Good Guide Empowers Your Shopping

Today I have to face the dreaded chore of grocery shopping. As I navigate the hugeness of King Soopers I am overwhelmed by our land of plenty. So many choices of shampoo, soap, cereal, breads…everything. If I’m not sticking to a usual list of items it takes me forever to shop because I read the labels on everything. There’s a lot to consider in just a few minutes. Shampoo is on my list today and I’m allergic to some shampoo ingredients. My daughter has reactions to some soap. My son is a picky eater. We also have various food allergies to work around. And then there are the issues of buying environmentally and socially responsible products. Plus, we’ve got to stay within our budget.

In the split seconds we have to make purchase decisions how much can we really know about our choices. The product label can help but it doesn’t tell the whole story. So to help us out there is a website called the Good Guide.

The Good Guide rates common products on health, environmental and social impact. Each product on the guide receives a score on a scale from 0-10, with 10 being the best.

The Good Guide team works with academic institutions, government data sources, non-governmental organizations, and private research firms to bring world-class information to consumers. Their scientists collect data on chemical ingredients, products, brands, factories, companies, and industrial sectors.

One of the items on my list today is laundry detergent. The Good Guide doesn’t list every brand that you’ll find on the shelves, but it does list a large variety. While I always try to choose environmentally friendly brands, they don’t always make financial sense. So for laundry detergent I often default to major brands like ALL. And because of skin sensitivities I’ll choice fragrance-free.

All Free and Clear received a respectable 8.2 overall rating from the Good Guide, with an 8.6 for environmental performance, 8.1 for social performance, and 8.0 for health. The site allows you to drill down further into the data to review the ingredients and their health and safety impacts. For example you can review the ratings in the areas of female and male reproductive health, impact on unborn children and cancer. The product is also rated on the company’s resource management. Unilever, maker of All and many other products, received a big ding in Toxic Waste management. The company received a rating of “fair” regarding chemical spills. It also received a poor rating under compliance issues for the Clean Air Act.

I like that the Good Guide gives a glimpse at the company behind the product. The site really makes you feel empowered as a consumer not only to make good choices but to let companies know that these issues are important.

Let's Go Shopping: At the Warehouse

This post originally ran back on May 16, 2008 as part of the Let's Go Shopping theme week.

A few years ago my husband and I got a membership to one of those warehouse stores. We didn't really research it, we just went with it. Probably because we heard it was supposed to be such a good deal. But it didn't take long before we were caught up in the abundance and spending too much money there. Plus, I grew increasingly suspicious of the quality of meats and other items. So we let our membership go and didn't really look back--until recently.

About nine months ago I started paying more attention to how much we spent at the grocery store on standard items like toilet paper, paper towels, etc. So I decided to conduct an experiment to see if shopping at the warehouse store would really save us money.

So here's what I did. I made a specific list and stuck to it. I didn't even look around to see what other items were there. The first visit felt successful, but I needed more guidelines. In the past I treated the warehouse store like a grocery store and went every week. This go around I made new rules. I would only go to the warehouse if I had a list of at least 10 items. Of course they had to be valid needs and not wants. I have to admit coming up with a list of 10 needs was tough, but that's the whole point. Doing so reduced my visits to once every three months.

After my first visit I created a spreadsheet to track my purchases against what I would have paid at the grocery store. I also wanted to be sure that I recovered my $50 membership fee. Here are the results:

Happily I recovered the membership fee just in this visit. For comparison I used King Soopers and tried to match up brands. Often I calculated price based on quantity and I used King Soopers' sale price whenever possible. Notice that toothpaste was not a big bargain.

Usually stuff like toilet paper and paper towels do run out just around 3 months. For the things that we go through more quickly like Cliff bars and Vitamin water our house rule is "when it's gone, it's gone until the next scheduled trip."

Of course this is all just an estimate and I should track this over time, but I still think it shows that the Costco savings are worth it. However, I could easily slip back in to overspending if I didn't stick to my essential list (with a few exceptions like the delicious large container of blackberries I purchased last time for just $4.99).

Price check from your phone with Google text

This is and encore posting of a post that originally ran on September 4, 2008.

I've had it with my food processor. Sure it slices and dices in seconds, but I just can't continue trying to catch the potato or zucchini slivers that it sends flying around my kitchen. I'm not an impulse buyer so I've been putting up with this behavior for many months. Then yesterday I actually decided to start looking into a new purchase. Remember I'm not an impulse buyer so it could be a few more months before I actually buy.

I heard that Google has price check service that is through text messaging. This is super handy because it's through your regular cell phone. You don't need Internet access, just a text message enabled phone. Of course as the fine print always says regular text messaging rates apply--so it's not free.

I began looking at Best Buy. I looked at the Cuisinart Smart Power 7. It was priced at $89.99. I sent a text to Google at 466453. In the body of the message I typed the word “price” (no quotation marks) followed by the brand and model (Cuisinart Smart Power 7). In an instant I received a reply that told me Macy's had the same item for $54.99.

Then I looked at the Kithenaid 7-Cup which listed for $99.99 at Best Buy. Google came back with two options Best Buy at $99.99 and Bed, Bath and Beyond at $99.99.

This is so cool! And at this moment I love technology (not so much at other times). You can use this simple service to help you when you're standing in the store contemplating whether you should drive across town to see if there is a better deal.

Of course I didn't purchase anything. I still have to do my online research, but I'll be using my phone to price check.

Recycle technology items for free on America Recycles Day

I have an old computer that's been sitting in our basement for about 2-3 years. Partly because we forget about it, partly because we always think we resurrect it and partly because it's such a pain to get rid of. In the past we've gotten rid of them by donating, but not many places will take old computers anymore. Our recycling center takes them for a small fee, but I'm cheap and lazy and always believe that we could make better use out of the old beast. Honestly, though, no one in our household is savvy enough to make it useful again.

So imagine my excitement when I learned about Staples participation in America Recycles Day. Staples is offering to take old desktop computers, laptops, monitors, printers and fax machines this Saturday (11/15) for America Recycles Day. To sweeten the deal for each item you recycle the store will also give you a $30 off coupon to use in their store or online.

Staples is also running their Mountains of Technology program which donates $5 per recycled item to local high schools. The only stores participating in the Mountains of Technology are Littleton and Boulder. They'll divide their donations between three high schools in each area.

So don't forget America Recycles Day-Saturday, Nov. 15. Even if you don't have an old computer to take to Staples you can step up your recycling efforts.

How to Safely Bargain Shop Online

This is the way that I shop online. I see something I really want, like a new pair of Keen shoes. I might go to the store and try them on, but usually I don't have time for that. So first I visit one of the online shoe stores, but maybe there's still more than I'm willing to pay. So I spend some time searching until I find a price that I like. Oh, but wait I've never heard of this retailer. Are they trustworthy?

Now it's time for investigation. Look for the obvious:

1. Do they have a security/hacker prevention or testing certificate?


2. Does the LOGIN process use an encrypted HTTPS page? Notice I've capitalized LOGIN, that's because you want the pages where you enter all your personal information to be secure.


3. Does the checkout process use an encrypted HTTPS page? Naturally you want the payment pages to be secure.


4. Read the privacy policies. It's so easy to just blindly click "Accept" here. But you should 1) ensure that there isn't a big blank after the small amount previewed in the acceptance screen and 2) read it to see if you agree with it.


5. Find out how to contact the company if there is a problem. Keep the site bookmarked or better yet, write down (or keep an electronic file) of the company name, web address, customer service contact info.

Beyond this you can do some research to check out the company.

• Search Google for the store name and words like "scam" and "customer service."


• Check the Whois to see what the website registration looks like. It is not a good sign if it was just registered last week.


• Check if the company has a yellow pages listing and street address. If you have a phone number, a company with a street address is a lot more reassuring. Check the address on Google Maps to see if it is a vacant lot.


• See if the site has a warning listed on McAfee SiteAdvisor.

It can take a lot more time to go through this investigation. But it's worth it. You goal should be to get a good product at a great price from a company you can trust.

Have you budgeted for the holidays?

Yes, it's Halloween, but it marks the beginning of your wallet's most frightening event known as "the holidays." There are just 58 days until the big spending season. You've got nothing to fear if you are one of those people that prepares all year long. But for the rest of us, I'll be taking this week to look at ways we can prepare our finances. We'll look at quick ways to set aside some cash and stick to your budget. We'll explore some smarter shopping strategies. You might have noticed that Wednesdays are usually dedicated to small business articles, so we'll take a look at how the holidays affect small biz retailers. I'll give you some ideas for non-traditional gifts that keep giving. And we'll wrap up the week with an appropriate Friday Encore.

Saving up for the HOliDAys

Maybe you might think it's too early to start thinking of Christmas. Or you're nauseated by the appearance of holiday items in the store. I have to ask, "Have you budgeted for the holidays?" Typically the same people who are organized enough to shop early have also budgeted and saved throughout the year. For everyone else this is the ultimate savings challenge.

I just read this article distributed by Kiplinger entitled, "There's Still Time to Save $1,000 for Christmas Shopping". The most unique idea in this article is to Adjust your tax witholding.

The average tax refund last year was about $2,700. If you got a refund, that means you paid Uncle Sam too much money! Keep it for yourself to pad your holiday fund instead. You simply need to change your tax withholding by filing a new W-4 with your employer's human resources department. To find out how many withholdings you should be claiming, try our Easy-To-Use Tax Withholding Calculator. The changes will go into effect on your next paycheck.

The smart thing about this is that by now you've paid your tax dues for the year. Why loan the money to the government? If you eek out 2 months of average witholdings you could put $450 toward your holiday budget. But don't forget to change it back or you'll end up oweing Uncle Sam a bundle the next year.

Other ways to save might sound cliche, but now is a great time to test them out. There are tons of tips on how to be more frugal. Apply just a few and stuff the savings into your holiday budget. Who knows, you may even be able to use these savings tricks in the future and reach your savings/investing goals.

Some other simple ideas:

Skip holiday movies. The movie industry always pumps out their holiday movie fare right about late October. They know that colder nights leave you with less entertainment options. Be creative and you can find plenty of ways to occupy your Friday night and save a bundle.

Split dinner. Eating out doesn't have to reduce your wallet and increase your waisteline. You can enjoy a night out at your favorite restaurant and save money by splitting an entre.

Adjust your daily budget. Gas prices are sliding down for the short-term and chances are that we'll see them rise again. So take the money that you've budgeted for gas and allocate it toward your holiday shopping.

Speaking of the "B" word--Set a holiday budet. Most people overspend for the holidays because they haven't set a budget. So follow these basic steps to keep your spending under control.

1. Review your monthly budget for adjustments to put toward the holidays.
2. Establish a total amount for the season.
3. Make a list of the people you'll be giving to and divide your budget accordingly.
4. If your giving list outweighs your cash flow either cut down your giving list or adjust your spending per person.
5. Avoid borrowing from future earnings by using a credit card. Use your credit card for online purchases and for items that could be insured by the card. Don't use your card to push holiday purchase payments to your 2009 paychecks.
6. Most important-Spend within your means.

I Promise, Do You?

Have you heard about upromise? It's a college savings program that basically a rewards program that sets money into a college savings program based on a percentage of what you spend when you shop. It sounds simple, right?

All you do is register any of your credit cards and the system automatically tracks your "qualified" purchases. Qualified purchases are those that are made with the retailers that they work with.

But here's the trouble: I don't regularly shop at any of these places. And sometimes the purchases must be made online.

I signed up with upromise almost exactly a year ago. In atypical behavior, for me, I didn't check the list of retailers before I signed up. But in typical behavior I only registered one card. I chose the one I used the most (my credit union debit card) and left off the AmEx (my only other card).

To date I have earned my children ZERO dollars and ZERO pennies. Again, I just don't shop at the places upromise contracts with. But, I'm not pulling the plug on upromise. Part of the reason I haven't earned anything is because I need to spend a little more time with it. I need to register my grocery store cards (not credit cards, the other club cards) and possibly add the AmEx. Though I'm not convinced it's worth the time. I probably save more money just by shopping for deals than I would with upromise.

To my kids: I promise I'll help you out with college, just don't count on upromise to fund it.

Click the comment below to read how upromise pays off for a reader.

Let's Go Shopping: At the Warehouse

I think we can all agree that grocery shopping is a drag. But we've all got to eat. So this week we'll examine some ways to save money at the grocery store.

A few years ago my husband and I got a membership to one of those warehouse stores. We didn't really research it, we just went with it. Probably because we heard it was supposed to be such a good deal. But it didn't take long before we were caught up in the abundance and spending too much money there. Plus, I grew increasingly suspicious of the quality of meats and other items. So we let our membership go and didn't really look back--until recently.

About nine months ago I started paying more attention to how much we spent at the grocery store on standard items like toilet paper, paper towels, etc. So I decided to conduct an experiment to see if shopping at the warehouse store would really save us money.

So here's what I did. I made a specific list and stuck to it. I didn't even look around to see what other items were there. The first visit felt successful, but I needed more guidelines. In the past I treated the warehouse store like a grocery store and went every week. This go around I made new rules. I would only go to the warehouse if I had a list of at least 10 items. Of course they had to be valid needs and not wants. I have to admit coming up with a list of 10 needs was tough, but that's the whole point. Doing so reduced my visits to once every three months.

After my first visit I created a spreadsheet to track my purchases against what I would have paid at the grocery store. I also wanted to be sure that I recovered my $50 membership fee. Here are the results:

Happily I recovered the membership fee just in this visit. For comparison I used King Soopers and tried to match up brands. Often I calculated price based on quantity and I used King Soopers' sale price whenever possible. Notice that toothpaste was not a big bargain.

Usually stuff like toilet paper and paper towels do run out just around 3 months. For the things that we go through more quickly like Cliff bars and Vitamin water our house rule is "when it's gone, it's gone until the next scheduled trip."

Of course this is all just an estimate and I should track this over time, but I still think it shows that the Costco savings are worth it. However, I could easily slip back in to overspending if I didn't stick to my essential list (with a few exceptions like the delicious large container of blackberries I purchased last time for just $4.99).

Well that does it for Let's Go Shopping week. I hope I've passed on some good information, but I'd love to hear any shopping tips you might have.