If telemarketers are disrupting your world, try registering with the National Do Not Call Registry. This service has an easy sign up system and should stop many, if not all telemarketing calls to your home. After signing up at The National Do Not Call Registry it takes about 31 days and then most telemarketers calls will stop. You can register your your home or mobile phone number for free. If telemarketers continue to call after you register you can file a complaint.

Folks unaffected by you registering may include companies you do business with, charities, political organizations, and telephone surveyors. One …read more

Consumer Mom is a very new blog, but we like to support new mamas, especially ones who reach out to readers with money saving and consumer minded tips.

The background of this mama / consumer blogger is fairly impressive too. Mama Cleo note…
I’m a 40-something mom and long time consumer advocate. My first job out of college was working for Ralph Nader’s Critical Mass Energy Project. After that, I went on to work for the National Consumers League, where my work as an advocate got me invited to be a guest on Oprah… twice! I am currently a full time wife, …read more

When it comes to shopping Americans are pros. They can shop until they drop and then get up and shop some more. Of course we all know there are negative issues related to this mentality. People are in debt, people choose non-necessities over basic needs, and over-consumption is terrible for the environment.

Before you place an item in your cart or on your credit card ask yourself the following questions…

Do I really need this?
Will the item improve my world? My family’s world? How?

Can I live without it?
Am I only buying this item because it’s on sale? Plenty of people buy items …read more

Please head over to Tree Hugging Family today, to learn about the new Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) laws on toy making. These new laws will make it nearly impossible for parents and children to have access to green and handmade toys.
This may seem like only a green issue, but it’s also a money issue. Handmade toys provide a safe and often less expensive alternative to conventional toys. Also, parents who are toy-makers or who run or work for small toy companies will not have a way to support their own families if laws like this are allowed.
If you want …read more

Around the holidays, many folks turn to credit for at least some of their holiday shopping. That said, I figure it’s a good time to go over some basic tips that will keep your credit score in good standing.
Obvious tips:

Pay your bills on time all the time.
Credit is best used as a tool for ease of shopping, or to gather perks, not as a loan. If you can, pay off your cards in full each month.
Keep your balances low – high revolving credit affects your score negatively.
If you miss payments, catch up as fast as you can. The quicker you …read more

Is there any (good) reason why I have three or four telephone books delivered to my door, or rather thrown on my front lawn, every year?
There are phone books for just my township and phone books for the county. There’s a phone book just for local businesses and phone books for every business in the county. This is such a waste.
Personally, I think telephone books should only be sent to those who ask. I look online for all my phone numbers anyway. I’m putting an end to it right now. Want to join me?
If you want to …read more

I’ve been writing a lot about proms lately for a few of my b5 blogs. In my neck of the woods, the last weekend of May is prom, and right now teens all over are booking hair and makeup appointments and looking for the perfect dress. Through my two year stint as a wedding writer, I learned about some great ways to find cheap prom dresses and other formal wear, and I’d like to share some of those findings with you today.
Here are some great ways to find inexpensive prom dresses:

Vintage Shops -  Not only do vintage shops …read more

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Any regular reader of The Consumerist knows there are really no supervisors standing around waiting for angry customer calls. If you’re not getting proper customer care and ask to speak to a supervisor, your call can be turned over to anyone from Joe in the cube next door to the pizza delivery guy. 9 times out of 10 you’re not speaking with an actual supervisor.
A few years ago when my husband bought me a new laptop for Christmas it wasn’t working properly. We called in several geek friends to take a look, and indeed the product …read more

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If you’re a regular visitor of Simply Thrifty, you’re probably following the sad saga of our DIY fence project. Thins are moving along…slowly.
One of the hold ups involves a few trees growing around the fence we’re to replace. Before we install a new fence we have to remove the trees and grind down the stumps. We also have a very old and sick Maple tree falling apart on our front lawn. We decided to have that one removed too, just for kicks.
We called more than half a dozen tree companies and handymen to come over and …read more