Look for items on Goodwill Web site

Can’t find what you want at your local Goodwill store? Shop online at ShopGoodwill.com where items are auctioned off eBay style. Lots of jewelry, electronics and collectibles — the high-end stuff you can’t often find at the brick and mortar stores.

STEAL OF A DEAL

Golden Corral, Pete’s and Fazoli’s deals

Every Tuesday, kids 12 and younger eat for $1.99 at Golden Corral.

Pete’s Restaurant, 4223 Tuscarawas St. W., is celebrating its five year anniversary by rolling back the price of the breakfast special to the opening day price of $3.29, and reducing dinner specials by a buck on Monday through Thursday.

Fazoli’s, 3929 Everhard Rd. NW, offers 99 cent kids meals every Tuesday.

BEAT THE RUSH

Black Friday Web sites are up, running

You don’t have to wait until your Wish Book arrives in the mail to plan your shopping on the day after Thanksgiving.

Black Friday Web sites are up and running, and bloggers are abuzz. Black Friday sites post ads, sales circulars and catalogs before they are mailed. You’ll also find lists of predicted Black Friday prices for popular gift items.

Ads are already posted for Sears, Toys R Us, Farm & Fleet, Half-Priced Books and WalMart. Check out www.blackfriday.info or www.theblackfriday.com or

blackfriday.gottadeal.com.

Reuse, recycle that pumpkin

Have a pumpkin that didn’t get carved into a jack-o-lantern? Hollow out the pumpkin, drop a potted mum inside. Lean the pumpkin “lid” up against the side. Presto— Autumnal centerpiece.

QUOTABLE

“Let’s dispense with the idea that saying no to spending on certain things means you’re cheap. If you decide that spending $2.50 on Cokes when you eat out isn’t worth it — and you’d rather save the $15 each week for a movie — that’s not cheap. That’s using frugality to drive conscious spending.”

Ramit Sethi in his book, “I Will Teach You To Be Rich”

FROM THE FRUGALTARIAN

Use cake mix to make cookies

Quick, easy, cheap cookies can be made from cake mix. This trick is especially good for those who don’t bake much and might not have all the ingredients needed to bake from scratch.

I usually buy cake mix when it’s on sale for about a dollar and use a 25- or 35-cent coupon. I get 40-45 cookies per box, so if I add in the cost of eggs and oil, that comes to less than 5 cents per cookie.

Recipes abound on the Internet. One of the simplest calls for 1 box of cake mix, 2 eggs, and 1/2 cup oil. Mix, drop onto parchment paper lined baking sheets, bake for 9-13 minutes at 350 degrees.

I tried to make a Snickerdoodle from yellow cake mix, rolling dough in cinnamon sugar before baking. It didn’t taste much like a Snickerdoodle, but it made a great cookie.