Help fo Haiti Part 3- Hygiene Kits

In my last post in reference to Haiti I mentioned humanitarian kits. Here's the instructions to make a hygiene kit: Place the following items in a heavy duty one-gallon sealable bag. Remove the air before sealing.

• 2 unbreakable combs without sharp handles
• 4 toothbrushes sealed
• 1 tube of toothpaste (6-8 oz, no pumps)
• 2 bars of soap (3.5-5 oz each)
• 2 hand towels (approximately 15x25")

For this and other patterns go to the following link. I found that the best place to get the hand towels is Sam's Club.com. I got 2 dozen hotel hand towels for $21. The other items I picked up from Walmart, but that doesn't mean that that's the cheapest place to get them, it was just most convenient at the time. They were easy and fun to make, even my four year-old-was getting involved.

If you live in Utah you can drop them off at the nearest Deseret Industries or bishop's storehouse in a sealed box labeled "LDS Humanitarian Services" or you can ship them to:
Latter-Day Saint Humanitarian Center
1665 South Bennett Road
Salt Lake City, UT 84104

Things to do with a slice of bread (besides eat it)

About 8 months ago I started reading Reader's Digest's Extraordinary Uses for Ordinary Things: 2,317 Ways to Save Money and Time. It sounds like something I would be interested in. It's a reference book, so it's a very slow read. There are several things I come across that I think "Everyone knows that trick, don't they?" or "Wow, that's a lot of work to create something very tacky." or there are a few that I found don't work like the book claims they do. However, throughout there are some good ideas. This weekend I came across a couple with bread that actually seemed helpful, plus I added one of my own.

• Soften up hard marshmallows. Put marshmallows in a seal-able container with a couple slices of bread. Leave it alone for a couple days and remove the bread. The marshmallows will have absorbed the moisture from the bread.
• Soften up hard brown sugar. Same idea.
• Pick up glass fragments. After picking up the big shards, press a piece of bread over the area to pick up all the tiny slivers. Just be careful as you're throwing the bread away.

Where I shop for children's clothing

On a several occasions I have been asked where and how I get such good deals on children's clothing. Here's the breakdown:

Online: (More convenient and we all love packages, don't we?)

OldNavy & Gap- It seems that about every other month they have a sale where you can get 20-30% off. They generally have most of what I am looking for, and I can often find things for my husband and I there also. It's the best place to get pants if your kids are of the tall and skinny proportions. There are often great deals in the clearance section and everything that I have bought there so far has outlasted my kids. If you have a ON card, there are extra bonuses. You get 5% back of what you spend in reward bucks, plus there are double & triple points offers and often coupons for free stuff.  (Example, last December they mailed out coupons for $10 off any purchase. So I got $30 worth of merchandise for free.) They also give a Upromise rebate. The drawback of shopping online is that you often have to pay for shipping if you spend less than $100, however online you can stack your coupons plus you get the rebate, whereas you don't get that in the store. Another drawback is that there is less of the "exciting and different", but it's where I go for the basics. If you sign up for emails, they'll tell you about sales and send you coupons.

The Children's Place- They also have some great deals every few months, especially if you are buying out of season. Last fall I stocked up on shorts and t-shirts for my kids because with the coupons they came to 75 cents each. (I live in St. George, it's shorts weather 9-10 months out of the year.) They don't allow coupon stacking, but they do give a Upromise rebate. $5 flat shipping rate. Also of note: their shoes wear out super fast.

Kohl's- I've gotten a few darling outfits for my daughter here for $6 each. Upromise rebate and more rewards if you have a Kohl's card. (I can't tell you what they are, because I don't.) Limited coupon stacking.

In stores: (No shipping charge or minimum, yay!)
JC Penny- They often have super cute baby clothes at good prices.

Macy's- I've gotten a few super amazing deals in the kid's department if your timing is right. 4-piece outfits for $5, little dresses for $3.

Gap- The clearance section is where it's at, and it's always better than the clearance online. They often have great deals that aren't out of season yet. Last fall I got an adorable lined boy's pea coat for $17 plus I snagged a black angora cableknit sweater for me for $10.

Old Navy- I actually don't shop there that often. Online prices are always better, but there is the occasional sale....

Costco- Best place for kid's pajamas and little girl's Christmas and Easter dresses. The Carter's fleece footie jammies are about $7. Although, here you run a great chance of having her wear the same dress that the neighbor girl is wearing.

Ross- Not always the best selection for kids clothing in the size you need and less reliability, but I've found my best shoe finds here.  Skecher's for $15

Laughter- The best way to deal with stress

Laughter is one of the things that makes life worth living. And I find that I am less stress if I can find a reason to laugh about a situation or at least find something else to laugh about. Here are several sites that can always make me laugh:

cakewrecks.blogspot.com- A cake decorator who makes fun of monstrous professional cakes. Funnier than you would imagine.

lovelylisting.com- Another one that surprised me with how very entertaining it is. This woman posts real estate pictures and listings and comments on them. It's amazing how very hilarious some ads can be. (Thanks, Kristy.)

thereifixedit.com- Sometimes people hack things together in interesting ways.

failblog.org- Ok, so perhaps it's not nice to laugh at other people's stupidity, but sometimes I can't help myself.

www.harkavagrant.com- Who would have thought that poorly drawn comic about history could be so funny?

Upromise- start saving for your children's college without having to think about it

Previously I gave a list of websites that I use to save money, but I didn't go into a lot of detail on each. So I'll expand on them some more.
 One website I use is Upromise. Signing up is free, and how it works is this site advertises various businesses and when you use those businesses, they donate a percentage of what you spend to your account. Now by advertising, the businesses are trying to get your money, because hey that's what business is about. And I'm not sure, but they probably can write off the money they donate as a charitable contribution because it goes toward education.
 To make this work for you, just buy the things you were going to buy anyway and get a percentage back. Spending a dollar to get 13 cents back doesn't make any sense.  But if you planned on spending that dollar on something you need, why not get 13% back? Websites that I've used include The Children's Place, Old Navy, Barnes & Noble, Verizon, and 1800Contacts to name a few, but they have an enormous list to choose from. If you don't want to have to go to the Upromise site first every time you shop online, you can download a little gadget that alerts you whenever you are visiting a participating site. Thus you are saving money for college without thinking about it.
  You can also get money back from what you spend at the grocery store if you register you Smiths's or Albertson's cards with them. There's not a huge payoff there, but a few free dollars back. The site offers rebates on hotel, travel, furniture, restaurants, purchasing a home, subscriptions, with rebates ranging between 1-20%. Plus they often have coupon codes that are not found in other places.
  I've had my account for about a year and a half and have saved $500, which by the time my daughter gets to college will probably cover a semester's worth of books, if I'm lucky. But I still have a long time to save and really I would have spent money on those various things anyway, so why not get $500 back?

My latest way to sneak veggies to my children

If you're like me and many other moms, you struggle to get your kids to eat veggies. (Click here for my favorite means of sneaking it to them.) And I'm always looking for ways to get my kids to eat better that actually work. Here's my latest trick: Pepperidge Farm Garden Cheddar Goldfish. Each 1.1 oz serving of crackers contains 1/3 serving of vegetables. Yes, nutritionally, this is not as good as eating whole vegetables, but it's a taste that my kids love, are familiar with and is easy to stash in my purse for those times when we're out and my kids need a snack. The crackers are baked with dried vegetable powder in the mix and my kids love them. There is a slight veggie taste to them, but honestly think that it improves the flavor. And right now they're on sale for $0.88 per package at Smith's.

Book Review-I Will Teach You To Be Rich

I Will Teach You To Be Rich by Ramit Sethi
I recommend this book to everyone. Especially anyone under forty who wants to know more about being financially successful. Ramit gives sound advice on becoming rich, and not becoming rich quick, mind you, but about becoming rich. (It seems to me that every get rich quick scheme is either a scam or is somehow taking advantage of other people.) The first thing he asks is what does being rich mean to you? Really think about it. For some people it means being able to afford nice vacations. Fine. Cut corners and be cheap on other things so you can afford the things that matter to you. And did I mention that he's hilarious? Often finance books=boring, but not in this case.
 He set his book up as a 6 week program that goes like this:
Week 1: Optimise your credit cards- Don't pay fees or interest and get some perks too.
Week 2: Beat the banks- Open high interest accounts and never pay fees
Week 3: Open investment accounts- Your 401K and Roth IRA
Week 4: Conscious spending- Figure out where your money is going
Week 5: Automate your accounts- Make your bill pay and investing automatic
Week 6: Investing- Why it's important and how to make the most of the market
 Nothing off-the-wall, just sound financial advice explained so the average person can understand. If you want more info, he also have a blog that offers great advice, although it tends to be geared more towards entrepreneurial and business types: www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com