Top 5 Back-to-School Deals for This Week (August 5-11, 2012)

With Back~To~School just around the corner, its probably a good idea to begin thinking along those lines...here are some groovy great tips and sales for you to enjoy~!!

Crystal Paine, The Money Saving Mom, thought you might be interested in these great weekend deals.

Kid's Jeans for $9 From Old Navy: Old Navy has all their Kid's Famous Jeans on sale for $10 through August 15, 2012. This sale is both in-store and online. If you are planning on purchasing multiple pairs, you can sign up for Old Navy emails to get a $10 off $50 coupon. Plus, shipping is free on orders over $50. So you could potentially get five pairs of jeans for just $9 shipped each. If you're shopping in-store, you can print a $10 off $50 coupon from the Old Navy Facebook Page.  Kid's Jeans for as Low as $8.50 from The Children's Place: The Children's Place has a number of different jeans priced at $10 right now. Use coupon code RETAILMENOT82 to get an additional 15% off your order, making the jeans just $8.50 per pair after this coupon code. Shipping is free on $75+ orders or a flat-rate of $5 on orders less than $75.  Free 6-month Subscription to Shop Runner: If you do a lot of online shopping, you'll want to check this offer out! Sign up for a free Cozi account and they'll give you a coupon for a free 6-month subscription to Shop Runner. Shop Runner gives you unlimited free shipping to many different online sites -- just in time for purchasing back-to-school clothes, shoes, and electronics!  Buy One, Get One 50% Off Plus Additional 15% Off at Famous Footwear: Famous Footwear is running aBuy One, Get One Half Off Sale right now. This is a great opportunity to stock up on quality shoes for your kids at low prices. Plus, use this coupon to get an additional 15% off your order total.  Free First Day of School Printable Signs: Like to take a photo of your children on their first day of school to commemorate the occasion? Download two different free designs of First Day of School Signs. In addition, you can find some other fun free Back-to-School printables here.  Crystal Paine is a wife, mom of three, author of The Money Saving Mom®'s Budget. Visit her blog, MoneySavingMom.com, for the best back-to-school deals and for practical ideas and inspiration to get your life and finances in order.

Teaching Children The Value Of Money

Given the current state of the economy in the UK, it seems only right that Parliament is discussing how prevalent financial education should be in our schools. It’s important that we help future generations avoid accumulating such massive amounts of debt, and that’s where we, as parents, can help.  

If you want to teach your children about money from a young age, but are unsure about how start, you’ll find some useful tips in this blog…

One of the first things you could do to teach your child about the value of money is to let them help you create a shopping list and tell them about how much money you have to spend at the shops. By explaining that you need to set a budget because your money also needs to be spent on other important things, your child will understand that you can only buy what you really need. You could also ask your child to help you find produce on the shopping list that’s priced the lowest and highest so they can gage how much things cost.

In a world where credit card debts and loans are consuming peoples’ lives, it is very important to teach children about the value of earning money to buy things they want. A good way to instill this into their lives is to ask them to do simple chores that they can earn pocket money for, such as cleaning their room and making their bed each day. Once they have been given their pocket money, you can encourage them to save some so that they can reward themselves with something special in the future, like a new toy.

By doing this they will experience how it feels to reward themselves with something they really want after working and saving hard for it.

This habit will slowly grow and saving will become part of their financial routine. It will also help them see the benefits of creating a little nest egg for the future and understand how savings provide financial peace of mind.

As the child grows up and starts to understand figures, parents can take lessons further and teach them about loans, APR rates and repayment periods and helping them understand that they will repay more than they borrow. All other financial services such as hire purchase agreements, mobile telephone tariffs and overdraft fees can be explained as they get older.

Baines and Ernst specialises in offering debt management solutions to people who need help repaying debts. Contact Baines and Ernst for confidential debt advice. 

Have a Green Christmas: 5 Ways to Avoid Wasting Heat

There are plenty of great things about the winter time; the majesty of a fresh snow fall, the feeling of festivity and, of course, Christmas day itself. But that doesn’t change one inescapable fact. It’s a lot colder.

The temptation to combat this change in the weather by simply turning your heating up as far as possible isn’t just bad for the environment, it’s also terrible for your finances, at a time of year when every last penny counts.

However, by following a few simple steps you can simultaneously perform those two tasks that so often go hand in hand; lowering your use of unsustainable fossil fuels and saving money!

Turn Down the Thermostat

Of course, we all know that the lower we have our thermostat set, the less energy will be using, and the less well be playing. But many don’t realise the large impact even a small change can make. For every single degree you turn your thermostat down by, you’ll save around 10% of your heating bill.

A really great investment to think about making is in a programmable thermostat, which you can set to regulate the temperature of your home, commonly leading to an average saving of between 10-15% of the average heating bill, and reducing unnecessary energy usage.

Use Your Curtains

One of the less appealing aspects of winter is waking up and coming home in the dark. Given that this is the case, you could be forgiven for thinking that there’s no point ever bothering to open your curtains. However, whilst curtains are a great tool for stopping heat from escaping through your window, by opening them at the right time they can also help keep your house warmer.

If you open your curtains up at the right time of day when the sun is brightest you’ll actually heat your home up. Just because it’s winter, don’t forget, you can still use sunlight to stay warm!

Layers

The easiest way of staying warm without burning fossil fuels is simply to put on a few more layers. Putting on a vest and an extra sweater (without going into the details of carbon footprint of their production) doesn’t involve burning fossil fuels and is still the most effective way to stay warm.

Look out for Ventilation

In winter you need to be extra wary of fans that will suck heat out of your home. For instance, when you are cooking, unless for some reason you’re generating a huge amount of smoke, leave your ventilator fan off to stop it removing heat from your home.

By the same token, unless the room has real problems with damp, you should turn off your ventilator fan when taking a shower, as it too will lower the temperature of your home. Indeed, you should do just the opposite. Allow the steam into your home by leaving the fan off and keeping the door slightly ajar. Since you’re using the energy anyway in generating heat to wash, you might as well harness it.

Insulation

If you can afford it, it’s a good move to have as much insulation as possible. However, whilst installing a full loft insulation or getting you windows double glazed can be fairly costly (though, of course, over the course of a few years they’ll pay for themselves in what they save you, not to mention lessening your environmental impact). As a cheaper alternative, even a change as simple as purchasing a few cheap draft excluders will make a real difference to the extent to which your heating efforts are wasted.

Steve Waller writes in depth about environmental issues on GreenSteve.

9 Ways to Save Money in the Kitchen

These days, money is tight for many families. With increased grocery and gas prices, not to mention pay cuts or job losses, families are looking for ways to stretch their dollars farther. While obvious steps like cutting back on eating out or buying fewer toys are helpful, there are other, smaller ways to save money that add up. The family kitchen is one place where money-saving tips help frugal moms save money during daily cooking and cleaning.

1. Try Baking Soda
Have you noticed how expensive brand-name scrubs are? Compare that with a box of ordinary baking soda. Baking soda makes a great scrub for sinks and even crusty pots (as long as they don't have delicate nonstick finishes). Sprinkle baking soda onto surfaces and add water to make a grainy paste. Scrub with a sponge.

2. Use Vinegar
You probably have another ordinary kitchen item in your pantry that was a cleaning staple for previous generations. Vinegar is a cheap, all-natural antiseptic and antibacterial cleaning agent when mixed half-and-half with water. Fill an empty spray bottle with equal parts water and white or apple cider vinegar, and use in place of any all-purpose kitchen cleaner sprays. Vinegar is nontoxic and effective -- and much cheaper than household cleaners.

3. Cleaning Cloths
Paper towels are expensive, not to mention environmentally-unfriendly. Switch to cloth rags that you can throw in the washing machine and reuse as needed.

4. Use Appliances Wisely
Dishwashers and ovens use a lot of electricity, which translates into money out of your pocket. Be sure your dishwasher is full when you run it, to save on water and electricity. Skip the heated dry cycle and use air dry. When baking, if your dish can cook in the microwave rather than the oven, use the smaller appliance. It takes less electricity and is therefore more budget-friendly.

5. Use Every Scrap
Lots of us throw away food that could be used, which wastes food and increases our grocery bills. Remember that leftover or limp vegetables can be used in soups and stews, extra herbs and celery leaves are great in vegetable broth, and meat or poultry bones are the base for homemade stock.

6. Go Bigger
When grocery shopping, don't fall for individual-serving items, which cost a lot more. Those little applesauce cups are pricey compared to the large jars of applesauce, for example. Buy the cheaper version and divvy up the contents in your own kitchen.

7. Save that Milk
Sure, a gallon of milk that's about to turn might seem unappealing, but it's perfect for making pancakes, waffles and cornbread. After all, the buttermilk used in those types of recipes is basically just sour milk.

8. Shop in Bulk
Consider buying grains, nuts and flours in bulk rather than in smaller packages. You'll save considerable money over bagged and boxed varieties.

9. Grow Your Own
Consider home-growing your vegetables. Home gardens are becoming increasingly popular. It doesn't have to be large or fancy, but even a small plot or a few pots for growing tomatoes, lettuce and cucumbers saves you money at the supermarket and gives you fresh dinner ingredients.

Saving money in the family kitchen doesn't have to be hard or complicated. Use these tips and you'll love the money-saving results!

Kathryn Jarvis likes to save money at healthinsurancequotes.org.