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How To Cut The Cable Cord And Lower Your Tv Bill (In 3 Easy Steps).

Joe — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 18:09:37 +0000

An increasing number of people are wondering how to lower their t.v. cable bill or even how to cut the cable cord altogether. It’s no mystery why. The average American family with cable t.v. is paying over $900 a year for the service.

What would you do with an extra $900 in your pocket this year?

Aside from saving money, you may find you have more free time as well. Cable television feeds the viewer a constant stream of programming. This leads many to plan their lives around when their favorite shows are on, and spend the remainder of their time channel surfing in the hopes of finding something to fill the void.

Cutting the cord changes your life. It does so because alternative providers don’t provide content in the same way – they provide it more like a menu of available shows. Not quite a la carte, but closer than cable. It’s a bit of a mind shift, but it puts you in control of your life again.

Since cutting the cord, my wife and I find we watch tv when we want, and when there is a show we’re interested in. The rest of the time we used to spend channel surfing we now spend talking, reading or just plain living.

I know many others who report a similar phenomenon. I hope that you can experience it too.

Now, without further ado, here’s how to cut the cord on cable t.v., save hundreds of dollars doing it and learn to live again.

Step 1. Determine your “must see” t.v. shows.

Every cable television customer I’ve ever spoken with admits they only watch a handful of channels or shows, yet pay for a tiered package of hundreds of channels encompassing thousands of shows. Most of their television watching time amounts to simple channel surfing and complaining that “there’s nothing on”.

Alternative television options don’t work like that. Aside from the Dish Network, or DirecTV, you don’t get a one-stop provider that will give you everything you get with cable t.v.. Of course, going with one of those other content providers won’t free you from large monthly bills either.

Since the point of this operation is to replace your existing cable with alternative providers but at a lower price, we need a list of shows you consistently watch. Mark the “must see” shows in your list, and start with those.

Step 2. Find out where you can watch your shows online.

Once you have your list of shows, it’s time to figure out where you can watch them. Netflix and Hulu are 2 wildly popular streaming content providers. Amazon is another. The trouble is, none of them has all the shows available. Many shows are only available on one or the other – not all.

You may be lucky and find that everything you watch is available through Netflix, or you may be like my wife and I and realize that most of what you watch is on Netflix, but one or two of your “must see”s are only on Hulu.

For a more in depth look at various providers, read: Where to watch online content streamed to you television.

Step 3. Determine how to stream online content to your t.v..

Once you have your list of shows and verified they are available from alternative sources, you’re ready to proceed.

In this 3rd and final step, you need to determine what kinds of hardware, if any, you will need to make the magic happen.

Unfortunately there’s really quite a bit of information to impart for this step, and I don’t want this post to go on forever.

To that end, I have shared that information here: How to stream online content to your t.v..

Good luck and happy cord cutting!

A word of caution

I feel I should offer a few words of caution as an addendum to this post, to help you avoid being burned one last time by your cable provider. This has happened to some cord cutters – don’t let it happen to you.

Some cable providers charge less if you bundle your cable and internet services together and will charge a higher rate for just internet, so be sure of your provider’s policies before you drop the cable t.v. service.

If you are unlucky enough to have such a cable provider, you can find other high speed internet providers in your area. As a rule of thumb, you want at least 5mbps download speeds, but higher is better.

How To Stream Online Content To Your T.V..

Joe — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 20:03:10 +0000

If you’re like me and millions of other Americans, you’re tired of paying close to $900 a year for cable television. In this post I will discuss how to watch streaming t.v. shows on your television after you’ve learned where to watch t.v. shows without cable service.

Streaming programs to your television.

The first thing you need to determine is whether you can stream programs straight to your television, or if you need an additional device to get the stream to your television.

Many HDTVs sold in the few years are “smart t.v.’s” -televisions that connect to the internet, so it may be as simple as plugging the internet cable into your television.

Even if you have a traditional t.v., you can still watch full episodes of your favorite shows from the internet on your t.v., however, if your television does not have an HDMI input you will have a more difficult time.

For the remainder of this post, I will focus on watching streaming t.v. shows on a non-Internet ready television.

Pick a device.

There are a host of devices that connect to the internet and/or home network and let you stream online content to your television.

Inexpensive Blue-ray dvd players, like the Sony BDP-S580 Blu-ray Disc Player (which currently retails for $112) provide internet access to Netflix , YouTube , HuluPlus , Pandora , and more. That’s just one example, there are many internet ready Blue-ray players on the market.

Some are wi-fi ready, and others aren’t. Just be sure that if you’re going to buy a new player for streaming t.v. content that you get one that suits your situation. In other words, don’t get a player that’s not wi-fi ready when you have no means of getting an internet cable to connect to it in your living room.

Besides the internet enabled Blue-ray players, there are other HD streaming media player devices like The Boxee Box by D-Link and the many flavors of Roku. And of course, there’s the Apple TV for all you mac lovers out there.

I wasn’t sure what to get or even if this whole experiment to cut cable was going to work when I set out to try it, and I didn’t want to drop $150 or more on a device I wasn’t going to use. Instead, I went with the Roku 2 HD Streaming Player, for $69. I had a $50 Amazon gift card from Christmas, so I felt a little better about the purchase. Even so, $69 is a small price to pay to free yourself from the cable beast.

I have to say that I am very impressed with the Roku. It’s tiny -I mean “fit in the palm of your hand” tiny. It’s so light weight that the HDMI cable weighs more! But the performance is quite good. Not as good as the Sony Blue-ray player we have, but that’s a hard line into the internet and just a better device overall. This is also due to this Roku being the 720 HD version. If I was going to rely solely on only my Roku for streaming content, I’d probably upgrade to the Roku XD 1080p Streaming Player.

But I use the Blue-ray as my primary Netflix and Hulu Plus device. I use the Roku for everything else, like PlayOn.

If the device you’ve chosen is wireless, as I suspect is the situation for most people these days, you may need to upgrade your network to get the best quality and performance.

How to stream online content to your t.v..

Television programming from the internet can be sent over your wireless network to your t.v. or through a traditional Ethernet cable. If your device or television accepts direct connection via Ethernet cable, then it’s as simple as plugging it in. However, if your device requires wireless internet then you will need a router.

If you already have a wireless home network you may be ahead of the game, but if it is more than a few years old you may need to upgrade to get the best performance. This was the situation I was in. My home network router was about 6 years old and provided what I needed for basic internet use, but it just could not keep up with streaming HD video.

Here are the Best 5 wireless routers recommended by CNET Reviews:

I went with the ASUS because it was on sale for $119 and I found a promo code to drop it to $109, but that was a rare alignment of sale and promo code. It’s also a dead sexy device.

Spending over $100 on a new networking device seemed like a lot since we’re trying to cut our cable bill and lower expenses, but once we realized that it’s a 1 time expense and we will be saving that much in 3 months without having a cable t.v. bill, it quickly became a justified expense.

Streaming live t.v..

Streaming live t.v. shows from the internet can be done with additional services, like PlayOn.tv. Basically, services like PlayOn run on a computer in your home that is connected to your network, and takes live shows from the internet and streams them to your network device like Roku or Boxee to your t.v.. Live streaming is most important with sports. Most other shows can be watched only a week later over the internet, and would behave like watching a show over DVR.

It’s also important to note that some television shows are not available on Netflix, or Hulu Plus. Some are only available on Hulu basic or on the network website. CBS shows are a good example of this. One of my personal favorites is NCIS. You cannot watch full episodes of NCIS anywhere except the CBS.com website. I have no idea why CBS doesn’t license the show to Hulu, but they don’t. So the only way to watch NCIS (and some other current CBS shows) is to use a service like PlayOn, or connect your pc directly to you television.

Final thoughts.

Cutting the cord is a trade off. you’re swapping some channels and options for a lower monthly bill, or possible no monthly bill. Much of the costs described in this post are 1 time expenses, unlike your cable bill.

Once you cut the cord, and purchase the necessary equipment, there are no rental fees, broadcast fees, miscellaneous fees or any of the other hidden charges cable companies love to stick you with.

Just be sure to get your ducks in order before you cut the cord, because getting all your shows in one place is not as simple as it is with cable. Many of the devices and/or hardware can be purchased piecemeal too. You can try Netflix and Hulu Plus for 30-days free. I recommend doing so before you cancel cable. That way you can see if those providers are going to work for you.

Also, keep in mind the minimum internet speeds for movie and television quality:

5 mbps for 720p HD
10 mbps for full 1080p HD
10+ mbps for 3-d HD content

You can check your current internet speed at Speakeasy Speed Test.

Happy cord cutting!

Where To Watch Online Content Streamed To Your Television.

Joe — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 00:26:48 +0000

If you’re like the millions of Americans looking to slash your cable bill, then one of the first things to figure out is where to watch t.v. shows without cable service.

There are a variety of providers who make popular television shows – past and present – available to stream to your computer or your television. Here are a few of the more prominent ones that will save you money on your television bill.

Hulu vs. Hulu Plus

There are actually 2 services offered by Hulu – basic, and “Plus.” Each flavor carries different shows. Hulu (basic) is free, while Hulu Plus will cost you $8 a month. The basic Hulu service is targeted toward pc users, while the Hulu Plus service targets “smart t.v.” watchers.

That makes sense to me, but I don’t understand why they don’t offer the same shows on Hulu Plus that are available for free on Hulu. I’m hoping that Hulu will someday hire an exec with a brain who can figure out they’d get many more subscribers to the Plus version if they only rolled the free content into the Plus package.

To watch Hulu free content on your t.v., you need another provider called PlayOn. See below for details on that.

Netflix vs. Netflix.

There are also 2 different versions of Netflix: the DVD provider, and the streaming t.v. provider. Each service costs $8 a month, and provides a different set of content. This is an important distinction. When checking the availability of your shows on Netflix, make sure you’re checking only the streaming option. Unless you want to pay for both, then it really doesn’t matter. But then you’ve just doubled your Netflix bill.

Amazon Prime vs. Amazon Instant Video.

Amazon Instant Video has a vast collection of streaming content, but all of that is pay per view. Amazon Prime is a subscription based service that provides free 2 day shipping on Amazon orders and access to their Amazon Prime video streaming selection at no additional cost.

The problem is that the Amazon Prime selection sucks. The selection on Amazon Instant Video on the other hand is excellent, but it’s about $2.99 per video/episode. You do the math on a whole season of just one of your favorite shows and you’ll quickly realize it’s more expensive than cable t.v.!

Like Hulu and Hulu Plus, I just don’t understand Amazon’s decision on this one. If they combine their television content from Instant Video and Prime and offered all videos at the Prime subscription rate, they would easily dominate the streaming television market. Instead, they are content on losing that market share to Netflix and Hulu. I’m hoping they will someday figure this out, and non-cable paying television watchers everywhere can rejoice.

PlayOn.tv

Most set top devices (Roku, the Boxee Box, many internet ready Blue-ray players , etc..) provide access to a Hulu Plus account, but not the basic Hulu account. In order to watch content available on Hulu on your t.v., you either need to connect your pc directly to your television (via HDMI or similar cable), or use another service like PlayOn.tv.

PlayOn is a program that runs on your computer and takes the internet stream from Hulu or CBS.com (ESPN, Comedy Central, Spike,Nick, SyFy, TBS, Cartoon Network, NHL and many others) and relays it to your set top device over your home network. The service is not free however. It currently runs about $4 a month. Still cheaper than cable, but each PlayOn subscriber watching Hulu is a lost Hulu Plus subscriber. (Are you listening, Hulu?)

How to watch CBS shows online.

CBS is not a team player. They don’t want to provide their content to either Hulu or Netflix, yet they provide it for free on their website. This makes no sense to me. They would make more money selling their content to Netflix, and it would be easier for customers to watch if they did so.

The problem with the free website is that it’s inconvenient to watch on your t.v.. To do so requires either a direct connection from your computer to your television or an additional service like PlayOn (described above).

This was a particular problem for me because my wife and I love NCIS, which is not available anywhere but cable/dish/etc and cbs.com.

Life without DVR.

One of the major mindshifts my wife and I had to make was life without our DVR. Most people I’ve spoken with about the subject of cutting cable raise the specter of living without DVR like it’s on par with be told by their doctor they only have months to live and they’ll never get to take the European vacation they’ve always dreamed about.

It’s understandable. After all, the DVR puts the television watcher in control. They can watch when they want to, and skip through commercial breaks while doing so. Here’s the thing though – watching online content over Hulu or Netflix (or a similar service) is like DVR by default. You choose when you want to watch your show, and in many cases the commercials are already stripped out of the show for you! Even shows that do contain commercials are significantly shorter than their broadcast counterparts. We’re talking 43 minutes for an hour long show with the commercials.

Conclusion

As you can see, dropping your cable television currently requires you to replace them with a patchwork collection of alternative providers based on the shows you watch.

Streaming internet content to your television is still a fairly new technology and I believe that as the business model matures and more people drop cable, we will see services like Netflix, Hulu and Amazon offer more shows in common and viewers will not have to create such a patchwork in the future.

Is Pet Insurance Worth The Cost?

Joe — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 19:24:04 +0000

I brought my cat in to see the vet a week ago, and since it was a new vet I had to fill out a form with relevant information regarding my pet. One thing that caught my eye was a space for pet insurance policy information. I had never considered it before, but this got me wondering:

Is pet insurance a good idea?

Treatments and diagnostic routines that were previously only available to humans are now available for pets. Conditions that were once fatal are now possible to treat, albeit at costs that run into the 1,000s.

The cost of Pet Insurance can be as high as $6,000 over the life of your pet, but chances are that you would never claim that much in reimbursement costs.

A few years back, my wife and I experienced our 1st financial tipping point which was triggered by a trip to the veterinary hospital for our cat. While that experience prompted us to take a long, hard look at our finances and eventually started us down the road of financial overhaul and debt-free living, we never once thought that health insurance for our pet was a solution.

After careful consideration of pet insurance this time around, we’re taking a pass on it but there may be cases where it makes financial sense. Here’s why it might make sense, and why it’s probably not worth the money.

When Pet Health Insurance Might be Worth it.

If your pet is at high risk to suffer from expensive diseases and the thought of having insurance gives you peace of mind, then you may sleep better at night knowing that you would be covered in such an event.

If that’s you, then you want to be absolutely sure you understand the terms and conditions of the policy and be positive you are getting the coverage you need.

Why Pet Health Insurance is Typically Not Worth the Cost.

Pet insurance is typically not the money saving proposition it seems once you factor in deductibles, co-pays and reimbursement caps. Pre-existing conditions and hereditary conditions are typically excluded from coverage. Some insurers do cover such things, but expect to pay a higher premium due to the increased likelihood of payout. Coverage for older pets carry higher premiums or are sometimes not available. Some insurers simply refuse to cover pets older than 9 years.

Read this cautionary tale from Wise Bread to see one case when pet health insurance is not really worth it.

If your pet is not a purebred, and not subject to an increased risk of serious and costly disease, then you are probably better off skipping the insurance, and saving the amount you would be putting toward a premium. Take that money and automatically save it every month in a savings account (such as the ING Direct savings account ). It will be like paying the premium but you get to keep any interest from the bank and in the very likely case that you wouldn’t file a claim, you get to keep the money too… perhaps for your next pet. Think long term.

Bottom Line: Is Pet Insurance Right For You?

The choice of whether to purchase pet health insurance is a personal one. You have to determine just how far you are willing to go for your pet. If you’re the type of person who would “do anything” to save Fluffy – no matter what the cost – then you may seriously consider health insurance for your pet. This is especially true if the alternative is going into debt.

However, if you’re a more pragmatic sort of person who is willing to provide good, basic care for your pet but find yourself thinking, “it’s only a cat/dog, and he’s had a good life” when faced with the prospect of a 4 figure vet bill, then you’re best off by taking a pass on the pet insurance.

When a $50,000 Salary Can Feel Like Minimum Wage.

Joe — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 18:05:08 +0000

How can $50,000 seem like minimum wage? According to the Social Security Administration’s National Average Wage Index, the national average income for the USA in 2011 was $41,673.83. That means that to half the country, $50,000 a year would be a $8,326 raise, and yet this woman says $50,000 feels like minimum wage !

Well, if you read her story it makes a lot of sense.

Basically, she went from working at home to a full time office job and once she totaled the change in her spending she realized she was making about $7.50 per hour.

Here are some of the things she attributes to lowering her effective income:

Commuting costs – increased wear and tear on her car, the cost of gas, etc…
Childcare expenses
Eating out more – less time to prepare meals at home means eating out or buying take out more frequently, which is more expensive.
Increase in clothing and personal care expenses (i.e. hair and nail care, proper office attire, etc..)
Coping with stress by spending more on vacations, or entertainment.. buying more wants than needs.

Her change in lifestyle brought about a change in spending with no increase in saving. It happens to a lot of people and it’s not always easy or even possible to fix. She could do some things differently. She probably doesn’t need to spend $40 a week on clothes, and she could plan ahead to prepare more meals at home, but that takes work too.

This is the kind of situation my wife and I work very hard to avoid. We avoid debt whenever possible to keep as much of our income as possible. I work hard to secure a steady income, and she works hard (sometimes harder) to make that income go as far as possible.

She’s the coupon clipper and meal planner. She’s turned comparison shopping into a competitive sport. She scours thrift shops and consignment stores for children’s clothes, and puts a healthy low cost meal on the table every day of every week all year long.

It’s not easy, but it’s cheaper than if she went back to work full time. And we believe it’s better for the family. Living on a single income is not easy, but it is possible and I believe better in most cases for families. The key is twofold: 1) limit expenses as much as possible, and 2) increase income.

It’s really no different than what most people should be trying to do regardless of their employment situation, but as the Yahoo! article makes clear, it’s so much easier to lose control of your spending when both people work out of the house. Those little money leaks turn into an effective loss of income over time.

7 Things People Spend More Money on Than They Should (and Tips to Stop Doing it).

Joe — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 14:07:27 +0000

Saving money is always a good thing and with the recent recession, more people are casting an eye on their expenses in the hopes of cutting back. It’s not just a good idea during recession. If more people became more watchful of their spending, then the country as a whole would be in a much better place financially.

Here are 7 things that many people spend too much on, as well as some tips for cutting back on that spending.

1. Bargain traps.
Buying cheaper isn’t always better. For expensive and inexpensive items alike, there are often a multitude of options to choose from. The cheapest is not always going to save you the most, but the most expensive is usually not the best either. Be sure to weigh all the aspects of the item and choose the trade off in quality vs. price you can live with.

Also, beware of “spend x and save y” type bargains. Spending $50 more than you planned, just to “save” $10, still leaves you with $40 less.

2. Going warehouse when you have a small house.
My wife and I love the local warehouse store. We buy many things in bulk: diapers, paper towels, dish detergent, laundry detergent, etc.. with a 5 person household and 3 growing kids, we go through that stuff pretty quickly. But buying in bulk rarely makes sense for a single person or even just a couple living in an apartment. Saving on large quantities doesn’t help much when you have no place to store them and can’t use them before they spoil.

3. Buying what you can borrow.
Why buy a single-use new tool from Home Depot when your neighbor already has one? Use social networking, or just ask a neighbor if you need a tool for a job that you know you’re unlikely to ever use again. Just remember to return it when you’re done.

4. Suffering from sticker-price tunnel vision.
Don’t focus solely on the sticker price of a car (or other big-ticket item). Look at depreciation, cost of ownership, repair, upkeep, etc..

For example, the base model Chevrolet Malibu costs about the same as the Honda Accord but their service and maintenance costs, average fuel cost and depreciation are quite different.

5. Jumping on the “new” used car.
Buying a used car is a great way to save money on an auto, and most used cars that have been on the lot for more than 30 days receive at least 1 price drop. Buying too soon can leave that extra savings behind on the lot. When looking at a used car, find out how long the car has been on the lot and don’t make an offer until it’s past the 30 day mark. One caveat to this is if the you’re having a hard time finding a used car that suits your needs. One of the results of the misguided Cash for Clunkers program was that the clunkers (i.e. used cars) had to be destroyed. This has created a scarcity of used cars, and driven prices and demand up. Also, certain vehicles, like minivans, hold their value well and always seem to be in demand so you may not be able to play the waiting game on these models.

6. Control your urge to splurge.
Impulse buying is costly. Stores know they can charge a little more for that merchandise in the display rack near the register and the entrance. They’re counting on your impulse. Use a list and stick to it. That list is your mission, do not deviate from your course!

7. Skip the travel sites.
Booking a hotel room through a travel site like Expedia.com or Hotels.com requires you to pay in advance. Cut out the middle man instead and use these sites for comparisons, but call the hotel directly yourself. You will likely get the same rate if not a better one and not have to prepay. I’ve also heard that calling a local number (i.e. not the 1-800 number) can get you in town prices that are lower than what they charge out-of-towners. That ay not be standard practice, but it’s worth a try.

Source

What Would You do With $17,000?

Joe — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 20:41:37 +0000

Pop Quiz: You walk up to the ATM to get some fast cash for a burrito, and almost step on a bag of cash – $17k in cash. What do you do?

I’d like to say that I’d find a way to return the money, like Robert Adams did, but I honestly don’t know if I would. $1 million is definitely a game changer, but it’s also easy to decide what to do with (as evidenced by this post). But my wife and I were just discussing the other day about how something as simple as an extra $1,000 a month would change our life significantly. 17 grand would go a long way to easy many of my money worries…

I could pay off my car loan and still have $10,000 left over…
I could put that extra $10k in savings for my next car and never need another car loan again…
I could finish the unfinished room on the 2nd floor of my house, increasing the number of bedrooms…
I could fully fund my IRA for the year, and have enough left over for the next two years and pocket the interest…
I could pay off my student loans, and still have enough left over to almost pay off the family car…
I could take my wife and kids to Disney land…
I could make a nice donation to my favorite charity…
I could buy a new home entertainment system….
I could hire a maid and make my wife’s life a lot easier…

Well, I could go on… but this little dream is moot because I probably would hand the money over. The way I see it, I’d have to sleep sometime and when I did, my conscience would gnaw away at me.

For the record, if I suddenly came into $17,000 I didn’t have previously, I’d probably pay off the family car and bank the rest for my next car since it’s getting a little shaky these days.. then I’d hire a maid.

But what about you?

Would you return the money?

Forgetting about the source of the money for a minute, would an extra $17,000 change your life in any way?

The Rich Are Shopping Much More Like the Middle Class, Thanks to Recession.

Joe — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 00:44:16 +0000

According to the Wall Street Journal, the rich are changing the way they think about shopping and spending money. Instead of simply buying items based on brand name, they are considering the “price per wear” first.

In one Harrison Group survey, done in the first quarter of 2011, consumers with an income of $275,000 were 7% more likely to wait for items to go on sale than they were in 2010 – 38% in 2011 compared with 31% in 2010.

“What’s showing up in the latest research is a broad-based caution — a sudden aversion to salespeople, a tepid response to ads focused on brand images, and a new interest in price-shopping.”

It seems “the rich” are shopping more like most Americans these days, thanks to the recession.

Here’s an infographic of the Harrison Group survey:

Of course, affluent consumers can’t just be like average consumers because, well that would make them average. So they’ve coined a special term to describe their thriftier approach in a more stylish way: recessionista.

7 Tips for Cutting Spending and Putting Cash Back in your Pocket. (video)

Joe — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 00:32:45 +0000

The beautiful Farnoosh Torabi is at it again. This time, she stopped by the CBS Early show to share some tips for managing through your own personal cash crisis. Here are the highlights:

The average American spends 6-12% of their annual income on gas & electricity. She talks about ways to lower that, especially for seniors and low-income households. If someone in your family has lost their job during the recession, you may now qualify.
Cut back on cable or ask for freebies. I did this, and saved $40 a month. It’s not that difficult, and really only takes some time so why not try it?
Medical bills. Medical bills are often times negotiable – and you may not have to go to the extreme that Farnoosh did when she saved $400 off her dental bill!
College tuition – lost income can mean big discounts, but you need to use the “special term” mentioned in the video when dealing with the financial aid office.
Refinancing – interest rates keep hitting record lows, if you have the equity you could save $200 per month. My wife and I were lucky enough to have enough equity to do this a few months back, and now rates are back down to where they were then so consider this your second chance if you missed the first one.

Watch the video for all the details (it’s only 4 minutes long)

Games to Teach Children About Money.

Joe — Fri, 20 May 2011 17:38:27 +0000

It’s never too early to start learning about money. In fact, the earlier parents begin to teach children about money and money management, the better off everyone would be. Children who learn proper money management skills early in life are less likely to end up as boomerang kids, living in their parent’s basement at 27 years old.

Here are some ideas for games to teach young children about money and basic money skills. best of all, they’re free, interactive and imaginative – no computers, television or board games here!

Let’s get started…

Money Games for Toddlers

Children are naturally inquisitive. Just because they are too young to learn simple math and grasp the beauty of compounding interest doesn’t mean they can’t start to learn about money. Begin with the basics.

Grab a penny, a nickel, a dime and a quarter. Teach your toddler the names of each coin. Engage him in tactile interaction with the coins – get a small piece of Tupperware, or a box and practice taking the coins out and putting them back in. Toddlers LOVE this kind of repetitive activity.

The mind of a toddler is like a sponge. You don’t need to force feed them the names and quiz them, flashcard style. Simply holding up a penny and saying, “Penny” before placing it in the container is often time enough to create that bond between the name of the item and the item itself.

Start small with 1 or 2 coins and work your way up. Ask your toddler to grab the penny or nickel. Make a big deal when he gets it right. It may not seem like much, but it’ll be a fun game for him and the positive reinforcement will encourage him to new heights.

Image by Timeout Kids.

Games for Preschoolers

Once your child has progressed beyond the name and coin recognition stage, and has moved into coloring, drawing and general crayon work, start adding more detail to the coin game. Start teaching the value of the coins, replacing the names with the monetary equivalent. For example, instead of saying “where’s the nickel?” you can say, “Where’s the 5 cent piece” or “Can you find 5 cents?”

While few preschoolers can handle the math required for making change for a dollar, you can start them on the path with simple counting games. Using pennies, you can introduce your child to the concept that 5 pennies equal 1 nickel, and so forth. It’s little more than counting pennies, but it’s a beginning and it’s important.

If your child is a math star, then by all means introduce counting by fives and tens (i.e. nickels and dimes). The point is to start small and work up. You’re not grooming your progeny for MENSA here, but rather laying the ground work for interest in learning and a solid financial background later in life.

Draw a circle for each coin, label it with its cent value and have your child color the circles in with whatever colors they want. Make sure each circle is roughly the right size in relation to the other circles (i.e. the dime should be smaller than the nickel..).

Ask your child to match the coin to the correct circle, using verbal cues. For example: ask, “where does the penny go?”, without pointing.

This will force the child to recognize the penny out of the possible coins laid out before him, and also challenge him to match the coin with the picture he colored.

Games for 5-8 year olds

Play shopkeeper. My middle child is 5 and she loves to play store owner. She takes her stuffed animal collection and spreads it all over the room, and pretends it’s her pet shop.

The rest of the family then takes turns “buying” a pet. It’s great imaginative play, and it provides the opportunity for learning about exchanging money for goods, and making change. It increases money awareness and math skills and best of all – it’s interactive. There is no television or computer to lean on mentally! It’s pure imagination and role play, which then lends itself to discussing and learning about all sorts of things in life – trust me!

This kind of game can be adapted for various levels and interests. Maybe your child isn’t into pets. Maybe it’s superhero action figures, grocery store play food or race cars. Maybe it’s a service, and not a product based store. You can play restaurant – kids love play food and pretend cooking.

You can also adjust the complexity of math and money management skills to the age level. For example, simple whole numbers for the 5 year age set :

Owner: “That pet is $4. ”

Shopper: “Ok, great. Here’s a $5 bill.”

Owner: “Thank you. Here’s a dollar for your change.”

Or for the later ages:

Wait person: “Thank you for dining at Half-Pint Cafe. Here’s your check.” (child provides hand-written lunch check for $12.95)

Diner: “Lunch was wonderful. Thank you.” (parent provides $15 )

Wait person: “Here’s $2.05 change. Please come again.”

Diner: “Oh I will, you can be sure of it!” (parent places $2 on the table for a tip).

So what just happened here? The child learned to make proper change, and practiced his writing skills and manners.

Perhaps the child even learned what a “tip” was. There’s a world of possibilities out there. Mix it up and experiment. What happens when the diner doesn’t give enough money as payment? What happens when you’re the wait person, your child is the diner and you give incorrect change back. See if your child notices, and role play consequences. This is a great opportunity to teach lessons about what’s right and what’s wrong regarding money and how we use it.

Some final thoughts

The earlier you start, the easier it will be to engage your child.

Include the whole family – you might be surprised at what siblings (older and younger) will come up with!

Older siblings can sometimes have an easier time of joining in if they are engaged in the teaching aspect. Get them involved in helping to teach the younger ones and they may learn a thing or two also – or come up with a new variation that may teach something you didn’t think needed to be taught.

Content in this post was inspired by Money Doesn’t Grow On Trees: A Parent’s Guide to Raising Financially Responsible Children

14.95 Reasons To Not Use ProFlowers This Mother’S Day.

Joe — Tue, 03 May 2011 16:04:18 +0000

Mother’s day is upon us once more, and that means flowers!

I know, it’s tempting to head over to the ProFlowers website and order a special delivery for mom. Especially with television, internet and radio ads everywhere you turn. But there’s a big reason (in my opinion) not to do so.

It’s not that ProFlowers has a bad product or shoddy service, though that certainly seems to be the case for some people.

For the record, the flowers that I ordered were in excellent condition and lasted quite a long time. My problem was far worse than poor quality flowers..

In fact, my problem with ProFlowers was that the process of ordering flowers on their website led to my being enrolled in a “coupon program” resulting in a monthly $14.95 charge on my credit card – without my knowledge!

You don’t need to be enrolled in some credit card billing scam. You can bypass ProFlowers and support local florists.

LocateAFlowershop.com lets you search for florists by City and State or by zip code.

FTD.com lets you schedule a floral delivery online and hands that delivery off to a local florist to complete. TeleFlora is yet another online floral site.

With so many alternatives, why risk unauthorized monthly credit card charges with ProFlowers?

How to Waste Your Money in 15 Easy Steps.

Joe — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 16:33:22 +0000

I came across a Yahoo! finance post the other day that highlighted 25 different money leaks. Some were OK, some were pretty lame. I decided to pick some of the better ones and add some of my own for this list. These are 15 items I think most people probably waste at least a little bit on now and then. Mostly this list should get you thinking about were and how you waste money regularly, so that you can stop and pocket that money instead. This list is by no means meant to be one of items people should never spend money on. Rather, it is a collection of things we often spend on and may have never considered a cheaper alternative.

Here we go… 15 money wasting leaks.

Credit card debt. Carrying a balance – however small – in an excellent way to leak cash from what could otherwise be your savings. Even a modest credit card balance will cost you hundreds of dollars a year at a rate of 10% or more. Do what you can to Get out of credit card debt.
Excessive car maintenance. Premium gas, and unnecessary oil changes are just a couple of the car maintenance costs you can save money on .
Unhealthy habits. Cigarettes are costly, and spending the evening at the bar adds up quickly. You’ll not only save costs, but also save your health by cutting back if not quitting.
More cell phone than you need. Many people find themselves locked into a monthly cell phone contract costing the thousands. That’s all well and good if you really need those features and use the service, but many people simply do not. I was one of these people, and gave up my Verizon bill for a pay as you go Tracfone years ago and have been pocketing the savings ever since.
Buying name-brand instead of generic. Whether it’s clothes or groceries, many name brand products are identical to the generic, but you pay a lot more.
Not asking for a discount or cheaper alternative. Hey, it never hurts to ask. Right?
Not buying beverages in bulk. Soda is cheaper when you buy a 2-liter bottle than a 20oz. bottle. The same is true for many drinks. And snack food to come to that. If you like some chips with your brown-bag lunch, why not by the big bag and bring a few every day in a sandwich bag. You do bring your lunch to work instead of buying, don’t you?
Paying for something that’s ‘Free’. Why spend money when you don’t have to? You can get software for free and your credit report for free among other things, and yet millions continue to pay . Don’t be one of them.
Getting a tax refund. Loaning your hard earned money to the government for nothing in return is one of the most senseless money mistakes going. Yet every year we see stories about the millions who do, and what they’re going to do with their “extra money”. Do yourself and the country a favor – put that money in a saving account instead. You’ll earn interest on it and you’ll still have the money come tax time next year.
Stashing your savings in a low (no) interest checking account. While we’re on the topic of saving money, there are dozens of high yield savings accounts out there, pick one. I recommend ING and HSBC Direct , but there are many other options to choose from.
Paying late fees. This is just a result of poor planning. I know – I’ve done it! Get whatever system works for you in place so you don’t do it again. Either use personal finance software, or a cheap calendar to write due dates on, or get a planner. For Pete’s sake – do something!
Paying ATM fees. This is also because you didn’t think ahead. There is no other reason to pay ATM fees other than poor planning, plain and simple.
Shopping without a list. Be it grocery shopping, or clothes shopping. There’s a reason retailers love you to window shop – you spend more than you would have with a defined list of items. They love it because it’s money in their pocket. Keep money in your pocket instead. Use a list.
Paying for things you don’t use. Sometimes it’s poor or no planning that leads you to that splurge on that spur of the moment purchase. Other times it’s product packaging that forces you to buy more than you need. Case in point: Cable Television. Well, I cut my bill by $40 a month, and so can you! By the way, this is another example of “just asking” for the discount too, albeit there was a fair amount of negotiation with the asking.
Buying a new car, instead of a used one. I know a lot of people argue that a new car is worth the money for the peace of mind that comes from being free from repairs, but take it from me - buying a new car can be costly experience!

Feel free to leave any quick money savers you may have in the comment section!

It Pays to Bundle and Bargain!

Joe — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 17:15:36 +0000

According to a recent Consumer Reports reader poll, a majority of readers bundle their internet, television and phone service through a single provider, and most are happy they did so. Not only that, but many also haggled for a lower bill for their services.

Reader response.

Here’s the highlights of the poll:

27% of bundle customers said they would definitely choose a bundle again.
55% said they “probably” would.

That leaves only 18% who were either unsatisfied or couldn’t figure out if they had an opinion.

Among the main reasons for choosing the bundle was convenience. As someone who is constantly scheming for ways to eliminate my own monthly payments, I can appreciate the desire to consolidate those payments.

Of the readers who didn’t opt for the bundle, the main reason for skipping was a lack of real savings. As I’ve said before, it’s only savings if you’re paying less for services and products you either need or actually use. Paying anything for services you don’t use is not saving anything.

Tips.

Here are a few of the tips for determining which provider to use and whether a bundled package is right for you.

Verizon FiOS and AT&T U-verse get good marks.
More readers who bundled with these providers said they would do so again than any other respondents. Interestingly, these readers also had fewer complaints about big price hikes once the introductory offer time had expired – the opposite of cable customers.

Compare everything!
It’s important to compare cost of equipment, activation fees and servicing fees and not just the monthly bill. Not all providers are forward with their pricing and many try to hide behind various fees that only show up on the monthly bill, and not in their brochure.

Avoid contracts.
Contracts from television, internet and phone providers are nothing more than a locked in monthly charge. They limit your ability to switch providers when you want and therefore limit your haggling ability. It’s best to avoid if possible.

See the big picture.
When comparing provider costs, look beyond the introductory price. Look at how much you’ll spend for 3 years, and do this for all providers you’re considering. Often times, providers make up money they lose in the introductory 1st year through higher than average costs the 2 years after the intro offer expires.

Haggle.
Even if you’re not switching providers, it pays to haggle with your existing provider. The key to haggling successfully is to be prepared. If you’ve investigated the competition with the intent of possibly switching, but decided it’s not worth the hassle to switch, you can still use that time and effort spent researching as leverage to bargain for a lower monthly bill with your current provider. They don’t need to know you researched and decided to stay put! Call them up and point out the benefits to you if you switch providers. Tell them that you’re happy with the service, but not the cost. You’ll be surprised at what they might offer to keep you.

Remember: It may be a hassle for you to switch phone numbers and email, but it’s much more costly to gain a new customer than make an existing one happy.

Tax Day Freebies and Deals!

Joe — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 12:56:24 +0000

Today is tax day, which means you’ve got until midnight to file or mail your taxes for the 2010 tax year (unless you file an extension). It also means that we get to hear all the stories about how it takes Americans something on the order of a trillion hours to navigate the labyrinth commonly known as the U.S. Tax code. (honestly people, just get a copy of TurboTax and be done already).

But tax day means one other thing: freebies and tax day deals!

Here are 11 deals and freebies for tax day, so treat yourself to a reward for filing!

Food.

Free ice cream! MaggieMoo’s is offering free mini sundaes from 3 p.m. – 6 p.m. including new flavors like the crumb cake sundae.

Free Cinnamon Bites at Cinnabon, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m..

Baker’s Dozen of bagels with 2 tubs of cream cheese from Bruegger’s for $10.40, with this coupon.

Free chips and salsa with any purchase at California Tortilla.

15% off any purchase at P. F. Chang’s – including dine-in and take-out.

$10.40 specials at McCormick and Schmick’s – includes entrees and bar specials.

Activities

Free entrance to more than 100 national parks

Free massage from participating HydroMassage locations.

Free HBO and Cinemax through participating cable providers and DirecTV.

Free personal training session at Bally Total Fitness – non-members can work out for no charge.

Free 5lbs. shredding from Office Depot, and free tax document copying. coupon required.

Non-Tuition College Costs. (Infographic)

Joe — Sat, 09 Apr 2011 20:39:47 +0000

It’s been a while since I was in college, and the last time I could call myself a student I was a “non-traditional” student. That basically means I was not straight out of college, and had a life established beyond the boundaries of dorm life. As such, I didn’t have many of the expenses highlighted in this graphic, and when I did have those expenses, I never really paid much attention to the money. I had other things on my mind.

Do these seem in line to you, or maybe too low or too high?

Are GOP Spending Cuts Too Extreme?

Joe — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 17:01:52 +0000

Chuck Schumer let the “secret” slip in a recent phone call:

“I always use the word ‘extreme’; that’s what the caucus instructed me to do the other week.”

It’s not really a secret, after all Democrats have been calling any proposed spending cuts ‘reckless” and “Extreme” for weeks or more.

Democrats are trying to tag any Republican proposed spending cuts as extreme, and they are resorting to everything from the usual fear tactics to the outright absurd.

Democrats have offered a $33 billion compromise and are simply not serious about real reform.

Meanwhile, Republicans don’t seem to be that serious either – bickering over a meager $6 billion in cuts.

That was the continuing resolution passed in mid March. The cuts currently being proposed are in the $61 billion range.

To put this in perspective, let’s look at the GOP proposal, the Democrat compromise, interest on this year’s debt, the deficit and the overall spending for the 2011 fiscal year:

As you can see, it’s all peanuts. If you could add the GOP cuts and the Democrat compromise together it wouldn’t be enough to make the interest payments. Compared to the $1.64 TRILLION deficit, the cuts are almost non-existent. Yet somehow we’re supposed to believe these cuts would do serious harm to the country?

Mind you – this is all over this current year’s budget… the budget that should have been passed at the end of last year by the 111th congress.

When you consider the above, and you look at how the federal deficit has grown over the last 5 years you see that it’s not the cuts that are extreme, but the spending.

In my opinion, extreme situations call for extreme measures. Washington has been spending money on a level that would embarrass even the proverbial drunken-sailor for the better part of a decade. It is unsustainable and perhaps the biggest threat to personal freedom and the American way of life we face, and if our congress men and women don’t get serious about cutting the size of government soon, we may well indeed be looking at the end of the American way of life generations before ours enjoyed as more and more people need to work simply to support government spending, rather than enjoying the fruits of their labor.

5 Small Sacrifices to Save Big.

Joe — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 18:53:17 +0000

With a few small sacrifices and some smart money decisions, it’s easy to start saving big. One of the best ways to save money is to first know where your money is being spent. Create a list of your spending in a week; it seems like a dull task, but at the end of the week, you should be able to see where costs can be cut or what things you can do without.

Here are 5 small sacrifices to save big:

1.On Food.

Cook at home whenever you can. This may be quite difficult for others who don’t eat together, but you can start out with the habit of cooking and eating together at home once a week and slowly increase the frequency. If cooking a meal is too time-consuming for your busy lifestyle, create a weekly plan of your meals.

Shop for all your grocery needs in one go, prepare the meals ahead of time, store them in separate containers, and freeze them. The next time you are too tired to prepare a meal, you can just pull out a container in the fridge and heat it up right away. If you always eat at work, consider taking a packed lunch.

You don’t have to do it every day so as not to isolate your coworkers. If the entire office is going out for lunch, go ahead and connect with them. But for other days, try to convince some of your colleagues to join you in brown-bagging lunches. You’ll never know they might also appreciate the idea of saving extra money from it.

If you just can’t seem to stop yourself from binging on food, carry some snacks in your purse, keep some in the car, or have a stash available in the office too. This way, you can avoid going to convenience stores or the vending machines whenever your hunger pangs strike.

If you are a coffee person, you may already know that the coffee you pick up every morning adds up to a significant amount of money. Even though it seems like a small indulgence, skipping designer coffee will turn into a lot of savings in the long run.

You don’t have to completely avoid drinking coffee, but as often as possible, make one yourself at home. If you need it on the go, invest in a reusable thermal travel cup, so you can take your homemade coffee with you. If you can, get into the habit of drinking water.

But avoid having to spend a lot of money on bottled water by investing in a tap filter or pitcher and filter. You can use a reusable bottle that you can refill and take anywhere with you so you’ll never have to buy bottled water again. Not only is this much cheaper, it’s also better for the environment.

2.On Energy.

Regulate the energy you consume at home. Switch off anything that runs on electricity when not in use. If you keep forgetting, invest in a motion detector so that the light switches off automatically when no one is in the room. Unplugging an appliance will help you save more than simply switching it off. Control the thermostat of your heating and air conditioning units as they consume a large amount of electricity than most appliances.

In the winter, layer your clothes so you can lower the temperature a little bit. During summer, use blinds or curtains in your windows to block the sunlight from coming in; but make sure that there are other windows, situated in cooler direction of the house, that are open so that air can circulate inside your home. Choose the most energy-efficient and eco-friendly models when buying new appliances or replacing your old ones.

3.On Bills

Seeing an overview of you budget might make you more conscious about your spending habits. So, spend some time to create a detailed and organized budget, and stick with it. If possible, automate all your payments to make sure that you do not overlook some of your bills, which can charge you extra fees for late payments. If not, when you receive your fund, immediately divide it to pay for all you financial obligations.

Use cash instead whenever you can – it’ll save you withdrawal fees to transferring fees, and other bank fees you may not be aware of. But when withdrawing cash from the ATMs, make sure that it will not charge you any transaction fees. If it does, then don’t use it and find another one which doesn’t or withdraw directly from your bank. If the money just isn’t there, don’t spend – it’s that simple. Using a credit card will force you to buy on debt and it may be hard to pay it off completely especially when the interest starts adding up.

4.On Leisure

Plan and book your vacations ahead of time; it will not only save your sanity but also give you enough time to look for inexpensive airfares, hotels, and other travel packages that will eventually save you a significant amount of money. If you are not really fond of traveling, consider your local tourist destinations and look for activities that you can do on your idle time.

Visit your local library. You might be surprised that you can get a wide selection of books and DVDs at very minimal cost. Usually, your library card can let you borrow them for free. This is a better option than buying them because there is a great possibility that you will only read a book once, and watch a movie once.

If you really like something, then that’s the time you purchase it. Better yet, buy used books at second-hand stores or online shops like EBay and Amazon. It may be a little scruffy, but considering that you can get them for almost as much as half the price of the new ones, it is a small price to pay. For DVDs, see if you can get a membership to the DVD stores for discounted prices.

5.On Transport

Avoid buying a new car if possible. A new car depreciates in value as soon as you drive it out of a dealership, and it is still more costly than getting a pre-owned vehicle or maintaining an old car. Compare the money spent on repair and maintenance of an old car against the monthly installment of a new car and see the difference.

Either you choose to spend some extra thousand dollars for a new one or you shell out just a few bucks in repair maintenance for a slightly used car with a low mileage on it. Whatever it is, your goal is to keep your car as long as possible. As long as the repair costs are low, lengthen its life by having a regular maintenance schedule.

If you can, choose walking or biking when going someplace, especially when the weather is great. And if it is hard to get by without using a car, share a ride with your spouse or colleague. Planning a carpool can save you hundreds of dollars a year and reduce your carbon footprint in our air. You are not only saving money this way, but also saving the environment.

This is a Guest Post from Ally. Ally is part of the team that manages Home Loan Finder, a free mortgage broker and home loan interest rates comparison service in Australia. Before joining HLF, she was a Media Planner with McCann Worldgroup Philippines, Inc., with award-winning executions, including the Levi’s 501 “Live Unbuttoned” global campaign.

Milton Friedman on the 4 Ways to Spend Money (VIDEO).

Joe — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 16:30:08 +0000

Here’s an interview with the late economist Milton Friedman where he talks about the 4 ways to spend money.

The core of his view rests on this chart:

The idea being that when You spend Your money on Yourself, you’re going to get the best quality for the least cost. But when you spend Someone Else’s money on somebody else (public education, healthcare, etc..) you get the worst quality with the highest cost.

The interview focuses on education spending, but the same is true for health care, or any public sector spending – and the results bear his view out!

The great thing about Friedman is his use of simple examples to get his point across, and this interview is no different. His example of the business lunch to illustrate spending Someone Else’s money on Yourself is instantly appreciable to most people.

Here’s the interview:

Special thanks to Todd for sharing this video with me!

Top 5 Ways to Save on Car Maintenance.

Joe — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 19:49:56 +0000

Photo by helixblue: http://www.flickr.com/photos/helixblue/

David Muhlbaum recently wrote an article for kiplinger finance titled 9 Ways to Save on Car Maintenance. While I found some of the ways mentioned to be either redundant or unnecessary, I did find some of his tips helpful. The truth is, I’ve seen so many articles like this one that what made this stand out was a few items I hadn’t seen elsewhere.

These are no earth-shattering revelations here, but some solid tips that should help just about anyone with a car made after the late 1990′s save a buck or two on maintenance.

Here are my picks for top 5 ways to save on car maintenance.

Reduce cold starts. The bulk of engine wear occurs when starting a cold engine. Because of this, the author recommends avoiding ultra-short driving situations. For example, park your car in the garage when you get home, rather than starting it an hour later just to move it 10 feet into the garage.

Go 87. Most cars do not require premium gas and will run just fine on 87 octane, regular grade gasoline. With gas prices where they are, an the ability of most modern cars to adjust for the quality of the gas, you end up saving enough money going to 87 octane to more than make up for any loss of MPG.

Skip the oil change. This one has been covered by just about every personal finance blog out there, so I’ll be brief. Most cars can go for more than 3,000 mile between oil changes. Oil changes have gotten expensive. Read your manual and go by the manufacturer’s recommendation, not the service station.

Think globally, but patronize locally. A good mechanic is hard to find, especially one that’s affordable and trustworthy. Find one near you and get to know him. Go to him first and foremost. Often times, dealerships are not only more expensive, but recommend more work than is really necessary. This is especially true of older model cars. The author puts it nicely this way, “You bought a car. You didn’t marry the dealer.”

Hit the warehouse for tires. Warehouse stores, like Costco, Sams club and BJ’s wholesale offer tires – with mounting, balancing, etc. – for less than many other stores. I’m a Sears guy myself, but that’s more out of habit than anything so I think I’ll look into the local BJ’s next time I need some new treads.

Read the full article here.

Budget of the Average College Student (INFO GRAPHIC).

Joe — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 17:59:22 +0000

I came across this info graphic of the budget of the average college student, and I thought I’d share…

I don’t know how accurate this is, but I found it interesting that the average credit card debt is about what I had when I was in college – over 10 years ago! Maybe some things haven’t changed that much..

Simple Debt-Free Finance » spending

How To Cut The Cable Cord And Lower Your Tv Bill (In 3 Easy Steps).

Step 1. Determine your “must see” t.v. shows.

Step 2. Find out where you can watch your shows online.

Step 3. Determine how to stream online content to your t.v..

A word of caution

Related Posts:

How To Stream Online Content To Your T.V..

Streaming programs to your television.

Pick a device.

How to stream online content to your t.v..

Streaming live t.v..

Final thoughts.

Related Posts:

Where To Watch Online Content Streamed To Your Television.

Hulu vs. Hulu Plus

Netflix vs. Netflix.

Amazon Prime vs. Amazon Instant Video.

PlayOn.tv

How to watch CBS shows online.

Life without DVR.

Conclusion

Related Posts:

Is Pet Insurance Worth The Cost?

When Pet Health Insurance Might be Worth it.

Why Pet Health Insurance is Typically Not Worth the Cost.

Bottom Line: Is Pet Insurance Right For You?

Related Posts:

When a $50,000 Salary Can Feel Like Minimum Wage.

Related Posts:

7 Things People Spend More Money on Than They Should (and Tips to Stop Doing it).

Related Posts:

What Would You do With $17,000?

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The Rich Are Shopping Much More Like the Middle Class, Thanks to Recession.

Related Posts:

7 Tips for Cutting Spending and Putting Cash Back in your Pocket. (video)

Related Posts:

Games to Teach Children About Money.

Money Games for Toddlers

Games for Preschoolers

Games for 5-8 year olds

Some final thoughts

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14.95 Reasons To Not Use ProFlowers This Mother’S Day.

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How to Waste Your Money in 15 Easy Steps.

Related Posts:

It Pays to Bundle and Bargain!

Reader response.

Tips.

Related Posts:

Tax Day Freebies and Deals!

Food.

Activities

Related Posts:

Non-Tuition College Costs. (Infographic)

Related Posts:

Are GOP Spending Cuts Too Extreme?

Related Posts:

5 Small Sacrifices to Save Big.

1.On Food.

2.On Energy.

3.On Bills

4.On Leisure

5.On Transport

Related Posts:

Milton Friedman on the 4 Ways to Spend Money (VIDEO).

Related Posts:

Top 5 Ways to Save on Car Maintenance.

Related Posts:

Budget of the Average College Student (INFO GRAPHIC).

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