FReeper Canteen ~ Online Shopping 101 ~ November 22, 2005

22-NOV-05 | Gummy News

[GummyIII]

Gummy Style!

Newsflash:  Gummy Hates to Shop November 22, 2005 I hate to shop.  I know. You are thinking, "She's not normal."  Perhaps I should clarify.  I hate to drive to a busy mall or store, get out, fight the crowds, look in umpteen stores for the best bargain, and come home with nothing but achy feet and head.  When Al Gore invented the internet, he did it for me.  Honest. (Psssst....He would have told you that, but he's afraid you wouldn't believe him.) OK,  you've guessed it...I do all my shopping online.  Below are my best tips for online shopping. Oh, there is ONE drawback, gentlemen...you can't wait until Christmas Eve to shop.  It's a good thing I believe in Santa Claus! He brings me my present EVERY year. (Hint:  if the animated background bugs you, hit the "stop" button on your browser.)

We Support Our Troops!!!!  Thank you for your service!!!

Shop Online Safely Use credit cards. The big three credit card issuers, American Express, MasterCard and Visa, have a zero liability policy. You pay nothing for unauthorized transactions if you notify your financial institution. For extra fraud protection, sign up for MasterCard's SecureCode or Visa's Verified by Visa. These are password challenge programs for online shopping. Look for signs that online purchases are secure. At the point that you are providing your payment information, the beginning of the Web site address should change from http to shttp or https, indicating the information is being encrypted. Your browser may also signal that the information is secure with a symbol, such as a broken key that becomes whole or a padlock that closes. Never enter your personal information in a pop-up screen. When you visit a company's Web site, an unauthorized pop-up screen created by an identity thief could appear with blanks for you to provide your personal information. Legitimate companies don't ask for personal information via pop-up screens.  Keep your computer secure for safe shopping and other online activities. Protect your computer with spam filters, anti-virus and anti-spyware software, pop-up blockers and a firewall, and keep them up to date. Go to http://www.staysafeonline.org and http://www.onguardonline.gov to learn more about how to keep your computer secure. Or use El Gran's wonderful site:  Canteen Resource Center. Disclaimer: Not suitable for Grinches or Scrooges. Santa reads this news, too!!

Tips for Saving Money and Sanity Try online coupons. Many online stores provide regular customers with promotional codes. These codes are entered during the online checkout process. They save you money, just like a traditional coupon. Coupon Cabin, Current Codes and Naughty Codes are three websites that list promotional codes for online stores. (Google "promotional code" and the name of the store from which you are purchasing.  Others may show up.) Promotional codes usually offer free shipping or a reduced price. Often, online stores offer multiple codes, but you'll probably have to use one or the other.  Use disposable e-mail. You must register an e-mail address with stores when you purchase online.  The store e-mails a confirmation of your purchase and, often, tracking information. Additionally, it may send you promotional codes. But it may also send you unwanted e-mail.There are a couple ways to handle this. You could create a new e-mail address. A number of sites offer free e-mail, including Hotmail (www.msn.com), Yahoo (mail.yahoo.com), Techemail (www.techemail.com) and Netscape (www.netscape.com). Or, sign up for a disposable e-mail address. Free services such as spamgourmet and Sneakemail allow you to create a temporary e-mail address. They forward mail to your "real" one. Sign up for a temporary address before making a purchase. When you've received your purchases and are satisfied with them, you can eliminate the temporary address. COMING NEXT WEEK:   All I want for Christmas is.......... Gummy News is produced  as a service to our troops.  Volume 1, Number 1.

Comparision Shopping 101 Yahoo, Inc., Shopzilla, Shopping.com,  Google Inc.'s Froogle.com, PriceWatch, PriceGrabber, NexTag and ShopLocal are a few of the top contenders for online comparison shopping.  Take the time to see how each one works.  Most will sort by price, look for items within a price range, and look for specific brand items which you specify.  Many of the above sites have ratings for you to check the product.  Other sites are cnet.com, zdnet.com, consumersearch.com, epinions.com, PCMagazine, BusinessWeekOnline, ConsumerGuide, and many others.  Also, many of the consumer online sites offer customer reviews.  Use those in conjunction with other reviews. For example, Amazon.com and Circuit City's online store are two sites with customer reviews. Best viewed at 1024x768,  medium text size

[tomkow6]

mine

[tomkow6]

mine

[tomkow6]

mine

[laurenmarlowe]

Ray Charles~America The Beautiful

[luvie]

Whatever! I could have done that if I had wanted to post 7 times! But I wanted to be FAIR!!! :o)

[luvie]

(((Lauren)))

How are you this beautiful Texas fall evening? Were you busy today?

Thanks for your beautiful tribute to our glorious flag!

[Diva Betsy Ross]

;]

[AZamericonnie]

Gummy last year I did all my shopping on line. I had a broken toe so it was a lifesaver! Many of the sites offered gift wrapping so I just had the items wrapped & shipped directly to the recipent! I'm totally hooked on it now!

I do like to go out to the malls still on occasion just to say "Merry Christmas" & annoy the "PC" crowd! lol

[Kathy in Alaska]

Fabulous thread, Gummy.....I'm trying to learn to shop online as much as I can. Thanks for the handy hints.

[laurenmarlowe]

Pacific Ocean (Nov. 17, 2005) - Aviation Electronics Technician 3rd Class Derrick Moneymaker repairs a missile interface system on the wing of a F/A-18C Hornet, assigned to the "Golden Dragons" of Strike Fighter Squadron One Nine Two (VFA-192), in the hangar bay of the conventionally powered aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63). Kitty Hawk and embarked Carrier Air Wing Five (CVW-5) are currently underway conducting operations in the Western Pacific Ocean. U.S. Navy photo by Photographer's Mate Airman Kyle D. Gahlau (RELEASED)

Persian Gulf (Nov. 14, 2005) - Aviation Electronics Technician 2nd Class Brandon Schurr of Shoreline, Wash., connects radio frequency lines to a Universal Exciter Upgrade for preventive maintenance and troubleshooting in the Aircraft Intermediate Maintenance Division (AIMD) shop aboard USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71). Roosevelt and embarked Carrier Air Wing Eight (CVW-8) are currently underway in the Persian Gulf supporting Operation Steel Curtain, a joint U.S.-Iraqi military offensive aimed at preventing cells of Al Qaeda from entering Iraq through the Syrian border. U.S. Navy photo by Photographer's Mate Airman Derek Allen (RELEASED)

Norfolk, Va. (Nov. 7, 2005) - Sailors man the rails as the amphibious assault ship USS Nassau (LHA 4) leaves her homeport in Norfolk, Va., at the start of her deployment in support of the Global War on Terror. U.S. Navy photo by Photographer's Mate Airman Amanda Clayton (RELEASED)

[Kathy in Alaska]

[AZamericonnie]

Tom!:)

[luvie]

Georgous pictures, Lauren! Thanks for your love for our troops! (((hugs)))

[luvie]

LOL! I'll be saying "merry Christmas" to everyone I wait on at work....but out here most everyone else does too...kinda takes the fun out of it! :o)

[laurenmarlowe]

Howdy there LUV! Yes, busy day today! I hope you had a nice one.

I started to answer your email earlier, got sidetracked, and then lost the draft, LOL! I will try again tomorrow :o)

*HUGS*

[GodBlessUSA]

I sure will! No, I'm watching some silly movie. :) How's your show? Enjoying it? :)

[Colonel_Flagg]

Is it the Packers your rooting for?

Absolutely, unequivocally NOT. :)

[luvie]

Well, I looked for one from you, but know you're busy. No problems with taking your time.

I had a nice one...kinda long for me. I have gotten spoiled...but my buddy MH let me go an hour early or it would have been even longer!

[GodBlessUSA]

Excellent post Lauren:)
Thanks!
HUGS!

[luvie]

It's really good tonight! Whew, very fast-paced!