Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Pardon our Mess!
I apologize for the mess--but I hope that soon it will all be worth it!
Disney Mix Sticks
One of my favorite 'big ticket' gifts with a little ticket price this year is the Disney Mix stick. Its a basic MP3 player, but your kids won't know it! And they'll love having their favorite characters on it!
A few years ago my parents decided to give our son, then turning 5, an MP3 player. At the time we thought it was a bit over the top for a 5 year old--but we soon grew to love it. It was a basic, low end model, and only lasted a few months.
Last year we bought him a Disney Cars Mix Stick to replace it, and have been really happy with it. We're getting one this year for our daughter.
The Disney Mix stick is a plug-and-play tool. It works as simply as a USB flash drive does. It plugs into your USB drive to update and to charge. That's right--a rechargeable battery! (If only more of my kids' toys had those!) My son's came with 512 mb of memory, more than enough to load all of his favorite songs.
My son listens to music all night to block out ambient noises, so we also bought him a speaker pillow. It plays quietly, but enough that he can hear it.
Amazon has a huge selection of Disney Mix Sticks, starting as low as $14 each. These make great stocking stuffers or inexpensive gifts for neices, nephews, grandkids, etc. They come in varying sizes of memory--and all of them can be upgraded easily with an inexpensive SD card. (Many stores are selling 1 gb and 2 gb SD cards for $10 or less this year!)
My son really loves his. He listens all night, gets up in the morning and plugs it into the USB port to recharge while he's at school. Its been dropped, stepped on, and generally abused--as anything belonging to an 8 year old will be--and its still going strong a year later!
IRobot Love!
I have had a Roomba in my house since the first year they were out. It was a major splurge for me, but the Roomba has been a staple in our house for at least 6 years. We really love it! Last year we found a great deal at Target and bought a second one, a little bit of an upgrade, and love it too. Earlier this summer we splurged on a Scooba--and it too has become a favorite in our house!
I'm horrible at cleaning. No really, I am. I think FlyLady rocks and have learned a lot from her, but in general, I did not get the "clean gene" most women seem to have. I grew up in a messy house and never learned how to clean. I love my Roombas and Scoobas because instead of focusing on vacuuming and mopping, we can work on other things instead. Which in the end, leaves us more time for the things we really value--spending time as a family.
I tell you all of this because Amazon has a great deal on a Roomba right now. Its entry level, the most basic model, but finally the robot vaccuum is within reach of most households. Its priced at $69.99 with free Super Saver shipping--and includes a bonus free subscriptionto Bon Appetit for a year.
Roomba isn't perfect--it doesn't get corners or stairs. But it will pick up more pet hair than your standard vacuum (I had a Hoover Windtunnel and a Eureka somethingorother and would vacuum, then run Roomba--you wouldn't believe the pet hair and dust that would come up with the Roomba!), it runs on its own, goes from carpet to vinyl/hardwood/tile without skipping a beat, and will do our entire first floor on a single charge. We run it once or twice a week and are really happy with the results! (Our older, second Roomba is assigned to the bedrooms, we run it in one room every week.) Our first Roomba cost us nearly $150 six or seven years ago. Our second one was $99 at Target last year.
Scooba is my little darling. A little more expensive at around $230, its been well worth it for us. Our floors are older, white and show every little footprint and crumb. Since we have two young kids, our floors are NEVER clean. We used a steam mop and loved it, but it was a lot of time and work to get it out several times a week. Our floors never seemed like they stayed clean. Like Roomba, Scooba doesn't get corners and its not a heavy-duty scrubbing mop, but it definitely gets the daily crumbs and the footprints up! Now we get out the steam mop every 2-3 weeks and do touch ups. Well worth it for us! Instead of cleaning chemicals, we use hot water and white vinegar in our Scooba and see good results. What I love is that it vacuums, mops and then squeegees the floor dry in one step!
Monday, November 24, 2008
Black Friday deals
Guitar Hero World Tour bundle for Wii--$59.99--$40 off
Westinghouse 26” LCD HDTV, $299
Kodak MX1063 digital camera w/10.3 megapixels, $89
Kodak 7” digital frame, $59
Western Digital 750 GB external drive, 88.88.
Lexmark X5410 printer, scanner, copier, 39.99
Apple 8GB nano, $145. Get $15 GC
Radio-controlled Air Hogs, Havoc Heli or Stinger, $15-$10 Toy coupon
Best Buy opens at 5 am
Guitar Hero III with two guitars for $79
Meijer
Ipod Nano 8gb $149 with $50 MIR--thursday
bluetooth headset for $14.99
portable dvd player 7" $49
Magellan Roadmate 1200 Portable GPS - $89.99 *
Walmart
Samsung L200 10.2MP Digital Camera with 3x Zoom - $69.00 *
Giini Digital Picture Frame with 8" LCD Display, Clock & Calendar - $39.00 *
Magnavox Blu-ray Disc Player - $128.00 *
Garmin nuvi 200 3.5" GPS Navigation System - $97.00 *
HP DeskJet F2210 All-in-One Printer - $29.00 *
Power Wheels Jeep Rubicon - $88.00 *--normally $199
CVS--
small appliances for $19.99 with $10 ECB's
GPS for $89.99 with $10 ECB
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
WLWT
Related To Story
[5PM CUTTING YOUR BUDGET]
* Video: Look For Specials, Plan Ahead To Save Money
Trimming Budget May Be Easier Than You Think
Look For Specials, Plan Ahead To Save Money
Reported by Michelle Hopkins // E-mail
POSTED: 7:01 pm EDT October 8, 2008
CINCINNATI -- It’s becoming harder and harder to make ends meet, but it may be easier to trim your budget than you think.
Coupon queen Heather Tenney knows about trimming the fat from family budgets, and she recommends looking for specials and planning ahead.
“Stores know that shoppers who walk in and wander up and down aisles looking for what looks good, they spend 40 percent more,” Tenney said.
Making a monthly menu can save $50 per month, Tenney said, and changing driving habits can save even more.
“Most of us sit and idle at stop lights and at the drive-through,” she said.
Driving slower can help, too, because speeds over 65 mph reduce gas mileage by about 10 cents per gallon.
Cutting back on dining out can also save money, and so does looking for discounts at restaurant.com.
Tenney recommended trimming little-used features, such as call-forwarding and three-way calling, from your cell phone service.
“Can you switch to something like Time Warner, Insight or Vonage?” Tenney said. “We saved $20 a month right there by switching to an Internet phone.”
Eliminating some movie channels can save $15 or more from your monthly cable bill, and shopping around for a new service provider can save additional money.
“It costs twice as much to get a new customer as it does to keep one, so they're going to try to keep you and reduce your rate,” Tenney said.
Unplugging home electronics can lead to substantial savings, because 75 percent of all home energy consumption comes from devices that are turned off but plugged in, such as cell phone chargers, coffee makers, lamps and televisions.
Even when turned off, Tenney said these devices can draw on energy usage by as much as 40 percent.
Lowering your thermostat by 2 degrees can save 10 percent on heating and cooling bills, Tenney said.
Turning down the temperature on your hot-water heater can also save money, and so does switching from traditional light bulbs to energy-efficient CFL bulbs.
Previous Stories:
* July 31, 2008: Mom Uses Coupons To Save Big -- Really Big
* July 31, 2008: Coupon Sites From The 'Coupon Queen'
Copyright 2008 by WLWT.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Testing 1
Ever wonder how some manage to feed their families for less than $100 a week? Me too! When I lost my job last year, I had to figure it out really quickly! Here on this site I share what I found--that it really is possible!
Before I found couponing, I thought the only things coupons worked for were products I didn't want. Of if they were for items I wanted, it wasn't enough money off to make a huge difference. And then, generic and store brand is cheaper anyway, isn't it?
NO!! Those are the big myths of coupons. Its not true at all. Virtually every item we use regularly comes up for sale. There are sales cycles that the stores use, and if you know them, you can save big amounts of money. Here at LMKIA.net, we follow the sales cycles, match them with the coupons available and save lots and lots of money!
How much? I save, on average, $600 a month. I've seen it go as high as $1000 a month, but most months its about $600. I rarely by store brand anymore, and my house is full of our favorite items. I don't buy items I don't need. AND I buy meats, fruits and vegetables all the time! There are also coupons and deals for organic and 'healthy' foods. In an average month, I spend $200 to feed my family of four. That includes pet foods, trash bags, health and beauty and more. You can save that too--once you learn the secrets, which I teach you here!
So dig in! Read, read, read, and ask questions. And then realize why I say "Why Pay Full Price Ever Again?!?"
