Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category:
5 unusual, yet effective ways to save money
This is a guest post by Nathan Brown of Saveology, a site that offers savings and the latest news on att uverse internet.
While the news can tell me how the economy is improving, it’s hard to believe it. With costs rising on everything from everyday essentials to movie theater tickets, it’s more important than ever to cut corners wherever possible.
Switch Your Bank to a Credit Union: Switching from a well-known bank to a credit union (USAA, in fact) was the best thing I could have done. It truly did improve my financial situation. USAA does not charge you if you do not have a minimum balance, meaning if need be, you can have $5 in your account and not have to worry about being charged a fee. USAA also refunds ATM fees, which is a nice surprise at the end of the month if you withdraw cash often.
Get Paid to Shop: If you love shopping online then say hello to your new BFF: Ebates.com! Just log on and click on a link to your favorite online store (the have everything from Target and WalMart to Macy’s, DSW and even Expedia!), then make a purchase as you would regularly. Ebates is then paid a referral fee and will share the earnings with you; a ercentage (1%-25%) of the purchase price.
Bundle Utilities & Home Services: It’s natural to choose your home services based on the best (and cleverest) advertisements. While companies should get extra points for creativity, you should shop around – especially or phone, cable and internet packages, as those can get expensive (but we can’t live without ‘em!). Bundle plans are the best, as companies tend to offer killer discounts when you combine services.
The Library: Who knew you can find a plethora of useful services at your local library. You can borrow books, magazines and even burn CDs for cheap! Also, you can rent movies and print out any necessary documents for 10 cents a pop — versus paying $40+ for one ink cartridge!
Get Your Event Sponsored: Now, I know this isn’t for everyone, but I just had to give it a shout out because it’s such a creative way to save! If “This wedding was brought to you by Ebay” sounds tacky, hear me out; a couple who tied the knot a few years ago couldn’t afford the big wedding the always wanted, so they had a wedding sponsored by 25 of the biggest names (flowers by 1-800-Flowers, drinks provided by Snapple and coke, a venue at a Brooklyn minor league stadium and so on). The result? A $100,000 dream wedding!
How ‘bout you? Will you or have you used any of these saving tips?
Refunds and starting a little patio garden
On Saturday, I went on a whirlwind errand run:
Returned a mouth guard to Walgreens for a full refund. I bought it because I had been having dental pain, but I couldn’t adjust it enough to be comfortable. It triggered a gag reflex and I couldn’t sleep while wearing it. I’m glad the manufacturer offered a 30-day moneyback guarantee.
Next stop: Starbucks. I haven’t been there in so long, it took me a minute to look over the menu. I got…a free coffee. I purchased a pound of Starbucks coffee from the grocery awhile ago, and noticed some text on the bottom of the bag. It said I could take the empty bag (within 30 days of the best-by date) to a Starbucks for a free 12 oz. coffee. So I did.
Next stop: Kohl’s to return three shirts that didn’t fit my husband. Well…let me back up. Two shirts didn’t fit. The third shirt? It was the exact same shirt that I bought for him awhile back. Same pattern. Same everything. He likes the shirt well enough, but he doesn’t need two.
Last stop: Walmart. Bought some seeds in a seed-growing pack. I’m going to try tomatoes, carrots, lettuce, basil and cilantro. All organic. Woo! They’re hanging out on my window sill right now, and with a little bit of luck I’ll have some sprouts soon enough. I’ll transfer them into pots and keep them on my patio (except for the herbs — those I’ll keep in my kitchen). That way, if we have a frost advisory I can move ask my husband to put them in the garage.
Some seeds hopefully growing on my window sill. Yes, my kitchen is still obnoxious bright red. Working on it!
Pretty sure the kits + pots + potting soil (which I’ve yet to buy) are way more expensive than it would cost me to just buy the produce at the farmer’s market. I spent about $15 on the seed kits and probably $30 or so on the pots. I know I can reuse the pots next year so that helps. Then again, it isn’t that hard to spend a lot on local organic produce so maybe it will be a decent financial move.
I don’t know a single thing about gardening. I haven’t bothered to learn much, except for reading the package of the seed kits I bought. I’m just going to see what happens with it. I’m hopeful I’ll have stuff to make a nice salad, and if not, well, whatever.
I don’t intend to have a small garden to save money, though if it ends up giving me a big ol bumper crop of tomatoes I’ll be happy about that. I’m doing this with the hopes of having delicious, fresh organic produce available to me. Plus, I think my son will get a huge kick out of watching our seeds turn into tomatoes.
I wanna get a lot done this week:
- Review my state & federal income taxes one more time before putting it in the mail. I can’t e-file this year. Bummer.
- Figure my Bethel Park, PA municipality income taxes one final time. It’s been almost a year since we started the move-back-to-Indiana process. Can’t believe it.
- Create my FLOP — financial life, one page document. My paperwork is just a disorganized mess and I need to create some order. I bought some more file folders and a fire-resistant box for my important stuff, and I just want to get it done so I don’t have to waste mental energy on it anymore.
Cheap board games at Target
I saw this deal on MoneySavingMom about some cheap board games, so I thought I’d give it a shot. It has been a long time since I’ve stacked coupons anywhere (a store coupon with a manufacturer’s). I printed the coupons Crystal linked to and decided which games I wanted:
This game is updated from the version I had as a kid. Wacky sound effects, including some bathroom noises. Several modes of play. Silly. Johnny had fun tweezing the ailments out of the guy, and making the buzzer and sounds go off. Didn’t have the heart to tell him to not make the sound — that can come later.
Simon Flash: $15 -$5 manufacturer’s coupon -$3 Target coupon = $7. Haven’t tried this one yet. It’s for ages 8+ so I’m sure it will be a challenge for me.
Play-Doh Swirling Shake Shoppe: Regular $12, on sale for $9.99, used $3 off printable manufacturer’s coupon for final price of $6.99. There was a $3 Target coupon available for awhile but that’s gone. This set was a bit of a dud. Hard to get it to work. At least it came with 4 tubs of Play-Doh and some stampers, but overall I wouldn’t recommend this piece. Use the $3 off printable coupon for a 24-pack of Play-Doh instead.
I love board games, card games, and making up games as we go. We don’t have many for Johnny yet since he’s only 3, so I’m glad to be able to add some fun ones for cheap!
*Photos link to my Amazon affiliate link. See disclosure
