By: Allison B.

If you have school age kids in the family, going back to school can get very expensive. Here are some tips you can use to save money on your back-to-school shopping trip.

1. The first step in planning your back-to-school trip is to check your own supplies. You may already have item left from the previous school year that were never used. Before heading out the door, make a list of what you already have in your house. The younger kids can use the items that the older kids barely used. Check for colored pencils, erasers, or crayons that can be recycled for upcoming school year.

2. Before taking your kids along the back-to-school shopping trip, talk to them about your budget. Let them know that the whole family must stick to the budget. If your kids ask for items that aren’t on the list, you can ask them to use their own allowance.

3. Many schools now provide a list of recommended supplies on their websites. Before heading out to buy any school supplies this year, print out the list and stick to it. Buying items that are not required by your kids’ teachers may end up increasing your budget.

4. Look out for coupons that you can use online or offline. Many local drugstores and supermarkets run weekly sale for school supplies. You can also print out manufacturer coupons and bring to the store to get additional discounts.

5. Look out for deals from online retailers on backpacks, shoes, clothes and electronics. Old Navy and Gap.com usually have back to school sale where you can save 30-50% off the retail price on tops, sweaters, pants and shoes. eBags.com has special deals for backpacks. Get discounts on desktops, laptops and e-book readers at bestbuy, neweggs.com or buy.com.

6. You no longer have to spend hundreds of dollars on textbooks. Before school starts, do your research to see which textbooks are required by your professors. Sign up at sites such as chegg it, campusbookrentals.com or collegbookrenter.com to rent books that are required by your classes. These sites can save you up to 85% off if you were to purchase new books.

7. You can also sign up at CourseSmart, CafeScribe or CengageBrain to download e-books. The sites claim to have large collection of e-Textbooks you can browse and download at half their retail price. Downloading textbooks is becoming more popular as e-book readers such as Amazon’s Kindle and Apple’s iBook Readers are made available.

By: Allison B.

Are you looking for ways to save money this summer? Look no further! Ask yourself what you have been paying other to do things around the house. Are you paying other people to cut grass, do you have a maid who cleans around the house, or spending money on weekly car wash? If you say yes to these questions, you can certainly save some money by doing these yourself. Here are some more tips to help you save money this summer.

Mow the Lawn:
Most lawn mowing companies can cost you $35 to $50 to cut the grass and clean the yard monthly. This is something you can do on a Saturday or Sunday morning while your kids play in the yard. If you find yourself enjoying outdoors, you might even want to start a small garden with a few patio planters.

Cleaning The House:
Long gone are the days where you can hire a maid for cheap. Professional maids can cost you anywhere from $15 to $25 an hour depending on the service you want. They usually require you to hire them for at least 2-3 hours so the job can be done thoroughly. That is $30 to $50 a week you can be saving if you do it yourself. If you don’t want to spend the entire Saturday cleaning, do a 5-minute cleaning of each room everyday. So pick up things that don’t belong on the floor and put them back to where they belong at the end of each day. Assign each family member a room so you don’t have to do all the room.

Weekly Car Wash:
It used to be that washing a car cost no more than $5 or $6 depending on where you go. Nowadays, most car washing places can charge up to $15 for a simple wash and dry. That is $30 a month if you wash your car twice a month. You can save up to $360 a year by doing it yourself. Invest in a cheap bucket and sponges to wash it weekly and you can get yourself something else with that $360. You can also burn some calories at the same time.

De-clutter Your Home:
Most families spend way too much money on toys, books, music and movies. They keep buying stuff just because they want it. If your house is full of things and you have to look for new ways to store things, it is time to get rid of the clutter. Organize all the unused items and have a small garage sale. This will bring in some extra cash and leave your house clutter free.

The projects listed above do not require special skills, or equipment to complete the task. It just takes a little bit of time and effort on your end. If you have the willingness to do those things, you’ll enjoy your life even more while saving a bundle.

By: cheapdanny

Do you like eating out? How often do you dine out with friends and family? Depending on how often and where you eat out can get really expensive. Most people eat out daily or weekly depending on their schedule. Some people eat out because they just don’t have enough time to cook after work. It is important for them to spend a few hours with the kids rather than cooking in the kitchen. Some people look at it as a time to get away with friends and family to enjoy the meals and catch up.

Are you tired of wasting cash on meals that your little one only touches a few pieces? Think about buying a dish that comes with side order that your kid can choose. How about a free meal for your kid? Look for eateries that provide kids meal deals and kids eat free with a purchase of adult meal on certain day of the week. You can also sign up at your preferred restaurants ahead of time so you know what is available in your city in advance.

Sign up with deal websites where you can save up to 70% on your meals. You will find a lot of deal blogs out there but the most well known one is Groupon. It is free to become a member and they offer new deals on a regular basis. Purchase a Groupon for half the price and enjoy eating out with friends and family.

Subscribe for emails and newsletters at your current preferred restaurants. Many joints provide vouchers, certificate or free meals to enjoy on your birthday. You can sign up at Starbucks for free coffee, Haagen Daz for free ice cream or Boston Market for a special meal. Many other locations provide club card that you can register online for special birthday and anniversary rewards.

By: cheapdanny

Shopping on the Internet has become a way of life and has revolutionized on how we shop online. As a result, retailers are racing to provide more discounts and promotions. Searching online for promo codes and printable coupons has become increasingly popular which rewards us all with great offers and discounted prices. We all love bargains and using coupons is a great way to save buck. There is no such thing as wasting time when it comes to savings and no matter how much time we take, we must remember that a dollar saved is a dollar earned. Shopping online has its benefits and the time and effort put in will result in savings while searching the internet. Most retailers offer special discounts to online shoppers and provides us with promo codes. With a little imagination, you can find plenty of ways to search for that extra savings and to get you started; here are some ideas to save money while shopping online.

1. Search for promo codes:
One of the biggest benefits to shopping online is the ability to compare prices. When shopping online, you can obtain additional savings by searching for promo codes, which can dramatically reduce the amount of your purchase. Promo codes usually offer anywhere from 10% – 30% off or free shipping after a certain amount of money spent. Simply start your Internet browser and use any search engine to locate the product you are looking for. Open another browser window and type in “(product) coupon codes” and a variety of selections will display. Don’t settle for the first promo code that you come across as you may find a bigger and better promo code. A couple of minutes of searching can possibly save you even more. Write down the promo code and enter it at the checkout where you see “promotional code” or any similar wording. Make sure you fulfill all requirements of the terms and conditions for this deal and verify the discount on your total amount.

2. Search for Printable Coupons:
Another method to find printable coupons is to search the internet. Saving money takes time and effort but is easy when it comes to saving money. While searching for printable coupons, you will find numerous websites including company websites that allows shoppers to save money by printing coupons which makes it easy and affordable. Just like searching for promo codes, you will enter “(retail store) printable coupon” in the search bar which will provide you search results and a starting point. You will be able to receive significant amount of savings and find great discounts to major retail stores on the web.

3. Sign up for emails and forums:
Many online retailers provide promo codes and printable coupons when you subscribe to their email newsletters. Online coupon blogs and sites are also a great source to look for that special deal and discount. Another way to find out about deals is to visit forums, which are basically electronic bulletin boards. You can either search the boards or post a message hoping that another person will come across your request and posts a response. You can also use price comparison sites which can also help stretch the dollar. These comparison sites offer you the ability to compare prices from various vendors for any item that you might be looking for.

4. Rethink your searches with different terms:
Searching for promo codes online is not difficult and can be very rewarding resulting in great savings. We must remember when using search engines like Google, it can only provide us results that it understands. So, if you are looking for something specific, you must let Google know and to do so, you have to be very specific with your search term and or phrase. It is always good to check more than one site for the best promo code and printable coupon since some sites have better codes than others. You won’t always find that discount or even a better deal, but you will never know unless you make that attempt to search for them. With a little time and effort, we can all save money by searching online. Even though it may only be few bucks here and there, this can really add up to be substantial savings over time.

5. Safe online shopping:
Online shopping has become increasingly popular because of easy access and the abundance of information available. It is also the ability to instantly compare prices while sitting in the comfort of home. As savvy shoppers, we must always exercise and use caution when shopping online. We have to be extremely mindful and be weary of warning signs of internet fraud. While using a secured web browser shop only reputable online stores and companies. Always check for security icons before entering personal information and always create unique passwords. Use a dedicated credit card for online purchases and review credit card statements to detect any discrepancies or unauthorized purchases. Make a habit of reviewing your credit card monthly statements thoroughly and call the customer service immediately if fraudulent discrepancies are detected.