1. Cut coupons – Each Sunday I look forward to receiving the newspaper, where we receive upwards of 100 coupons in our Sunday newspaper.

2. Download coupons off the internet – Check out www.coolsavings.com or www.couponcart.com for great on-line deals on your favorite items.

3. Join frequent buyer clubs at your local grocers – These no-cost programs offer club members on select products. In my last grocery trip I saved $15 as a member of my local grocer’s club and another $10 in clipped coupons.

4. Join a local warehouse club – Locally we have a Costco and Sam’s Club, as well as a Super Target and Super Walmart, where I have found significant savings over our name brand supermarkets. The wholesale clubs can save you 20

5. Purchase generic brands and/or store brands – I have often compared store brands to name brands and find that there is rarely a difference between the two. In fact, like many other products we purchase (i.e., electronics, appliances), the same manufacturer that makes the name brand often manufactures the generic product.

6. Purchase fresh products instead of processed/packaged products – It’s no surprise that fresh unprocessed foods are healthier for us, but these foods not only save in calories, but are also less expensive than packaged and processed foods.

7. Prepare a List – when you go to the store with a plan, you are less likely to succumb to impulse purchases. Check out the ‘All Out Of’ shopping list notepad that allows you to create your grocery list as you deplete household items. It has a magnet on the back so you can affix it to your frig.

8. Shop your supermarket’s weekly specials – Each week we receive our local supermarket’s brochure of advertised specials, which often include two for one sales. These circulars will also advertise double-coupon days. During double-coupon days and two for one specials, I’ve taken the opportunity to stock up on often used staples.

9. Choose products on the top and bottom shelves – It is no accident that higher priced products appear at eye-level on our grocery shelves. These are often the smaller sizes of a product, which typically have a higher per unit cost.

Originally posted 2008-08-24 09:24:48. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

In this tough economy, “couponing” is receiving serious consideration in many households. So do coupons really save you money or Are They a Waste of Time? The short answer to this question is yes. But, you have to have a system in place for cutting them and storing them in order to have your coupons accessible so you will use them.

When I started using coupons years ago, they were really only available in the newspaper. You could cut them out of the Sunday paper and they were good for a month or two. Now, the availability of coupons is endless. They can still be found in the newspaper and magazines, but are now in abundance in printable form from websites and in the form of online coupons that are great when shopping on the Internet. With so many choices for coupons, there’s no reason not to be saving every time you shop. Here are some ways that coupons can save you a lot of green. 

1. Cut out coupons for the grocery store. People have to eat. It’s a fact of life. Those coupons in the Sunday paper are good for everything from cat food to candy bars (not that you should eat a lot of those). Snip all that may apply to your household needs.

2. Get organized. Make your own coupon organizer or use a ready-made coupon organizer like the highly-acclaimed Couponizer. The Couponizer does the organization for you – it makes it easy to categorize your coupons by type and/or expiration. Every time you go to the grocery store, you can easily pull out the stack of coupons that pertain to the goodies in your cart or coupons that will soon be expiring. The feature I appreciate most about The Couponizer is that it lays flat in my cart so I can be hands-free and not have to fumble with the accordian type that I used to use.

3. Use coupons for other things besides the grocery store. Coupons can be found in magazines on advertising pages and in amongst your mail on other days of the week. There are coupons for restaurants, car repairs, mattresses and carpet steam cleaning. Everyone will need car repairs at some point (especially after your last payment) so those auto coupons can come in handy.

4. Present your coupon before you buy in some instances. This applies to restaurants and car repairs. If you have any questions about the coupon’s validity, ask before you spend the time shopping. If you can have your brakes serviced for $100, be sure that it includes both sets of brakes and the rotors and/or brake pads. Know what you are getting so you can judge if the coupon is a good deal.

5. Look for other bargains to pair with your coupons. Coupons can be just like money – it burns a hole in your pocket. If you have a coupon for 20 percent off your purchase at an electronics store, shop the store circular to see if they have anything on sale that you want to purchase. Save that 20 percent off coupon for when that laptop you want goes on sale. Now, you’ll get an extra percentage off the total price.

6. Use store incentives. Some stores (mostly grocery stores) offer coupons and discounts just for signing up for their store incentive card. Just by walking in the store, you receive a discount on many items they sell. In combination with a coupon you can save more.

Coupons can save you money on clothing, groceries, automotive needs, toys, travel, movies and more. Be sure to read coupons carefully for restrictions and black-out times. To get the most bang for your buck, keep your coupons in easy reach when you’re leaving the house, or keep them in the car. Afterall, unless you’re shopping on-line you will always be using coupons while out and about.

Originally posted 2009-12-27 20:28:29. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

So you’ve taken the plunge and gone paperless. Excellent decision!

Now that you have your documents in beautifully scanned and searchable PDF files, have you stopped to consider how safe and secure they are?

Having your documents backed up and protected is more important than ever once you go paperless, but the good news is there are easy things you can do to make your digital files even more safe and secure than the paper ones that once clogged up your filing cabinets.

Are Your Documents Backed Up?

It is said that there are two types of hard drives: those that have failed and those that will. I believe it.

The absolute first thing that you need to do, if you haven’t already, is set up an automated backup routine for your documents. This is critical!

Luckily for you, this is very easy to do. Both Mac OSX (Time Machine) and Windows 7 (Backup And Restore) come with scheduled backup software.

At the very least, go down to your local big box store or online retailer and pick up a 1 or 2 Terabyte external hard drive. Plug it in, configure the built-in software, and you are good to go. Your documents are backed up.

If you want to be even more secure, pick up something like a Drobo or other RAID-like device that will keep your files replicated on its’ multiple hard drives.

Are Your Documents Offsite?

Having your documents backed up in your home or office is a great first step, but what happens if you have a fire, flood, or theft?

It’s important to have your filed stored somewhere offsite as well.

This can be as simple as regularly burning a CD or DVD, using a file syncing service like Dropbox, or even better use an online backup service such as Mozy or Carbonite. That way even if something happens to your home or office, your documents are safe “in the cloud”.

Are Your Documents Encrypted?

If you have your laptop stolen, you have a problem. If you have your laptop stolen with all your personal information on it, you now have two problems.

One solution is to encrypt your documents on your hard drive. There are many ways and programs you can use to do this, but two free ways are to use TrueCrypt on Windows and to create an encrypted sparsebundle on Mac OSX.

Once your documents are encrypted, even if someone steals your laptop or hard drive, they’ll still need to know your secret passphrase to view your personal information.

In summary, going paperless is dangerous if you don’t take some steps to make your documents safe and secure. Fortunately, these steps are easy and, in many cases, free. Be safe out there!

Originally posted 2010-09-17 11:35:44. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Eat Healthier

Planning your family meals will cut down on your trips to your favorite fast food restaurant and the amount of pizza you have delivered to your door. Food you prepare at home tends to be much healthier than hamburgers with fries, fried chicken or pizza. When you plan your meals include some lean protein like chicken breast, as well as some salads and vegetables. Your entire family will benefit from the healthier meals.

Save Time

How much time are you spending now running to the grocery store a few times a week. I used to run to the store at least 3 times a week to buy something to fix for dinner. Planning your meals out for a week at a time and then putting together a grocery list with everything you need to cook those meals will cut your trips to the store down to one a week. This alone will save you a few hours each week. Plus you won’t be standing in front of your fridge and pantry every night trying to come up with something you can fix with what you have at hand.

Save Money

All that eating out and having food delivered can quickly add up. By preparing more meals at home you will save quite a few dollars each week. In addition, you will save on your monthly grocery bill, since you will be making a list of everything you need for the week and won’t end up buying extras that just go to waste. I used to throw out food almost every week before I started meal planning.

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Less Stress

You know the routine. It’s 6 pm, everyone in the family is starving and you have no idea what’s for dinner. Trying to come up with something to cook from what you have in the kitchen while your kids are tired, hungry and screaming isn’t one of the most fun family activities. You will be much more relaxed about dinner, when you know exactly what you are going to cook ahead of time and known you have everything you need in the house.

Quality Time Together

Meal Planning also encourages everyone to gather around the dinner table each day. Who could resist the delicious smells coming out of the kitchen? Dinnertime has always been a great time for families to gather and share news and experiences of the day. Parents and children can pay each other undivided attention. Cook some dinner, set the table and don’t forget to turn off the TV. Make dinner a daily family tradition again.

I encourage you to give family meal planning a try. I am sure you and your family will see the benefits within less than a week.

Christine Steendahl Is The Founder Of Dine Without Whine – A Family Friendly Weekly Menu Planner.  Eliminate Your Dinner Hour Stress And Re-Discover The Pleasure Of The Dinner Hour!

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Originally posted 2011-01-27 22:37:04. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

No worries … the end of summer is still a great time for a garage sale. Over the next week I’ll be posting the steps that I recommend for planning and organizing a successful garage sale.

The steps I’ll be discussing are:

• Step 1: Determine the cost benefit of having a garage sale
• Step 2: Pre-sale planning
• Step 3: Attracting buyers
• Step 4: Preparing the goods
• Step 5: Money issues
• Step 6: The day of the sale
• Step 7: What to do with the leftovers

First in the series,(covered in this post) are conducting a cost benefit analysis of even having a garage sale and Pre-planning.

Step 1: Determine Cost/Benefit of Having a Garage Sale

In other words, when you consider the stuff you have to sell and the value of your time, is it worth it to spend your time on this activity vs. other ways to spend your time. Let’s delve into this more.

OK … your house is overflowing with “stuff.” Its good stuff and it meant so much at one time. But it just doesn’t meet your current needs. Still, it’s too good to throw away – and it would be nice to receive some financial benefit. A garage or yard sale MAY be the perfect solution, but it may not.

Before you decide, remember there will be a significant time commitment to this effort: gathering items, cleaning up items that are dusty and dirty, grouping and organizing – and then the 20 hours of personal time you will spend waiting on your customers during a two-day sale. In addition, you may need to clean up the garage or yard to make it workable site for the sale. (But what a great excuse to clean out the garage – you’re killing 2 birds with 1 stone here – getting rid of unwanted stuff and cleaning out the garage at the same time!)

What is the cost of your time versus the financial gain? One way to find out is to do some research on eBay or Craig’s List to see what similar items are currently selling for. Then consider the fact that garage sale items typically sell for less than on eBay.

If you have a few items you believe have significant value, you may want to consider selling them through a newspaper ad or an internet service like Craig’s List or eBay instead of a garage sale or consignment.

If you truly believe you can reap a financial benefit to compensate for your time and effort, then full speed ahead. If you can join in on a neighborhood or community sale, you may reduce your time commitment for site preparation, and you are not burdened with finding enough items to justify your own sale.

Before you put out your goods for a garage sale, make sure you take the steps necessary to make it successful.

Step 2: Pre-sale Planning

• Check zoning laws and neighborhood covenants. Some governing boards may have good reasons for not allowing a consumer sale in your neighborhood.
• Pick a date that works for the population you are trying to attract. Joining in on a date chosen by the neighborhood for residents to have their own sales is preferred. Usually, the more sales there are in a general area, the more people it will draw. Likewise, the neighborhood association may pay to promote the event, reducing your out-of-pocket costs.
• Begin going through your home and pulling items that you have deemed to be no  longer useful, loved or outdated. Be ruthless, this is your chance to clean out and make some money for your efforts. For strategies on how to tackle this, check out this post – 5 Boxes, a Bag and a List. There is also a list of more related posts at the end of this one.
• Prepare your garage or yard carefully. If you have it in the garage, isolate or cover the items not for sale. Any valuable items should be kept out of sight or moved into the house, if possible.

Next up is how to attract buyers, how to prepare your stuff for the best presentation and pricing …

Originally posted 2010-08-24 12:53:32. Republished by Blog Post Promoter