Meet Brooke Kaelin, Our Daily Deals Editor

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Hello, my name is Brooke Kaelin. I’m the Daily Deals Editor here at Wise Bread. I’m a wife, a mother, an author, and a total penny pincher. I don’t purchase anything (with the exception of certain food items) unless I can get it at least 50% off. As I write, it’s the beginning of November, and I am almost done with my Christmas shopping. I haven’t paid full price for anything, and I haven’t put anything on credit.

Incidentally, almost everything I have purchased has been listed in the Daily Deals over the last few months.

Sometimes deals can be a blessing. They let you save money on things you need, and you get to feel like (and possibly eventually have) a million bucks because you didn’t toss your hard earned cash down the toilet. There’s a dark side to deals too though, and I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention it.

One of our writers, Phillip Brewer, posted an article titled “Who has the time (or money) for deals?” In it he made some amazing points — in fact I agreed with him on nearly everything.

Deals only save you money if they let you pay less for stuff you were going to buy anyway. Lists of random deals, though, don't provide that. In fact, I find a list of random deals is usually just a big waste of time — because it consists almost entirely of things that I had no plan to buy. In practice, it's even worse than that: a list of random deals is (and is intended to be) a temptation to buy stuff I don't need. After all, that's the whole point of deals.

Well, as the editor of what is essentially a “random deals list” how do I respond to this? More importantly, how do I avoid this?

When I took over the deals list, I decided that if such a thing is possible, I wanted it to be a true service to people. To the best of my ability, I would only list sales on things that I thought people might really need or want. After all, this is a frugal web site. I figure the readers here are smart enough to call me on any “pork” that finds its way into the list. More than that though, I realize that it isn’t what I think that matters. It’s what you think that matters.

If you think the deals list needs some work, write me and tell me so. If you’re having a hard time finding a great deal on something you need, please write to me and ask – I’ll help. This list belongs to all of us. From the quotes and tips that have been submitted by so many readers, to all the smiles at Christmas this year; items given with love and purchased at a discount. More than anything as editor, I want to maximize the positive side of deals and minimize the negative. But I can only do that with your tips, suggestions and requests.

My (virtual) door is always open. You can reach me at deals@wisebread.com.