The Save Money Blog

Archive for February, 2009

Do your children or teens understand money? For awhile mine thought that it grew on trees or was just something that was always there. It's never too early to learn about the value of money or the importance in saving money. I learned early in life because I was a golf caddy for a couple of summers and opened a bank account and learned how to save. Here are some tips to teach your children to save money.

Get them a piggy bank early where they can start storing their change. Kids always have a way of finding change. A piggy bank will help them learn about saving and counting money. On the same token when they are a little older you can start a bank account for them. Take them to the bank with you and let them deposit their own money from Christmas or Birthdays. This is how we got our daughter interested. She would also get her monthly statement sent to her. Kids love getting mail, it's makes it all that more official to them.

Starting them off with an allowance based on doing some chores is a great way to get them to learn the signifance of earning money. There are all sorts of things they can do like helping with the lawn, bringing the groceries in or folding laundry. This concept of earning little money will make them think that money is something they have worked for and should be spent wisely.

Explain the value of saving money for the future. Make them understand its importance and how it will impact their life. It is important that you entertain questions from them about money and you should be able to answer them right away.

Children love having a task with a goal and starting them out early to save money so they can buy something down the road is a great task with a reward they will love.

Some of my family members were throwing around the idea of going down south for a couple of weeks. When I asked where they were thinking of staying the talked about renting a property. Either a townhouse or a condo as it would be cheaper then staying at a hotel and you can make your own meals, save some money of dining and eat a little bit healthier. I was going through some websites and found Outer Banks rentals where you can look at properties in the Carolinas for rent and my family was right. You can plan an inexpensive vacation by renting your place to stay. Next time you are planning a vacation do some math. Add up the costs of a hotel vs a rental for the week and factor in your food and drinks and I think you will see that you can save money by renting a place.

I was out shopping the other day for a golf club to add to my bag. I went into a locally owned store and had quite a conversation with the sales person. I was looking for a fairway wood and was ready to put down some decent money on it. He showed me another club made by another company. Or so I thought. It was half the price and was a sister company of the original more expensive club I was looking at. Same thing really.

My parents as I mentioned are on the hunt for a laptop. They called today because a sales person at Future Shop told them what they needed and they wanted me to check it out. It's not what they needed. The price was over inflated because it was a big brand name. There were other laptops with the same size screen and same processor but with bigger hard drives and more gigs of ram and they were cheaper.

When we shop we are always drawn the brand names. If you are trying to save money skip over the brand names and take a look at what else is out there. There are clone golf clubs which still work just as good as the originals and even replica watches still tell the time.

Last week we decided to upgrade from our old DVD to a new BluRay player. I think I blogged about it but shopped around online and through the flyers and we decided to go to Costco as they price was much better and we are in their membership plan where you get a percent back at the end of the year. All fine and well right? Wrong.

When we got home I found that our one TV didn't have HDMI jacks and the old standard RCA cables just don't didn't cut it picture wise so back out we went and had to buy some HD cables which aren't cheap.

Those accessories sure can add up when you think you are getting ahead in your shopping. If you are making some major electronic purchases if never hurts to ask if they are willing to throw something in. Ask for those extra cables, TV wall mount or any other accessories you might need. I imagine the big box stores aren't going to do much for you but if you deal with a local mom and pop store you never know what they will do for your business.

Also if you are going to making a big purchase dig a little deeper and make sure you have everything you need or that everything you have is compatible. There's nothing worse than having to go over your budget because you didn't understand what you were buying.

I am always amazed at how fast the price of things can drop. I was looking at laptops awhile back and they were still pretty expensive to get something half decent. My parents called the other day and they are looking to replace their old klunker of a desktop with a new laptop computer. Since they don't really know what they are looking for or need I immediately grabbed all of the flyers we had laying around the house and started comparing prices. They have really come down in price over the last year. If you are looking at replacing your current system now looks like a good time to pick one up. I am not sure if it's the downturn in the economy or not but there are lots of great prices out there so do some digging and I bet you will be surprised.

I was watching a commercial the other day and wondered how many people are out there living in pain and off of work because of a medical condition and they don't even realize that they may have a right to compensation. It's hard to get out of a financial hole if your way or earning has been taken away from you.

I came across something interesting regarding shoulder surgeries and the shoulder pain pump. It seems that they are associated with anybody having shoulder surgery and the resluting pain from use of the pump. The pumps were used to supply local anesthetics to the shoulder to help with a speedy recovery. It has since been discovered that they may have sent too much thus causing more harm then good.

This is just one case out of god knows how many that people may deserve compensation for. It would be awful to think that your earning right has been taken away before you even get a chance to earn. The internet is a great place to look and search if you think that you have been wronged by a product. You never know, there are probably others.

I know all too well the pitfalls of credit card debt. You have two or three major cards and a few gas cards and you are living off of paying back the interest each month and that's about it. It's an awful hole to get stuck in but you can help yourself get out of it through debt consolidation.

What is Credit card debt consolidation? This is where you consolidate a number of cards into a lesser amount of cards. In the end you only want to have one or two cards at best. Basically you are doing a balance transfer where you transfer your balance on one credit card to another credit card. You will be getting a new Credit Card with a lower interest rate and using it to pay off the other cards with their much hight rate. You can also do this by getting a loan from your bank and pay off the cards at once and then work on paying your bank loan off. The interest rate from them has to be lower. I did this one once myself.

Find a 0% interest card offer and sign up for it. You then pay off your other higher interest rate card with the credit from the 0% card. Easy enough. Not really, you have to read all of the fine print and make sure you understand the terms, make the min payments and any other stipulations of the card. If you can do this you can get that bad debt paid off in no time.

Spring is almost here and it's going to be the time to start spending on getting your backyards fixed up, outdoor furniture and replacing pool and even your sporting goods. You have to make sure you have a plan before your spending gets out of control. The best way to attack the new season is to have a plan. A plan of what you are currently spending and what you are going to be spending on for new or replacement items.

I have always found the best way to do this is to keep a list that you can refer to on a regular basis. Track your current recurring costs like medications or weight loss pills, entertainment costs and your daily living expenseses. That way you know where your current money is going and you can look at it and see if you can find some ways to save money by comparitive shopping or cutting expenses out all together.

The way to save on your new aqcuisitions is to list what you are going to need such as a lawnmower, pool cleaner, golf clubs or patio furniture. This way you won't be buying on a whim. If you have a good list and start thinking about what you are going to need in the upcoming season you take some time to find the best prices possible. Your list will get you to start looking at prices in flyers now or take note of prices of things when you are out shopping. You can get online and read reviews of products. Then track the prices from various stores on your list and watch for sales or deals.

Don't be impulsive and just spot buy. Research it out and do some comparitive shopping.

I have come across some nice freebies and coupons. I don't have time to post them all week so maybe from now on I can do a weekend post with links to a few freebies and coupons.

Jack In the Box Two Free Tacos – 02/24 only you have just have to print the coupon off

Aqua Fresh Toothpaste Coupons – let the page load and follow the links at the bottom there are lot of coupons for toothpaste and related products

Subway $2 Gift Card – for California Only, just fill out the form

Coupon Free Buger King Whopper – the Whopper Sacrifce looks nice and is open again

Crystal Light Free Sample – I love this stuff and have been adding it to my daily water for a long time

There are a few freebies and coupons for the weekend! Enjoy!

Income tax time is right around the corner so planning ahead is always a good idea. I am the worst for running around at the last minute looking for my receipts and papework.

If you haven't already start a filing system and as your bills and receipts come in get in the habit of placing them in the same place all the time. I was forever leaving them all over the house until I started a system.

Remember to save everything, you never know what you are going to need or use at tax time. If you are running a home based business or work from your home remember to save all of your receipts and bills. You can get deductions for heating, property taxes and expenses like gas, meals and even safety equipment. Save everything.

Try to get at them early so you have time to double check things over or even to a professional if you need to. There is nothing worse than having to rush at the last minute and wondering if you have made mistakes on your return.

Although the weather doesn't show it spring it right around the corner if you are like me it's the time of year when you start replacing your outdoor furniture and other items. To me this usually means chairs, tables, bbq accessories and pool equipment.

Although maybe a little late replacing any of your lawn mowing or grass cutting equipment shouldn't be done in the spring or summer. If you know you are going to need a new lawnmower try to replace it in the fall. This is usually when the big stores are looking to dump the current years inventory to get ready for their winter supplies. You can also look around during the winter and see if they have any sitting around that they want to unload.

Although I am not a camper replacing your tents and sleeping bags should be done at the end of the camping season or in the off season. You can expect some good savings for the same reason pointed out above.

Barbeque grills, swimming pools, and patio furniture are also great items everyone wants to be able use during the summer months. If you have to purchase a barbeque grill during the summer there are generally sales on them around Memorial Day and Father’s Day. You can get a great deal on an older model that the store is trying to move out to make room for the newer models.

Finally, today I stopped by a golf store to see that they had in their bins. I was suprised at the huge savings they had in brand name clubs like Taylor Made, Maxfli which is owned by TM, Calaway and others. This was a mom and pop golf store and he told me that the savings were good right now because their new clubs were going to be in over the next month. I am going back next week to pick up some supplies.

Off season is where it is at when you want to buy season goods. Happy shopping and do it right to save some money.