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

[MS.BEHAVIN]

The facility put out a wonderful dinner..
They had Dad all gussied up and waiting for his "Date"
(that would be me)
After dinner a man came in to sing and play music..
Got your hanky ready?
My Dad can no longer really articulate...
But when the man sang "Someone to Watch Over Me"
Dad looked at me and smiled...
Ms.B

[GodBlessUSA]

Wait, I'm not ready. :)

[luvie]

You're right...and what better way to spend a day besides stuffing yourself full of stuffing.

LOVE Dixie!!! (((hugs))) back!

[GodBlessUSA]

I can't imagine what incredible site that ship is to see in person.

[Kathy in Alaska]

w h !!

GB.....#700!!
Mrs.N.....#750!!

[GodBlessUSA]

LOL! :)

[luvie]

Well...I was talking here till nearly that late. Then I said goodnight to everyone and went and created a new "table" for a Christmas graphic, which you will see sometime next month.

[GodBlessUSA]

That's adorable. LOL!!

[Mrs.Nooseman]

LOL.

You are a little late my dear.LOL.

Ma got it.

[Mrs.Nooseman]

Awe,how cute.

Thanks!!!

[luvie]

Heh-heh!

[luvie]

I HEARD THAT, MISSY!!!

[Colonel_Flagg]

Sometimes I stay up later than I should too. I pay for it, but it's worth it!

[Mrs.Nooseman]

I finished mine this morning.;)

[Lady Jag]

No offense taken. The turkey said it, not me!

[GodBlessUSA]

This is funny, hubby accidentally hit his cell phone and called me and I can hear his conversation. He's complaining about his phone. LOL! He better hope he sticks to a neutral conversation LOL!!!!

[JLO]

Thanks Tonk for the ping, as always.

GummyIII - super job on all your links. I especially like http://www.epinions.com because not only can you price compare, you can also check out sellers' ratings by consumers before you buy from a disreputable internet seller.

Happy/safe shopping to all Canteeners!

[stand watie]

GA, ma'am!

free dixie,sw

[Mrs.Nooseman]

LOL.

I meant the Turkey.~chuckle~

[luvie]

What a sweet day it seemed.

You know, my hubby does a devotional at a nursing facility here every Sunday. He says that the little oldsters there might not be able to remember who he is or even who they are, but when he starts singing hymns, they don't even need a songbook to sing along. Their Faith is the one thing they never lose!

And yes, I did need that hanky! (((((hugs)))))) Bless you and your Dad!