College Savings Made Easy

This is one of the ways I just sit back and save money for my children's college education. I signed up for Upromise several years ago.

Enjoy the benefits of earning money for your child's education just by shopping where you normally do every day. When families join Upromise, companies will contribute a portion of their eligible spending with them into a Upromise account for their child, grandchild or any future college student they wish to support. Members can earn college savings when they buy gas, dine out, shop online - even when they buy or sell a house.

Upromise is a free secure service, and by adding your credit, debit or grocery cards means that you can begin saving money for college every time you shop at participating retailers.
Click on the link below for more information:

Cash Flow/Kids Cash

I don't know about you, but I never seem to have much cash around every time the kids need some or it is allowance time. I decided to let them have their own debit cards.

The cards have a set amount of money that you put on them so they can not go over the limit. You can add money when you want or have scheduled loads. You can log onto the site and see where and how much they spend. You also get a low balance email. The kids can also log on with their own password and user id to track their spending. I keep the cards in my possession and we discuss what they can buy and how much they can spend. The kids are actually not spending as much as they did when they had the cash in their hands. They love using their "credit card" to pay for their own purchases too. They are supposed to be 13 years old to have one..........so i may have fudged a little on the birth year of one...shhhhhhhh!

The kids can choose from several cards or create their own.

I researched several of these "kid" debit cards and found UPSIDE VISA to be the cheapest. If you go with the $24.00 annual fee they don't charge for reloading etc. If you decide to try it use PROMOTIONAL CODE 854f36 and you will get a $10.00 Amazon.com e-certificate. It is working great for us and made a great birthday gift.

Saving Even More Time And Expense In The Kitchen

Once you have mastered the "menu planning" you may want to try some other time and money saving tips.

*Buying in bulk from wholesale clubs and warehouse stores (Sams Club, Costco, etc) or when items are on sale. Some have membership fees but you can always share the membership with a family member or friend.

*Invest in a FoodSaver and package bulk items into usable portions and freeze them. One more economical option is Reynolds® Handi-Vac Vacuum Sealer, just plain freezer paper or freezer bags. Items last longer when you seal with the FoodSaver.
Remember to label with item name and date.

Another thing you can do, since you are cooking anyway, is to double your recipes and freeze half. This is a time saver when you don't have time much time and just need to heat something up. You can freeze just the main dish and even the sides if they are freezable. If it is a roast cooked with vegetables in the same pan, I freeze it together. If I make meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and broccoli, I put the meatloaf in a freezer bag and mashed potatoes in a freezer bag. Then I put the two bags in a larger labeled bag. Since I usually buy the broccoli frozen in bulk I always have that on hand. But you can put some broccoli in a separate freezer bag and add to the larger bag with the meatloaf and potatoes for a complete meal.

Save A Little Time And Expense In The Kitchen

Menu planning..............did I really say that? Who has the time? Actually once you have made 4 or 5 weeks worth of menus then you just reuse them. Not only does it cut down on stress, but it saves money, saves trips to the store, and most importantly you can make more nutritious meals. Oh and instead of everybody eating when and what they want you can actually all sit down to a family meal together.

I don't know about you but I am tired of frantic last minute searches in the freezer for something to thaw in 10 minutes or less. I am tired of missing ingredients and having to dash to the store or just leave it out all together. So dare to make this promise, "I will not go to the grocery store until I make a menu plan!"

Think of your weekly schedule....who is home and when. I have kids and a husband who are not always around. Wednesday evenings are hectic in my home so I need something simple that can be eaten early by one child and later by the rest of us. Some people don't like to cook as much so this may be a good day to get take out. Save the pot roast for a lazy Sunday. Don't forget "Cook's Night Off." Have your husband cook or go out for dinner.

*You can start with the weekly sales ads and build your menu around the sale items.
*Make a rough menu plan with side dishes and salads.
*Check your pantry, refrigerator, and freezer for needed ingredients you may already have.
*Make a shopping list of needed ingredients. (Make your shopping list according to the order
you shop the store. You'll speed out of the store in record time!)
*Post the menu and refer to it throughout the week.

Good luck!

This is where I start.....

I did not start this blog because I needed something else to do, but rather to share things with other moms. For instance, I read a really great book called Eat Pray Love. It is the true story of one woman's year long spiritual journey of traveling, eating, and finding love.

Another thing I want to share is a study that was done on the effectiveness of sunscreen. It is shocking to see how ineffective and even hazardous the popular brands are. You can read the report at www.cosmeticsdatabase.com or skip straight to the list at findyoursunscreen . I am now using Keys Soap Solar Rx on my face. So far I really like it.