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Extreme Couponing – It is Amazing How Much Money Can Be Saved

Laura — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 11:38:15 +0000

I began watching a series called Extreme Couponing in cable TV, to be specific in the TLC channel.

I was quite amazed with this series since I have been hearing about coupons for a few years but I didn’t realize how we could effectively use them.

Here in Portugal there are almost no coupons. Brands barely never distribute coupons and it is impossible to get an item for free or even at a really low price. There are however some hypermarkets that offer client’s card discounts in some products from time to time.

Client’s card discount means that you still have to pay the full price of the product however a percentage (10%, 25%, 50%) will be credit in the client’s card and that amount can be used in future purchases.

From time to time there are peel coupons but those are rare and usually for a small amount.

Most of the time client’s card discounts can only be found in well known brands that are very expensive, meaning that, if we find the same product from a white brand it will be cheaper.

When I’m watching the episodes I’m thrilled to see people pay a small amount of money for a pile of goods.

If I had coupons over here I would definitely use them to pay less for my groceries. I wouldn’t be so extreme as some cases presented in Extreme Couponing, but I would for sure make the most of coupons to get great deals during my shopping trips.

Are you using coupons?

photo credit: paulswansen

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Buying Smart – Using Discounts and Deals

Laura — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 20:48:37 +0000

I’m jobless and happy at home but time will come in a few months when we will be living with only one small income. Difficult times are ahead of me and I should be prepared.

Going to the grocery store has become a meticulous journey. Brands are chosen based on a price comparison. Expensive products are not for sure selected but the cheapest ones sometimes are not also selected. Balance between quality and price is always taken into consideration. Not all the cheap products are appreciated but the expensive ones are usually avoided.

Coupons are not very popular around here but they are showing up more often. Sometimes coupons are for a special product, sometimes for a product category, and other times they are a percentage on top of all the shopping done.

There is also the chance to look for deals in certain cities with for instance Yipit. Imagine you live in Los Angeles and you are interested in getting los angeles deals. Using your email address you get as many deals as they exist in your mailbox. This is a great opportunity to get great products at excellent prices.

I’m always looking for deals and discounts which will lower my groceries bill. I don’t carry a calculator inside my pocket but I use my brain to buy smart.

Do you use coupons and deals sites? Do you save a lot of money by using them?

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Last Gifts Before 2011

Laura — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 13:20:21 +0000

Image via Wikipedia

Christmas is gone but most people continue to buy gifts until New Year’s Eve. Some people received money and gift certificates as a Christmas gift and now, they are spending the money in products that they didn’t have the chance to buy before.

Most stores are offering huge discounts to sell last items of their collections and this is really a good time to take advantage of low prices and buy things we need.

Clothes are always in the shopping list. New trends, new models available mean that a visit to the mall is needed. The same happens with shoes. However, some people prefer other type of gifts like Ralph Lauren Polo cologne, perfumes, jewellery, watches, and other exquisite gifts. Although kind of expensive, luxury gifts are bought for a huge number of people.

The tech people, like me, prefer a new hard disk, a new printer or even a new laptop. iPhone, iPod, iPad or a Smartphone are also the preferred gifts for 2010. Technology is, in fact, reaching all ages and all wallets.

Oh…and there are the gamers like my son. Those will search for new consoles accessories, if they don’t have them already, and they will look for brand new video games. During Christmas time the number of video games increased tremendously, and the money from grandparents and cousins just disappears among plastic boxes containing the video games.

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Top 10 Gifts for Your Parents

Laura — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 09:13:29 +0000

A Guest post by Brian Hopkins

10. Bose Noise Canceling Headphones
What parent couldn’t use a quiet moment to just sit back and relax? With these headphones by Bose, you can do just that. They feature a detachable audio cable for listening to music or watching movies, an oversized, around the ear fit, and improved noise-reduction technology to give your parent some peace and quiet. (299.95, bose.com)

9. The Parent’s Field Guide to Life
If you are looking for a fun way to create a memory, this keepsake journal is a great choice. It has 12 chapters, each of which lets your parent tell a story and, in turn, teach you a life lesson. Each chapter contains examples, questions, and inspirational quotes to guide your parent in writing. ($34, UncommonGoods.com)

8. Cannon Selphy CP760 Compact Photo Printer
This compact printer prints photos without the use of a computer. Simply insert your camera’s memory card into one of the built-in slots and you can select the photos you wish to print from the 2.5″ display. It is also Bluetooth compatible so you can send photos straight from your Bluetooth compatible camera. ($99.99, Kmart.com)

7. Duracell myGrid
Sometimes it’s hard to keep up with various chargers for all of your devices. That’s where the Duracell myGrid comes in handy. All you need to do is place a Power Sleeve or Power Clip on your mobile device and place it on the myGrid. You’ll need to check compatibility restrictions but it is compatible with most cell phones, handheld devices, and mp3 players. ($68.97, Walmart.com)

6. Eye-Fi Connect
If your parents have finally traded in their disposable camera for a digital one but they don’t know how to get the pictures off of it, take heart. A new memory card called the Eye-Fi Connect uses your home Wi-fi network to wirelessly upload pictures from the camera to your computer. ($49.99, eye.fi)

5. TomTom XXL 550
Sometimes you just need a little guidance to get where you’re going. The TomTom XXL 550 has a big, 5” screen and an EasyMenu so it’s easy to get where you’re going! ($168, Amazon.com)

4. Family Tree Wall Art
This beautifully framed family tree has 12 places for pictures, each of which has a quirky saying. If your parents like things that are a little outside of the box, this is a great choice. ($125, UncommonGoods.com)

3. Brookstone Wireless Key Finder
Who hasn’t lost their keys at some point? This device eliminates the morning panic. All you have to do is press the red or green button, and the corresponding set of keys will emit a loud beeping sound from anywhere in your home. Problem solved! ($49.95, Brookstone.com)

2. Personalized Calendar
All parents need a calendar in their home. Why not create one using family pictures? You can even put special dates on it before it is printed! ($21.99, Shutterfly.com)

1.A new cell phone
Here is where your parents may differ. For the tech savvy parent, the Blackberry Torch or iPhone 4 is a nice choice. For the less technologically advanced parent, you could try the Jitter bug which features large, simple buttons and no extra features to have to worry about. (Blackberry, $49.99 w/2 yr contract, Bestbuy.com; iPhone, $199.99 w/2 yr contract, Bestbuy.com; Jitterbug, $99, Greatcall.com)

Author Byline:

Brian Hopkins has been writing about the finance and shopping industries for 5 years. He currently helps people find savings for Christmas gifts online.

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Can we really save money giving gifts?

Laura — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 20:24:40 +0000

Image via Wikipedia

Now that Christmas is coming, people are thinking of how much it will cost them for their loved ones’ gifts. “It’s the though that counts.” This famous quotation is a proof that people don’t go for expensive gifts. There are those who are already pleased with a text greeting saying hello, hi, good morning and others. We should not make a fuss out of this situation now that the holiday season is near. We can save a lot of money if and only we will make use of our talents, skills, initiative and creativity. We can buy things that are not expensive and put some touch into it to make it more customized to fit to the people whom you will be sending the gift. Here are some tips.

1. Collect different items whole year round

This technique will not only make you save money but also it will cost you less time and effort. Shopping during the holidays is very stressful. There are many people in the malls, supermarkets, bazaar and everywhere you go and holiday items are far more expensive than buying it on days without occasions. You should have a gift closet where you can put all the items that you have bought from different stores. You can easily see if there are doubled items.

You should also include ribbons, buttons, wrappers and other accessories in your collection because a gift is well loved when wrapped beautifully.

2. Use your creativity

Giving customized gifts are more appreciated than those gifts bought from the stores. If you buy items from a store, put a little touch to it like an id lanyard or you can add a picture of yourself and the person to whom you want to give the gift to or a simple message pasted on the item like badge lanyards. Simple things like that would give more value to your gift. You can make people laugh and even reminisce many beautiful things with you.

3. Keep a checklist to make things organized

When you don’t have a closet of gifts, it is very important for you to have a complete list of the items to buy and your estimated budget for every person whom you will be sending your gifts to avoid spending hundreds of dollars on the mall. This will also reduce the possibility of impulse buying. There are many items that you can find in the stores but you should always keep yourself on the list or budget so as not to spend more than you have budgeted for.

The value of giving is not in the amount but on how much love and attention you put into that special something for your special someone. Christmas is the time for giving and love. What is important than gifts is the love that we can give to the ones that we truly love.

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Materials and Designs used in Children’s Clothing

Laura — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 11:32:34 +0000

Guest Post.

Children’s wear covers a wide range of clothing, shoes, and other accessories that are worn exclusively by children. These again differ based on the purpose, age, and sex of the child. The word child includes babies, toddlers, and teenagers, as well as other children between toddlers and teenagers. Therefore, children’s wear refers to range of clothing for children in all those age groups.

Image via Wikipedia

While clothing options for teenagers are nearly as good as those worn by adults, some of the clothing that adults wear like swimming suits are hard to find for children. Since children are still in a

growing stage of life, one should take care that their clothes not look undersized in a couple of months. Therefore, the designs selected for making children’s wear are sometimes chosen to ensure that clothes look good for almost a year, even if the child grows quite a few inches.

Children are also more inclined to dirty their clothes. Therefore, children’s wear should be easily washable. In addition, such clothes should be able to withstand the rough and tough treatment that children choose to give them. This is the reason some delicate materials that are commonly used by adults are not used frequently for making children’s wear.

Children’s wear is also commonly identifiable by its colors and designs. Pinks, peaches, light blues, whites, bright yellows, reds, and greens are more common in children’s clothing. Browns, beiges, maroons, grays, blacks, etc., are comparatively rare. Children’s wear often have some characters from bedtime stories stitched, printed, or affixed on them, unlike in the case of adults clothing. While adults wear hats, or caps, children use bonnets, and special type of caps, which prevent the scorching sunlight from getting to them. Their shoes may be made from leather. Alternately, their shoes may be made from rubber. High heels are avoided in children’s footwear. Shoes for babies may be made from canvas material.

The range of children’s wear include skirts, blouses, track suits, bonnets, bibs, school uniforms, socks, colorful sweaters, trousers, suede pants, pajamas, night gowns, night suits, T-shirts, bonnets, etc. Denim is often used to make skirts, jeans and trousers for both boys and girls. Knitted wear is also common as it keeps the child warm. Care is taken to see that the caps meant for babies cover the baby’s ears. Likewise, babies have their own socks, and gloves.

About the author:

Claire Jarrett is writing on behalf of Nubie, who offer Ferm living and Magis brands amongst others.

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Alternatives to Educational Kids Toys

Laura — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 22:59:29 +0000

Image via Wikipedia

Having my father in hospital changed our weekend plans. On Friday we had a birthday party but as I was on the ER waiting for news about my father, my husband attended the birthday and I only arrived late in the night.

Birthday parties have been a constant these last weeks and this week alone we are having three. My son had two and both my kids have one today. The good part of these birthday parties is that we always get a free meal, because when we show up to take the kids home we are always invited to eat something.

The worst part is to choose the birthday gifts. Educational kids toys are very expensive and so are the electronic games. I usually opt for a piece of clothing or a book. When we give a t-shirt or sweat we get comment: “clothes again?” If it is a book we get a: “a book? I don’t like to read.” Oh boy, these kids are difficult to please.

All these birthday parties happen in a real bad time line, when we are having a home financial crisis. I always look for a cheap gift although I always want a quality one. For instance a T-Shirt can cost less than $10 and still be of good quality and fashionable. Books can also be very expensive (at least for my pocket) but there are some books for children that are quite affordable. Board games as well as other toys are really away from my budget.

I find it more difficult to buy gifts for boys then girls. Most boys don’t read, they are very picky when it comes to clothes, therefore sometimes a certificate gift from a certain store is the best option. With the certificate gift they can buy what they want.

What do you usually buy to offer to your kid’s friends? Do you ask first what they want to receive or you choose by yourself?

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Cold Nights and Many Blankets in our beds

Laura — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 10:22:05 +0000

: Image via Wikipedia

We have been having negative temperatures during the night. I know this is normal for some of you but not so normal for us. I had to put extra blankets in the beds, keep the heaters on during the night so that the house don’t get too cold.

I thought about checking in the stores for some heated mattress pads but just the feeling of having something electrical on my bed just scares me out. I know they are completely safe, that they are low voltage, no danger but, what can I say, I’m too afraid to use them so I prefer extra blankets even if they are heavier.

Do you have any experience with heated mattress pads or heated blankets?

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Christmas Gifts – Will I have one?

Laura — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 22:38:25 +0000

: Image by minifig via Flickr

Christmas Shopping is all over the city. People running from shop to shop searching, touching, grabbing and choosing the gifts for their love ones. I only bought my daughter’s gift because it was a gift I had to order, but for now that’s all, I have to wait for the extra Christmas payment from the office that will probably come in one week.

The kids are not asking for many gifts, they already have many toys and they realize that they don’t need any more.

For us, the parents, well my husband would like to receive a Acer Aspire Netbook because he sometimes is a little envious of seeing me on the computer all the time and once we have a broken Desktop, he would like to have a portable computer to access the internet. Of course he has to wait for…another Christmas who knows, because we can’t afford a computer right now.

I’m always left behind when it comes to gifts, not by others but by myself. I only buy something for me if I have some money left otherwise I only buy something symbolic so that my kids realize that Santa gave me something. I’m that kind of person that always thinks first on the others and than (or never) on myself, what can I do.

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Checking out Baby Cribs

Laura — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 01:21:56 +0000

Being pregnant and preparing for your baby’s arrival is an exciting time. It can also be an overwhelming time. You will feel as though there are just too many things to do and an overwhelming amount of decisions to make. Relax, the baby won’t care, I promise. Know that whatever you choose to do will be right. That being said, you are probably planning a nursery.

A lot of people will start with a color scheme or bedding first. This isn’t the best way. You should start with the baby furniture, most importantly the baby crib. When you head to your local baby store in search of furniture start with the crib and choose the rest of the furniture around it.

A few things to think about while checking the cribs out:

is it the right size for the room?
is it convertible (changes to a toddler bed, or a day bed)?
do the sides go down for easy access?

You don’t want a crib that overwhelms your nursery no matter how cute it is. A convertible crib will last a lot longer making it worth more in the end.

Last, but not least, a movable side can save your back and latter your sanity. If you are of average height for a woman, or shorter, being able to lower the side of a crib will make your back happy when you get the baby out of the crib for the millionth time. It will also make it easier to get to a wiggly older baby when it comes to that. Keep these thoughts in mind as you start on your baby furniture journey. It will help to alleviate some of the stress and keep you on point as you search.

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Fisher-Price Kid-Tough Digital Camera

Laura — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 14:00:02 +0000

I’m not certain yet if I’m going to buy this Fisher-Price Kid-Tough Digital Camera Pinkfor my daughter but it sure is one of her “gift wanted”. I first knew about this kid’s camera through my co-worker that is buying it for his daughter.

This camera is very easy to use, has simple buttons, a 1.5″ color LCD that makes it easy for the kids to focus and take the picture. It has a built in flash allowing the kids to take photos in dark environments. It’s shock and water resistant so it can be used by any family member without the fear to get broken.

It will be shipped in Amazon Frustration-Free Packaging, that will prevent you from stressing with the packaging.

Get it now for $32,99 (45% off the price).