YZ Blog away !

‘Tis the season, and I know that if you’re like me, you’re gearing up for the holiday shopping rush.  I’ve already got my sneakers and my water bottle ready in the car.  But this year, I decided that if I could avoid the droves of shoppers arguing over the last Wii console in the store, I would.  So I’m trying to do as much shopping via the World Wide Web as possible.  I found this little place, www.edealinfo.com, a website dedicated to finding deals on the Internet FOR you.  And I know we could all use a little help.

The search tool is easy to use, and it finds specific deals all over the Internet for the things you need:  I tried searching for cell phones and digital cams, so now I can cross those things off my list.  E-Deal Info also categorizes year-end deals and promotions from several brand-name dealers that we all know, like Dell, Target, Sears, HP, Hallmark, Gordon’s Jewelers, the list goes on and on…

So if you want to try and avoid the mall madness this season and do your shopping online, I’d suggest everyone start at www.edealinfo.com and do a little virtual window shopping to get some of the best deals on the stuff that you need.

Happy Shopping!

xo

Callie the Savings Queen

Now’s the time to start getting your checkbook ready for the holiday season.  You don’t need a banker, you need a money manager.

Introducing www.mint.com, my latest Internet money-saving find.  Mint is an easy-to-use, online personal finance site that helps you understand – and control – exactly where your money goes.

Sign up and Mint will help you download, categorize, and graph all of your personal finance information daily.  Keep all of your accounts in one place, and use the handy pie charts to see exactly where you’re spending all of your money.

You can use it to track your spending this Christmas.  Or, sign up now and start a journey toward smarter spending next year.  However you use it, you can rest assured that everything is free and confidential, and you’ll be able to spot all those leaks and drains in your budget now!

xo

Callie the Savings Queen

I’ve decided to do a mini-series on saving money on your utilities.  This week’s topic is water.

It comes out of our faucets.  We wash our clothes, our dishes, our hair every day.  We drink it, we flush it – why pay more than we need to?  Here are just a few water-saving (and money saving) tips I dug up:

1.       Be practical:  Turning off water while you shave or brush your teeth is so simple, there’s no reason not to.  Save as much as 10 gallons of water or more per day, if you brush your teeth twice a day!  And don’t run the dishwasher or washing machine unless you’ve got a full load – otherwise, you just waste water and energy.

2.       Invest in a low-flow shower head:  Low-flow shower heads can cost between $10 and $20, but they can mean major savings over the years.  The average regular shower head sends 5.5 gallons of water down the drain every minute; but, a low-flow shower head can reduce that number to only 1.5 gallons per minute.  This means saving anywhere between $30 and $100 on your water bill every year, as well as shaving a little off the electric bill by saving up to 50% of the energy it takes to keep you clean.

3.       Cold wash only:  Using cold water when washing your clothes will save about 50% of the energy it takes to wash the same load of laundry with hot water.

4.       Aerate:  Retrofit your faucets with aerators, cool little gadgets that screw into the threading of your faucets.  Aerators add air to your water, which helps to keep water pressure up while reducing the amount of water being used.  Aerators can be bought at your local home goods store for less than $3, making them affordable and earth-friendly:  reduce your faucet output from four gallons per minute to only one!

How do you save money on the water bill at home?  Let me know, and check out my previous post about wasting money on bottled water!

xo

Callie the Savings Queen

Turkey Day is just around the corner, so I decided to post some of my favorite Thanksgiving money-saving tips.  It’s a short list, but great practical advice from yours truly.

1.       Shop early:  Make sure to scan the sales flyers every week for the best deals on items you know that you’re going to need – turkey, cranberry sauce, stuffing, etc.  The best deals always come early, and don’t forget that you can freeze vegetables and breads if they’re a really great deal!

2.       Shop locally:  Have a farmer’s market in your area?  That’s probably one of the best ways to get a deal on any fruits and vegetables you need for the big day.  And don’t feel that you need to drive across town to get the best deal on whatever you need – the money you save might get eaten up in gas prices.

3.       Pare down your menu:  Don’t try for overly-complicated recipes that involve things like artisanal breads or specialty cheeses.  Keep your menu simple, with ingredients you already have or are readily available.  Home cooking is always from the heart anyway, right?

4.       Buy in bulk:  Are you inviting the entire family, even the big eaters on your husband’s side?  It might be worth investing in some family-sized condiments and appetizers, especially if you’ll have overnight guests for the weekend.  Try a bulk discount store, like Costco or Sam’s Club.

5.       Go potluck:  There’s no shame in it.  Besides, who says you have to do all the cooking?  Throwing a potluck Thanksgiving ensures a variety of foods and helps spread the cost of dinner among your friends and family.  As far as I’m concerned, that’s what Thanksgiving’s all about.

What are your tips for saving money on Thanksgiving dinner?  Leave a comment and let me know how you weather the holiday without breaking the bank!

Callie the Savings Queen

I guess I’m not the only one feeling the cash crunch at home.  When the price of gas and milk seems outrageous, I have a hard time justifying spending $15 a bottle on my favorite shampoo.

Glad I found Shannon’s post on Simply Cooking about How to Make Your Own Toiletries.  She has recipes on her site about how to make your own shampoo, conditioner, hand soap, and facial toner.  The best part is that you can make all of these things using only 5 ingredients.

A little more Internet research led me to this:  A blog on the Green Daily site about Making Lip Balm at Home.  So when your budget’s tight, why not get cooking instead of going without?  Learning to do it yourself with what you have could save you a little extra cash, and provide hours of entertainment!

xo

Callie the Savings Queen

The holidays are coming up, and if you’re anything like me, all of those blinking, flashing toys and cool household gadgets you’re buying for your friends and family have one huge, hidden expense:  batteries.

You need batteries to power everything, from your TV remote controls to electric razors.  I found this cool article on Popular Photography’s site called the AA Battery Test.  They ranked some of the most popular brands of disposable and rechargeable batteries based on price and hours of use.  And while they broke down their pricing on a “per click” basis – meaning how much each battery costs you every time you take a picture on your digital camera – this pricing system can easily transfer to all of the other household gadgets you use.

The results?  For disposable batteries, the Energizer e2 Lithium batteries were their top pick.  Even though they cost more than other batteries, their longevity makes up for it.

For rechargeable batteries, Popular Photography found that the Kodak brand rechargeable kit offers the best value for the money – and this is based on just a one-time use; imagine the savings after years of use!

The grand prize goes to Energizer’s 15 Minute rechargeable batteries.  With great performance and a reasonable price, these babies are fully charged and ready to go within just 15 minutes.

Check out the article and see what the experts have to say about getting the most bang for your buck when it comes to batteries.

xo

Callie the Savings Queen

Get advice on money-saving credit card deals and cell phones based on your current usage – FREE!  Billshrink is a new breakthrough tool on the Internet, and it’s really easy to use.

First, fill out a simple questionnaire based on the credit card or cell phone plan that you currently use.  You don’t have to enter specific account information, just general questions based on your current spending, current interest rate, and balances carried on your accounts.

Billshrink does the hard work for you.  It searches its extensive database of rival credit cards from major banks and cell phone plans and analyzes which ones will save you the most this year, next year, or over a longer period of time.

Billshrink displays customized plans based on what you use and your own financial situation, along with graphs showing you how much you’ll save over a given period of time.  It really takes the guesswork out of finding and choosing the best deal on a credit card or wireless plan.

The questionnaire takes about a minute to fill out – give Billshrink a go and see if you can start saving money today!

xo

Callie the Savings Queen

Google has taken their business model, the classic, find-anything-anywhere on the Internet search engine, and made it easier for online shoppers.

Froogle, Google’s product search engine, trolls the web for the best deals on whatever you’re looking for:  digital cams, plasma TVs, shoes, office furniture, printers, laptops – I could go on and on  . . .

Log on to Froogle and you’ll notice that it looks very much like Google’s homepage.  Type in whatever you’re looking for, and Froogle will generate a list of the websites selling that product so it’s easy to compare prices.  I typed in “low-energy light bulb” and easily found the best deal offered on the Internet:  Five dollars.

So now you don’t have to waste time visiting individual sites looking for what you need and comparing prices.  Let Froogle do the dirty work for you, and let the savings begin! 

Happy hunting!

xo

Callie the Savings Queen

When I get in the mood to travel, I start hearing that great 80s dance beat in my head:  New York.  London.  Paris.  Munich.

Are you addicted to travel?  Or would you just like to be a part of the international traveling crowd?  We all know that traveling is expensive – especially these days – but the Budget Travel website, the online companion to their print magazine, has a wealth of information to make those vacations to Bangkok and Barcelona a little more affordable.

Check out one of their newest articles, Expensive Cities on the Cheap, with tips on how to navigate some of the world’s most notoriously expensive cities with cheap, alternative activities.  Tokyo just got a little more affordable.

Join Budget Travel’s network and sign up for their newsletter.  This newsletter is packed with travel deals, tips on making your vacations more affordable, ideas for alternative destinations, and a wealth of tips and vacation photos from other readers.

Budget Travel’s website is an interesting read, and they’ve always got quirky and reliable tips.  So now you can travel the way locals do, without falling into the obvious tourist traps at your destination.

Makes me want to say Bon voyage!

Callie the Savings Queen

You need it strong, hot, and early in the morning.  For those of you addicted to coffee, you know how it can hurt your pocketbook – especially if you’re shelling out $2 or more for each cup at your local coffee shop.

The per-ounce price doesn’t make rising gas prices seem like such a bad deal!

If you’re looking to curb your spending but not willing to give up the caffeine, try a few of these tips.  I can’t promise you’ll ever kick your habit, but I can make it a little more affordable (and therefore enjoyable!).

Learn How to Make a Good Brew

Forget coffee shops – you can make coffee just as good, or better, than your favorite coffee corner can.  The two main things you need to get the perfect brew, according to Consumer Savvy Tips, are high-quality coffee beans and spring water.  Spring for better beans, most coffee aficionados know that high-quality beans yield high-quality coffee.  And don’t brew with regular tap water.  The secret that many coffee shops use, especially Starbucks, is in their filtered spring water.  So if you’re making it at home, remember to pick up some water at the grocery store.  You can read their full recommendation here.

Sign Up For Rewards

It wouldn’t be far off to say that Starbucks is the national addiction.  If you must get your brew at your favorite retailer, take advantage of any rewards of frequent customer programs they offer.  For instance, the Starbucks Rewards Card offers free brewed coffee refills, free drinks with whole bean purchases, and free wi-fi time.  You can also join the It’s a Grind! ePerks program, which delivers coupons, news, and free stuff straight to your inbox.  That’s a glass half-full if I’ve ever seen one!

Limit Yourself

Of course, the best way to save money on coffee is to limit yourself – maybe treat yourself out to coffee only twice a week instead of five times a week.  Or, opt for making coffee in the office instead of walking down the hall.  Every little bit counts!

What are your cheap coffee secrets?  Tell me how you get your caffeine fix without breaking the bank!

xo

Callie the Savings Queen