Stephanie Nelson

The Coupon Mom's Guide to Cutting Your Grocery Bills in Half: The Strategic Shopping Method Proven to Slash Food and Drugstore Costs
$15.00
A book that pays for itself! The creator of couponmom.com, with 1.6 million subscribers and counting, shares her strategic money-saving techniques for saving big while living well

Americans are hungry for bargains these days, but one woman has developed the ultimate strategy for enjoying a feast of savings. Taking the nation by storm, with appearances ranging from The Oprah Winfrey Show Stephanie Nelson has shown countless women and men how to save thousands of dollars by becoming savvy coupon clippers-without sacrificing nutrition or quality. Now, in The Coupon Mom's Guide to Cutting Your Grocery Bills in Half, Nelson demonstrates all of the tricks of the trade-beyond coupons and tailor-made for a variety of shopper lifestyles. Whether you're a "busy" shopper and have only a small amount of time each week to devote to finding the best deal; a "rookie" shopper who is ready to put more effort into cutting bills; or a seasoned "varsity" shopper who is looking for new ways to get the deepest discounts possible, this book offers techniques thatw ill make it easy to save money at any level and on any timetable.

Extending her Strategic Shopping protocols to mass merchandisers, wholesale clubs, natural-food stores, drugstores, and other retailers, Nelson proves that value and variety can go hand in hand. With meal- planning tips, recipes, and cost-comparison guides, as well as inspiring real-life stories from the phenomenal Coupon Mom movement, this is a priceless guide to turning the checkout lane into a road of riches.

Half Nelson
$9.99
"Half Nelson" is a 2006 independent film starring Ryan Gosling as Mr. Dunne, a white school teacher in an inner-city Brooklyn middle school. Mr. Dunne has noble ambitions of being a positive force in the lives of his students but he's bogged down by a crack habit. He strikes up a much-needed friendship with one of his students, a latchkey 13 year-old black girl named Drey, who accidently discovers his drug problem.

Richard Roeper and Kevin Smith's review on At The Movies called "Half Nelson" a masterpiece that everyone should seek out, view and relish; unfortunately it's not even close to being that good.

Yes, the acting is great across the board, especially Gosling, but acting itself does not a movie make. What's wrong with this film? For one thing, the story plays out in a dreary monotone its entire length (106 minutes) and ends on an unresolved note. Yet, even this doesn't explain why the film fails to be truly good or great; after all, 2004's "The Woodsman" also plays out in a flat, realistic manner and ends somewhat unresolved, but that film is great. So where does "Half Nelson" go wrong?

Although Ryan Gosling is an excellent actor, his character in this film, Mr. Dunne, is lifeless, unlikable, hypocritical and unrepentant; by contrast, Keven Bacon in "The Woodsman" may be lifeless and unlikable, but at least he wasn't hypocritical or unrepentant.

By "lifeless and unlikable" I mean that he lacks vibrancy and inspiration, even when he's in his glory teaching his kids about dialectics & history. There's simply no charisma that would compel anyone to want to seek him out, learn from him or befriend him, like, say, Robin Williams' character in "Dead Poets Society."

By "hypocritical" I mean the obvious: How much of a positive impact could he possibly have on inner-city youths if he himself is addticted to drugs? This brings to mind the absurd scene where Mr. Dunne confronts a drug dealer who's using Drey as a drug deliverer. Dunne doesn't want Drey to be negatively influenced by a drug dealer but it's okay for her to hang out with a pathetic drug addict like himself (?). The scene ends with Dunne having a drink and "candy" with the drug dealer -- lot of good that confrontation did.

By "unrepentant" I mean there's no indication in the story that Dunne desires to or will ultimately choose to detox from his drug habit. He makes the statement that "rehab doesn't work." Okay, that's fine, but do SOMETHING to try to escape your drug problem!

There are other problems with the film:

- The camera bobbles around too much as if to draw attention to itself ("See, this is a realistic slice-of-life picture!") It smacks of pretension.

- The kids in the classroom seem too well-behaved. This is a problem in Anywhere, America, let alone the inner-city.

- Despite Mr. Dunne's monotone dreariness, the viewer does desire to see him escape his addiction and fulfill his noble ambitions. We also come to care about Drey -- will she acquire the wisdom to stay away from drugs (dealing or addiction) and prison or will she too become part of the problem? Unfortunately the film leaves everything up in the air. We don't even know if Dunne still has his job at the end.

I get the points the film is trying to make -- this is an anti-inspirational teacher/mentor movie. There's no by-the-numbers breakthrough for student or teacher. "Half Nelson" isn't concerned with such things; it's concerned with the the simple achievement of going to work every day and accomplishing something beyond oneself, despite a flawed nature and crippling habit. It's a fine point but it could have been done in a much more compelling way.

Don't get me wrong, I don't hate "Half Nelson." I did appreciate quite a few aspects of it, especially Dunne's unlikely friendship with a 13 year-old girl, but the story never rises above its flat dreariness to become anything more than okay.

Run for the Dream - The Gail Devers Story [VHS]
$9.98
Gail's amazing story of determination and drive is brilliant in itself, but Gossett and Woodard bring it to life in a wonderful way. It's a movie I'll watch over and over again with my family and alone.

Greatest Secrets of the Coupon Mom
$17.99
I purchased this for my mom & she likes it. She feels there are a lot of good tips to maximize your coupons. Item received as described, shipped fast, would buy from you again.

Brian