Font Freebie!

According to their website:

Fawnt is a font resource for designers, developers, and anyone that appreciates the web's highest quality fonts.

There are 10,000 fonts to choose from. And they're all free!

Retail me, Retail me...NOT!

Thanks to Andrew Lock at Help! My Business Sucks! (the online web TV show for entreprenuers) for this great tip from his program this week. He said:

I don’t know about you, but I get a kick out of saving money. That’s why I LOVE RetaiMeNot.com, a site that lets you find coupon codes, fast. Many online retailers invite you to enter a coupon code during checkout, and obviously most visitors have no idea where to find a coupon code, so they ignore it. Well, now you know, you can start saving a lot more money!

RetailMeNot.com, according to their website, is the easy way to find online coupon codes. All you have to do is enter these codes at the checkout page of participating merchants for instant discounts.

I took a look at the site, and there seem to be thousands of codes available for stores I already shop. I've bookmarked RetailMeNot.com, and I'll visit the site everytime I shop online.

By the way, they also have printable coupons available to use locally.

Check it out, and let me know what you think!

Free Book Resources

Love to read, but your budget won't allow you to run out and buy every new release? Want some different choices beyond the library? Use these links to score some reading material for free--or close to it.

Fabulous free reading from Harlequin: They have an irresistible offer just for you...top-notch reading from the series of your choice—and a free surprise gift! No risk, no obligation.

Free-ebooks.net: Find the help you need, the information you seek or simply fun reading to enjoy. To get started, just select a category or browse by author. Free-ebooks.net also offers free magazines.

Free book resource: Visit FreeBooks.com to find several sites to get free books. They'll point you in the right direction for lots of freebies.

Another resource site: the Online Books Page lists over 35,000 free books on the Web. The Online Books Page was founded, and is edited, by John Mark Ockerbloom, He is a digital library planner and researcher at the University of Pennsylvania. He is solely responsible for the content of the site.

Swap books: Swap Tree allows you to trade the books you have for the books you want, for FREE; they allow you to swap your books for video games, CDs and DVDs; instantly see all the books you can receive in trade; AND they allow you to print your postage label right from your computer.

Do you have any favorite sites for free reading materials? If so, let us know in the comments.

Mother's Day Food Freebies

It's always nice to get something free--even if it's a "with purchase" freebie. Here are some food freebies for Mom's Day. Just make sure that you check with your local businesses to make sure that they're participating!

TCBY is giving a free cone to moms on Mother's Day (participating locations).

IKEA is giving a free breakfast and coffee to moms on Mother's Day (see list of participating locations).

T.G.I. Fridays is giving moms a free desert with the purchase of an entree. Also, sign up for a "GiVE ME MORE STRiPES" card on Mother's Day, and you'll receive a "buy one entree, get one free coupon" that's valid June 8 - June 30th.

TCBY is offering a free cone or cup on Mom's Day (participating locations). They also have Frappe' Chillers for $1.99!

A&W Restaurants are offering a free small rootbeer float or freeze , with purchase, till May 30th. Get your coupon here.

Water Conservation: Save Some Green While Being Green

Of all of our natural resources, none is more precious than water. We can't live without it. And while the media continually draws the public's attention to the rising cost and consumption of oil and gas, very little attention is given to what will become the most serious resource issue in the next century--the international water shortage.

Flushing our toilets alone accounts for a staggering 40% of our water usage, with the bathroom being where we use a whopping 75% of our water inside the home. With a bit of thought and effort, though, we can save money and be "green" at the same time.

Bathroom
 Add food coloring to the toilet tank. If it's leaking, color will appear in the bowl within 30 minutes. Most replacement parts are inexpensive, easily installed, and can save more than 600 gallons per month.
 Place a plastic bottle weighted with pebbles and water in the toilet tank to use less water.
 Install a low-flow showerhead to save more than 500 gallons of water per week.

Kitchen
 Install a low-flow faucet aerator to cut water use in half.
 Don't rinse dishes and save 20 gallons of water per dishwasher load.
 Store drinking water in the fridge to avoid running the tap every time you want a cool glass of water.
 Defrost food overnight in the refrigerator or microwave instead of under running water.

Around the house
 Read your water meter before and after a two-hour period when no water is being used. If the meter does not read exactly the same, there is a leak.
 Never put water down the drain. Use it for watering a plant, a garden, or cleaning.
 A faucet dripping at the rate of one drop per second wastes 2,700 gallons per year, so fix it.
 Wash full loads of clothes to save up to 600 gallons each month.

Outside
 Fertilizers increase the need for water. Apply fertilizers, which contain slow-release, water-insoluble forms of nitrogen.
 Mulch to retain moisture and control weeds that compete with plants for water.
 Water once a week, early in the morning and late in the evening to avoid evaporation. Use an empty tuna can to measure when you've reached an inch.
 When established, drought-tolerant grasses, ground covers, shrubs, and trees need little water, will survive a dry period, and save up to 550 gallons each year.
 Aerate your lawn. Water will reach the roots rather than run off the surface.
Use a broom instead of hosing down your driveway and sidewalks to save hundreds of gallons of water.

Spend Less...Save More!

Here's the link to an article that I wrote for ALL YOU magazine title "Spend Less and Save More." There are lots of great money-saving tips in the article.

One of my favorites: Trim just $25 per week from your food bill and you'll net $1,300 by the end of the year.

Twenty-five dollars may seem like a lot to shave off of your bill, but I did it just by switching grocery stores. I'm a big Aldi shopper now. You can also shave money off of your bill by collecting coupons for items that you buy regularly and by planning your meals ahead of time.

Read the article to find more money-saving tips for groceries as well as entertainment costs, phone costs, insurance premiums, mortgages and more.

Get Ready for Garage Sale Season

I don't know about you, but I love garage saling. I get a thrill when I buy items for a fraction of the cost they'd be if I purchased them new. Actually, some of my most treasured items came from garage sales, and I'm looking forward to finding some more this summer. Here are some tips for saving money--and having fun--while you bargain hunt:

Make a list. Instead of running out and buying items at full price, put them on a list and carry it with you while garage saling. I couldn't tell you how many times that I've "wished" for something and found it at a terrific price at garage sales.

Know your sizes. Be sure that you include sizes on your wish list. This way if you run across a good sale on clothing, you'll be prepared. It's a good idea to actually measure your own clothing at home (for example, a good fitting pair of pants, shirt, skirt, etc.). This way you don't have to depend on the sizes marked. Take a tape measure with you to compare the garage sale clothing to your measurements.

Plan your trip. Check your newspaper for garage sale listings a day or two ahead of time. This allows you to plan your best strategy for going from neighborhood to neighborhood. Try to shop at "block" sales too. If you can hit more than one sale in a particular neighborhood, you'll save gas and time.

Go on the first day. If you can, go on the first day of the sale. In my area it's Thursdays, so there isn't as much competition while shopping as there would be on the weekends. You'll have a better selection to choose from. Be aware, though, that sometimes you may not get the best price if you go on the first day. If someone has advertised a three-day sale, they don't want to sell everything on the first day.

Know your prices. Once you've been to a few garage sales, you'll get a feel for the pricing, and you'll know when someone is charging too much. Typically, I don't spend more than 25 cents for a book, a dollar for a movie, or more than a quarter or two for untensils. Use your best judgement, but if the price feels high, it probably is.

Negotiate. If you do run across an item that you want, but the price is too high, just ask for a price reduction. Most often people don't want to have to bring their items back into the house, so they're willing to slash prices. I will generally ask, "Are your prices negotiable?" If they say yes, then I'll ask, "What's the lowest you would go on this item?" The other approach I use is simply offering a certain amount based on what I am willing to pay for an item. This is particularly true of items I find often, or something I could walk away from and not be sorry if I didn’t get.

Bring change and small bills. There's no better bargaining tool than having the correct change. You don't want to pull out a $20 bill to pay for an item that is marked at $5--and you're trying to get it for $3!

Have a garage sale budget. Just as you budget for your other expenses, budget for garage saling. You don't want to overspend and take the fun out of it. Keep any leftover money in an envelope from your most recent trip, and save it for next time.

Have fun!Expect to go to a lot of garage sales where you won’t find good bargains, but have fun anyway. Garage saling is like finding buried treasure. You're not going to hit the jackpot every time.

Do you have any garage saling tips that you'd like to share? What are some of your best "finds"? Share with us in the comments.

It's the small changes...

Today I was reading a post on Leah Ingram's blog over at Suddenly Frugal Blog. It's titled 3 Ways to Save on Phone Bills, which is really good information, but it was a statement that she made within the post that got me thinking about today's subject--small changes. She says,

...small change in our regular expenditures is one example of how you can find big savings in your day-to-day life. And making these kinds of changes doesn’t have to be a one-time-only kind of thing. Just like President Obama wanted to take a scalpel to this country’s budget (as opposed to John McCain’s hatchet–paraphrasing here, of course), it is important for people to continue to take a scalpel to their budget so they can maintain their frugal standard of living.

I couldn't have said it better. And it's the truth, isn't it? If we wait for that final car payment to be made before we save money, or that credit card to be paid off, some of us would never cut our expenses--or save money.

It took me awhile to learn this (thanks mom!), but saving money a penny at a time is the best way to save. I know, it doesn't seem like saving pennies can amount to much, but it really does. Let me give you a few examples that have made a significant dent in our budget.

• Plastic on the windows. The total cost to buy the plastic was just under $30, and had I gotten it on sale, I would have paid much less (Note to self: check for plastic on clearance in the stores now). Our savings, per month, on the heat bill was over $30/month. So let's say the purchase of the plastic balanced out November's savings, but I still saved for December, January and February--the coldest months of the year. Savings: $90 for the season



• Switching grocery stores. I used to shop at Dominick's where I live (it's a Safeway store) for my family of four. My weekly grocery bill was a minimum of $80--though, truly, I spent about $125 each week. By switching to Aldi, my average grocery bill is $50/wk. Savings: $360/yr. minimum



• Electricity. OK, part of my savings here is in direct response to sending my oldest son to college :), and I have to say that I haven't totally reaped the maximum benefits by unplugging everything yet, but still I'm saving minimum of $20/month over what I was paying before--when I wasn't vigilant in turning lights off, etc. Say the savings per month goes down to $10/month when my son comes home for the summer, so that's $20/mo. for eight months and $10/mo. for four months. Savings: $200/yr.



• Paying bills online. I generally pay my bills online, and have for years, but it's the most recent tweaks to this system that have reaped the most rewards. I was paying service charges to pay an installment loan and two utility payments online. By switching over to paying the bills through my bank, I'm saving $10/month. In addition to those bills, by paying the two other bills that I couldn't pay online through my bank, I'm saving postage. Let's round that to $1/month. Just by paying through my bank, my monthly savings is $11/month. Savings: $132/yr.



• Paying on time. This may not be a biggy for you, but for my family it was a problem for almost a year. We were behind on bills and short of cash for awhile, so we became victims of late fees. Once we accumulated a little bit of cash and were able to get our bills caught up, I started paying the bills online on or before their due date, so that we were never late again. Let's say you only have one late fee per month (we had more than that), and it was $10. That would be a savings on the conservative side of $10/mo. Savings: $120/yr.

Anyway, you get the idea here. With just these few changes in our household, we've saved over $900 this year. Realistically, it's been a lot more than that. Now if I had tried to come up with $900 to put in the bank, I wouldn't have been able to do it. Pennies do add up to dollars, don't they?

How much have you saved this year? Could you be saving more by minding the pennies instead of the dollars? Do you have tips on saving pennies that has worked for you? Share in the comment section.

Bartering: Want to swap services?

The other day, I listed some sites where you can get free stuff. Today, I thought I'd talk about some of the great bartering sites that are available on the Internet. Not familiar with bartering? Bartering is where you trade one service (one that you're good at) to get another service (one that you're not good at) with no cash involved. Say, you need your house painted or a website built and you have skills as a writer, an electrician, a decorator, or a carpenter--whatever. Well, your skills can act as your currency to get a job done. Get it? Sound intriguing? If so, here are some bartering sites that are available on the Web.

Craigslist: If you've used Craigslist to find or post a job, you know that there are a whole lot of other services available to you there as well. One of these services is bartering, which can be found under "barter" in the "for sale" section of each of Craigslist's city sites.

U-Exchange: Their website says "Trade Anything, Pay Nothing. U-Exchange is the Largest Free Swap Site that specializes in every type of trade. No membership fees, barter currencies or commissions taken on trades. It's Free to contact, post and swap with other members." Worth a look, huh?

Favorpals: Created by a small team of software developers, Favorpals is their response to the "untapped potential for mutual benefit" in the connections that billions of people are making on the Web daily. Favorpals provides space where services can be freely exchanged for other services and/or goods. Craftsmen, artists, laborers, professionals--anyone with skills or goods to trade--can swap for the services or items they need with anyone in the Favorpals community.

Do you know of any other bartering sites? Have you tried one yourself? Was it a good/bad experience? Let us know in the comments section below.

Comparison Shop at MyRatePlan.com

Need to find the best deal on a cell phone plan? How about a phone? Long distance, maybe? Well, MyRatePlan.com is a great place to do just that. Not only do they have an interactive program, CellCalc™, that will help you find the best cell phone rate plan for you and your family, they also have an interactive phone finder that lets users virtually assemble their perfect cell phone by choosing the desired features, style and price. And, if that isn't enough, you can also compare pricing on long distance service, satellite tv, travel, credit cards, loans and insurance--among other services!

Where do you go to comparison shop? Do you have a favorite site? Let us know about it by commenting on this post.

Free Stuff: Where to find it

There are websites popping up all around us offering free stuff. Really! Not only will "free" add pennies back into your budget, recycling other people's goods is also good for the economy. Some of my favorite "free stuff" sites include:

Freecycle: According to their website the Freecycle Network™ is made up of 4,699 groups with 6,524,000 members across the globe. It's a grassroots (and entirely nonprofit) movement of people who are giving (and getting) stuff for free in their own towns.

Craigslist: Great for finding just about anything, Craigslist is also great for finding free stuff. Each of the cities that they cover has a section marked "free" under the "for sale" heading. (Weird, huh?)

Swaptree: Use this terrific resource for trading books, music, DVDs or video games! According to their website, you simply list what you have and choose the items you want to receive. Then just swap your items through the mail! Swaptree also makes mailing your item easy by allowing you to print postage labels right from your computer. There's no worrying about stamps, weights or visits to the post office. Check it out!

Swapstyle: Want to find your fashion for free? Visit Swapstyle. It's an online fashion swap party where you can swap clothes, accessories, cosmetics, shoes and lots more with people from all around the world--at any time, day or night.

What other "free stuff" sites are you aware of? Share them with us in the comments

Buy Cheap Printer Ink

In their article, "Cheap Ink: Will It Cost You?", PCWorld found that inexpensive third-party or remanufactured printer ink cartridges may be worth the savings. An added bonus? They sometimes yield more prints than their new, branded counterparts too! From the article:

PC World teamed up with the Rochester Institute of Technology, a respected research university known for its top-notch laboratory for testing imaging products. Using popular ink jet printers from Canon, Epson, Hewlett-Packard, Kodak, and Lexmark, we ran side-by-side tests of brand-name and third-party inks to compare image quality and fade resistance. We also tracked how many pages each cartridge churned out before running dry.

Our tests show that all of the third-party inks in our test group yielded more prints per cartridge--on top of costing less--but that, with some notable exceptions, the printer manufacturers' ink we evaluated usually produced better-quality prints and proved more resistant to fading. Of course, our conclusions apply only to the printers we tested. We couldn't test all of the printers that are available (partly because you can't get third-party ink for all of them), so we picked a set of mainstream inkjet printers from recognized brands as a way of taking a snapshot view of the ink market.

If you print photos, the cheap ink may not work for you because it is less resistant to fading, but if you're primarily print text, PCWorld says there's every reason to choose the cheap stuff.

Your estimated savings? $30 on a black-ink replacement cartridge compatible with an HP 45 inkjet printer according to PCWorld.

Cities on the Cheap--Official Launch and Giveaway

Cities on the Cheap is live, and to celebrate, they've got great giveaways! There are two giveaways on the main site, but you’ll also find others on the individual city sites.

Developed by writer Jennifer Maciejewski , Cities on the Cheap offers insider information about your city's best deals (some of them are free!) and will soon become your go-to site to find out what's going on in your city.

Keep in mind that if you don't see your city listed, check back soon. According to the site, Cities on the Cheap is rapidly building its network of "On the Cheap" sites across the U.S. and Canada.

"Keep an eye on the main Cities on the Cheap blog for deals with widespread appeal," says Maciejewski. "You--and your budget--will thank us."

FedEx offering free resume printing...

FedEx is offering free resume printing today, March 10, 2009. From their press release:

FedEx Office (formerly FedEx Kinko’s), an operating company of FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX), today announced plans to offer its printing services in an effort to help job seekers across the nation. The company will host "FedEx Office Free Resume Printing Day" on March 10, 2009, offering to print up to 25 copies of each customer’s resume for free.

As reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor, the nation’s unemployment rate rose to 7.6 percent and the number of unemployed persons increased to 11.6 million in January 2009. With so many people looking to get their printed resumes in the hands of recruiters and hiring managers, FedEx Office is prepared to help.

The company invites customers to take advantage of this one-day event by visiting any of its 1,600+ FedEx Office Print and Ship Centers in the United States during regular business hours. This offer is good for 25 black-and-white resume copies per customer and is only valid for orders placed and picked up in-store. Customers may place orders by submitting their resume in printed format or as a digital file, and the copies will be printed single-sided on resume-quality paper.

"We understand that the economy has affected many people in a very profound way, and we want to help," said Brian Philips, president and CEO of FedEx Office. "Printing resumes is one small way we can use our resources to help those who need it."

To find the nearest FedEx Office Print and Ship Center, visit www.fedex.com or call 1-800-Go-FedEx (1-800-463-3339).

Go out and get your free resumes!

Stay tuned...

I'll be posting great tips for saving your pennies (and nickels, dimes and quarters)--to grow dollars. Stay tuned!