Thursday, December 01, 2005

Radio Chat and Cheap Shipping

Frugal Duchess on the Radio


Hey! If you have time on Monday, join me at www.wlrn.org. Hit the "listen now" button on WLRN's website.

I'll be chatting live on the radio with Joseph Cooper, host of Topical Currents at 1 pm on December 5. It's an hour show: Eastern Standard Time.

My frugal buddy Melisa Neuman, another newspaper columnist, will also be on the show. Alone, I'm just a Frugal Duchess, but together with Melisa, we're the Frugal Queens.

We'll even get to the studio in a cool, white convertible late model sports car.
There's a frugal story behind the car, but don't ask me what model, because I don't drive. Melisa drives and I dream about driving

psst....check out www.drivingphobia.blogspot.com

During the show, you can email questions or comments. We want to hear from you!!!

***

Money-Saving Shipping Tip

When it comes to shipping out-of-town gifts, procrastination takes a toll in time and money. That’s the word from the United States Post Office. By tapping into www.usps.com, you can prepare, purchase and print shipping labels for outward bound packages, (local and international). What’s more, with a day’s notice, you can arrange for a free package pickup, with no limit on the number of packages. However, a last-minute rush can be costly: The otherwise free pick-up service jumps to $12.50 for same-day “Pick Up on Demand.”

And if you can’t be home for the actual pickup, the website enables you to leave instructions online for the carrier. The shipping rate for priority mail is $3.85 for envelopes and $7.70 for boxes. Size and destination don’t matter; the prices are the same. Allow two to three days for most U.S. cities.

1 comment:

Caitlin said...

Good tip about shipping, but those are the "Flat rate" rates and size does matter to get the flat rates (They have specific envelopes and boxes that qualify regardless of weight)

If what you're mailing doesn't fit into a flat rate box (they have two distinct size/shape boxes) then you will be charged by weight and destination (aka Zone) but they have tables on the USPS site and a calculator to help you judge the amount.

Just thought I'd mention it :) Flat rate priority has been quite the money saver in our house.