Money Saving Habits

Coinstar‘s ad says it all….turn your coins into an iTunes card (at least $40 worth) and then send away for a $10 iTunes card bonus. This offer is good through the month of September.  So start saving those coins.

This is a great idea if you’ve got coins laying around the house.   iTunes cards can be a great gift for someone who loves music. One year I gave iTunes cards to someone who lived out of the country. They loved it. No worries about shipping something bulky, or taking up room in luggage. Fast, easy, and very much enjoyed.

Look for a Coinstar machine near you.  In greater Cincinnati you can find them at many Kroger, Meijer, Wal-Mart, and Marsh stores.

Having Amazon Prime feels like a luxury…getting your orders quickly, and not having to meet the $25 threshold to qualify for free super saver shipping.  But at a cost of $79/year it can be hard to justify.  But…..for a limited time, Amazon is offering a year of free Prime Membership for students.  You’ll need a valid .edu e-mail address and verify that you are actually a student (not just an employee of a university).

Ever heard of Groupon?  I hadn’t until a few months ago.  This website offers users a way to buy discounted products and services from local companies.  The catch?  There must be a big enough group for the deal to proceed.   And the deals are only on sale for 1 day (most coupons are valid for 1 year).  Today’s Cincinnati deal is from the Tropical Smoothie Cafe near the Voice Of Ameria park in West Chester.  Our family plans to visit the VOA park and museum this summer and so we’ll stop by and get smoothies — at half off — thanks to Groupon.  Want to join me?

Don’t live in Cincinnati?  No fear, Groupon is available in many other cities across the country.  I’m currently looking for deals in cities we’ll be traveling to this summer.  How about you?  Have you used Groupon?  Do you like it?

Planning a vacation that includes a hotel stay?  Don’t forget to check out all of your room choices.  A good example is Best Western.  This chain is a basic no-frills hotel chain that we’ve stayed at before.

1. Choose a hotel location
2. Pick your dates
3. Make sure you’re looking at ALL rate options.  At Best Western I saw:

• Best Available Rate
• AAA (if you have a AAA membership, typically 10% savings)
• Internet Only Rate (if you book online 10% savings)
• AARP/Senior (if you’re a member, or over 55 save about 10%)

So, without much work, I can book online and save just as much as the AAA and AARP discounts.  Sounds like a win for me.  This little habit saved our family $6.50/night for a “we just want a clean room and a place to lay our head” hotel.

Watch for more travel discounts as I use them.

Happy Savings!

Corned Beef and St Patrick’s Day

Corned beef seems to be the ubiquitous main dish for St. Patrick’s Day.  But what’s to say that you can’t have corned beef after March 17th?  If you wait until March 18th you’ll probably be able to snag some deals on this mid-March meat.  Check out some info from a John, a butcher for 30 years on what to buy and how to cook it.

I was alerted to this info from my friend Jennifer.  The Dollar Stretcher is a great resource with lots and lots of ideas for stretching your money.  Check out the website or subscribe to updates via e-mail or RSS.

Happy Savings!

Traveling this week?  Or awaiting the arrival of a loved one?  With last week’s snowstorm in the NE and an impending storm over the Rockies and Plains, it’s a good idea to have some websites and phone numbers handy.  This can help reduce the stress of not knowing what’s going on with travel plans.  Although I can’t promise that the lines will be shorter, or that airlines won’t loose your luggage, at least you’ll have information.  And information is power.

Last month I shared some websites with you.  For a quick refresher, check it out here.  I’m going to give another plug to the FAA’s Flight Delay Information.  I love the overall view of the country.  Already this morning ORD (O’Hare in Chicago) is experiencing over 2 hour arrival delays.  That’s only going to cause more problems as people miss their connecting flights.  ORD is one of the busiest airports in the country.

Traveling by car?

Rand McNally’s Road Construction Search Engine – search by state and/or Interstate number

Safe Travel USA has links to all the State’s road conditions websites.  All the links I checked worked.

State By State Road Conditions (that appear to be fully functioning)

• Arkansas weather road conditions or road construction info
• Illinois
• Iowa
• Kansas complete with cameras along I-70
• Kentucky
• Minnesota – high bandwidth has cool popups for accidents, construction, and other delays
• Missouri
• Nebraska
• Ohio
• Oklahoma – very basic information
• South Dakota
• Tennessee – laid over Google Maps

If you’re on my gift list….please don’t read this post….or at least pretend that you didn’t see it when I hand you a gift this year.

I’ve been scouring the web for great ideas for gifts for everyone this year.  Here’s some ideas for gifts from the heart….

Homemade Bread — Last year we gifted this bread to all the kid’s teachers.  They *loved* it.  It was good and healthy to boot.  I’m going to fire up the bread machines again and make a bunch for this year.  I’m making 23+ loaves this year.

Cookie Mixes in a Jar — These are fun to receive and can be made with basic ingredients.  Add some pizzaz by tying a ribbon around the top or making a cute label.  (I haven’t made these in a long time, but have been on the receiving end.)  Great ideas and books here:

• Gifts in a Jar: Cookies (from Amazon check out the used copies too)
• Gifts in a Jar: Soups – (from Amazon check out the used copies too)
• Gifts in a Jar: Bars and Brownies (from Amazon, check out the used copies too)
• Mason Jar Cookie Cookbook (from Amazon)
• Gifts in a Jar from OrganizedHome
• Ideas from CraftBits

Return Address Labels — If you’ve got a printer and basic software, you can create some cute return address labels.  This is on our list this year.  I want each family member to have their own address labels.  It fun as a kid to have your own.  I like to use Avery labels from Office Depot or Staples.   If you don’t feel too creative, or want someone else to do it for you, check out Vista Print.

Click here to order self-stick labels.

Homemade Hot Cocoa Mix — We love the recipe from Alton Brown.  Guess what someone’s getting this year?  Package in a pretty jar and include instructions and maybe a nice Christmas-y mug.

Wall Calendar — Grandparents seem to love this gift.  You can make your own by printing pictures and gluing on pre-made calendar blanks, or your own card stock.  Or, if you want someone to do it for you they can be done at:

• Snapfish
• Kodak Gallery
• CVS Stores
• 
  

Ornaments – some of my favorite gifts from friends have been their simple ornaments tucked inside a card.  Here’s some I found online:

• Christmas Angel out of paper clip
• Large listing from the Family Fun Magazine (subscribe today from Amazon for $5 off!)
• Craft Stick Ornament – one year the 1st graders made these snowmen.  very cute on our tree.
• Cute Farm Tractor – watch out if you have furry visitors to your house.  They’ll smell this a mile away.
• Photo ornaments – I think these would look great on my tree

And then package your special gift in a Cereal Box Gift Bag or other inventive wrapping.  A basic box with a bow looks great.

Do you have a favorite homemade gift to share?  Or if you tried one of these links leave us a comment and tell us about it.

Happy Holidays!
This post has been linked to other great ideas at Life As a Mom.

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