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Saving Money Tip: Free Delivery Online at Walmart.com

If you haven’t ordered anything online lately instead of going to the store, you’re missing out! It’s fun to receive packages in the mail, (even if it is paper towels and laundry detergent), it’s free shipping, and you don’t have to go to the store!!

Say “DONE!” to that dreaded shopping trip! Shop at Walmart.com, and get the same items that you’d buy in the store, delivered to your door! Same low prices, and delivery is free when you spend over $50. Save your list at walmart.com and reorder easily.

Do you have kids in tow, have trouble getting around, or just dread the trip to the store in rain, snow, sleet…? I have dreamed of the day when I could shop online, get fair prices, and not have to buy in bulk, and walmart.com is one supplier that is helping fulfill that need! The best aspect is being able to save your shopping list, so you don’t have to look through all of the products to find yours every time you reorder.

It’s hard to beat having all of those bulky items like toilet paper and paper towels delivered right to your door, for the same price, with thousands of products available for online purchase. You can prevent impulse purchases in the store by sticking to your list online, and check one thing off your To Do list easily!

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For more ways to save, click HERE


 

 

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Mom’s Priority Saving Money Tip: Get Rid of your Landline

Most likely, the calls you receive at your home phone are telemarketers, and most of your friends and family call your cell phone number.  If that is the case, then consider eliminating your landline, and save around $40 per month- that is close to $500 per year!  Here are some things to consider before you make the switch:

  1. You may need more minutes on your cell phone if you do not currently have an unlimited plan.
  2. Find out how your alarm system is set up.  Some are connected to your landline phone and a phone is required for the alarm to work; however, the alarm companies can connect it to your cellular phone, but they typically charge an increased fee for that.
  3. A traditional fax machine would not work (but an e-fax would)
  4. If you have a bundled provider who also provides your TV service or internet, they may charge you more on the other services when you remove the landline
  5. The 911 issue- if there is an emergency, if you’re calling from your cell phone, your call could be answered by a neighboring 911 center and not your own.  In the event of an emergency, if you are using your cell phone, make sure you ask for your city’s 911 center.
  6. Consider how much your children use the phone, or if they might need one in the event of an emergency, if they do not have their own cell phones.

After evaluating, you might just decide to eliminate your home phone, simplify your life, and save money!

Mom’s Priority Saving Money Tip: Join Amazon Prime

For less than $100 per year, join Amazon Prime, and receive hundreds of movie titles and TV shows to watch, thousands of songs to stream, and receive free 2 day shipping with your orders, with no minimum order size. Here’s how to stream movies through to your TV:   Simply connect your laptop and TV with an HDMI cable, pull up the Amazon prime movie you wish to watch on your TV, make sure the correct input button on your TV is chosen, and click “full screen” on your Amazon movie.  It’s so easy and inexpensive!!  For more tips on streaming to TV, see Amazon’s article here:  http://www.amazon.com/b?ie=UTF8&node=8101452011

Mom’s Priority Saving Money Tip: Shopping Consignment

With growing kids, you go through clothes fast!!  Especially when they are babies, you are missing out if you never shop consignment sales.  Because babies grow so fast, some clothes are never worn or worn only once, and are in consignment stores and sales at low prices.

You can also sell your children’s clothing, if they are still in very good condition (click here for good clothes to sell), and make money to go back into the clothing fund, or for whatever you want to spend it on.  Each store and sale has its own rules, and you have to decide how much time and effort you want to spend tagging and pricing items.  When you go through a sale, more effort is involved but you make a little more and the sale’s profit usually goes towards a charity or good organization.  When you go to a consignment store, you make a little less, but they do all the work for you and your items are on the racks for a longer period of time.  I’ve done both, and now I go to the store and simply drop off items to sell in season.  You can also simply donate your outgrown clothes, which we also do.

For a list of sales, this is a wonderful site.

Mom’s Priority Saving Money Tip: Lock in your Natural Gas Rate

Lock in your natural gas rate with a 6 or 12 month fixed rate.  When you don’t, you subject yourself to the variable rate, which is often double the rate you could be receiving.  Currently, in 2015, expect to find rates as low as $.46 per therm.  If you are in a de-regulated market, such as Georgia, you have multiple gas marketers to choose from, with varying rates and programs.  These should be listed on a government-sponsored site from the local Public Service Commission.  For rates in Georgia, check here.   If you are under contract with a marketer, you may have a penalty to switch, and you would need to evaluate your options.  In states that are not de-regulated, you should go to the utility’s website to see rate options and decide if you are better off with a fixed or variable rate plan.

Mom’s Priority Saving Money Tip: Refinance Your Mortgage or Pay Extra on your Mortgage

As of March 2015, rates are still low and it is still a good time to refinance your mortgage, if you haven’t already.  Check out this calculator and see if you could be saving money.  Be sure to consider closing costs.  Analysts expect the Fed to start raising rates after first quarter 2015, so this if this is something you are interested in, you might want to act.  You might even consider paying extra on your mortgage instead, and shed years off of your mortgage term by paying down the principal balance earlier on.

Refinance Calculator

 

Freezer Meals for Busy Nights

Freezer meals

Freezer meals

About once per quarter, I buy chicken breasts and ground beef in bulk (when they’re on sale), and make up meals to store in our freezer for busy weeknights.  Recently, I made 2 Baked Zitis and 1 Lasagna.  Sometimes, I make up chicken enchiladas, tex-mex chicken, and poppyseed chicken.  I use disposable pans from the dollar store to minimize clean-up and so I’m not using all of my dishes in the freezer.  I label them with the name and date, so I know what’s in there.  It makes life SOO much easier during busy times of the year.  Knowing that I have a real meal waiting in the freezer keeps us from eating out all the time, helps us stay on budget, and is just comforting!

If I have leftover ground beef, I might also make up chili or go ahead and season and cook the ground beef and then freeze in a Ziploc freezer bag (with the date and title) to mix with spaghetti sauce for a quick spaghetti night later on.

For the chicken, the easiest thing to do is to put chicken breasts in the crock pot with a jar of salsa emptied on top.  Let that slow cook all day, and then you have great pull-apart meat for your chicken enchiladas and also for any other Mexican dish you might have.  You can freeze the chicken meat in a Ziploc bag in good portion sizes for your family with the name and date on the bag.

We use the freezer for so many things- fruit, muffins, vegetables, desserts; I’m sure you do too- what are your favorite go-to meals, and have you thought about freezing them ahead of time to simplify your days?

 

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