The Frugal Guy: High Quality Segmented Glass Containers

Hey everybody. Today's post is about Asani's glass containers. I received these for free through Tomoson (website geared toward trying things for free or discounted). They are sold by MLC Distribution and fullfilled by Amazon.  You can check out any of the companies by clicking on the  names in the previous sentences.

Overall, these are some of the highest quality glass containers I've ever owned. The glass is thick and feels sturdy in your hands.  It really seems like both the lid and the glass container will last a long time.  In the past, glass containers I've used have almost always gotten chipped, and the lids always start to crack from the constant opening.  The design of these eliminates that problem, and I can see myself using them for many years to come.

The listing on Amazon mentions that these containers can be microwaved and put in the oven, and I believe them (though the lids might not hold up to that type of heat so I don't recommend putting these containers in the oven with the lids on.  The lids are exactly what I've been looking for, and snap into place on the four sides of the container.

Since they snap into place they create a far better seal than the press on lids (the type I've used in the past, mainly from pyrex or anchor). Because of the better seal, liquids can be transported in these as well.

Utensils also come with this (spoon, fork, and knife), and they are conveniently tucked away inside the top of the lid. They come with their own secure compartment that keeps them clean and away from any dirt/germs that may be sitting in your lunch bag or counter. The plastic is reported as being BPA-/toxin-free, so even though they're plastic they should be safe. Like with the lids, I still recommend against microwaving or putting them in the oven.

Overall I'd give these a perfect score if you're looking for a good, quality segmented container. The lid snaps on for a snug seal, it has it's own utensils, it's segmented to keep your food separate, and it's sturdy to last you years to come. Short of spawning a robot to feed me food from the container, I can't think of anything more to ask for from food storage.  Get your own container by clicking here or copying and pasting the URL below.

Product URL:  http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B077F279X8

That's it for this post.  I hope this helps if you're in the market for some good, quality food storage.  Check out the container and feel free to ask any questions in the comments section.  Thanks for reading!

The Frugal Guy: Never Accept Beverage Items From TV Companies

It has been far too long since I've blogged, and it's high time I started again.  Life certainly took a less-interesting turn, but I suppose that's to be expected for a married man in urban West Virginia. Moving forward, this new chapter (I turn 30 in two weeks 😨😨😨) brings with it a slew of new challenges and potential joys that both excite and scare me witless. My wife and I bought our first house a little under a year ago, and our first child is making his debut in about a month. Both come with too much responsibility for me, but with God's help we'll get through it.

As many of you already know, I'm super frugal. Whether it's saving money with coupons, getting products for free, or using rewards websites to feed my growing addiction to paper cutouts of pocket monsters, I'm always looking for ways to save money.  Usually, this just benefits me, but with this blog I'm going to try and review some of these products/spread the news on products I've tried so everyone (reading this) can benefit. This first one won't benefit anyone, as access to it is all but impossible, but at least you'll know the truth about TV companies that also make beverage containers.

First up on the frugal blog agenda is something I received for free through Vizio's Fandemonium program.  The program was created to produce brand loyalty for Vizio, but it probably didn't yield much of a benefit because they're shutting it down in about a month.  I'd been a member for a few years, and managed to get a free picnic blanket, a free cooler, a free sweat towel (cause I'm so sweaty, gross), a free tote bag, some free song downloads, and most recently a free coffee tumbler. I don't even drink coffee, but I have started drinking tea so figured it would come in handy for that.

Wrong 😒

I'm a sold out supporter of glass products, and this is obviously not glass. Being stainless steel made me think it would be somewhat safe, and perhaps it is, but I'm paranoid so it's going to no use after my first use.

Here are pictures of the tumbler.

As far as tumblers go, it appeared to be a good enough quality. Has the standard twist top to open and close. Even came with a nifty second hole to allow air to enter so that pouring/drinking is smoother (or maybe the second hole is for something else entirely, and all the real coffee drinkers know the truth).  Seemed to insulate well enough, but it keeps the liquid inside about as good as clouds in the rainforest. I tried shaking soapy water inside during the cleaning process, and it went everywhere. After washing it a couple of times with a sponge and scrub brush, I gave it a few sniffs but it retained a metallic smell. I figured that was normal for metal cups (probably not true), and decided to fill it about halfway with apple juice (juice was to add to my chai tea at work to make it drinkable). I knew the tumbler leaked so I transported carefully. At work I poured it into my tea like usual.

Bad decision 😠😠

It ruined my tea and made me think I was licking a dirty quarter.  I may just be hyper sensitive and paranoid, but I gave it a sniff after dumping out the tea and the darn thing smelled like ranch salad dressing. You read right. Ranch. Salad. Dressing. The stuff that dresses salads. I have zero clues why it mysteriously took on this unusual aroma, but that aint normal so I'm done with blindly trusting this coffee tumbler as a safe beverage container.  If anyone wants this Vizio coffee tumbler to transport their ranch dressing, holler at me. Otherwise, Vizio, you need to stick to making television sets. Having a container that first smells like metal, makes the drink taste like metal, and then changes to smell like ranch dress seems dangerous.  Maybe it poisoned me so badly my sense of smell was mutated?!?

With whatever happened to my nose after the first sip, and with the way it made my tea taste, this turned out to be a bust, though I must say all the other free products I received from them were of good quality and I still use them all. Guess beverages just aren't a good fit for Vizio.

That's it for this post, but I'll be making posts periodically when I receive free products.  The next thing I have on deck is a set of glass containers so stay tuned.  I might also be receiving a Marshall speaker, but I feel like that one is just a dream and won't come true.  As always, thanks for reading!

PS---
To all the fans of the Third of Seven: stay tuned!  I'm done my final edit and have contacted the publisher.  Hopefully they respond with an acceptance of the sequel and their editor will begin work on it soon.  I'll post in the book blog when I hear back from them.