This is a guest post written by Lauren Dzuris. Lauren runs FindMyCarSeat, a website on Booster Car Seats that can help new parents find a great car seat, while giving them tips, and advice on everything from pregnancy to parenting. Once we have a baby, we finally start to see what everyone means when they say they’re expensive.  We’ve heard it from our parents, our in-laws, and have read about it, but until they’re here in our arms, we don’t fully understand. Between the cost of a complete nursery set, formula each week, diapers, clothes, and everything else, we’ve spent a good amount of money!  What really gets us is the cost of diapers.  Although they serve a purpose, it seems silly to spend so much on something we use once and throw away!  So, if you’re looking to cut the costs on them, here are some ideas below! Brands:  First of all, brand plays a role in the price just like everything else.  If you can, stick with your local grocery store’s brand.  A diaper is … [Read more...]

Everyone is trying to cut costs. We’re clipping more coupons, cutting back on gas, turning the thermostat down and wearing more sweaters. We’re all trying to learn how to do more with less. But all that penny pinching and stress about finances can get to you. Sometimes you just want go out to the movies and buy a big tub of buttery popcorn even though you know it’s way too expensive. In fact, did you know that the average family spends over $1,800 a year on entertainment? That’s a lot of money you could be saving. But there are ways to have fun and save money at the same time, you may even find that they’re even more fun than spending all the money you used to spend on movies, cable, and sporting events. Here are some ways that you can save money, but still have a good time: Cut the cable and borrow movies Most people spend anywhere between $50-$100 a month on cable or satellite service. You may have 500 channels, but there still nothing on TV. Cutting out that monthly cost may … [Read more...]

How to Keep your Kids Entertained For Less If you have children, you know the expenses that come with the territory. Whether it's with school, extra-curricular activities, or entertainment, raising children is a rewarding but inevitably costly endeavor. One area, however, that parents tend to splurge on is kids' entertainment. Advertisements have us convinced that our children's recreational time requires some serious cash, but nothing could be further from the truth. Especially with younger kids, you'd be surprised at how little it takes to keep your children entertained and engaged. Here are a few ideas that require little or no money at all. 1. Find free events in your town or city. You'd be surprised at how many free events are going on in your community that your kids will enjoy. Look up the community section of your local newspaper and find out, or do some Google research. Almost every community will have something going on that's free of charge--whether it's a play … [Read more...]

Save Your Money And Watch It Grow! If you do nothing else this week, why don't you see if you can make your money grow by opening a savings account? You may have looked at doing this in the past but been so overwhelmed by the choice on offer that you decided not to bother in the end. But if this is the case, you could have been missing out on a substantial amount of free money. A savings account is something which keeps your money safe while paying you for the privilege of doing so. Think about it this way; you're lending your money to a bank, so they have to pay you for doing so. It's like a reverse loan! Admittedly we can't make as much from savings account interest as a bank can make from a loan, but any free money is good in this day and age. As there are so many different types of savings account out there, I've compiled a helpful table with the most common, and the features common to each one. The table should give you an idea of what kind of account could suit … [Read more...]

Image taken from:  http://shopsonlineblog.blogspot.com/2009/05/shopping-online-saves-you-big.html  Five Ways to Save Money When Shopping Online                                                                                                                           There is a world of possibilities available for those who do their shopping online. The benefits of comparing product after product from website after website in the comfort of your own home are endless. You can coupon shop, price check and browse for hours without even breaking a sweat. Those who don’t know how to do it right, though, can end up paying more than if they had gone out to the stores. Keep on reading to learn five ways you’re sure to get good deals when shopping online. 1.  Online Consignment Shops The difference between an online consignment shop and a thrift store is the fact that thrift stores take donations and leftovers while consignment shops split the profits of the goods with the … [Read more...]

How to Be Penny and Pound Wise – Easy Financial Wisdom It’s a habit that we seem to have lost over the years, and it’s only because of the recent recession that we have woken up to the value of saving money. It’s not just enough to earn it; you have to be aware of how you spend it and how much you save each month. It’s easy enough to manage your finances because it’s a matter of simple mathematics – you add your income and subtract your expenditure leaving you enough to put aside as savings every month. But unfortunately, even though this is all so easy and sounds good on paper, it’s not simple in real life because we’re swamped by various spending options. Cash has been relegated to the background and it’s the age where credit cards and direct debits from your bank account, so unless you’re on top of all that you spend and balance your accounts religiously every month, you lose track of how much you owe others, how much you’ve actually spent, and how much you have in your bank … [Read more...]