Dollar Tree: A Home Decor Store for the Frugal-Minded

by Heather Snyder

Hey, it's been forever since we've posted on this blog!  Well, we're back and looking forward to posting more regularly on the No Pane Blog.

Dollar Tree is not one of those stores that people think of when it comes to holiday decor.  However, these days, more and more people are discovering other discounted products (aside from sandwich bags and aluminum foil) that dollar tree offers-- any and all items are equally just a $1.

Aside from a variety of household goods, personal care product and food items, Dollar Tree also sells seasonal decor.  Granted, I'm not suggesting a Martha Stewart taste for decorative flair here.  But if you've got the spirit, you can find a few holiday items and probably not spend even $10.  If you've got decorations from last year, and you're looking to just add and item or two, you'll probably spend less than $5.

For decorating, I particularly like their fake flower bouquets.  Though I don't have a preference for fake flowers over real ones, the fake ones usually cost less in the long-term and last longer.  If you're thinking of a festive fall or winter bouquet for your living room or dining room, you can find seasonal bundles here as well as glass vases, baskets, or bowls to match that motif.

You don't have to go "hog wild" at Dollar Tree because you can afford to do so.  Instead, think creatively and spruce up your home for the fall and winter months with just a few things that Dollar Tree has to offer.  You can also buy various colors of decorative ribbon and wreaths for your front door.  Last year for Halloween, I bought a wreath made of harvest sticks and a reel of orange and black ribbon for the front door.  And for Christmas I did the same.  I will put those wreaths out again this year, but perhaps change only the decorative ribbon.

Depending on how frugal you are, you will not in haste throw your $1 wreath away after Halloween or Christmas, but save it again for next year.  You could be wise and have a wreath for just $1 for many years to come.  You can shop at Dollar Tree and really save money, or you can still shop at discount stores such as these and be wasteful.  The key is to save money.  Be creative with what you already have so that you won't spend more next year-- even if it only cost you a $1.

Some Bargains Are Too Good to Be True

by Heather Snyder

Let’s face it. Shopping for bargains isn’t easy. It takes some work. And if you’re like me, the adrenaline gets pumping when you think you’ve landed a deal, until you read the fine print. Regardless of how persistent, patient, or good you might be at finding bargains, you will still run into what I call the “no bargain bargain.”

This happened to me recently since becoming addicted to the crazed “Twilight” vampire saga by Stephanie Meyer. These books are in demand by young and older alike. I can’t get them in the public library here in Chicago without being placed on a month-long waiting list. You can’t go anywhere, really, without finding that one or more of the books are all sold out or that they just aren’t quite cheap enough for these hard times.

So, I came across this “discount book sale” website and found that the book I’m looking for is selling for $2 with free shipping! I couldn’t believe my eyes! I added it to my shopping cart with jubilance. I also noticed that the following book in the series was also selling for $2, but that was before I put my first book in the cart. Okay, no problem, I can accept that. They can’t sell all of the books for $2. I was content with one book bargain plus the free shipping! Right? Wrong!

It took me the entire checkout process to discover that before completing my transaction, I had to check a box insuring that I understood the free shipping “agreement”. It seems that I could only get my bargain if I agreed to join the club for a two, separate, semi-monthly fees (that’s FOUR fees per month!). None of this was made clear to me in the beginning. It probably wouldn’t be apparent to anyone who had been looking for something and was excited about getting a deal.

In the end, there really was no bargain to be had. Unfortunately, I was duped twice in this process. The first dupe I could handle. But the second dupe torqued me off pretty good. If you thought about joining the club and buying more books say, within a six-month period, you would end up spending more money. Regardless of your reading habits, you’d spend more money.

I was very frustrated. I was also thinking about all the penniless teenagers who had come across this merchant and how disappointed they must have felt. It’s not fair that some retailers do this to customers hoping they can break them down. I would never go back to that site, and I don’t imagine anyone else in my shoes would either.

So, what is the moral of my story? Be bargain wary – very, very wary. You and I are still subject to potentially being duped, regardless of the strength of our bargain savvy. Alas, some bargains are, indeed, too good to be true.

Buy What You Need

by Dave Snyder

In our first episode of the No Pane Radio podcast (March 6), Heather and I talked quite a bit about the current economic crisis and why we think things are the way they are.

One thing I didn't mention during the program is that being on hard times, which we are, has caused me to reevaluate in some ways what we actually need versus what we want.

It's hard for me to not believe pretty strongly that we got really self-focused under the Bush administration. We have become the same under other administrations, as well, but this latest one made us so in a particular sense. So many things were happening that were entirely out of our control, from Enron to Hurricane Katrina, that people became even more apathetic than before. All this crap going on, a lot of it because the federal government didn't seem to care, and what could we do about it? There was a collective anger and keen sense of selfishness under Bush that seemed to just get worse over time.

What does all of this have to do with buying what you need? Just this: When you're self-focused all the time, you tend to indulge yourself more than when you're focused on others and the greater good of the world around you. Large scale self-indulgence resulted in folks spending money when there simply was no reason to. And now, it's time once again to simplify.

Buy what you need. This means to not only largely keep away from frivolous junk that only clutters up your life, but it also means to actively buy the things you need. In times like these, some people end up avoiding paying for things that they really do need instead of getting rid of the expenses that they could do without but would prefer not to.

So, if your wife suffers from muscle pain, go ahead and buy that somewhat expensive cream that makes her feel better. It's something she really NEEDS. Don't feel bad about it.

But the next time you feel like spending whatever they're asking for the four different desserts at the grocery store you feel you simply must have, you might just think twice and get just one. Save some money, obtain a little self-control, and feel a whole lot better about yourself in the process.

Surviving the "Horribly Difficult Times" (Again)

by Dave Snyder

A few weeks ago, I posted on my small business blog about surviving the current economic crisis. I realized that the information in the post could also be helpful to consumers in general, so I've posted it here, as well. I hope you enjoy.


"As a small business owner, I listen to a lot of business-related podcasts. As one would expect, I regularly come across programs devoted to the "horribly difficult times" we are living in.

I was listening to eBay Radio not too long ago and came across a program in which the show's guest reminded business owners that, "every single penny helps in a time like this."

"Knock, knock." That's me knocking on the forehead of that genius radio show guest. "Ring..." And that's the empty cavern of her head ringing loud and clear.

If every single penny counts now, what about before? Am I to understand from this sage advice that ONLY now is it important to really watch my costs as a business person? I ask you, when has keeping a close eye on my costs, large or small, NOT been extremely critical?

The problem with the advice we're getting is that it ignores the real issue at hand, which is our historical neglect as business people. Had we been doing everything in our power to effectively watch our costs when all these problems began, we'd know what to do now. And that would be to continue to do what we've doing all along!

Instead, we're scrambling around like scurrying ants, wondering what the heck we're going to do. And then we turn to people like this woman on eBay Radio who had the novel idea of using free materials from the post office to ship your products.

My God, people! If you're a business shipping by USPS and you haven't been using their free materials all along, let alone now, where have you been?

I repeat: The things we're being told to do now are the things we should have been doing all along! And were we to use our brains a little bit more instead of blindly following the advice of "experts" we don't know, we'd be a heck of a lot calmer and doing a lot better financially during this economic crisis we all face.

So get out there, folks, and use your noggins instead of your emotions. Tell your hysteria to take a hike, take a deep breath, and make the next right decision. And then do it again."