A couple of years ago, I did a story about Cary Towne Center's Random Acts of Kindness program, in which mall representatives would go hang out in shops and randomly pay for people's holiday purchases.

It was a really cool program, but I have also been lucky enough to witness some spontaneous random acts of kindness in my years as a retail reporter. People paying for other people's groceries, people picking up checks in restaurants for others, etc.

Have you ever witnessed a random act of kindness? Please share your story!

Someone asked me the other day about whether they should wait for free shipping offers before buying from online retailers. My answer: most retailers will be offering free shipping soon, and most of them will keep offering it right through the holidays.

For instance, I got an e-mail from EddieBauer.com yesterday that offered free shipping through Dec. 24 with a $50 purchase. (use code EBGIFTS when you check out). 

In the ultra competitive retail environment, I think a lot of retailers feel like they pretty much have to offer either completely free shipping or free shipping with a reasonable minimum purchase. Either way, it benefits the consumer. And if you are searching for a free shipping code, bookmark retailmenot.com. It's one of my favorites.

If you missed this morning's Work & Money section, do take the time to give it a read. I teamed up with Mary Cornatzer to write about how you can give to area charities this year, even if you are on a budget.

Of course, I wrote about how I donate items I get for free to area charities. Some of my personal favorites include the Raleigh Rescue Mission, the SPCA, Tri-Beagles, Safe Haven for Cats and the Food Bank.

Here's an invitation to share your favorite charities and the items you donate to them. Maybe we will inspire others to give!

As part of Cameron Village's ongoing 60th birthday celebration, I was sent a couple of photos of what the shopping center used to look like.

They were so cool that I had to share...

Do you have a favorite Cameron Village story? Please share it! If I get enough responses thre may just be a random prize drawing!

Click read more to see the rest of the photos. I tried to make them as big as I could...

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Sorry for the extended quiet period here folks.

This weekend I will be out of town, so Taking Stock will be unusually quiet. I'll be back Monday with the weekly coupon update and my normal stream of money-saving goodness...

Till then, happy shopping!

PS-Don't forget to sign up for the Nov. 21 coupon class at Meredith College!!!! Click here... 

If you've ever used the FTC's annualcreditreport.com Web site to get your free credit report (and I certainly hope you have), you may have thought the process was... well, less than simple.

Now the FTC is soliciting comments on changes it is considering making to the site. My two favorite changes are that all the "upsells" would be removed until after you receive your free credit report and that any site like freecreditreport.com (the guys with the annoying songs) would have to tell you right up front that this is not the federally mandated free credit report site.

At my coupon classes (sign up for the one on Nov. 21!), I always tell people that the best thing you can do for yourself is gather information. There is a huge difference between guessing at what you think is right and knowing for sure.

Here's yet another example, but one that has to do more with nutrition. Dunkin' Donuts recently introduced a low-fat apple caramel muffin. Obviously, since it's billed as low-fat, I presume it's healthier for you than the regular muffins. But do you want to guess how much healthier? A regular blueberry muffin at Dunkin' contains 510 calories and 16 grams of fat. The new low-fat apple muffin? 430 calories and 3 grams of fat. That's a huge difference.

(Apologies in advance to those of you who ate a Dunkin' Donuts blueberry muffin for breakfast this morning.)

I got an e-mail this week from the owner of Connolly's Irish Pub in Cary.

They wanted to tell me they've introduced a new menu and LOWERED prices.

Now there's a trend I wish would catch on.

Connolly's will celebrate its 10th anniversary on Oct. 17. Here's the Web site. 

I've told you all before that I'm a total retail geek, and here's yet another example.

I am totally loving Google's barcode logo today. After Googling it (LOL) I found out that Google changed the logo to celebrate the 57th anniversary of the barcode.

Who knew those little stripes would revolutionize shopping?

I was at a flower shop this week buying some flowers for a friend, and I had an interesting experience. The store owner was trying to sell me an arrangement that was about $7 more than I wanted to spend. But I knew the person I was buying for would love the arrangement.

So I paused for a second to think it over. In that second, the owner -- eager to close the sale -- offered to knock $4 off the price. That sealed the deal for me. My friend loved the flowers and I got a great deal.

But it reminds me about the importance of pausing. This is not the first time I've unintentionally bartered my way into a better deal simply by taking my time evaluating a purchase. Especially in small shops where you are dealing directly with the owner or manager, a pause can be a really powerful tool.