I am posting this on behalf of one of my moderators who have been with CQ for a long time! Britta I hope this helps!

Baby Asher was diagnosed with a brain tumor on October 5^th, 2009. He was only 11 months old (his birthday is Nov. 3rd) when it was discovered. On October 9^th, he underwent brain surgery and the tumor was completely removed.

The name of the tumor is Extraskeletal myxoid chondrosarcoma (EMC) and it is malignant. This is a very rare tumor to be seen in a child, the average age of people with this type of tumor is usually 40 yrs+up. It is even rarer to be seen in the brain.

The doctors are a little baffled on how to treat Asher since they have no cases to use as reference material. They decided that he’ll go thru radiation, but it’s not sure yet for how long. Ashers mom has been unable to work since he was diagnosed with the cancer, she has been staying with him day and night at the hospital, she has unpaid leave from work to take care of her son but no income besides help from family and friends and her small savings to meet the basic expenses such as rent, utilities.

If you would like to help this family out by sending a donation or have any connections with a doctor who may know more about Asher’s case that can help, please contact this family! The grandmother has a been a long time member of ConsumerQueen.com and was dedicated to finding and posting deals to share with everyone! She was also moderator of our Walgreens and CVS forums!

Paypal account Ashersmedicalfund@gmail.com

Anyone looking for a Money Maker? Jean Chatzkey just asked me if I had any NY readers for the following Money Makeover for the Today Show! (Please remember this is for current already Savvy couponers and frugalistas, this is for families that need help.)

From Jean:

“Do you want to cut your insurance costs? Looking for ways to slash your grocery bill? Need a plan to tackle your credit card debt? Want a new car but are confused about what you can afford? If you have a money problem we’d like to help you solve it. If you live in the New York area and you’d like to join me on the Today show  for a Mini Money Makeover, send me an email (with a description of your financial problem) to askjean@jeanchatzky.com.”

I hope someone will be able to take advantage of this!!! She is very good! Tell her your heard about it from The Consumer Queen !

I had the pleasure of interviewing Carrie Ann Inaba one of the judges on Dancing with the Stars. Carrie Anne is helping to kick off the Give Hope program. Give hope is a partnership with Proctor & Gamble and the National Breast Cancer Foundation, Inc.(NBCF) to help increase women’s chances of survival  from breast cancer through early detection.Carrie Ann is dedicated to helping spread the word about this worthwhile program and about the importance of early detection because her mom was fortunate enough to have caught the disease early and is currently in remission. This is something that is dear to me also as I lost my great-grandmother to breast cancer. Not only am I saving money but I am able to give back to a great cause! Read the rest of this entry »

As a busy mom of two I am always looking for ways to save time and money. There are many moms and consumers out there who feel the same.  With the economy the way it is,  it’s just plain smart to be wise with your money.

I spend a lot of time clipping coupons and watching the sales in order to save money on my grocery bill.  I can usually save about 75 to 80% off my bill. You also might find me shopping the clearance racks in clothing stores.  You might even go so far to say you might come to my house and find my new recipe for homemade foaming hand soap sitting on the bathroom counter. So I guess you could say I fit the bill of a frugal mom or savvy shopper.

Lately I have been hearing that there is a big misconception about  “Savvy Shoppers”.  I have heard comments that savvy shoppers or frugal shoppers are not the right targets for certain products or savvy shoppers never have nice things.  Being frugal doesn’t mean being cheap.  What I mean by being cheap is low quality ( not getting a good deal, like my motto says).

Being a savvy shopper just means being a smart shopper.  Yeah, sure we like to get a good deal but we also don’t want to skimp on quality either.  We know as consumers that buying a low quality product will just cost you more in the long run.  I find (as do other savvy shoppers) that taking the time to save money on groceries and being frugal in other areas makes me feel good about spending money on higher quality products.  For example, I just saved 80% off my grocery bill yet I got a cute new outfit from Ann Taylor Loft.  I mean, I like high quality items and nice things for my home.  If  I want to buy them they need to be of  value to me.   I also need to pick and choose in what areas I want to save in.  Let’s not forget about gifts and word of mouth either.  We all have that certain someone who is hard to buy for and I usually spend more money on those people than I would for myself. And don’t forget a lot of these savvy shoppers are very social and know a lot of people.  Word of mouth goes a long way.  If they don’t buy it they may know people who will and would love to pass the information on to someone else.  Do you know how many times in one day I recommend a product?  I think it’s funny because I am seeing  a trend now that the economy has changed,  people are starting to really think about what they spend their money on.  I have people who are barely making it who read my blog but I also have people who live in $300,000 homes who read my blog.  It’s not just penny pinching moms who are trying to save a buck anymore.  I think everyone is trying to make a conscious effort to be wise about their spending these days.

I hope companies, media, etc. will remember this when working on story content or promotions for the future.

Melissa from “Saving Sense” and I have been talking about this on Twitter and you can check out her story as well here.  While on twitter we had several people make comments about this issue and I thought I would share them with you:

babygoodbuys@ConsumerQueen I hate that, too! I buy top of the line, just at absolute rock-bottom prices. I’m a brand-name-loving bargain hunter

Tworkathome@ConsumerQueen Tellem we R broke but we R bourgeois lol! Just because we R savvy doesn’t mean that we don’t want the best 4 our families

mindicherry@ConsumerQueen yep – they just can’t imagine why I am not jumping to give them free advertising (exceptions made for PR people I like )

AdorableDiapers@ConsumerQueen It’s insulting, too. Oh well.

mindicherry@ConsumerQueen I love when they send me nothing but a press release, then email me 3 days later asking why I haven’t posted it yet!

jantallent@ConsumerQueen It is their loss if they let petty minds ruin their business.

4TheMommas@ConsumerQueen I hate that they think we don’t spend money! I may save money, but I never skimp on quality!

Tworkathome@ConsumerQueen You can tell they don’t read our blogs can’t you. All that Ghirardelli chocolate says otherwise doesn’t it lol

PoorSanta@ConsumerQueen Actually most of us have Champagne taste and beer budgets… anyone can go out and buy cheap junk

momAgenda@ConsumerQueen Me too; cheap shampoo, expensive shoes!

Let us know how you feel about this?

I just had to tell you about a great customer service experience I had with Crest Foods. I had been buying the Fast Fixin’ Breakfast Burritos from Walmart for a long time now. I live directly behind Crest Foods so sometimes when I run out of something  I would rather go there then to have to drive all the way to Walmart to just to get 1 thing.

So I emailed Crest Foods and asked them if they could start carrying the Fast Fixin’ Breakfast Burritos and the Tropicana Pure Peach Papaya Mango Juice. they were quick to respons and told me they would look into it. Not to long after I recieved an email saying they were working on the Tropicana and that they had  a case of Fast Fixin’ Breakfast Burritos waiting for me in the back. To make a long story short lets just say Crest Foods went over and beyond my expectations for customer service and they did a few other things for me as well. I guess the moral of this story is there is still good customer service to be had out there and when you want something bad enough don’t hesitate to ask. You never know what will happen. They are still working on getting the juice in and I can’t wait to see if it happens because it’s one of my favorites. If you haven’t tried the burritos or the juice yet you should.

Here are some Deals that Queen Mum posted on Sunday for Crest Foods :

Rice Krispies Treats 16ct. 2/$7.00…$2.00/2 peelies on boxes which are good on Nutrigrain and Special K Bars also.

Read the rest of this entry »