Entertaining children on a dollar store budget
July 3, 2008
Have you ever been faced with having to entertain a group of children but didn’t have a big budget?
You can give kids big money fun on a dollar store budget. As I discussed in a previous post, you can get lots of great deals by dollar store shopping.
If you have an event where kids need to be entertained and remain seated, create gift bags for them. You can find coloring books, markers, Crayons, and little games all for a $1 a piece, or sometimes less. Package the items in a paper bag for each child. You could even personalize and decorate the bags if you’ve got the time. Or better yet, challenge the children to decorate their own bags with the materials you’ve given them inside.
This next idea was something my mom came up with for a family 4th of July party one year. She purchased toys at the dollar store, like bug catching kits and games. My parents happen to have a sand volleyball court, so she buried the toys in the sand and gave each child a plastic bucket, a shovel, and a “treasure map” to the items they had to find. If you don’t have sand nearby, you could still hide the items around your home and give the kids clues to find their prizes.
Look for sidewalk chalk and bubbles. Just give the kids access to some concrete, chalk and a bottle of bubbles each (so no one fights over them), and they can entertain themselves for quite a long time. I was able to find packages of bubbles that were 3 for $1 at my local Dollar Tree.
If you’re looking for entertainment and education, look for flashcards, puzzles and workbooks. I’ve found lots of great things like this at the Dollar Tree, too. They are great for teaching kids and keeping them busy.
The key is to be creative. You don’t have to spend tons of money to entertain children.
Get better gas mileage and learn about hypermiling
July 2, 2008
We all want to save money on gas. There are some easy ways to do that. Then there are the more complicated ways.
First, some of the easy ways to make the most of every gallon of gas:
· Drive the speed limit. Speeding is one of the fastest ways to cause your miles per gallon to plummet. (And yes, there was a pun intended.)
· Keep up with the routine maintenance of your vehicle.
· Make sure your tires are properly, but not overly, inflated.
· Eliminate any unnecessary weight in your car.
· When traveling below 40 miles per hour, turn off your air conditioner and open your windows. When you’re traveling over 40, it’s actually more efficient to run your air because of the drag the open windows will cause at higher speeds.
There are some drivers who have taken fuel conservation to a whole new level. They are known as “hypermilers.”
I have been reading a ton of stuff lately about “hypermiling,” which is basically a driving practice that is supposed to lead to maximum fuel efficiency for your vehicle.
There are people out there who are hypermiling experts. Then there are a whole lot of people who have jumped on the bandwagon in the wake of high fuel prices.
Hypermiling involves going beyond the obvious things we can all do and starts to get into some other practices. I read some blogs about hypermiling and thought, “Some of these things sound really unsafe?”
And apparently I’m right … and sort of wrong.
It turns out that some drivers who don’t really understand the principles of hypermiling have started using some techniques — like drafting, driving excessively slow or turning off their engine — that are hazardous on the roadway.
Check out this article that details some of the dangers. The hypermiling web sites do not advocate some of these practices.
Driving too slow can be dangerous on busy highways. Drafting, aka tailgating, behind big trucks is not safe because it reduces your ability to see ahead of you and increases your chances of rear-ending the vehicle ahead of you. And turning off your vehicle means you lose all of the power to your car including steering and brakes.
It’s important to increase your fuel efficiency, but it’s even more important to stay safe.
If you’re interested in learning more about getting better fuel economy from your vehicle and being a safe driver visit:
Reduce discretionary spending in your budget
June 20, 2008
Money is staring to get tight for a lot of people right now as costs continue to climb. I’ve already written about ways to save money by clipping coupons, going green and dollar store shopping.
Now I’m going to suggest evaluating your spending on things that you may have an option to scale back on or eliminate from your budget.
How much are you spending on cable television or a satellite dish each month? Consider reducing your package or doing away with cable or satellite all together.
Are you paying for mobile phones and a home phone? Are you using both phones? If you have a home phone that you haven’t picked up in months, you may want to consider cancelling the service. Also, see if your mobile phone plan fits your phone usage. Sometimes increasing your package can actually save you money. If you have a plan that allows for 400 minutes of anytime talk, and you’re using 600, you’re probably spending a lot on overage fees. Adjust your plan or reduce the amount of time you talk during peak hours.
You could also look at bundling your television, internet and phone services with one provider. This can sometimes be less expensive than paying for each service individually. One thing I would caution you to do is to find out if the price you are given is an introductory rate. Some services offer very low rates to encourage people to sign up for the bundle, but the cost increases after a certain period of time. If you are being given an introductory rate, make certain you know what the normal rate will be.
Review your insurance plan. You absolutely want to make sure you have adequate coverage, but double check to make sure you are not over-insured. Several years ago while reviewing my car insurance policy, it came to light that I was over-insured. Making a few changes knocked about $150 off of my plan for the year.
Look over your subscriptions and memberships. Ask yourself if you’re really getting something out of them. Why bother subscribing to a magazine that you barely read or paying for a gym membership if you hardly ever go.
If finances are really tight, it’s more important to pay your electric bill or buy groceries than it is to pay for satellite television or a subscription to “Men’s Health” magazine.
These are just some ideas of ways you can save. Sit down and review all of your expenditures and see what things you can eliminate from your budget.
And remember, these cuts don’t necessarily have to be permanent. You can always add luxuries back into your budget when your financial situation improves.
Trim meat from meals to trim your expenses
June 13, 2008
Many people are trying to scale back their expenses to make ends meet.
I don’t want to say that it’s easy to scale back on the things we want, because that often means a change in lifestyle. However, it’s possible.
It is much harder to control costs when it comes to life’s necessities. One of those necessities is food. We all have to eat, and most of us would like to eat a somewhat healthy and balanced diet.
Cutting back on meat in meals may seem daunting if you’ve never ventured into meat-free cooking.
A recent New York Times article offers some great practical advice for scaling back on meat in your meals. Like any other habits you change, it will take some getting used to, but it can be done.
One great suggestion in the article is to make meat a small part of your meal instead of the main attraction. Rice and beans are very affordable and can be purchased in bulk if you’re trying to feed a growing family. Serve rice or beans as the main staple of the meal and incorporate a little meat.
For some great vegetarian recipes, check out www.vegcooking.com. You can also Google “vegetarian cooking” for more sites. If you can’t stomach the thought of going completely meat free, you could add a small amount of meat to many of these recipes.
I am not a vegetarian, but I like to eat meat-free meals. I have found lots of ways to convert some typical meaty meals into vegetarian meals. Here are two suggestions to get you started:
One of my favorites is lasagna. This is an easy one. Instead of using beef in the layers, I substitute spinach and mushrooms sautéed with a little garlic. You get a ton of protein from the spinach (plus frozen spinach is only about $1 a pack) and a meaty texture from the mushrooms.
Another one of my favorite meals is chicken fajitas. If I want to go meat free, I substitute zucchini, squash and black beans for the chicken. You could also add tofu.
But now the question becomes, how do you eat meat-free in a cost effective way?
Starting a garden of your own is one of the most money friendly ways to get vegetables. Even if you don’t have a lot of space you could grow some things, like tomatoes or fresh herbs, in pots.
Don’t pass by Farmer’s Markets. You can often find high quality produce at a lower cost than the grocery store.
If you are shopping at the grocery store, buy what’s on sale that week. Check out the store circulars and plan meals around the weekly specials.
If you find fruits or veggies that are on sale and will freeze well, buy extra and store it.
Going meat-free, at least a few times a week, can help you trim your food costs. You just have to show a little initiative and a willingness to try something new.
Don’t become an on-line identity theft victim
May 9, 2008
Computers are wonderful things. They allow us access to our bank accounts, credit card statements, and just about any type of reading you could want.
But, those wonderful computers can also allow con artists access to your most personal information effectively making you a victim of identity theft.
Last week I wrote about scammers who are capitalizing on the economic stimulus checks that have already been electronically distributed to some Americans and will continue to be distributed by mail through mid-summer.
As a follow up, we’ll talk a bit about internet security in general.
To give credit where credit is due, I got this idea from a colleague who handed me the May 1 edition of the Wall-Street Journal. Writer Walter S. Mossberg covered this topic. Any information I pass along from the article will be so credited.
I mentioned this last week, but it bears repeating: DO NOT give out any of your personal information via the internet (or the telephone for that matter) if you are not 100 percent certain of who is on the receiving end of that information.
That is how so many of these internet scams start. An individual receives a very legitimate looking e-mail asking about a timely topic, such as the tax rebates, and that well-intentioned individual supplies all kinds of information under the false pretense of making a legitimate transaction.
Have you gotten one of the many e-mails circulating that claim to be from some guy living in a developing nation who desperately needs to get to the
Some e-mails practically scream SCAM! At least they scream to me, but not to everyone. During my years as a reporter I fielded numerous calls from good people who found themselves stunned and out of a lot of money after falling victim to scammers.
Now to borrow from Mr. Mossberg, here are some tips for navigating the web:
1) Never click on a link that is embedded in an e-mail from anything appearing to be a financial institution or any payment or auction web sites. Don’t click on the link even if it appears to be from your bank or a company with which you do business.
2) Don’t click on links to offers for free soft-ware or goods that you receive via e-mail. This is especially important if you receive an offer from a sender or company you don’t recognize.
3) Never download software from unfamiliar web sites unless you are absolutely certain it is legitimate.
4) If a web site tells you that you need a certain type of software to view videos, don’t download it from that site. Mr. Mossberg suggests you go directly to the software company’s official web site to download the product.
5) Use a web browser or security software with security features that will block or warn you of phishing sites.
6) Educate yourself about internet scams.
If you would like to read more about this or check out Walt Mossberg’s other columns about the web, you can visit his web site at http://walt.allthingsd.com.
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Recent Posts
- Entertaining children on a dollar store budget
- Get better gas mileage and learn about hypermiling
- Storage lockers: Stuff to save and sell
- Pets feel the pinch of foreclosure
- Beware of promises to repair your credit
- Watch out for delivery surcharges
- Reduce discretionary spending in your budget
- Deal with your debt
- Don’t try to keep government money sent by mistake
- Trim meat from meals to trim your expenses
