Kids & Families — Page 70

What to buy now: after Christmas and January

December 27, 2011 by Lisa · Leave a Comment

Another year underway!

Here are some tips on what you will find great bargains or prices on, from now through January. Prices on many of these items are the lowest you’ll find them all year, so if you have the extra money and extra space, you may want to consider stockpiling these things.

1. Christmas items: This one is pretty obvious, but Christmas items at most places are already 50% off or more and will only get cheaper as the weeks progress. Sure, it means lots of cheap Christmas decorations, gift wrap and all that stuff, but don’t forget gift sets–if they can be broken down into something you will use, and it’s very cheap, get it! Don’t forget about all the teacher, coworker and other gifts you usually buy in December–because now is the time to get those items if you can.

2. Christmas foods: Turkeys, hams, baking goods, candy….all that stuff that has been lining the grocery store shelves, it’s got to go! Check expiration dates, check your storage abilities and buy what you will use. Get a frozen Easter ham now! Next week they will be much cheaper than they are the week before Easter. Most stores allow you to use coupons on clearance items.

3. New Year’s Resolutions: What are the most common New Year’s Resolutions? Weight loss, getting healthy, working out, dieting, quitting smoking, getting organized. Yep, yep, yep and yep. All of those items–nutrition and weight loss products, fitness apparel, fitness equipment, stuff to get your home organized, over-the-counter weight loss and smoking cessation products–they’re all on sale now.

4. Think Back to School: Seriously. Many stores like Staples and Office Max, go along with the “getting organized” theme, as well as they know that most students young and old are returning to school/college after an extended break. And they want *you* to stock up at their store before you go. If you need these items, check the ads first–lots of it is on sale.

5. Procter & Gamble: Almost every year, Procter & Gamble does a series of huge promos at all the stores, plus a big coupon insert, often with a rebate attached.

6. Box Tops for Education: Besides Back-to-School time, this is the other time of year that Box Tops for Education and General Mills does a huge push for it’s products. Look for sales, coupons and rewards programs (with bonus BTFEs) in your local stores.

7. Cleaning items: Along with the “getting organized” theme, many manufacturers do promos on cleaning products and items.

8. Comfort foods: anything related to soups, stews and other types of wintery foods–look for deals and coupons.

9. Makeup/cosmetics clearance: January and July are huge clearance months for lots of items, especially cosmetics. I’ve already seen many items at 75% off at CVS and Walgreens. Combine with coupons for almost free stuff–this is one of my favorite deals to pursue!

10. Junk food: It’s Super Bowl or Football playoff season, so all the chips, dips, soda and other junk foods like that are usually very discounted. Happy Stockpiling! Don’t forget, I’m the Moderator for Stockpiling on HCW.

Filed Under: Home Sweet Home, Kids & Families Tagged With: box tops, procter & gamble, stockpiling

Ten ways to find hidden money

December 27, 2011 by Lisa · 1 Comment

: Where is your money hiding?

Editor’s note: I’ve revised this a bit to bring it to everyone’s attention, as part of our “Make 2012 your year!”

Rising food prices are in the news again. Rising/high gas prices are in the news all the time. It’s easy to be mad about high gas prices, isn’t it? I mean, you drive by the numbers and they’re two feet high; a constant reminder of how much you’re paying.

But we lose money on things all the time. It’s just that it’s not so in-our-face, so we don’t get mad about it. Here are some places that your money may be hiding. Check this list and see what you can correct.

1. Bank/ATM/overdraft fees– How much do you spend in this area each month? Look it over and fix it! There are enough options out there now for free checking, free ATM, etc. that you shouldn’t be paying for this. And if you’re paying overdraft fees, stop. Rework your budget to realistic figures to make it stop. Go to an envelope system and only get cash once a week or every 14 days. When it’s empty, don’t go get more!

2. Your home-are you eligible for a refinance? Would it be of significant savings? Worth checking out. Are you paying PMI and maybe you don’t need to anymore? What is your homeowner’s insurance policy like? Can you raise your deductibles in some areas to save on monthly costs? Will your landlord agree to lower your rent or not to raise it, if you sign a 2-year lease? Can you doing some painting/home repairs in exchange for lower rent?

3. Interest charges-if you’re still carrying a significant amount of credit card debt, look into assistance programs or consolidation programs. Call your lenders, ask them to cut you some slack. The worst that can happen is they say no and you’ve lost ten minutes of your day. Best case scenario, you save money on interest. And stop buying things on credit. My Nan’s rule was the only thing you buy on credit is your home and your cars. Good words to live by.

4. Medical-every time I go to pay for this one prescription at CVS, it’s a different amount. And yet, I’ve never looked into it. Isn’t that stupid? And I’m talking about it being $47 one time and $64 the other day (it’s migraine meds). I don’t even know what our co-pay is supposed to be, but I don’t think I’m on a variable rate plan. How many times do your EOBs come in the mail, and you look at them and just toss them aside or file away? Just write a check, take care of the balance………..call the company! Know what you’re paying and make sure you’re being charged the correct amount.

5. Filters-everything has a filter. Your HVAC unit, your furnace, your cars, your vacuum cleaner, water softeners. Clean them and replace them to run more efficiently.

6. Car maintenance-keep up with the regular maintenance on your cars to keep them running better and longer. My car has 165k miles on it, and I plan to get several more years out of it. And we’ve never done much more than the routine maintenance on it, not to mention it’s been years since we had a car payment on it.

7. Insurance-review all of your insurance policies to make sure they are what’s best for you. Co-pays, deductibles, loss amounts, check it all out. And make sure you are properly insured on your home’s contents.

8. Gym memberships-get real with yourself, are you getting your money’s worth from your gym membership? Can’t you run/walk/hike/other activities on your own, at no charge? If you can’t commit to doing 25 pushups and situps each morning in your own home, how realistic is it that you’re going to drive a few miles to a gym? If you’re not using it, drop it.

9. Cable/phone/cell/internet plans-how long has it been since you evaluated these? How often do you watch those premium channels, vs. how much they cost you each month? How much are you paying, per show, on the premium network? Drop it and get Netflix instead.

10. Home maintenance-when we replaced our furnace (had no choice, original one with home and it died) and our insulation, we now use one less tank of oil each year. One whole tank! At $4.xx a gallon for a 275 gallon tank, that’s huge! Do the maintenance on these things or consider replacing them. Check all your possible areas for leaks-doors, windows, etc. Not only does heat escape, so does AC. You’re losing money year-round. Get rid of vampire appliances. Get rid of drafty areas. Turn things off when you’re done using them. Wrap your hot water heater in a blanket. Do routine maintenance. Make sure that intake areas are not blocked, nor are your vents, for best circulation. Look into a ceiling fan or attic fan.

Keep looking, I know you’ll come up with more ways to find hidden money. Right now I’m trying to go the rest of the summer not using the dryer, or only using it for towels. Who else has some ideas?

Filed Under: Kids & Families Tagged With: 2012 budgeting, find hidden money, find money in budget, hidden money, home maintenance

Free app for Leap Pad: update + sales on games and apps

December 27, 2011 by Lisa · 3 Comments

: Click to see more.

And the update is……I have no updates! Lol. Sort of. The other day, I posted about a free app from Leap Pad, if you registered and set up your Leap Pad by 12/22. This was something I got in an email from Leap. I did actually register ours and get it set up on that date, but was unable to find the free app on the website–and this was after clicking through the email they sent me.

Anyway, I have now emailed them twice and have not heard back. I did let them know I was a blogger–not in an obnoxious “Hey, I’m a blogger so give me what I want or I’ll bash you on my blog” sort of way. More of a “Hey, I know that I have lots of readers who also were unable to locate this free app and are interested” sort of way. So hopefully we’ll hear something soon and they’ll honor it, even though it is now past the date.

In the meantime, I’ve been shopping around, and it appears that there are very few places to get these apps–Leap, of course, and Amazon and Toys R Us. Right now Toys R Us has the games at Buy one, get one 50% off. These things don’t seem to be discounted that much, so 25% off is a good price. I think we’re going to get the Cars one, not sure what else.

And here are some games and accessories to check out from Amazon. ETA: Please read the comment that a reader left, as to where she found the app. It’s still not showing up for me :( but I’ll keep trying!

Filed Under: Amazon, Kids & Families, Online shopping Tagged With: free apps for leap pad, leap pad apps