Supporting the Local Community

As we increasingly find ourselves shopping for the best deals online, a lot of great local businesses end up finding it tough to compete. It's not just about trying to find the cheapest price. A lot of my motivation for shopping online is for the convenience. What if you could take advantage of the convenience and still support local products?

MercoBox is doing just that. They gather samples of products from your local community, packaging them in a fun box shipped to your door.

I was able to sample April's MercoLocal box:

• Eco Treasures soap nuts
• Ashley's Apothecary healing salve
• Fit Me Tea 3 tea samples and filter
• Meals that Transform power bar and protein mix
• Les Madeleines 3 madeleines
• Mason Jar Coffee Roasters Colombia Guatica
• Rodizio Grill gift card
• Our Childrens Earth gift card
• Downtime Yoga gift card
• Ballet West gift card

My first impression upon opening the box was a good one. These were unique items in quality packaging. I loved that I could try so many items produced here in Utah without a big investment. It reminds me of going to the farmer's market. This would be a very long post if I reviewed every product in the box, but I'll share some of the highlights.

The most surprising thing about the Ashley's Apothecary healing salve was its lack of smell. I'm used to these things having a pretty strong smell but this salve was odorless. It absorbs into the skin well without a greasy feeling.

One of the things you'll notice with Fit Me Tea is the lack of tea bag. These are loose leaf teas that come with paper filters. I like the packaging that tells you not only the flavor of the tea, but the function and the mood of it. For example, the G Blend says it is a "crisp, clean green with a shot of berry" and you'll feel "light & energized, like running on the beach naked." I'll have to take their word on that last part! Preparing the tea didn't end up taking any longer than throwing a tea bag in a cup and the flavor was amazing. Best green tea I've ever had and that bit of berry taste was the best part.

Of all the products, my favorites were the madeleines from Les Madeleines. These are soft, lemony little cakes that taste great alone and are absolutely heavenly when dunked in coffee, tea, or hot cocoa. I normally don't dunk things in my beverages but I'm glad I tried it. The bakery actually calls them cookies but they have more of a cake-like texture (at least to me).

Want your own MercoBox? Get one for 25% off by using this coupon code: iheartutah 

Disclaimer:  The MercoBox products were provided for this review. The opinions expressed are completely my own.

Pay Attention Before You Pay Money

With our hectic, rush-around lives today we often put ourselves in a vulnerable position. Most of us probably put a good amount of thought into making our purchases. I know that I will research items and brands to find out about a product's features, compare prices, and read reviews by others who have tried the product already.

Unfortunately, we go through our day making purchases with barely any thought at all. How much are you losing when you zone out and trust the cash register to ring up the correct price? My dad was big on watching as items were rung up at the store. He taught me to pay attention to sale prices and to make sure they showed up that way at the cash register. He also explained that stores are regularly checked for their accuracy and that mistakes are always found. Nobody is perfect and some stores seem to avoid programming in sales prices intentionally.

It's only a few cents, right? Why bother making a big deal out of the 15 cents they overcharged you on something? Because that one item is the only one you caught and there are most likely many, many more. If you don't say anything, they will happily overcharge you over and over again.

I had another experience with this on a higher level today. I needed to buy tires for my car and I checked ahead of time on prices at the specific store I was going to. We were also smart enough to take advantage of a daily deals offer that allowed us to get $50 vouchers for $25. I also saw that the store was running some rebate deals when buying sets of 4 tires. Armed and ready, I headed into Big O Tires to make my big purchase. The quote I was given for the tires was $20 per tire more than I was expecting. When I challenged the clerk, he printed out a list of all the tires that size with their prices from their store's website. Imagine his surprise when I showed him that the tires I was shopping for had a lower price on the website than what he had in his computer database.

It doesn't end there. When I came to pick up my car with the pretty new tires, the original clerk was gone and he didn't put my vouchers with the work order. There was no way I was going to let $200 in vouchers just disappear! Fortunately, the clerk who was there did a serious search and found the vouchers. Paying attention and standing up for myself saved me more than a few cents today.