Consumer: December 2009 Archives

A Temecula mom was the recipient of the 2009 Tillywig Sterling Fun award for the newest addition to her line of handcrafted dolls known as Friends Forever Girls.

"We're honoring Friends Forever Girls not only for the new Kristina Doll, but for creating a product line that fosters a sense of community, smart choices and self esteem among girls," said Dan Levy, who oversees the national Tillywig Toy Award program. "It's a powerful, positive and much-needed message they're conveying."

Kristi Necochea, founder of Friends Forever Girls, created the line of dolls as a way of filling what she saw as a void in the existing market of high-quality dolls.

"I wanted to create a sense of community ... a sense of belonging that's communicated through the dolls' characters and through the positive stories told in the Friends Forever Girls book that comes with each doll," Necochea said.

There are six ethnically diverse dolls, each with unique personality traits in the collection. The line includes Friends Forever Girls books, doll clothing and accessories.

The dolls can be found at www.friendsforevergirls.com and www.amazon.com.

With the tightening of the financial belt this year, the thought of buying presents is pretty stressful. You sit down with a glass of Chardonnay to write out your list and feel flabbergasted by its length. It includes ten extended family members, four or five neighbors, about five close friends, three teachers, and then your own immediate family.

Dianne Bright
Guest Author

That doesn't include the charity gift for the upcoming Boy Scout's party or the one for your daughter's dance instructor. Then, there are cards, snacks for the festivities, and you really do need some new shoes for your kids' church performance next Sunday. So, how can you do it on a thinner budget? Here are five suggestions to save a little dough this holiday season.

First, go electronic when possible. This might seem kind of impersonal, but it could actually save some money. Many online gift purchases include free or minimal shipping charges. If you have a Costco card, check out their amazing online gift baskets starting at just $19.99. Most of them include free shipping and handling, so what you see is what you get. Also, if you haven't tried Overstock.com for a variety of items, now's the time to check out their website. With their less than $3 shipping no matter what you buy, you're bound to save some green.

There are 14 days of shopping left until Christmas and I've been wracking my brain trying to figure out how to eeck out the last few gifts on a quickly dwindling budget. I got a press release today on a Web site called PromotionalCodes.com and decided to see what I could find.

I don't usually write about this kind of thing, but WOW. The site is basically a clearinghouse for coupon-type sites and within about 5 minutes I was sitting here with a 30 percent off Borders coupon, a $10 off Old Navy coupon, a 20 percent of Macys coupon and I'm still looking.

So if you're trying to stretch your last couple bucks to wrap up the shopping, check it out. I was pleasantly surprised.