Ask the hivemind

[serene]

Hello, my darlings.

So, things are going to change a little bit around here. Yes, that's an understatement. But anyway, one of the ways things are changing is that we're going to have a little bit more money than we had before: my raise went through, and financial aid is kicking in some living expenses.

Now, there are things we've done without, or used until they were tattered, or gotten dirt-cheap or free (thanks, loracs, firecat, mom, et al.!) for years. Now, I'm looking at actually buying a few new things, and I'm almost weepy with choice paralysis, so I thought I'd put this out to you all.

Where do you buy the following things? Online is fine; local to Oakland/Berkeley is also fine. Cheap is good, but reasonably priced and high quality is even better. The more you can say about your decisionmaking process on these recommendations, the better for me, but even having some links to start with will help ease some of this weird anxiety I'm having.

So.

Where do you buy any of these things?

Towels
Sheets
Cell phones (I need unlimited talk and lots of texts; web is optional)
Shower curtains (loracs, I really like your taste in shower curtains; where do you get them?)
Plus-size women's underwear
Men's underwear
Plus size bathrobes
Freezers (I'm thinking of going with Costco or Sears, because both deliver free and are reliable about warranty stuff. Thoughts?)
Mattresses
Paint
Paddles and/or accessories for KitchenAid mixer

Also, if you're local to me and know a place I can get my sewing machine serviced for not too much money, that would be lovely.

Comments

[eeyorerin]

I've found Lane Bryant/Cacique to have the best quality of underwear after having sampled quite a few (the elastic on Avenue panties just does not last, which has caused some...incidents in the past). It's not cheap unless you get it at one of their twice-a-year sales, in which case it's really cheap but sorta "take what you can get." Or sometimes they'll do "X pairs for $25/30" deals. I've still got some LB underwear that I bought at least ten years ago that's in great shape. Same for bathrobes and pajamas. (I love my fleecy penguin bathrobe from LB.)

My KA stuff was all gifts from my mom; I think she got them at Bed, Bath, and Beyond, which often has coupons online. Amazon often has good deals on them as well. I would say that if you're going to buy one first, buy the grinder attachment -- a lot of the other accessories hook onto that, like the fruit and veggie strainer (makes applesauce crazy fast!)

My favorite site for looking for deals for online or store stuff from major retailers is Retailmenot.

[wcg]

Second hand stores are good for things like sheets and towels at low price. Dollar stores usually carry shower curtains. I get my cellular service from Verizon, because I need to be able to connect in Alaska and Hawaii, as well as lots of other places. (I'm told T-Mobile is also good for that, but it has been bought.)

Check your local area for used appliance stores. You might be able to find a freezer for a pretty good price in one. Or if you do want to buy new, I think your ideas of Costco and Sears are good.

Paint? If you mean house paint, somewhere like Lowes or Home Depot would be good.

[jae]

That is wonderful! I hope it gives you and yours a bit more breathing room.

-J

[corilannam]

That's so exciting! It's always nice to have a bit more financial leeway. I don't know what stores you have locally, but I can give a bit of my own experience in trying to get good quality without a ton of money, most of which can be done (or at least browsed) on the internet.

Target or KMart are usually great for nice-but-inexpensive towels and other household goods (depending on how you feel about big box store politics, of course). I've gotten a lot at JC Penney, too -- they have great sales if you can hold out for one. Kohl's is also good for things like sheets, towels, and other household stuff (but only when they have sales, which fortunately is all the time). All those places also have good men's underwear, and plus-sized women's stuff up to about a size 24.

Plus-size undies -- depends on what you're looking for. Lane Bryant frequently has 5/$25 sales on cute undies, though they don't always hold up as well as I'd like. If you like comfy cotton, I get packs of them from Target or KMart for around $7.99 for a 5-pack.

With mattresses, you really have to wait for a sale or you're going to pay way more than you need to. Those generally happen around the federal holidays, so this isn't a bad time to look around. The department stores are a good place to start (Macy's often has good mattress deals), along with any mattress chains in your area.

Cell phones are a money-sink no matter where you go. I think you just have to browse around and see who has the best plan combined with the best phone for your needs. My cell phone habits are the exact opposite of yours, so I'm not sure I can give effective recommendations there. But lots of places like Virgin Mobile and Boost are offering much more affordable phones and plans than some of the bigger companies (I've been a happy VM customer for several years).

[badgerbag]

yeah sears sales on the mattresses. also look on yelp.

[vito_excalibur]

Yay, I am very happy for you guys and your money! I hate shopping and do it as little as possible so have no recs for you, but glad that you can!

[snippy]

Plus-sized robes: Land's End. Love them. Lots of sales. Try the overstock section of the website.

Plus-sized women's underwear: I like Jockey brand grandma panties and I buy them from Amazon.

Paint: in my city the recycling center does recycled paint, from people's partly-used contributions. They have a limited color palette but it's recycled!

Towels and sheets-I like Target or Bed Bath & Beyond (they send out lots of coupons so I never buy anything at regular price there).

[badgerbag]

Savers often has pretty awesome towels and sheets. I also go for things right off Amazon because I have Amazon Prime... sheets, underwear, socks, etc. ebay is also good but you end up paying a lot of shipping.

Otherwise I just go to bloodbath & beyond or Target for things like shower curtains, towels

[loracs]

Towels, sheets and shower curtains: Bed Bath and Beyond, Ikea, Anna's Linens or Tuesday Morning. There is a Sear's Outlet in San Leandro. Appliances are new, but might have a scratch or something. We bought Betty's fridge there and we bought a washer or dryer there years ago. We bought our mattress at Macy's, but they can be expensive - look for their sales. Betty's last mattress was bought at Sleep Train. Exciting!

[wild_irises]

BB&B is a great store if you can stand the fake-flower smell (which I can). I always have coupons for them--20% off the most expensive item, 5% off purchases. Feel free to let me know if you can use some. Or I'll come with you, I have stuff I need.

[tiger_spot]

Towels, sheets, and shower curtains I'd say Bed Bath & Beyond or Target. We get coupons in the mail from BB&B all the time; if you don't I could send you some of ours.

A luxurious bathrobe option is Barefoot Dreams; I'm not sure how plus-size they go, but they're very comfy and warm. Look around for different sellers online; prices vary a lot.

Paint like house paint? Any hardware store is probably fine; we got the paint for the chicken coop from Kelly Moore, which might have a greater range of specialty options (low VOC, custom colors, that sort of thing).

[betonica]

Yay for having extra leeway with money!!

Note that many places that sell paint might have cans of 'mis-tint' where they mixed something up that the customer didn't end up buying. The interior of my house is painted an off-white that's a much more buttery color than the painter/contractor intended, but I love it. Gives the whole place a subtle sunshiny warmth. One of my tenants when I lived in Berkeley got a can of a pale orange for quite cheap that I thought I was going to hate, but it had the same warm glow effect (like a sunset) in his north-facing room.

[tachyon]

Congrats on the raise and financial aid!

Most of the things on your list I don't buy (or bought too many years ago to be useful), but I do get towels from Lands End (good stuff, lots of colors and sizes, lots of overstocks, super customer service, if you sign up for their email list they seriously send you mail *every single day* saying that there is free shipping today only, plus sometimes various specials), and flannel sheets from Garnet Hill (I like some of the patterns that come and go, and they also go on closeout after a while) or sometimes Lands End.

[merielle]

Hooray for breathing room! A bit of slack in the budget is such a relief. So glad for you, and congrats on the raise!

Tuesday Morning is a crapshoot, but can be amazing for sheets and towels. I once found a set of Coyuchi organic sheets with a tiny stain for half off there.

Plus-size women's underwear is tricky. Lane Bryant/Cacique is pricey, but often has good sales and their stuff fits me well. Hanes Her Way and Jockey for Her just hit me wrong somehow, but I know folks who swear by them. Torrid has cute fun underwear and their sales are good.

Land's End is high quality at decent prices; my robe is from there. Do check the overstock section, as there are often great deals.

You might compare Amazon's prices with Chef's Catalog for Kitchen Aid accessories.

[firecat]

Yay purchasing power.

Sheets: Organic cotton, because we like to pretend it makes a difference to the planet; flannel, because we're comfort sluts. Available lots of places online; I don't remember which one we bought from last (we have a Cal King bed which limits our options).

Shower curtains: Ours is organic hemp, which resists mildew better than cotton duck, doesn't billow, doesn't require a liner, and lasts a long time, but it only comes in one color and it's pretty expensive. (I'm seeing them online for $95.)

Cell phones: Mine is from http://virginmobileusa.com, which I've been using for years because they had the cheapest pay-per-minute plan, which was good for me because I never talk on the cell phone. Then I switched to their smart phone plan, $25 for 300 minutes and unlimited text/data. I've been happy with their phones and the coverage in the Bay Area. I don't know if they have a good unlimited talk plan.

Plus-size women's underwear: http://www.decentexposures.com - It's expensive but lasts a really long time, you can get organic cotton and/or bright colors, their clothing is made in the USA, it's a small, women-owned, socially responsible business based in Seattle. They also have robes, although I haven't bought their robes. Their clothing sizes might look like they don't go large enough for you, but I find they'll custom-make to my measurements for the same price.

Plus-size bathrobe: Last one I bought was from http://www.pluswoman.com, which is a small women-owned business based in North Carolina that custom-makes plus-size and super-size clothing and has a lot of different fabrics to choose from. Their clothing is high quality but expensive.

I also have a fun cotton robe from Bertha at http://sizequeenclothing.com/
....no, actually I decided it was a little shorter than I want, so I gave it to the clothing swap. So go buy it! It has a baby chicks riding motorcycles print.

Freezer: We get all our appliances from Sears.

Paint: Do you mean for painting the walls?

[flarenut]

Costco is not so good for major appliances unless they have exactly the one you want. Sears, imo. And they have a complicated structure of sales and discounts probably worth navigating...

Everything else people have covered; another vote for bloodbath on sheets.