Archive for Jennifer
10 Things Parents Should Teach Their Kids About Money
Yes, it doesn’t grow on trees…but there’s a lot more to tell kids about money. Get your children on the right foot early in life and establish thrifty habits that will always serve them well. Here are ten tips:
1. It’s never too early to start learning about money. Even a preschooler can be told there is such a thing as a job. I remember explaining to my young son about how Mommy and Daddy needed to go to their jobs, because we earned money to pay for food, clothes and toys for him.
2. Ben Franklin once said, "a penny saved is a penny earned." Start a savings habit early. A good old-fashioned piggy bank is a fun teaching tool. Give your child a goal – a special toy or treat to save up for, and help him or her track the savings.
3. Teach them how to curb spending. Take your kids grocery shopping and show them how you compare prices and use coupons. Bring a calculator so they can keep a running total and see if their numbers are accurate when you reach the cashier.
4. Tie allowances to chores, so your kids earn their money and get an understanding of the rewards of work.
5. Have family meetings to talk about family finances (e.g., paying for the house, food, gas, vacations, etc.).
6. There’s no such thing as a free lunch. Kids may not realize that pizza delivery and restaurant meals cost your hard earned cash. Point to the prices on the menu, show them the bill at the end of the meal, and explain how tips and taxes are added to it. They may be amazed at how much it costs to eat meals out.
7. Turn a bank trip into a learning experience. Teach the kids that money doesn’t just magically spit out of ATM’s for free, it comes from your paycheck and goes into the bank before it comes out of the machine. Inside a bank, explain what they do; show your safe deposit box too, if you have one.
8. By the time a kid is in high school, he or she should have, and know how to use, a savings account and be taught how to use checking accounts and ATM’s.
9. Ben Franklin also said there is nothing certain in life except death and taxes. When they’re teens, show your kids how to fill out a simple tax return such as the IRS EZ form.
10. Knowledge isn’t cheap, if you want college credit for it. Kids need to prepare for the cost of college; go on www.collegeboard.com or other sites with your kids to research and plan for the costs of the colleges they may want to attend.
Photo courtesy of Flickr
Free Lysol Healthy Habits For Kids Activity Booklets
Get free downloadable (or mailed to you) activity booklets that teach kids how to wash their hands and avoid germs, eat properly, brush their teeth and stay safe. These booklets have puzzles and games to make it fun for kids to learn, plus a cute dog mascot named Scrubs. The booklets are offered by the makers of Lysol in conjunction with the National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners (NAPNAP).
Sounds logical that the Lysol folks want to teach us how to avoid germs. And with flu and H1N1 a big concern now, especially in schools, this is timely advice. It’s sound, basic stuff like telling kids to wash their hands after sneezing and before eating. The free publications don’t push Lysol products; they seem pretty objective and it helps to have a respected nurses’ organization involved.
Expiration Date: unknown
Boston Market $1 Real Chicken Meal and Coupons
Get a 3 piece dark chicken or quarter white chicken meal with mashed potatoes and cornbread at Boston Market for only $1. Good through 11/1/09. Taxes extra. Also, through 11/28/09, get coupons for $1 off one meal, $2 off 10 purchase, and $4 off a $20 purchase. Find your nearest Boston Market here.
An entire meal for only a buck? Holy cow…er, I mean, chicken. What a great deal for a quick meal out this weekend, and it’s a full serving, not just a small sample size portion. Plus you can always use the other coupons later.
Expiration Date: 11/1/2009
Sears Halloween Free Mattel Toy – $5 Off Coupon
On Oct 31st, bring your child dressed in their Halloween costume to the new Sears Toy Shop and receive a FREE Mattel toy, while supplies last. Also, print out the page for $5 off $20 toy purchase for regular priced merchandise in store only.
I don’t know what sort of toy they’re giving away, but the important thing is, it’s free. So if you can, swing by the mall at stop in Sears before or after you take your child hunting for candy. The toy will be a nice extra little treat and it won’t cause cavities.
Expiration Date: 10/31/2009
White Castle BOGO Cheeseburger Sliders Deal
.jpg)
White Caste is offering buy one Cheeseburger Slider, Get One Free. Get their signature burger with cheese, steamed onions and pickle, with this printable coupon. Besides burgers, they have french fries, chicken rings and onion rings. You can also find White Castle products in the Freezer section of your nearest Grocery Store.
White Castle burgers are small, so it’s a good idea to get two of them to fill yourself up. Regrettably, there aren’t any White Castles in my area so I’ll leave this for others to enjoy.
Mark writes:
I always wanted to try White Castle burgers, because I love to eat hamburgers. I seen White Caste on Ugly Betty and Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle. When I go to California or Las Vegas, I have to make a stop to In and Out Burger, just to satisfy my burger craving.
Expiration Date: 10/31/2009
13 Vampire Energy Sucking Devices In Your Home
Did you know there are vampires in your home right now? This is not a Halloween story. It’s real. They are sucking the life out of your household energy budget. I’m talking about energy vampires, the gadgets and appliances that drain your electricity and your wallet even when you are not using them.
There are so many devices that have a standby mode, which means they use up energy even when turned off. Vampire power can cost you up to 10% of your electric bill. In fact, on a national basis, standby power accounts for more than 100 billion kilowatt hours of annual U.S. electricity consumption and more than $10 billion in annual energy costs.
The first challenge is to identify products that draw standby power. Here are clues to recognizing products that draw power continuously:
* Remote control
* External power supply
* Digital display, LED status light, or digital clock
* Contains a battery charger
* Has soft-touch key-pad
A product with one or more these features will have standby power use; however, other products won’t have any of these and may still have standby. The only way to be sure is to measure them with a meter.
Here are the 13 worst energy suckers, followed by ways to drive the proverbial stake through the heart of their vampire-like behavior:
1. Set-top box for TV (such as a DVR, VCR or cable box)
2. Television – rear projection and plasma TV’s are the worst offenders
3. Desktop and laptop computers
4. Audio systems – powered subwoofers are the biggest energy suckers
5. Printers and scanners
6. CD and DVD players
7. Cordless telephone
8. Fax machine
9. Wireless router
10. Microwave oven
11. External USB hard drive
12. DSL modem
13. Computer monitors
EASY WAYS TO SLAY THE ENERGY VAMPIRES
Use a power strip as a central "turn off" point when you are done using equipment, which completely disconnects the power supply. You can use one for your computer and all peripheral equipment, and another for your home electronics (TV, VCR, DVD, stereo, gaming). Keep in mind, however, that if you’ve set a timer to wake up a product, such as programming a DVR or VCR to record a program, then the product must remain plugged in (and able to draw standby power) to function as intended.
Unplug your chargers: cell phone chargers, camera chargers, battery chargers or power adapters, etc. These are drawing some amount of energy even when not in use (and even when not connected to an end-use product).
Buy low-standby products if you can find them. Look for products labeled Energy Star, which means they meet certain government guidelines for energy savings. Get more help from the U.S. Dept. of Energy at: www.energystar.gov
Photo courtesy of Flickr
Free Kentucky Grilled Chicken Sample
Get a free piece of grilled chicken from KFC on 10/26/2009 – and they hope that this time, there won’t be any problems to squawk about. You may remember KFC had this giveaway in May. The chain was overwhelmed with responses, and some stores ran out of chicken and they gave out rainchecks instead. Click here to find your nearest KFC restaurant.
Grilled chicken was introduced only this year at KFC and already it accounts for more than 30 percent of sales. If you haven’t tried it yet, here’s your chance to do it for free and see if it’s worth all the fuss.
Mark writes:
This would be great, if it was valid in Hawaii, because the last time, the Oprah effect, took over everyone got a free meal, except me. I would love to try it, but I really go to KFC for their original recipe fried chicken, biscuits and hot wings.
Expiration Date: 10/26/2009
Oriental Trading Halloween Specials
You can find amazing deals on Halloween gear for both kids and adults at Oriental Tradings. They have a sale with prices starting at $1.49 for accessories (such as a "vial of blood") and starting at $3.99 for costumes. Also, enter code FREEOCT at checkout to get free standard shipping on any order within the contiguous U.S., through 11:59 Central Time on October 19th. Sizes and quantities are limited, so act quickly.
I’m still a kid at heart, and I love dressing up for Halloween parties. But I don’t want to drop a lot of cash for something I’ll only wear once a year. Oriental Trading has a pretty nice selection and the prices are definitely not scary.
Expiration Date: 10/31/2009
10 Reasons You Should Cancel Your Cable TV Right Now
1. Cut bills - Depending on your options, cable TV can cost from about $30-90 per month, averaging about $60. That’s $720 a year that you could save up or spend on something else.
2. Save electricity – Not a large amount, but still, you could save $20-50 per year by turning off the TV.
3. Skip commercials – They pay the bills – for the sponsors, not for you. Don’t be tempted to buy more just because you see it advertised.
4. Get more free time - The average American spends more than five hours a day watching TV. Five hours! Imagine giving up some of that time and doing so many other things instead – spending time with family, getting exercise, reading a good book, pursuing hobbies or maybe earning extra dollars with a second job.
5. Cut stress - When you spend five hours a day watching TV, you have to squeeze the rest of your life into the remaining, limited time. With less time watching TV, you can accomplish other things at a more leisurely pace instead of feeling so frantic.
6. Eat better – Lots of TV watching leads to fast food, convenience food and fatty snacks in front of the tube. Skip a show and spend the hour cooking a healthy meal.
7. Improve your health and fitness - Obviously, watching TV is sedentary, plus it means you have less time available to exercise.
8. Communicate better – TV takes the place of conversation in too many households. Watch less, talk more, and feel closer to your family.
Hulu — Hulu is the big name in streaming video for a reason, carrying shows from Disney, Fox and NBC.
TVGuide.com — TV Guide offers lots of full-length TV episodes, clips and exclusive interviews on its website.
YouTube — Online video king YouTube now carries some full length TV shows, along with the usual viral videos of laughing babies and such.
SlashControl — AOL’s new SlashControl offers content from a lot of different sites including TV.com, Hulu and Fancast. The site also offers full-length movies.
Photo courtesy of Flickr
Free L’Oreal Hair and Skin Care Samples
Get a free sample of L’Oreal Advanced Revitalift Deep-Set Wrinkle Repair and a free sample of L’Oreal Everpure hair care. You’ll need to register for a free account, then click on "My L’Oreal" and then "Special Offers" to request these samples. There are also several coupons available to print. You should receive your sample in 8 to 10 weeks.
I recently bought L’Oreal Everpure shampoo and conditioner, and it’s great stuff. Recently, I changed my hair color and I was concerned about preserving the new shade. Everpure products are sulfate-free so they are more gentle than regular shampoos and won’t strip your hair or your hair color.
Expiration Date: unknown
Subscribe to Full RSS Feed
