Have you ever had a craving for Girl Scout cookies when it wasn’t Girl Scout cookie season? If your supply of Thin Mints has run out, you might turn to Keebler Grasshopper cookies, which are sold at most major grocery stores. Or you might run out to your local dollar store for the chocolatey, minty…
Years ago I had a sign on my door that read “NO SOLICITING (except for Girl Scout cookies).” One day, a Girl Scout came up to my door. She stared at the sign for a few seconds, confused, until her mom coaxed her to knock. We bought cookies from her. Girl Scout Cookies remain one…
Boxed macaroni and cheese is one of the ultimate convenience foods. It’s fairly inexpensive and shelf stable, so it lasts a long time in the pantry, and it’s easy to make even if you don’t have much in the way of cooking skills. There are usually two kinds of boxed mac and cheeses. First, there…
This post contains affiliate links. In my opinion, regular corn flakes aren’t a very good breakfast cereal. At least not without some serious doctoring. Even then, they have a bland taste and they get soggy too quickly. Similar to how Rice Krispies are better in Rice Krispie Treats than as a cereal, I think corn…
When an old secondhand clock on my living room wall stopped working recently, I decided to see what wall clock options some of my local dollar stores had. I didn’t have the highest hopes of finding something suitable for a living room. I thought I’d mostly find cheap-looking plastic wall clocks like what you might…
Tissue paper enjoys a fascinating history, dating back to its use as a gas mask filter during World War I and later as a cold cream remover in the 1920s. Eventually, of course, consumers discovered that tissue was great as a disposable handkerchief, and today tissue paper like Kleenex is synonymous with blowing one’s nose….
This post contains affiliate links. Pencils are magical — and in more ways than one. They can create new ideas in the most unlikely of places. They can serve as a muse for beautiful stories and images. They can help you solve difficult problems, whether those problems are in Algebra or in life. The greatest…
This post contains affiliate links. At some point in my childhood, I was exposed to Cinnamon Toast Crunch. With its crisp whole wheat and rice squares covered with sugar and cinnamon, I was immediately drawn in. As an adult, I still like the General Mills cereal, even if I realize it’s got a fair amount…
Most stores have their own private labels. Private labels — also called house brands — are brands specific to that store. Dollar General, for example, stocks certain food products under the Clover Valley label. Dollar Tree sells electronics under E-Circuit. Family Dollar sells cereal under Chestnut Hill. Some shoppers, perhaps understandably, confuse those private labels…
This post contains affiliate links. USB cables are one of the more underrated necessities in my life right now. I keep them just about everywhere. I keep them in my living area (attached to a quad charger) to charge my phone and Kindle. I keep them in near my writing area so I can charge…