I was in a clothing store in Florida last week and found a REALLY great top on a clearance rack (50% off). I tried it on, and loved it, so I went to purchase it. When the cashier gave me the total, I said to her, “that’s not 50% off” to which she replied, “no, it is 30% off, is that okay?” Well, um, no it is not okay, I got it from the rack that was 50% off. I didn’t pay right away and went back to show her where I got the shirt from, and obviously it was put back in the wrong place. The store gave it to me for the clearance price, I have a really nice shirt, all is good.

So….that always brings me back to the laws we have in Ontario and I think most of Canada. There is a scanning code of practice. Essentially what that means is that if the price at the scanner is wrong (scanning higher) and you catch the mistake, you can get the item free (max $10). If you are buying more than one of that item, you would only get the first one free and the additional items at the correct price.

It is amazing to me that so many people are not aware of this code. The next time you are at Wal mart for instance, look right below where the debit machines are, you will see a white sticker with the code printed right there. Right there, where you are checking out, and the prices are wrong all the time.

I would say that for me, it happens at the Loblaws brand of store most often. I have been the lucky recipient of free coffee, lettuce, melba toast, thank you cards, just to name a few.

Here is a short list (many more listed on the link attached above):
Costco Wholesale Canada Ltd.
The Home Depot Canada
Canadian Tire Corporation Ltd.
Toys r Us
Shoppers Drug Mart
Wal*Mart Canada Corp.
Giant Tiger Stores Ltd.
The North West Company
Best Buy/Future Shop
Loblaw Company Limited
Metro
Sobeys

There are also many independent stores that participate as well. It all comes down to being aware of the code and what your rights are if the price is scanned incorrectly.

The bottom line is you need to be an educated consumer. Know what is in your cart because most likely you have put it in the cart because it was on sale. Don’t be afraid to question the cashier, even if this make the people behind you pissed. You can do what I do – while you are waiting for the price check, educate the person behind you, because they could be the next person to pay more than you have to at the cash!

See y’all tomorrow!

Halloween is over…we are changing the clocks this weekend. They put down the snow mats in my condo this weekend. It can’t be avoided. It is November 1st. That means that many men that you and I know are going to trade their clean shaven faces for a month of Movember.

For bloggers, November is the anniversary of NaBloPoMo.That acronym is National Blog Posting Month. Last year I was on facebook and saw that a fellow blogger (and extended family member) was going to participate in blogging every day for a month and we challenged each other to do it. She did 30 posts in 30 days, and I did 28 posts in 30 days. This year, I am ready to post 30 posts in 30 days.

How can you think of things to write about, someone asked me the other day? The truth is, if you know me, you know that I always have a story to share. Something that happened during my travels, or just my life in general. Earlier this year, I started to write about my travel in my professional travel blog. I will be writing there as well this month. Please follow my travel stories here.

So, here we go, NaBloPoMo….hopefully my stories, anecdotes about life as I see it, and my travel related information will help you fill the grey days of the month of November.

I was getting in my car today and looked up at a tree, and all the leaves had fallen, and I started to hum, “all the leaves are brown, and the sky is grey”….

Musical interlude today is California Dreamin’, because let’s face it, after Superstorm Sandy, who isn’t dreamin’ of California!

I am currently sitting in my home office/den/collector of all things that don’t have a home in my apartment. I am trying to clean up this space, well, all the spaces in my home. I am starting to think about the next ‘home’ that may be in my future, and before I can do that, I have to fix up this space.

For some people, they don’t have ‘messes’ in their homes. They have found a way to detach themselves from things that have happened in their lives, trips they may have taken, shows they may have seen, paperwork that perhaps they have should have kept, but no longer have. That is not me.

I am currently sifting through piles of ‘stuff’. By trying to declutter, I have actually made a much bigger mess.

There are people that specialize in helping people ‘clean their messes’. One of them is Peter Walsh. He is a tv personality from Clean Sweep and has his own show on OWN. He goes into people’s homes and he helps them find their way out of their “messes”.

I like to keep things because they remind me of the good memories associated with them – like programs from plays I have seen, like the map I just found from Pere Lachaise Cemetary in Paris, to birthday cards, thank you cards, invitations to events and celebrations. These are times that have made me happy, and I think that keeping them will allow me to remember that time. Is that silly? I don’t know, it is all party of my history. The events of my life.

What about the Food and Wine magazines that I enjoy, or the newspaper articles in the travel section, or memorial sections, etc. I guess I could read them one more time and then put them in the garbage bag.

This is much harder than I thought. I haven’t REALLY done this in a long time. I would tidy up here and there, throw out a few bags of garbage and just put the rest of the stuff back where it was. I think I need to really get rid of the ‘stuff’….but how is the question of the day?

I guess I should get off the computer now, and back to the piles that have been creeping up around me tonight.

Maybe you are just like me, and have to go through your messes. If you have any suggestions, please feel free to share what has worked for you in the past.

I am open to ideas…..

Until next time,