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The Thrifty Nickel is Back in Town!

May 3rd, 2012

Thrifty Nickel Tyler TX

The title seems to say, “I am super excited about the Thrifty Nickel being back”, I must say that isn’t 100% true but it is a great improvement over the “American Classifieds”

Let’s face it, I am way more excited about Ebay, Amazon, Auto Trader, Facebook marketplace, before I am the Thrifty Nickel but this paper is convenient.

When I am sitting somewhere waiting for my car to get fixed, etc. so long as I find quality in the paper I will pick up again. If I pick it up this time only to find a bunch of schemes and local car dealer ads then there will be another multiple year long drought before I spend my time turning pages in that thing again.

In a previous blog post I really went after American Classifieds because they seemed to destroy the old Thrifty Nickel beyond recognition.

I am not sure how many people even knew but the Thrifty Nickel hasn’t been around for several years because it became American Classifieds.

When this happened it seemed a bunch of mail stuffing national work from home ads began appearing all throughout the publication and other stupid non personal local ads.

Lots of car dealer ads were in the American Classifieds paper and it seemed to almost completely lose any local Tyler TX connection unless you were in the market to look at car dealer ads.

I was used to finding really good deals from local people in The Thrifty Nickel but the American Classifieds was so overrun with national ads and business ads I failed to find the local people ads with cool junk for sale.

Local people seemed to ditch publicizing in the American Classifieds maybe because it was too expensive for ad space or something else, I really don’t know.

I hope now that the Thrifty Nickel is back that more cool local junk ads will appear like perhaps an old Nintendo console for sale, some retro Rayban glasses, and a $60 push lawn mower.

Tony Cruz XTC Fitness in Tyler TX offers cardio, yoga, and kickboxing classes

April 16th, 2011

Tony Cruz XTC Fitness & Sports

XTC – Fitness and Sports

7922 S. Broadway
Tyler, TX 75703
XTC Fitness
Phone: 903-509-4269

We came out for the Tee Ball opening ceremonies and met up with Tony Cruz XTC Fitness.

I scored a free 2 week pass to this new cardio, kickboxing, and Yoga class fitness club in Tyler TX.

They offer fitness classes for kids and adults.

XTC Fitness has some really good deals right now so go by and check them out and try them out.

You can follow them on twitter @xtcfitness

Tony Cruz XTC Fitness 2 week pass Tyler TX

Coming up with Christmas gift ideas for 2010

December 2nd, 2010

Christmas 2010 gift ideasUsually during Christmas time I have a very hard time buying gifts.

As you get older and your friends and family get older many of them pretty much have everything they want already.

And I sure ain’t going to be buying no one a big screen TV or something like that unless its my wife. I already know she doesn’t want that so not going to be doing that.

Here are a few ideas both local to Tyler and a couple on the internet that work out great for finding gifts.

Tuesday Morning in the shopping strip that you find Cotton Patch restaurant has great affordable gifts to choose from. They are right across from Robert E Lee highschool and may be just the shopping store your looking for.

Don’s TV and appliances is a locally owned TV and appliance store by a good family in Tyler Texas. You have likely seen most of them on their corny TV commercials. If you run in to them in town try to not bring up the commercial, they may have heard that one a time or two. They have good deals on their TV’s and kitchen appliances and if your buying a lot they might drop that price a little more for ya.

Regarding buying Christmas gifts online the neat thing to do this year is buy a unique hand made gift online from a website called Etsy (etsy.com). Some people in my family did this and you may come away with a cheap price tag but a cool gift. Also a website called thinkgeek (thinkgeek.com) offers really off the wall Christmas 2010 gifts like the fresh water fish training kit I bought for my father n’ law last year. For some reason it’s still boxed up.

For a really cool gift idea or two that is kinda pricey you could buy an Ipad for a toddler and spouse. Make it a combo. The stuff adults can do on an Ipad are endless but kids and toddler games are only about $3 each and they are extremely intuitive and educational. In fact I would go so far to say the Ipad will stomp on any of those fake looking toddler laptop games you see at the Tyler Target and Walmart.

Well I hope this has given you a little food for thought regarding this 2010 Christmas gift idea solution here in little old Tyler Texas. And without sounding too holy be sure to support a Christian missionary this Christmas season working in a muslim country.

Ipad Demonstration Video Showing a Toddler Playing Games

Ipad Good Toy For Toddlers to Play With Video

Big Lots

March 18th, 2010

Big Lots in Tyler

Big Lots in Tyler Texas

1421 S Beckham Ave
Tyler TX, 75701
Phone: 903-595-0388
Hours: M-Sat 9am-9pm Sun 10-6pm

 Big Lots is a store in a category of it’s own. It’s definitely a place for bargain seekers, rather like a big scale Dollar General but with more branded items and ‘end of range’ items from other stores. They sell, it seems, a bit of everything, from home décor and low priced furniture to groceries, toys and gardening items. There is a big health and beauty section, lots of storage and cleaning products, baby equipment, a few shoes and clothes and a nice selection of cards. There is always a good seasonal display too. Frequently the bargains spill out onto the sidewalk outside the store too!

I don’t shop at Big Lots regularly but I always seem to fill up a cart when I do go in and I come out happy. There’s something about browsing for bargains that is good therapy. I have a friend who goes there weekly – she is drawn in by the bread which is exceptionally good value apparently, and the snacks like pretzels, chips and cereal bars for school lunches – but she seems to leave there with lots of assorted extra purchases too. She is definitely a serious bargain hunter and scans the weekly ad from Big Lots to get the best deals. Big Lots has a rewards scheme called the Buzz Club for regular customers like her – you can check out the details at www.biglots.com.

The store itself is not particularly attractive. On entering you can get a cart and see the latest items in front of you, and the aisles behind that, with fully laden shelves of ‘stuff’ are in a vague semblance of order but not that easy to navigate around. It feels a bit like a warehouse. At the back of the store is a not very pleasant restroom and a clearance rack for extra savings on mainly damaged goods. Nearer the front is the furniture. It didn’t look that great to be honest, but perhaps there are good deals to be had on some of the items available. I didn’t think much of the clothing section either but the prices were low.

I can’t remember many of the things I bought at Big Lots – I guess it was mainly groceries, stationery and household items plus a few cards, but I did find a great deal on games for the Wii. I was tempted by the candles and photo frames but not by the toys which didn’t seem to be particularly great quality and quite highly priced. Music from the 80s accompanied me whilst I shopped. There was only one girl at the checkout and she didn’t have the keys to the cabinet for the video games. After a while she managed to pick the lock and I made my purchases. That is the kind of place that Big Lots is!

If you have time to browse, a visit to Big Lots can be quite fun. The things for sale vary quite a lot from week to week so no visit to Big Lots will ever be the same. However, don’t expect it to be a Macy’s experience (or even a Walmart) – you’ll be disappointed!

Oh and by the way, Big Lots has another location on S. Broadway opposite the mall.

Ross Dress For Less

January 21st, 2010

Ross Dress For Less

4943 S Broadway Ave
Tyler TX
903 534 0027

Open M-S 9.30am-9.30pm
Sun 11-8pm

Ross is a great store for bargain hunters. Here you can find designer and brand name clothes for every member of your family at half the usual department store or boutique prices.

Come prepared to hunt though – in Tyler the word has got round that Ross has good deals and the clothes have often been rooted through by many a shopper and may not be in the right size aisle. The mess gets worse towards the end of the shopping day!

Ross has really nice baby items at low prices, perfect for baby gifts as well as for your own munchkin, and the shoe section is well worth looking through – especially for children’s sneakers. There is also a selection of lingerie and the maternity clothes are some of the best value and style I have seen.

They have great bags, purses and other accessories too, all at much reduced prices.

Fashions aren’t the only bargain. Ross has a wonderful home section. I love to browse in the kitchen area looking at the dinnerware, pots and pans and cookware. They carry such nice stuff! There are also good deals on seasonal items, baskets of various shapes and sizes, small items of furniture and pictures. If you are looking for a nice photo frame, Ross has a good selection. The price stickers come easily off the glass with nailpolish remover. Actually, there are quite a few nice gifty items for the home.

I have never personally braved the bedding, towel or drapery section but am sure there are bargains to be had there too. Oh and there are towels, lots of towels.

Ross is worth checking out if you need to buy a ‘man gift’ – there are lots of ideas and there are some good children’s toys and books too, though I have found that the boxes are often damaged which may give the wrong impression if you are buying a present for someone else’s kid.

The store itself is not very tidy or organized and you may wait in line at the check-out longer than you would like – especially at Christmas – but I guess this is one of the ways that Ross manages to make savings and offer items at lower than average prices. You may not take the carts out of the shop either so don’t park too far away if you’re planning on buying big items. One thing that does annoy me is that they don’t have automatic doors – I always have a stroller as well as my shopping bags and it always seems hard to get out of the shop! I guess that makes it rather inaccessible for the handicapped too.

All that to say, Ross is a great shop. They have new shipments at least every other day so if you like bargain hunting you’ll need to check back regularly frequently. Relax, there’s a Starbucks across the parking lot!
Oh, one final tip -look for the red tags – they are clearance prices.