#online coupon generator

[socialproofbooster]

6 Effective Ways to Use Popups to Increase Online Sales

Pop-ups are such prominent advertisements that, if used effectively, they can generate a positive lead for the business. Pop-ups can help you increase sales by including first-time purchase offers, cross-sells, location-based pop-ups, and existing pop-ups on your website. There are given some tips you need to keep in mind while creating popup generators online:

Find the right placement in context:

Make them Effective:

Keep them Actionable:

Let them Easily Exit:

Don't Repeat:

Add a Personal Touch:

If you want to generate popups and widgets for your website, visit Social Proof Booster. It's an online popup maker where you can easily create popups for your website. Visit Now!

[music-for-them-asses]

Just wanted to say that I've been on these new meds for a couple of weeks now, and I'm really starting to feel a difference! I worked in the office yesterday, and while I was def overstimulated, I had a lot of energy when I came home. I watched a movie, worked on my costume, and practiced my Duolingo. All before falling asleep on the couch at 10 😅 Here's hoping it will continue to improve my mood without major side effects!

[reachingworldlive]

10 Ways Get Cheap Items and Save Money at the Online Store

[the-californicationist]

What if Price got migraines, so he came to your piercing shop to get a Daith put in to help (because he hates taking meds). But then, he decides to get more done....

"Sweet Relief" (AO3 Link)

The shop had been quiet all winter. It started with No Ink November, an inside joke you and your business partners laughed about every year. Money was tight, that was for sure, and no amount of Instagram deals or tell-a-friend coupons were going to dig you out. So, you’d been practicing with your piercing skills. Your shop had plenty of tattooists, and one girl was even a specialist in scarification, but no one did piercings. You decided to work hard and fill a niche. 

It was a cold January morning, and you rolled into the shop around noon, setting up your station for your three o’clock appointment, a daith piercing. The guy had booked online with some generic disciple name like Mark or Luke or something. You checked the sheet. 

“John…” 

Based on his questionnaire, it was his first piercing, but he’d been tattooed by your shop partner, Caitlyn.

“Hey, Cait!” You called into the back of the shop. 

She shouted back,

“Sup?”

“You know a John Price?”

She poked her head around the door and came over to your station,

“Sure do. He’s a total hunk. Some army guy. Comes in about two or three times a year for work. Is he cheating on me?” She laughed, ribbing you. 

“He wants a daith,” you showed her the sheet. 

“Huh,” she shrugged, “Cool. Enjoy it, babe.”

Winking and laughing to herself, Cait ducked back into her station and you waited for the man to show up. 

Then, like he had been summoned, the shop’s door bell tinkled and an enormous, bearded man stepped through. He was in casual clothes, and he wore a wool beanie to keep out the cold. He looked around the space calmly, giving a polite nod and a wave to Cait. When his eyes found you, he smiled, 

“Hey.” 

Goddamn if his voice wasn’t like a warm fire on a snow day. It rumbled, low and deep through the room, hitting you right in your chest, surprising you. 

“Hey!” You recovered, “You must be John. Come around.”

“Yeah,” he made his way over to you and sat in your chair, “I’m here for the daith piercing.”

“Gotcha. I’m all ready for you. I’ll clean the site, mark it, and I’ll show it to you before we commit.”

You got to work, studying his face as you worked. There were little scars here and there, and a big one near his temple, ragged and rough. You rubbed cleanser on his ear and asked him,

“So, why this one? You get headaches?”

“Sure do. Don’t always have meds out in the field, so I needed something a bit more permanent.” 

You gave him a curious look,

“The field?”

“Army. Special Forces. That’s where I got this beauty you were admirin’.” He thumbed the large scar on his brow.

You blushed a bit. He sure was observant. 

“Ouch,” you said, “I promise this won’t hurt half as bad. Here, have a look.”

You held up the mirror to let him see the mark you’d made. He shrugged,

“You know best, love. I trust you.”

His words stirred something in your belly. You liked the pet name, and his ease with trusting you went right to your head. 

“Alright, hold still, John. You wanna count?”

“No,” he smiled and turned his eyes on you, watching you work on him. 

You shoved the needle into his skin and watched his eyes close as the pain washed over him. He took it in stride, smiling when you finished with the hard part. He opened them again to watch you, and he almost seemed to look at you with some level of desire. So, you tried out a pet name of your own.

“There you go, handsome. All set.”

“Cait should’ve warned me. Had no idea my pain would come at the hands of such a pretty artist.”

“Careful, soldier. Gonna get yourself a tongue ring on the house if you keep buttering me up like that,” you showed him the barbell you’d installed, and he took a cursory glance at it. 

“Maybe that’ll be my next one. I heard they work wonders.”

“On migraines?” You laughed, confused by his tone. 

“No,” he leaned forward, putting himself in your space, “On pretty artists.”

[twstowo]

I didn't see any mention of how many boys are acceptable for a single ask so feel free to do as many or as few as you want, though my favorites are the three fish boys and the two fire boys.

So, the way I show affection is I'll frequently give them small trinkets or snacks from my hoard that I won't miss and I think they'll like. If we're close enough and it's been established that they don't mind drinking after me and they like soda I'll even pass over the rest of a soda that I know I won't finish before it goes flat. Or if I made food like pasta or cheese sticks and I don't end up eating it all but they're nearby and like that kind of food I'd hand it to them. Often I'll let my sister 'steal' clothing I won't miss or borrow clothing I will, though I'd do the same for a close enough friend if they were interested.

(some of these examples are from how I treat friends and some are for people who are close family)

Anyways I'd like to see some of the boys react to a s/o or close friend who shows affection like this

♡︎That's a cool way of showing affection, I'm more into being annoying

♡︎Includes: Octavinelle and Ignihyde

⋆⋅☆Azul

He finds it odd that you're offering him the rest of your soda. After all, as the owner of Monstro Lounge, he could easily access an endless supply of that soda if he desired. The same applies to any snacks or food you offer him, he just can't grasp why you're doing it. However, over time, he comes to understand that this is your way of showing affection. Thus, he learns to appreciate it, albeit he may continue to politely decline. In return, he takes note of your favourite snacks and drinks, occasionally surprising you with them free of charge. Perhaps a couple of kisses in return?

⋆⋅☆Floyd

I feel like he would be similar, but he wouldn’t do it affectionately, he would simply get bored of eating or drinking and nonchalantly, he hands over the remainder to you. He always accepts what you offer unless it's something he dislikes, he might even toss in some Monstro Lounge coupons as a token of gratitude.

⋆⋅☆Jade

Politely declining each time, similar to Azul, he is unable to grasp the appeal of sharing partially consumed food or drinks. If Floyd is in proximity, he's quick to snatch the food from your hand and enjoy it himself. On the flip side, whenever you visit Monstro Lounge, he goes out of his way to bring you your favourite dishes. The gesture is offered generously, with no expectation of payment, as an act of kindness. At least for now.

⋆⋅☆Idia

The first time you did this, he felt a twinge of embarrassment, contemplating the idea of an indirect kiss, as your mouth had just been in contact with the soda bottle. However, as time passed, he found himself engaging in the same gesture. He began to relish sharing snacks and drinks with you whenever you came over to play or watch something together. The two of you enthusiastically explored and ordered new and weird snacks online, savouring the experience of trying them out together.

⋆⋅☆Ortho

He can’t eat or drink, but he does notice that you have this way of being affectionate. In a thoughtful move, he brings you snacks, cleverly sourced from Idia's stash. He memorizes your favourites and the ones you dislike, sharing this information with his brother. The next time you spend time with him and Idia, you find a generous pile of your favourite drinks and snacks, just for you.

[tj-crochets]

Do you have any tips about how to work on quilts? I’m just starting out and I’m in awe at how quickly you can make quilts and how beautiful they turn out.

Hey! Thanks, and welcome to quilting, it's a lot of fun! So, these tips are going to be a bit haphazard and out of order, because that's how I operate lol - do iron your fabric before you cut it - do iron your seams before sewing rows together, and before assembling your quilt sandwich - you can use the backing as the binding for your quilts and then you don't have to try to wrangle binding strips, it's all attached and easy to do - this one is going to sound kinda silly, but use fabric you like whenever you can. Even a super simple patchwork can be awesome if you use fabric you like, and the most complex intricate pattern can be terrible if you don't like the fabrics - sewing clips are the BEST. I think the brand name is clover wonder clips, but the generic is so much cheaper and nearly as good. You'll break the generic versions occasionally but they come like 100 for less than 10 bucks so you can throw away the broken ones and the rest still work. They are just so much faster than using pins - a rotary cutter, quilting ruler, and cutting mat make quilting so much easier - your seam allowance does not have to be 1/4". It can be whatever you want it to be, as long as you either account for it while making your pattern or use a pattern where it doesn't matter as long as it's consistent (like a simple patchwork). Do make sure you seam allowance is large enough that the fabric won't fray apart around it - never buy batting full price at Joanns, it goes on sale regularly or you can almost always get like a 40% off one full price item coupon when it's not on sale - when you are cutting fabric on a rotary mat, you can cut more than one layer of fabric at a time (might be obvious, but I did not know that at first lol) - shop around online for replacement rotary cutter blades, the prices vary wildly and seem to have no rhyme or reason, sometimes it's cheaper to get a two pack of blades than to buy just one? Most of all, make patterns that you want to make. Almost all the quilt patterns I make (except my improv scrap quilts) are really, really basic quilt patterns, because that's what I like making. I like keeping the pattern super simple and letting the fabric be the star, because my favorite part is arranging the fabrics like a puzzle. I have a quilt friend who makes really really intricate, beautiful paper pieced quilts I 100% do not have the patience for, but that's what she likes making and she's great at it. Enjoy what you're making and you'll find the parts of quilting you like best over time :)

[covid-safer-hotties]

also preserved on our archive

By Jessica Rendall

In addition to Pfizer and Moderna's new formulas, Novavax's protein-based shot is an option for COVID vaccination this season.

We're on the cusp of the fall season, which means respiratory viruses like flu, RSV and COVID are expected to keep spreading as weather cools and more people gather indoors.

Luckily, we've got vaccines in stock to help prevent respiratory viruses from turning into severe illnesses {NADI'S NOTE: Vaccination only minimizes the risk of long covid by a maximum of 30% in some people. The best protection still remains distancing when you can and masking when you cannot}. In addition to flu vaccines for the general public and RSV vaccines for older adults and pregnant people, new COVID vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and Novavax are available this season to reduce the risk of hospitalization.

This means adults have a choice in which COVID vaccine they receive: an mRNA vaccine by Moderna or Pfizer, or Novavax, a protein-based vaccine that targets the virus in a more "traditional" way. All three have been authorized by the US Food and Drug Administration. While Moderna and Pfizer have been widely used over the last few years, the Novavax vaccine is building up a bit of a following.

Novavax, a protein-based vaccine, is an option for those who don't want or can't take an mRNA vaccine. Novavax may also be appealing to those wanting to experiment with the "mix-and-match" approach to COVID boosters as a way to potentially strengthen the immune response.

"Even though mRNA vaccines dominate the market for COVID vaccines, it remains important to have multiple different types of technologies against various pathogens because each may have specific use cases," Dr. Amesh Adalja, an infectious disease expert and senior scholar with Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, said in an email.

Here's everything we know about Novavax this year. Also, read more about the at-home flu vaccine that will be available next year and how you can order more free COVID tests online.

How is Novavax different from Pfizer and Moderna? Novavax is a protein-based vaccine, which people have associated with a "traditional" approach to vaccination. This is compared with mRNA technology, which does not use dead or weakened virus as an ingredient in the vaccine but instead uses genetic code to instruct the recipient's immune system to respond.

However, Adalja said that calling Novavax traditional may be a "misnomer" because it brings its own innovation to the table. Novavax uses an insect virus that has been genetically engineered to express spike proteins, Adalja explained, which are then incorporated into the vaccine.

"The vaccine itself is coupled with an immune system booster, called an adjuvant, which increases its immunity," he said, referencing a component existing vaccines have also incorporated.

This year, there are also slight differences between Novavax and Pfizer and Moderna's updated vaccines. Both mRNA vaccines have been tweaked to target the KP.2 strain of COVID-19, which is a slightly more recent version of the virus than what Novavax targets, which is KP.2's "parent" JN.1. While the FDA ultimately decided KP.2 was preferred in vaccines, all of them are expected to help protect against severe disease and death.

However, no COVID vaccines this season will be covered free of charge by the US government. While most people's insurance is expected to continue footing the bill, adults without private or public health insurance will be responsible for payment. The Bridge Access Program was expected to provide COVID vaccines for free to people without health insurance through this year, though it ended early in August due to lack of funding.

According to GoodRx, which has a coupon available for Novavax, the retail price of the protein-based vaccine is about $191.

Who should get Novavax? Does Novavax have different side effects? Novavax was authorized by the FDA for use in adults and children 12 and older, so younger kids can't get this vaccine. But for most adults, which COVID vaccine you should choose depends on your preference and what your neighborhood pharmacy has in stock.

People may opt for Novavax for different reasons, though. For people who do not want to take an mRNA vaccine, having a protein-based vaccine like Novavax available means they can still be vaccinated for the fall and winter season.

Other people may be interested in Novavax for its use in the "mix-and-match" approach to boosting, which in the past has been associated with a strong immune response.

There is some early research that suggests Novavax may have fewer short-term side effects, such as muscle fatigue and nausea, but "we can't say this for sure," Joshua Murdock, a pharmacist and pharmacy editor of GoodRx, said in an email.

"This isn't proven, and side effects do vary by person," Murdock said. He added the CDC doesn't recommend one vaccine over the other, even in people who are immunocompromised.

In general, mRNA vaccines have been found to be fairly "reactogenic" compared to other vaccines, Adalja said, noting that it also depends on the individual. But if someone had a bad experience with the mRNA vaccine, Adalja said, they "may fare better with the Novavax vaccine."

Some flu-like side effects can be expected post-vaccine, no matter which one you choose. This includes symptoms like headache, tiredness, a sore arm and even chills. Not experiencing symptoms doesn't mean your immune system isn't kicking in, but experiencing some side effects may signal that your immune system is responding to the jolt, so to speak.

In rare cases, myocarditis or heart inflammation problems have been associated with COVID vaccination, particularly in younger men and adolescents within the two weeks following vaccination. Research so far shows that Novavax, like mRNA vaccines, may also carry this rare side effect though.

Following high levels of COVID this summer in the US, more information will be needed to see how all vaccines and their freshly targeted formulas fare against the virus that's expected to continue to spread this fall and winter.

"There's no strong evidence that one vaccine is preferable to another in specific individuals, but that will be an important avenue to study for more precision-guided vaccine recommendations," Adalja said.

How to find a Novavax vaccine Novavax announced on Sept. 13 that doses of its vaccine will be available at the following pharmacies:

CVS Rite Aid Walgreens Costco Publix Sam's Club Kroger Meijer Other independent pharmacies or grocers Novavax also has a vaccine finder on its website. To use it, type in your ZIP code in the small search box, and pharmacies nearby with the vaccine in stock will be displayed.

[stellaralignment]

After reading @kira-serialfaggot 's post about inaccessible menus and @butterfly-sapphire post about non-customizable menus figured I now had sufficient excuse to rant about how I hate how every big restaurant's ""solution"" to these two problems is somehow always the worst fucking app I've ever had to use in my life.

So, to clarify real quick. I agree with both previous posts. Places that serve food should have their menu easily accessible somewhere if they have an online presence, and places that let you customize your order need to have that as a feature of any digital ordering solution they implement. Good? Good.

So, a lot of places I've seen (Wendys, Taco Bell, and McDonald to name a few) Have tried to get around how fucking horrible the DD app itself is by making their own apps with DD integration for the actual ordering/serving of delivery orders. Great, this lets them provide their own menu customization options, serve discounts/coupons, and generally have more control over the user experience. Fantastic. As a bonus, this usually also allows you to just look at the menu whenever you want.

Small issue. All of these apps were written by the worst fucking programmers I have ever witnessed in my life. I havn't gotten angry enough to de-compile or try to reverse engineer one yet, but my user experience has been so consistently bad and I've encountered issues that, as a software engineer, I honestly could not tell you how fucked their system has to be in order to allow that to happen.

Allow me to tell you the worst of these. I'm trying to order delivery from a store. It's late, like 7pm, but I know the place is open till 10. I can confirm this on their website (I do later for reasons that will become apparent) and google maps. So I punch in my address, make my order, and go to checkout. Unfortunately, the app tells me "Your payment method failed. Please select a new method and try again". Which was odd, but not unimaginable. I've had issues with my bank in the past. So I swap cards and try again, thinking nothing of it.

Except, my other card doesn't work either. Nor does using PayPal, or Google Pay, or any of the other payment options I tried. I'm getting desperate. I buy some games on steam just to make sure some of these are working, which they are. I was worried, but now that I've confirmed all my money hasn't been siphoned away somehow, I'm just confused and getting annoyed.

So I start going insane. I buy digital gift cards from several different sites and try using them. No dice, payment failed. I try using the website instead of the app, on my phone and PC. Payment failed. I boot up an android studio instance with a brand new virtual phone, install the app on it, and try to order. Again. Payment failed.

I'm starting to wonder if their servers are just completely down. A friend in a different state can order with no problems. A friend in the same town can order with no fanfare.

But my roommates can't. They have the same issue

Payment failed.

So. I'm going insane. I've now spent almost 3 hours attempting to order food, and I'm starving. It is at this point that my anger finally overcomes my social anxiety, and I do the one thing I never thought I'd do.

I call the store in question.

Now, in all of this there was one crucial mistake I made. See, that friend in the same town? Lived on the other side of town. And there's 2 different stores of this franchise in town. We didn't control for this, because the app doesn't let you pick a store anyways when doing delivery. It's hard locked to whatever one is closest, which isn't a terrible thing to do. You need to get the delivery address anyways, and you know where all your store are, so it cuts out a step for me. But having to choose a store might've clued us in to what was going wrong.

Because the store? Was closed. Not just closed, like mega closed. It was being shut down. It hadn't been open for two weeks, and would never be open again. The order was failing because they'd already taken all the computer systems out, and it couldn't confirm to have received the order.

So there was nothing wrong with the payment. Literally nothing I could have done about this. I am just barred completely from ordering because the app defaults to the nearest location for orders, and my nearest location didn't exist anymore.

And you'd think that there would be some way to communicate this to the user when making the app. But for reasons I can only assume are profit motivated (Though I have no idea how the fuck this is more efficient/profitable), the app just defaults to saying the payment failed.

Now, I wouldn't be this mad if this was just "oops edge case lol" where I suffered the unfortunate consequences of some procrastinator forgetting to do the thing that removes stores from the database. Unfortunate but not really anyone I can blame for it. But no. This is just the most extreme example, and it's not even confined to the one app.

Almost every single app like this I've used defaults to saying the payment failed and to try a new payment method when anything goes wrong. No drivers out on DoorDash to actually move the order? Payment failed. You're trying to order a seasonal item that got dropped today? Payment failed. The companies servers actually are down? Payment failed. You're not connected to wi-fi like an idiot and there's actually something you can do to fix the issue that's not related to payment whatsoever? Payment failed.

What the fuck is up with this lazy ass programming? I seriously doubt there's enough technical debt from these apps to justify not having a robust error catching system that communicates with the user what the issue is. By the fucking stars these people love collecting intrusive data, I'm surprised they havn't used this as an excuse to harvest everyone's fucking location at all times and send "error data" back to central.

But just don't tell me my debit card was declined when I'm trying to order a burger and you closed that store two weeks ago.

[trivialbob]

@mstacobelle tagged me for the five things that make me happy list.

Admiring my lawn after I mow it on a nice summer day. Though I may be dirty and tired, the silence and feeling of accomplishment that follows pleases me. Bonus points for seeing Ella's normally white feet turned green from running through grass clippings. It's cute. Sometimes she leads me around the back yard as I push the Toro, dropping a tennis ball in front of it, forcing me to stop and throw the ball for her.

Labels facing forward inside the refrigerator, kitchen cabinets, and hall closet. When I see labels aligned properly, a calm joyfulness sweeps over me. It may stem from working at grocery stores during high school and college. Sometimes after my wife cooks or bakes I quietly check the cabinets and fridge, turning labels of things she used back to the way I like. I also have to move things back to where they belong. (Honey, condiments always go on the shelves of the left-side refrigerator door. That was clearly stated in our wedding vows.)

Listening to the Blues Brothers version of Soul Man while I'm driving.

(Longtime readers will be sick of this one) Finding pizza flavored Pepperidge Farms Goldfish Crackers at a grocery store. Oddly, the best flavor of Goldfish is poorly stocked at stores I frequent. If the pizza flavored crackers are even there, they're disrespectfully located on the bottom shelf, like cheap liquor. I know I could order them online, but I prefer grocery shopping in a store, even if my (Gold)fishing net is empty. Bonus points if the Goldfish crackers are on sale.

Getting rid of coins I find in this house and our cars. Before I go to the grocery store I gather all the loose change I can find. At the self-checkout I feed those coins in like I'm a chain-smoking retiree in front of a one armed bandit. When the coins are gone I pay the balance with plastic. Dumping in $2.87 of loose change makes me feel like I used a $2.87 coupon. It's my money, but I still feel like I got a discount.

Hearing Walker Hayes singing Fancy Like while I'm driving.

Driving my wife's car and not having to first make a beeline to the nearest gas station. That's both happiness and relief.

Hanging out at the brewery with our friends and/or dogs. Since the place first opened Sheila and I have gotten to know most of the employees and a lot of the regular customers. I can go by myself and still end up sharing a table.

Being at the airport dog park when a Boeing 777 or Airbus A330-900 approaches overhead. My dogs don't care, but I think it's cool seeing the larger airliners.

Getting our travel trailer backed in perfectly at a cool campsite, getting it leveled, then walking around with a beer, checking out other trailers and RVs, and meeting new people and dogs.

I listed more than five because I'm pretty happy in general. Also Kim, I like to under promise and over deliver!

[dexnola]

How to cut costs on a gluten-free diet

Actually several of these principles work on anyone's diet, or another type of allergen diet, but gluten free is what I know and what I serve.

My household consists of me and my partner; she's gluten intolerant and I am not. Our grocery budget is $120 a week (including standard household consumables like soap, paper towels, etc. that I also buy at the grocery store) and we could actually tighten that up more if we worked even a little harder at it. I do most of the cooking and shopping for our household so I thought I would share what it is I'm doing.

Eat as many "regular" items as possible

If there is a gluten free version of an item and a "regular" one that contains wheat, normally the gluten free version is twice the price. So one simple way to cut costs is to buy fewer of them. Some examples are packaged GF cookies and crackers, frozen prepared dinners, canned soups that say gluten free in big letters... basically anything that is marketed as GLUTEN FREE and says GLUTEN FREE in great big letters on the front of the package.

There are lots of items that are labeled "gluten free" but aren't marketed as such. Ketchup is often labeled gluten free somewhere on the package, but there's no such thing as "regular" ketchup that normally contains gluten. Those are fine to buy.

The worst offenders are bread and baked goods in general. Gluten free bread is very expensive. Don't buy things like frozen prepared cakes; gluten free cake mix or brownie mix is the better buy.

Here are some "regular"/inexpensive foods that are naturally gluten free:

rice; avoid pre-seasoned rice mix things

potatoes [regular and sweet potatoes]

corn tortillas (plain corn taco shells and tortilla chips are also easy to get GF)

all manner of fruits and vegetables [fresh, canned, frozen w/o sauce/other extras]

peanut butter

milk and dairy products in general

beans; dry or in cans

meat, especially plain fresh or frozen meat without extra marinades, seasoning, or obviously breading

fish [frozen and canned are least expensive]

I still buy special gluten-free stuff, but

it isn't the bulk of our diet

when reasonable, I let my partner eat them and I eat the regular version (e.g. I still buy wheat sandwich bread for myself)

i put in extra work to find the lowest price; comparing different stores, couponing, stocking up when I find a deal, etc.

Speaking of which,

Figure out what stores are the cheapest near you

A key part of this sentence is "near you." I do most of my grocery shopping at two stores that are 10 or 15 minutes away from my house. They are on the same street and in close proximity of each other. As you compare prices, keep in mind which places are realistically convenient enough to shop at based on where you live, work, and spend time.

I prefer a data driven approach and so have a spreadsheet with the prices of lots of items I buy. Doing it this way, you find that while no store has the lowest price on everything, it's easy to find a store that has an overall lower price on most items.

When comparing prices, remember to compare based on the cost per ounce or cost per pound or similar, not just the package.

In my experience, shopping at more than one store is the easiest way to balance many factors including price, selection, convenience, and quality. Most weeks I go to these two stores:

Wegmans: huge selection of items, low prices on some things, but higher to middling on others; lots of choices for GF items and things like special spices or vegetables that I need just once in a while

Aldi: smaller selection, but easily the least expensive on most regular groceries

I used to live near Publix, which is expensive overall but had a big selection and lots of BOGO sales where they would sell certain items at a loss. I would stalk the sale paper online every week and if they had something I ate at a low cost, I would go to Publix just to buy those items in quantity and then leave to go get the rest of my groceries at Aldi or somewhere else cheaper.

Use sales to stock up on stuff you eat when it's cheaper

For example, If I read the sale paper for the Aldi and I notice butter is $3/lb or less, when it's usually more like $4, I'm buying at least two if not three or four packages and putting some in the freezer, even if we're not low on butter.

This goes double and triple for any special gluten free item. Stock up.

Don't stock beyond your means. Start small as you study your household's patterns of consumption. Start with items that are not perishable: things in cans and boxes, already-frozen items. Also, only stock up on stuff that you know your family already likes.

When you are planning meals to eat, choose based on what you have stocked; shop your house first! Then go to the store to fill in the gaps.

Be prepared to eat at home on days you don't want to cook.

There are always going to be some days when you can't or don't want to cook. You get sick, you're too tired, whatever.

Eating restaurant food (takeout, delivery, or dine in) is extremely expensive and comes with a lot of risks regarding gluten. This is best avoided. Eating out will kill your budget faster than anything else you could do.

This is one time when I don't mind buying a specialty GF item, because while they do cost more than the meals I normally make, they are cheaper than eating out and also safer from a gluten standpoint. I don't mind spending an extra dollar at the store to insulate me from spending ten dollars later.

Some ideas for solving this problem:

naturally GF convenience food that can be tossed in the oven or microwave (at Aldi I have found GF frozen shepherd's pie, sometimes can get frozen tamales, instant mashed potatoes, canned soup etc.)

build a repertoire of meals that are made from "ingredients" but are less work than whatever you normally do; what this means is up to you, for some people it's a dump-in-instant-pot type meal, or maybe a microwaved baked potato and a bag of frozen veggies... at my place I make nachos once a week because they're extra easy.

special GF convenience items like frozen pizza or lasagna

Cheapest of all: make a lot of something on purpose and freeze meal-size portions for later. Soups, stews, and casseroles are all top choices. You can also do things like brown a lot of ground beef and then freeze it; later, you can make something like spaghetti sauce or sloppy joes and skip that first step. (Note that some people do ALL their cooking with this in mind and cook just once or twice a week, or even just once or twice per month, and eat out of the freezer the rest of the time.)

Keep a growth mindset. It might be that right now you are eating out a lot and your skills in the kitchen aren't great. Buying more convenience foods and assembling them at home still saves a lot of money. Once that's comfortable and you're used to the routine of getting food from the store then you can expand your repertoire of simple meals from normal ingredients, which builds your confidence so you can try making more things from scratch. Eating is complicated and eating with allergies/intolerances doesn't help. But it's doable. It can be done.

If I wanted to cut costs in my own household and reduce that $120 budget, I would...

buy fewer sodas and drinks in general.

set strict limits on GF bread. (like I'll only buy 1 loaf a month or something) work with partner to make sure she always has food for lunch and therefore doesn't care to make a sandwich.

Try reducing partner's cereal consumption; make other equally easy breakfast choices available; cereal is expensive

cook and freeze more homemade food and buy less convenience food.

prioritize cheaper fruits and vegetables. Decide on a price per lb limit that I want to stay within and stop buying stuff that is more than that (or buy them very infrequently). Things like apples, carrots, onions, bananas, cabbage, and broccoli tend to be cheaper

do the same thing for meat and also eat significantly less meat.

Hope I helped :)

[socialproofbooster]

How to Generate Youtube Video Embed Code Easily

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[strawberrystepmom]

i love that all your faves have couponer energy. like not well, like not that they know what they're doing, but they love a sale. they see % off and lose their minds, like even gojo who has money. he's like listen, this sale is very important to me but also doesn't know the price of a banana smh

im crying bc truly none of them have a lick of financial sense....how did i end up in this situation? gojo's using coupons and pulling out his black card at the same time. yami has gambling debts up to his knees. gen's online shopping addiction.

okay i lied tbh hyoga runs a tight ship he's good at financial stuff. jotaro too bc he has generational wealth good for him. the rest of them though??????? questionable....

[cindylouwho-2]

RECENT SEO & MARKETING NEWS FOR ECOMMERCE, March 2024

Welcome to my roundup of SEO and marketing news and useful resources for ecommerce businesses, March edition. There is a lot going on with Google, and some really strong marketing pieces this time around, so let's get right to it.

SEO: GOOGLE & OTHER SEARCH ENGINES 

Google launched both a core algorithm update and spam updates on March 5, with the spam update ending on the 20th. Core updates now include the Helpful Content algorithm. In early observations, Etsy and Reddit both picked up visibility in the UK. 

The Helpful Content algorithm updates late last year destroyed a lot of sites’ Google traffic. Avoid the things they had in common.  You can read the full study here. 

Ecommerce sites were some of the biggest losers in Google visibility in 2023, with Amazon, Walmart, eBay, Etsy, Target and Best Buy in the top 10 of sites whose Google appearances slipped. 

New to Google SEO? They’ve revamped their SEO starter guide for people like you. And if you are more advanced and want to learn how to optimize your website product pages, this is a good overview. 

This lengthy article on backlinks for ecommerce websites covers pretty much all the angles, including the really difficult ones. 

Reminder that if you want to rank on Google for a search term, you need to look at what is already ranking, and make decisions based on that content. [video and transcript] This works for most search engines, not just Google. 

Yes, Google crawls “high quality” content more often. I used to refer to this as Google thinking the page is “interesting”, so I guess I will need to change my wording...

While Google sends the most traffic to websites, people spend a lot more of their online time elsewhere. Market where people are, not just where your stats say they came from. 

Sadly, Google has stopped providing caches of website pages in its search results. While you can still see the caches of some pages by using the Google search Cache:[page link] as in cache:https://cindylouwho-2.tumblr.com that will eventually stop working as well. Bing still provides caches, but unfortunately both it and the Wayback Machine do not crawl often enough to give really recent results most of the time. 

Missed Google news in February? Here’s your update. And just in case you are really behind, here is January. 

Not Google

Unsure if your website has enough good backlinks? Bing Webmaster Tools will now tell you if you don’t. 

Yandex - the top search engine in Russia - was sold by its Dutch ownership group to a consortium in Russia. 

SOCIAL MEDIA - All Aspects, By Site

General

A US study of social media use found that the most popular site was YouTube, with 83% of adults using it. Two-thirds of American adults use Facebook, while TikTok is up to ⅓ of the US population. 

Because they do change periodically, here are the latest image and video sizes recommended for the top social media platforms. [infographic]

Bluesky is now open to everyone - it was previously invite-only. 

Facebook (includes relevant general news from Meta)

Meta has introduced several changes to its Ad options, applying to Facebook and Instagram. 

Meta had a great 4th quarter in 2023, with revenue, users, and earnings per share up. “Fast-growing upstarts Temu and Shein, which originated in China, have been pouring money into ads on Facebook and Instagram. Li said on Thursday that revenue from China-based advertisers accounted for 10% of sales for the year and 5 percentage points of growth.”

Instagram

An updated post on Instagram's algorithm and how it works. 

Instagram is still beta testing longer Reels for some users. 

If your account is a brand account, you can now run ads on Instagram with coupon codes right in them. (Some Facebook users can already do this.)

LinkedIn

Among other recent changes on LinkedIn, the algorithm is now looking to boost important content longer than just the first day or two after publication. 

Pinterest

Pinterest has its own stats package, called Pinterest Analytics, but only for “Business” accounts. They show how many people clicked on the outgoing links, how many people saw your pin on their screen, and much more. Here’s everything you need to know. 

Reddit

Reddit successfully launched on the stock market this past week, but questions remain about how this will change the site. 

Google is paying Reddit to scrape its content through the API instead of from the web. 

Snapchat

Snap was a little later than most tech companies doing layoffs recently, waiting until February 5 to let 10% off staff go. 

Threads

Threads is so new that the algorithm is bound to change a lot in the next year, but for right now, here is how it works. 

TikTok

There is an overwhelming amount of info out there on the US attempt to either ban TikTok or force its sale, and much of it is incomplete, so I will let you Google to your heart’s content if you want to learn more. If you are relying on TikTok to drive sales, this would be a good time to make sure you diversify your promotional strategy. 

You can now track trending terms on TikTok through the Creator Search Insights section. “Creator Search Insights will highlight frequently searched topics, which creators can organize by category (for example, tourism, sports, science) or tailor to their content type with the “For You” option. Additionally, creators can filter for “content gap” topics, which are highly searched but have relatively few videos on TikTok covering them.“

TikTok may be testing a photo app, which would obviously compete with Instagram. 

Twitter

What? Twitter may have lied about its Super Bowl ad performance? I’m so not shocked. 

Tumblr

Tumblr will be selling data access to AI companies. 

YouTube

This is a pretty decent article on YouTube SEO. 

(CONTENT) MARKETING (includes blogging, emails, and strategies) 

Small and micro-businesses need an email list. An email list is:  

portable (unlike most social media followers or marketplace buyers) 

is available to almost everyone, as we all need at least one email address if we are online

less susceptible to the whims of algorithms (unlike SEO, marketplaces, social etc.)  

I keep seeing people argue that no one opens emails, but the chart in the article above is proof that is still wrong. (My blog email list averages close to a 70% open rate, depending on the topic and the time I send it. My jewellery email list - which I hardly ever send to - still has an over 30% open rate. My click rates are well above the industry averages, usually 30 to 40% of all recipients for the blog list. These are much better numbers than social, and astronomically better than my clickthrough rate on Google and other search engines.)

Gmail and Yahoo both changed how they handle bulk emails such as newsletters in February. Here’s what you need to know on the basics, including authenticating yourself so your email gets through. 

Find out how to get people to read all the way to the end of your content. 

Get ready for April marketing with 5 topical ideas. National Handmade Day is April 6. 

We should all think twice before deciding to use AI to create content. “Circa 2024, generative AI does not produce new ideas or even develop its own conclusions. Rather, it regurgitates information that it has indexed.” Not convinced? Here’s another article. “AI-generated content represents the literal “average of everything online.”

ONLINE ADVERTISING (EXCEPT INDIVIDUAL SOCIAL MEDIA AND ECOMMERCE SITES) 

Google Ads can now be tracked in Google Analytics 4. 

Both Google Ads and Microsoft Advertising were up in the 4th quarter of 2023. 

STATS, DATA, TRACKING 

Google Analytics 4 tracks organic traffic differently than the previous version. Here’s how to figure it out. 

BUSINESS & CONSUMER TRENDS, STATS & REPORTS; SOCIOLOGY & PSYCHOLOGY, CUSTOMER SERVICE 

I’ve probably posted this specific article before, but it is worth another read: how to communicate with customers.  For example, “Mirroring your customer’s tone lets them know you’re on their side. If a customer is formal, for example, hold back on the LOLs. If they’re more casual, relax your tone.”

According to a US study, Generation Z is skewing the traditional marketing funnel. “Per Archrival’s data, 77 per cent of Gen Zs and 79 per cent of millennials in the US are actively seeking style inspiration at least monthly, with almost half of those looking for style inspiration on social media. When asked where they learn about new brands, products and experiences, video reigns supreme: YouTube is the most popular platform with Gen Zs, followed by TikTok, then Instagram.”

Trend alert: bag charms are back. 

IMAGES, VIDEO, GRAPHIC DESIGN, & FREE ONLINE TOOLS

Almost all of these 12 video tools are free, and some can be used on your phone. 

MISCELLANEOUS

This is an older piece, but it checks out: IKEA Hacks for Craft Show Displays. A few of these could be done with non-IKEA items. 

Want to stay up-to-date on a nearly daily basis? Follow me on Bluesky or on LinkedIn, or become a member of my Patreon.

[squeakadeeks]

hello, here to pester you with a question >:3!

where do you get the money to make your cosplays?? i'm in the middle of crafting a bunch of stuff for a plant convention and gyatt damn everythings so pricey

:((

along with the storage ive been getting this one a bunch too haha

to tell true, this is no fault on your part so no frets here at all !!! BUT i'm not comfortable discussing my personal finances online. because on a wide scale, anything in regards to money gets incredibly niche to a person's circumstances and will make people get upset/can leave you vulnerable to a lot of bad things. My pay scale and spending habits are not something i'm hip to sharing online since its really private and opens a lot of dangerous doors. (also my spending habits are not exactly healthy or generalizable either.) I'm not saying this to like...dodge being a secret billionaire or anything, but even if i say "i work a STEM job" I've had people get weird about even just that information.

That being said, there are ways i make cosplay more affordable.

usually in-store fabric shopping at say joanns, is just about as expensive as it gets. if you have to shop only at joanns, michaels, etc the bill racks up fast. There are some in-store fabric shops that are cheaper, especially if they are wholesalers or general fabric warehouses, but those are not easy to find outside of cities most often. Joanns does have good coupons, and i can only shop at joanns these days if i have a coupon or there's a sale on that fabric type i'm interested in!

online wholesale fabric shops are a good way to find fabrics that are at lower prices, but then it does incur extra shipping costs. because of that i try to limit the number of orders I make (more orders, more extra shipping). this looks like grouping orders between projects, or even compromising on fabric types based on the stock of one website so i dont have to split an order between two sites.

sometimes you really do have to sacrifice material type. theres been a number of projects this year that i wanted to make out of a nicer type of fabric, even Thistle for example i considered making out of a dupioni, but it was just too dang expensive. dupioni would be around $25 a yard...vs poly suede which is $6. or even a cheaper satin at $3 a yard is a common sub i use as well. I also very frequently have to throw out entire cosplay ideas just based on cost since its just not feasible no matter how many compromises i make.

reduce the burden by extending your timeline. unfortunately theres no way around it, most projects i make are $200-300, and thats....fairly low in the grand scheme of things for crafting-focused cosplayers on mid sized projects. but either way, dropping all of that at once in one place is a huge blow to the wallet. but if you break up that whole $200 cost into say...$20 chunks from one week to the next, its softer. if you cant or dont want to reduce your budget, expanding your timeline is a good solution. now granted, that does cause a problem with the whole "less orders means less shipping costs" but the weighing of those two scenarios has to be done person to person/project to project.

STOCKING UP....when there are sales or other things, building a horde can be a great move. like silverbell didnt actually show up much on my finances this month because all the fabric i used on his suit was storage fabric. so it was ""free"" to me this month, because i already bought it.....3 years ago...and that money isnt real anymore haha.

this is really regional and depends on where you are, but thrift stores can have material sections that have good fabrics as well as sheets/blankets/base garments etc. ive been weirdly lucky with finding great fabrics at thrift stores...like literal joanns fabric for half the cost there, but thats super SUPER hit or miss and not something i rely on, but i do check that section whenever i'm there

[toxic-lullaby]

The brothers as Types of Shoppers

Characters: The Brothers x gn!mc

Warnings: None

-----

Lucifer

You ever been makeup shopping with your dad and he's like standing on the other side of the isle as you blocking traffic and being like "Is that it?" every 5 minutes? That's him

Very focused shopper, not interested in mall walking with you. He gets what he wants, pays, and leaves. He knows what he likes and exactly where it is in the store.

If he's shopping for someone else, however, he'll take his time. Not too long though, he just doesn't see the point in being in stores longer than he needs to.

Mammon

You can send Mammon into the store for like a cucumber and he'll still come back with a shopping cart of stuff. Candy, a watch, a camera, you name it, which is impressive because the store was a grocery store.

On the upside, he will get everything you need. If you send him with a list he'll actually get the stuff.

Has a store card for like every store ever

Will definitely haggle with the cashier or debate them when they say he cant get a deal. No they cant give you a buy one get one free on the pencils they're literally in a pack together

Buys wayyyyyy too much of everything. I can see him couponing then selling the stuff for full price.

Takes tags off of clothes that are too expensive and urges Asmo to do the same.

Leviathan

He is an online shopper this is canon

He has connections, you will never see him in a store running errands ( ik hes been to stores in canon but now he hasn't bc i said so/j)

He goes to the anime store and the human world Japan themed store in the mall every once in a while if there's some drop that is in stores only. He tries not to though because he got into an argument with the store clerk after they mixed up the Ruri-chan fanmade ova with the main canon

Satan

Most normal guy in stores, mostly

He's always looking for something specific and won't settle for replacements. Will rant for 30 minutes if they moved items or removed them from the store.

I can't see him clothes shopping very often, look at the way he dresses

Uses the self checkout religiously because he apparently can do it better than the people who's job it is to check you out. He is his dad's brother's son brother

Asmodeus

World's longest shopper, not even with clothes, just in general.

Straight lollygagging

Read the labels and everything, even if he's bought it before

Has a store credit card or two, nothing like Mammon. Just for the stores he frequents the most like Majolish, starbucks maybe, he seems like a starbucks guy

One of those annoying people who argues on the phone in the middle of the store

Asks the store workers their opinions on the items he's buying way too much. "What're your opinion on these eggs? Have you ever tried them?" like ??

Beelzebub

Eats the food in the store, brings it to the checkout open wide. I used to be afraid of eating the grapes as a kid meanwhile he's eating the grapes, a rotisserie chicken, drinking the milk.

Always falls victim to the snacks at the checkout

Usually rounds up, not even to be generous he just doesn't want the change

Never gets a basket, dropping items left and right because he didn't grab a basket on his way in and refuses to go back for one. "Sir, do you want a basket?" "No 😊😊”

Belphegor

You're lucky if you catch him shopping

Another in & out guy, he's got better things to be doing like sleeping or napping or snoozing or dozing off

Cannot be bothered with cash, he's a credit card guy

I can see this grown man sitting in the basket while you push him around and shop

- - - -

[museenkuss]

*I couldn't find shipping prices, so there might be an additional 6-15€ fee?

Details:

[general note: I think the full sized perfumes themselves are all vaguely in the same price range and many (if not all) offer a coupon with the sample set that can later on be used when buying a full sized bottle]

Matiere Premiere - chic, influencer-beloved niche house. With their own fields in Grasse (the founder grew up there), they offer a wide arrange of scents with a focus on giving raw materials (="matiere premiere") a modern twist, i.e. radical rose, crystal saffron, Parisian musk. Innovation with a focus on excellence. Also definitely a "parisian it girl" brand, or at least that's how it's seen online.

Bienaimé - vintage house (1936!) with a small selection of mostly flower-leaning, powder-dream, vintage-inspired scents. The original founder, Robert Bienaimé, is also the nose behind Quelques Fleurs - an icon in perfume history for introducing flower bouquets (instead of singular flowers). Now, under Cécilia Mergui, the house was revived (2012, new perfume line launched 2023) and puts an emphasis on dreamy nostalgia and sustainability.

Sylvaine Delacourte - niche house by Sylvaine Delacourte herself that, like PM, focuses on raw materials. Here the idea is to take one ingredient and interpret it in five different ways to bring out different facets and show them from new and exciting perspectives. There are three collections: Vanilla, Orange Blossom and Musk (my pricing includes all three sample sets, I couldn't decide because I love all three ingredients).

Sommelier du Parfum - website that not only sells a lot of niche perfumes and testers, but also offers collections of discovery sets and the opportunity to make your own selection based on the results of their perfume finder quiz. I just found the website because I wanted to try Bake by Akro and sniffed around in what else they had to offer. It definitely pays to check the og houses though because the Etat Libre Tester sets are cheaper than what they offer on this website, but other houses (like Akro) don't ship to Germany/have very high shipping prices, so SdP.de is still definitely an option. Anyhow, this was just a random selection of scents.