I have a stack of half-written stories for Get Rich Slowly. Last January, for example, I started a post about “predatory shopping”, which is a term my friend Rhonda used to describe her behavior recently. She’s in great financial shape, so she sees all of the bargains and going-out-of-business sales as an opportunity for her to save money on things she’s been putting off. She calls this predatory shopping.

But Kiplinger’s has an article that warns that bargains may not always be what they seem. In liquidation sales, the first round of markdowns won’t save you much. And from what I’ve heard, they may actually cost you. If you really want to be a predatory shopper, you need to wait for the deep discounts to set in, but by then the good stuff may be gone.

Elsewhere, Matildaben pointed me to a fun thread at Ask Metafilter where user Math asks readers to fill in the blanks: “I used to do _____, but now I use _____ on the internet for free!”. For example, “I used to buy CDs to back up my data, but now I use the free backup system at Mozy.” I haven’t had a chance to read the entire list, but it looks like a treasure trove of ideas.

Over at Bargaineering, Jim has created a video in which he describes compounding and the difference between APR and APY. This is one of the topics that several GRS readers wanted explained during Financial Literacy Month. If you’ve been confused by the difference between these two terms, check out Jim’s video.

Finally, Michael J. dropped a line with a funny comic strip about frugality. (Well, I thought it was funny, anyhow.) I wish there were more humor in personal finance…