List of States with Tax Free School Shopping Days

 

School is starting just around the corner, and its time for the annual tax free shopping weekend all over the nation. Some states even include Hurricane preparation items too! Here is a chart from Fed Tax Administrators that lists all the states participating. This year in Florida you can get the discount on laptops and computers too.

State	Days	Items Included	Maximum Cost	1st Year	2013 Dates	Information Links *
Alabama	3	hurricane preparedness generators - $1,000 supplies - $60		2012	February 22-24	http://www.revenue.alabama.gov/
Alabama	3	clothing - $100 computers - $750 school supplies - $50 books - $30		2006	August 2-4	http://www.revenue.alabama.gov/
Arkansas	2	clothing - $100 school supplies		2011	August 3-4	http://www.dfa.arkansas.gov/
Connecticut	7	clothing and footwear - $300		2001	August 18-24	http://www.ct.gov/
Florida	3	school supplies - $15 clothing - $75 computer - $750		2010+	August 2-4	http://dor.myflorida.com/dor/
Georgia	2	school supplies - $20 clothing - $100 computer - $1,000		2012+	August 9-10	https://etax.dor.ga.gov/
Georgia	3	energy and water efficient products - $1,500		2012+	October 4-6	https://etax.dor.ga.gov/
Iowa	2	clothing - $100		2000	August 2-3	http://www.iowaccess.org/tax/
Louisiana	2	all TPP - $2,500		2007	August 2-3	http://www.revenue.louisiana.gov/
Louisiana	2	hurricane preparedness items - $1,500		2008	May 25-26	http://www.revenue.louisiana.gov/
Louisiana	3	firearms, ammunition and hunting supplies		2009	September 6-8	http://www.revenue.louisiana.gov/
Maryland	3	energy star products		2011	February 16-18	http://www.comp.state.md.us/
Maryland	7	clothing & footwear-$100		2010	August 11-17	http://www.marylandtaxes.com/
Mississippi	2	clothing & footwear - $100		2009	July 26-27	http://www.dor.ms.gov/
Missouri	7	energy star products - $1,500		2009	April 19-25	http://dor.mo.gov/
Missouri	3	clothing - $100 computers - $3,500 school supplies - $50		2004	August 2-4	http://dor.mo.gov/
New Mexico	3	clothing - $100 computers - $1,000 computer equip. - $500 school supplies - $30		2005	August 2-4	http://www.tax.newmexico.gov
North Carolina	3	clothing - $100 school supplies - $100 instructional material - $300 computers - $3,500 other comp. - $250 sports equip - $50		2001	August 2-4	http://www.dornc.com/
North Carolina	3	energy star products		2009	November 1-3	http://www.dornc.com/
Oklahoma	3	clothing - $100		2007	August 2-4	http://www.tax.ok.gov/
South Carolina	3	clothing school supplies computers other		2000	August 2-4	http://www.sctax.org/
Tennessee	3	clothing - $100 school supplies - $100 computers - $1,500		2006	August 2-4	http://tn.gov/revenue/
Texas	3	energy star products air conditioners - $6,000; other - $2,000		2008	May 25-27	http://www.window.state.tx.us/
Texas	3	clothing, backpacks and school supplies- $100		1999	August 9-11	http://www.window.state.tx.us/
Virginia	7	hurricane preparedness items - $60 generators - $1,000		2008	May 25-31	http://www.tax.virginia.gov/
Virginia	3	clothing - $100 school supplies - $20		2006	August 2-4	http://www.tax.virginia.gov/
Virginia	4	energy star products - $2,500		2006	October 11-14	http://www.tax.virginia.gov/

When Things Don't Work

Last January, I bought a couple items. Actually, I'm sure I bought more than a couple items - but two of them come to mind recently because they no longer work as designed. The first one is a nice twelve inch Cuisinart pan that works great for making breakfast and dinner on the stove top. At least it used to work great, until it developed a concave rounded bottom so that only the center touched the glass stove top surface. Whenever I would try to dispense or move foods around it became a two handed operation since I had to hold the pan still so it wouldn't spin around on that nice little round hump.

 

It was kind of annoying, so I checked my order history on Amazon and was surprised to see it was just over a year old. So then I checked the product information and it said it had a limited lifetime warranty. I wasn't sure that my problem was bad enough, so I jumped over to Facebook and left a message for Cuisinart explaining my problem. They directed me to call customer service. When I spoke to the rep, they thought it sounded like I had a legitimate defect and they would replace the pan, after I shipped it in for their inspection.

 

So a couple weeks went by and we continued to be annoyed by the pan spinning circles with our food. During this procrastination, we looked for a box that would fit, I wrote up a letter explaining the problem and we wanted a replacement, and carried the package around in the car for a couple days too. Finally, it made it to the post office and in the mail - then things started happening. I'm pleased to report that our pan was deemed defective and a new one was shipped out and is due at our front door today!

 

I hate when things don't work. I have very little tolerance for defects in products. Just last night I was trying to print coupons on my newest Dell laptop that I just got last January. We keep it plugged in mostly by the TV since we stream video and movies from Amazon on the big flat screen. But when I unplugged it to run on battery power it died. Actually the battery has died. Conveniently a month past the warranty. I guess that's what you get when you buy refurbished stuff. Anyway, I ordered a new battery pack and it should be in business again by the end of the week.

 

I'm sure there will be something else that needs attention soon.

Watch the Black Out Bucs Game on Your Computer #Free

Well, its the beginning of another Buccaneer Football season, and along with that comes the blacked out local games in Tampa area. Even though the NFL loosened the restrictions to only 85% stadium sellout, I don't see the #Bucs doing that except for a couple night games this year. But, don't despair - you can watch it for free on your computer (at 19:30 pm).

 

Just go to Firstrowsports.eu and click on AM FOOTBALL to see the listing of games you can see. This is also handy if you're from Pittsburgh and you want to watch the Steelers who are not broadcast locally on Tampa channels. Click on the game you want, but be careful not to click open any popups, as there are a few. You will also be prompted to download the newest version of Adobe flash player which you should do if you want to watch the game. Sometimes there are a couple choices of links to view the game, so if one link is loading slow or something, just try the other link. If you click the popups and your computer starts going crazy, close them and do a virus check with Ad-aware or whatever software you use to be sure you didn't get a virus. I have never gotten a virus from this site, but all those popups make me nervous.

 

We usually watch it on a laptop and using the HDMI cable connect the computer to the HDTV to view it on the large screen. So, tonight we'll be watching the Bucs - I hope they win!

Memorial Weekend Laptop Fizzle

On one of the past few days DH was wasting time on my precious laptop, surfing youtube and he picked up a virus. He didn't let me know right away, just after it got annoying when he tried to search and google would come up with a totally weird place in UK. Anyway, by the time I became aware of the problem it was a few days and there were no uninfected restore points on the system tools to go back to an earlier date.

 

I should have backed up my drive but I didn't. I did move all my files, music and pictures off and then tried to figure out my best option. I was planning on reformatting some day anyway, so that's what I did. I just re-installed the XP operating system, but what a pain now. I have to use my other hard drive to transfer at least an Internet browser onto the laptop so I can download some programs.

 

Needless to say, I'm backing up my main desktop so I don't have a problem if I ever have a virus or breakdown. And I told DH no more random surfing on youtube.com. So it'll be a while before he gets my laptop back.

Time For New Folders

Back to work again after a long weekend, still a little slow so this is a great time to organize for 2010. Of course lots of photos were taken on Christmas and Christmas Eve and new folders were created on the PC to keep them organized. You may wonder how I manage to organize thousands of photos dating back to 2003 when I first got a digital camera. First thing I do is remove all pictures from the camera SD card. I put the SD card in a USB card reader. First I review the photos quickly to delete duplicates, or bad ones. We usually take lots of pictures to make sure we get a good one, but they get screened and deleted before permanently saving on the computer. Then I rotate any that were taken sideways, so they show up in the correct orientation on a slide show on the computer. After review, click the start button to get MY COMPUTER icon, and go to the photo directory that I have sorted by year, and add a new folder for Christmas09. Then I MOVE the photos off the SD card into the Christmas09 folder by selecting and dragging them over. I also upload to my shutterfly or picassa directory online at this time too.

Now is also the time to consolidate folders, and to make a new 2010 folder for all the photos I'll take next year. Being organized helps you find photos you need in the future for prints or to share, or to make cards. Actually there are some deals out there for Shutterfly right now. CARDS4YOU is a code to get 12 free 5x7 cards and it may work in one of your accounts, not all work though. Also try to enter SHIPCARDS (exp 12/29) to get free shipping on your cards. I also got an email for 75 free prints by entering RUDOLPH.