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Five frugal Valentines day gift ideas

Wednesday, February 11th, 2009

Giving a gift to your sweetheart does not need to break the bank. Here are 5 quick tips for frugal Valentines day gifts:

1. Say it with words. Sometimes words speak louder than the most expensive gift. A handwritten note that spells out your love and devotion is the most thoughtful gift you can give. Often times the words “I love you” are not said enough. Writing not your forte? Try a video or voice recording that tells that special someone you love them. Or search online or at the library for some nice romantic poems and put a collection together to express your sentiments to the one you love.

2. Chocolate is always a winner. Some say that Chocolate is an aphrodisiac, I don’t know about that but it sure pleasures the taste buds. My own personal favorite way to show my family my love is to make hand dipped chocolate covered strawberries. They think I spent all day making this luscious dessert but little do they know that it takes almost no time or skill to make them. Just melt some chocolate (I usually use semi-sweet chocolate chips) and dip washed and dried strawberries. Lay them on a cookie sheet lined with waxed paper and pop in the fridge for 30 min or more. To serve put on a pretty platter.

3. Roses are another traditional Valentines day gift to give but the price of a dozen roses from a florist can break the bank at $50 or more. Instead, look to your local grocery store for a deals with a dozen roses at about half price from the florists prices. If cut roses seem a waste of money another thoughtful gift is to buy your sweetie a rose bush from the local garden center. My husband have given me a rose bush every year and those bushes mean more to me than any cut flowers he could give me. Each year as those bushes bloom I am reminded of his love for me.

4. Dine in instead of eating out. The cost of a fine dinner out at a restaurant can be expensive. Instead of eating out consider setting up a romantic dinner at home (if you have children either wait till they go to bed or send them to the sitters). You can make a fabulous romantic dinner for much less. Here is a great blog with some tasty and easy recipes for a valentines day meal: Fab Food Friday! Set your table with a nice table cloth, some candles and put some soft music on the stereo, or spread a blanket on the floor and have a picnic. Don’t forget the bottle of wine or champagne!

5. Create gift coupons for a Valentine gift that keeps on giving. You can make coupon on your home PC using standard programs such as Microsoft Word. Some coupon ideas: a massage, a night out without the kids, a movie date, breakfast in bed, car wash, pedicure or use your imagination!

Tags: Chocolate, Coupons, Love Notes, Roses, Valentine's Day
Posted in Quick Tip | No Comments »

How Does Your Garden Grow?

Wednesday, February 11th, 2009

It’s still bitterly cold out. Snow is piled high. However, beneath all that wintry mess, the first green shoots of spring are beginning to awaken.

It is hard to imagine that in just a couple of months, we will be enjoying a beautiful spring, but it’s really just right around the corner. It’s time to start thinking about your spring and summer garden, and if you start early, you can have a bountiful harvest for next to nothing. With the economy so poor and the prospect for improvement almost non-existent, you are going to need a garden this summer to supplement your grocery budget. Gardening brings immense fulfillment and joy, and your whole family can get in on the action. It costs very little to get started, and your minimal investment payoff is huge! Little ones will love tending to their own plants and guess what - it’s a great way to get finicky eaters to try something new if they’ve grown it and it’s ‘theirs’. Gardening can be therapeutic too. There is nothing better than sinking your hands deep into the soil and working your frustrations out!

You won’t want to plant anything until after the last frost, but you can start seeds inside now and have some beautiful, hardy seedlings to put out come planting time. To get started, you will need:

A sunny window, or windows, if you’re feeling ambitious
Empty egg cartons with a small hole in the bottom for drainage
Potting soil
Your favorite veggie seeds

The easiest vegetables to grow are tomatoes, but peppers, okra, and peas are possibilities as well. Check with your local nursery to find the varieties best suited to your area.

You should allow approximately 6 weeks for your seedlings to germinate and grow. During the last couple of weeks, bring your seedlings outside during the day or even overnight if the temperature isn’t dropping below freezing. Getting your plants acclimated to the outside gradually is very important. Putting them in the ground outside without acclimating them will shock the plants and possibly kill them. Do not transplant your seedlings until after the last frost has passed.

While you wait for your seedlings to mature, you will prepare your garden. Till the soil using a hoe or, depending on the size of the area you are cultivating and the hardness of the ground, you may have better luck with a rented tiller. We have a 100 sq ft area, and I have to confess that we love our tiller. When you are tilling, you can treat your garden to any number of soil additives to make it a better growing environment for your plants. If you have a compost heap, this is a great time to make use of it. It is a little known fact that used coffee grounds are a fabulous fertilizer, so if you start saving your grounds now, you’ll be set when you get ready to plant. If you aren’t sure what you need, consult the local nursery to find out what works best for your area. The folks at the nursery are a treasure trove of information, and one you should definitely take advantage of.

If you don’t want to plant an in ground garden, don’t despair! Many a fine tomato has been cultivated in a container garden. Container gardens are perfect for those who don’t have the time or space for a large garden. You are really only limited by your imagination when it comes to the containers you use. Planter boxes, large pots, bathtubs, barrels, and even hanging baskets make great containers. You don’t have to spend a lot of money to find some great containers - check out yard sales, thrift shops, and the Goodwill - often you’ll find ceramic pots for next to nothing, and who knows? You might happen upon a claw foot tub for your goodies!

Tags: Compost, Container Gardening, Garden, Gardening, Goodwill, Hanging Baskets, Potting Soil, Seed Starting, Seeds, Thrift Stores, Yard Sales
Posted in Articles, Home & Garden | No Comments »

Rite Aid sells 12 stores to Walgreens

Wednesday, February 11th, 2009

Rite Aid on Thursday afternoon announced that is has signed an agreement to sell seven Rite Aid locations in downtown San Francisco and five Rite Aid locations in eastern Idaho to Walgreens.

“Our strategy is to focus our operations where we can best leverage the Rite Aid brand and operate most efficiently,” stated Chris Hall, Rite Aid SVP of strategic business development. “With only seven stores in all of the city of San Francisco we didn’t have the critical mass to be successful there, and our stores in eastern Idaho are just too widespread and too distant from other Rite Aid locations to operate efficiently. This is a good transaction for Rite Aid.”

The transition to Walgreens is expected to be completed by the end of March, 2009.

Rite Aid will continue to operate 605 stores throughout California, the chain stated, including 42 stores in the Bay Area. Of the 31 states where Rite Aid operates, California has the second largest number of Rite Aid stores after New York.

The five eastern Idaho stores included in the transaction are located in Pocatello, Blackfoot, Twin Falls, Burley and Idaho Falls. Rite Aid continues to operate 14 stores in western Idaho, which borders Washington and Oregon where Rite Aid operates more than 200 stores and a distribution center.

From Retailing Today

Posted in Industry News | No Comments »

Hotcouponworld Shares Its Favorite Survey Sites with You

Saturday, February 7th, 2009

Looking for another way to make extra money? Hotcouponworld has compiled it’s favorite survey sites to share with you. These are sites we’ve tried ourselves or ones our members have tried that actually do reward you for doing surveys (and without a ton of spam). Remember - you should never pay to do surveys. Check out the link with the compilation HERE. Good luck!

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Coupons and Deals for 2/8

Saturday, February 7th, 2009

Perfect for Valentine’s Day - Ruby & Diamond Double Heart Pendant in 10K Yellow Gold on sale $99.99. Save $160 at Sears.com

Save 30% off handbags and acccessories at Kmart until 2/14/09

Free overnight shipping from Zodiac Watches through 2/12/09

Enjoy Free Ground Shipping through Feb 14 with code SWVAL09

Tags: Free Shipping, K-Mart, Kmart, Sears, Valentine's Day, zodiac watches
Posted in Featured Coupons | No Comments »

Save money on movies - join a movies to your mailbox service

Friday, February 6th, 2009

I took my kids to the movies tonight. We don’t do it all that often, except lately, there have been some really good kids movies out, so we indulged and went to see the new movie Coraline that came out today. Movies provide a nice escape from all the bad news on television and the misery of the economy. That is, until they ask you for your money at the ticket stand. I about fell over when the woman told me a matinee film for three kids and one adult was going to be $43.00 - and that didn’t include concessions! I grumbled and put my Visa on the counter, but I was none-to-pleased about the whole thing. The movie was delightful, but not $43 dollars worth of delightful.

I still like the escapist quality of watching movies, but anymore, it’s too expensive to go out to a movie. And even renting isn’t cheap. Blockbuster by my house is now over $5.00 to rent one movie. Still, it’s better than $43 at the theater. But even better is the online home delivery services like Blockbuster.com or Netflix. For a fraction of the cost of renting in the store, and for a pittance of watching a movie at the theater, getting movies delivered to your home is by far the best way to consume new movies that come out on DVD.

We personally use Blockbuster.com’s home delivery service. I get 3 movies per checkout - the movies are usually there in a day, I can keep them as long as I want, and when I return them, I can take them to a Blockbuster in my area and turn then in for more rentals. Cost of the premium service is $19.99 a month, so if you watch more than a movie a week, this is a great option for you. They do have even smaller plans that don’t include all the bells and whistles starting at $8.99, which pays for itself in just two rentals. And right now, Blockbuster is running a two-week free trial offer to test drive the service for free. That means you can get at least six movied rented free in the two-week trial. What I like about Blockbuster is that the online movie inventory includes many older titles you won’t find in the stores.

Blockbuster’s big competitor in the space in Netflix. While I haven’t personally used it, my siblings have and really liked it. They too are offering a free trial for two weeks, and their plans start as low as $4.99 and go up from there.

No matter which service you choose, either way, home movie delivery service is cheaper than going out to the movie theater, particularly if you don’t mind waiting for the new releases to make it to DVD. I couldn’t resist taking the kids to Coraline. It was made here locally, the world premiere was here last night, and so there was quite a bit of hype around it in my area. But I could have waited and would have saved myself a bundle getting it through our mail instead.

If you’re spending a lot of money of video rental fees and late charges for movies, now might just be the best time to sign up for Netflix or Blockbuster. Add in some microwave popcorn you get for free with coupons, and family movie night just went from hugely expensive and unrealistic cost, into a managable recurring cost for home entertainment.

Tags: blockbuster, blockebuster.com, mail order movies, movies in the mail, netflix, netflix.com
Posted in Articles, Frugal Living | 3 Comments »

Write off the cost of tax preparation software or fees as a deduction

Tuesday, February 3rd, 2009

Software such as Turbo Tax or even the fees you paid to a tax professional such as H&R Block or your accountant can all be deducted in your following year taxes.

To find more information about itemized deductions check out this page on the IRS website.

Tags: Deductions, Frugal Living, Frugal Tip, H&R Block, Itemized Deductions, Quick Tip, Tax, Tax Software, taxes, TurboTax
Posted in Quick Tip | No Comments »

Keep your drains flowing

Monday, February 2nd, 2009

Sprinkle ¼ cup baking soda in your drain, followed by 1 cup vinegar. Let sit for 15 minutes, and then flush with a pot of boiling water. Doing this treatment to your drains once a month can help avoid major backups of clogged grease, soap, and hair which can prevent costly plumber visits.