchotchkes, the things I have had made with sentimental photos have always been a huge hit. You can find a stores online, like Sae Cheez, that actually specialize in varies lines of customizable gifts.

My daughter is almost five, but her hair is still so baby fine and soft that I feel using shampoos formulated for babies or children is the best thing for her. When I use my own shampoos on her hair, they often strip the moisture to the point that I need to use my BioSilk on her hair afterwards. Plus, she is learning how to wash her own hair and shampoos that boast a no-tears formula are an attractive option for us.

Gigi is not fond of having her hair washed. Since she was a month old I have taken her in the tub with me and she quickly grew into a child that loves baths. Getting her into the bathtub has never been a problem; though getting her out can be tricky. The hair washing, though, OH the hair washing! That is usually a battle royale.

One of my attempts to get her to be more enthusiastic about washing her hair has been to let her pick out her own shampoo. She goes for the fun bottles and yummy scents. This time around she zeroed in on the bottle of Suave Kids 2 in 1 Smoothers in the Fairy Berry Strawberry scent. I had never used a Suave product for Gigi’s hair, so I thought it would be an interesting experiment.

So, onto my review; I will break it down into pros and cons.

Pros
1. The Fairy Berry Strawberry smells so amazing that Gigi actually begs to wash her hair every single night! I was thrilled. The scent doesn’t really stick around until the next day, but she finds the concept of smelling like a strawberry so glorious that washing her hair has become a more willing event.

2. The product rinses easy. This is a huge plus when you are dealing with children, because the actual rinsing process is still a bit traumatic for us. We use a cup and gently pour the water over her tilted-back head, but it is still an issue of anxiety for my daughter. So, the easy rinse means that rinsing takes less time.

3. The 2 in1 formula leaves Gigi’s hair super soft. I’ve used a couple of other baby and kid shampoos that needed to be followed up with a conditioner or BioSilk leave-in, but this does the trick.

Cons
1. Although the bottle says the product is “Tear Free”, when Gigi attempted to wash her won hair and the suds dripped down and got in her eyes the shampoo did sting and made her eyes very red almost immediately. I would not personally trust this product to be a true tear free shampoo.

2. Actually, I do not have any other Cons to report.

And so there you have it. I gave you what you need to know if you are considering using this product for a child. Keep in mind that Gigi is only 5-ish and an older child might be more successful in keeping the shampoo out of their eyes.