Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Office Depot - Free Resume Copying

Office Depot to Help Customers Take Care of Business with Free Resume Copies and Faxing at Its Retail Stores

BOCA RATON, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Apr. 20, 2009-- Office Depot (NYSE: ODP), a leading global provider of office products and services, is helping customers take care of business by offering customers free copies of resumes and free faxing from April 19 to May 30, 2009.
Customers will be able to participate in this special offer by visiting the Design, Print, & Ship Depot center in any one of the more than 1,100 Office Depot retail store locations nationwide. Office Depot is providing free copies of resumes, up to 25 single-sided pages, as well as free faxing to five different domestic numbers, up to 25 pages in total.

“Times are tough, and whether you are looking to make a career move or seeking your first job out of school, Office Depot is helping our customers take care of business by providing a valuable service free of charge,” said George Hill, Senior Vice President of Office Depot’s Design, Print, and Ship Depot. “From paper and portfolios to custom printing and shipping, Office Depot is truly a one-stop-shop for resume products and services.”

Customers can choose to upgrade their resume paper selection to a color or premium paper from Southworth for a nominal fee.
For more information, please visit your local Office Depot retail store location or officedepot.com

Monday, April 27, 2009

Free Red Box Code

Today's free Redbox code is 4CW33N. This code can be used all day until midnight at any Redbox location.You can't beat a free movie rental so schedule some fun family nights and check out what Family Films are available.Side Notes:- If you want to rent more than one movie for free, bring more than one credit/debit card. You can use the same promotional code, you just will need different cards to charge it to. The charge will be zero as long as you return your movie on time for the next day.- When entering in your free movie code, you need to enter it FIRST before picking the movie. On the very first screen, click the, "Rent with Promo." Enter in the above code and then make your selection- the amount should then total zero.. This code can be used all day until midnight at any Redbox location.

Sunday, April 26, 2009

KFC Freebie

There is a coupon for a free piece of KFC grilled chicken in the Parade magazine in today's newspaper.

Saturday, April 25, 2009

Free Gardening Class At Home Depot

Free Gardening Class at Home Depot

Home Depot is offering another great Do-It-Herself workshop. Learn about yard and garden maintenance with other women in your community at this FREE workshop on Tuesday, May 14 from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.Be sure to sign up in advance and check out the simple prep work you need to do in advance.

Friday, April 24, 2009

Pizza Sale at Hornbachers.

At Hornbachers until Wed. one of the sale items is Tony's pizzas 6 for $10 (that's $1.66 each). You don't have to buy 6 to get that price. I spent $22 on groceries last night but saved almost that much with items on sale.

I know it's different since I am single. But if you watch the sales and stock up on items when they are on sale and use items you already have on hand, you can really cut your grocery bill. Another thing is if you cut the number of times you have to go to the store, you cut down on possible impulse purchases too.

Townhall for Hope Recap

Below is a link to information on the Townhall for Hope that was held last night. http://www.daveramsey.com/etc/newsletters/company/042409.cfm?ectid=cnl0905.1_06#1.

There were gatherings at over 6,000 locations across the country.

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

100 Useful Websites

Following is a link for an article that was on the MSN Money site about 100 useful websites for saving money, time, etc.
websites

Monday, April 20, 2009

Free Red Box Code

Today's free Redbox code is M6FR97. This code can be used all day until midnight at any Redbox location.

If you want to rent more than one movie for free, bring more than one credit/debit card. You can use the same promotional code, you just will need different cards to charge it to. The charge will be zero as long as you return your movie on time for the next day.-

When entering in your free movie code, you need to enter it FIRST before picking the movie. On the very first screen, click the, "Rent with Promo." Enter in the above code and then make your selection- the amount should then total zero.. This code can be used all day until midnight at any Redbox location.

Townhall For Hope

Join money guru Dave Ramsey for a town hall meeting on April 23.Dave Ramsey will be discussing the economy, recession, foreclosures and more. He'll also share his thoughts on where we've come from, where we are now, and what we should be doing with our money during this time.After his talk, he'll spend an hour answering your questions live. The free event, called Town Hall for Hope, will be at 8 p.m. EDT on Thursday, April 23 at numerous venues across the country. To find the location nearest you, click here. The event is also scheduled to be broadcast live on the Fox Business Channel.Dave Ramsey is the host of a popular radio show, and the best selling author of The Total Money Makeover. He's also helped thousands of people take control of their finances through Financial Peace University.

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Free Online Classes through HP

Free Online Classes Through HP
Want to brush up on your photography skills or learn how to set up a home wireless network?Stop by HP each month to see the free online courses available. These online courses are self-paced courses that are open for 1-2 months at a time. While enrolled in the class, you'll be able to ask questions from a qualified instructor or visit with other classmates in the forums.Classes that are currently open now include:
Five Common Photo Problems and How to Solve Them
Camera Composition: Change Your Perspective
Setting Up a Wireless Home Network
Photo Restoration Basics: Preserve Your Family Photos Still not sure if a free online class is right for you? Be sure to check out this list of frequently asked questions.Don't forget to visit the HP Creative Studio, where you can find all kinds of free printables including coloring pages, activities and more.

Friday, April 17, 2009

Money-Saving Challenge

This was in an email I received from Mary Hunt of Debt Proof Living

Mary Hunt and iVillage Offer Money-Saving Challenge!
As the coach of iVillage.com’s next big challenge, Mary Hunt is poised to help thousands of people get the financial help they need to improve their lives. Stretch Your Dollar 20-Day Challenge, starts in May, but sign ups are happening right now at the iVillage online community!
Here’s the scoop:
The challenge begins on May 4 and runs for four weeks, through May 29.
Participants will receive daily emails from iVillage.com with money-related assignments Mary has created.
Daily assignments will help participants carry out an action plan to save money in all areas of life.
Challenge participants get 24/7 access to the "Challenge Board," where Mary will be answering questions and promoting interaction with other participants.
Signing up is easy. Just enter your email address at the Stretch Your Dollar homepage by May 3rd. That's it. It's quick and painless, and your wallet will thank you for it.If you just can't wait until May 4 to receive your first assignment, get a jumpstart by following the Stretch Your Dollar Challenge on Facebook and Twitter. Also, the challenge homepage already features great frugal living tips to get you started early.I hope you'll give me the opportunity to coach you through this money makeover!

Thursday, April 16, 2009

$10 Sale on Dave Ramsey Products

At http://daveramsey.com , Dave has a lot of his books and other products on sale for $10 each. The Total Money Makeover books are usually $25 and are $10 now.

What to Do with your Tax refund

Following is an article with ideas to do with your tax refund.
http://mommysavers.com/family-finances/tax-refund.htm

I have mentioned before, some people think of it as "found money", which it really isn't.

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Chicken Deal at Sunmart

In this weeks Sunmart flier, there is a coupon to get $10 off your order when you purchase $25 of Gold N Plump chicken products. That's almost 1/2 price, if you want to stock up. I purchased a couple of the ready to cook seasoned chickens in a bag, chicken breasts in a bag and a package of the stuffed chicken breasts. Yesterday I put one of the ready to cook ones in the crockpot all day and it was ready when I got home from work (plus leftovers). When I buy multiple items like this, I freeze what I can't use right away for future use.

The coupon is good through Saturday, 4/18.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Happy Easter

I hope you are having a special holiday with your family and friends.

Saturday, April 11, 2009

The Automatic Millionaire

Another book by David Bach, http://finishrich.com/ is "The Automatic Millionaire, A Powerful One-Step Plan to Live and Finish Rich".

The main ideas in the book are finding your Latte Factor. The Latte Factor is the amount of small things you spend money on without really thinking about it, i.e. daily coffee, water, cigarettes, etc.

The other thing is to make paying your bills automatic. If you set up to have your bills paid automatically, then you don't have to think about it. If you set up your investments to be automatic then you can't decide you want to spend the money on something else. I treat my investment deposits just like other regular expenses and budget for them

The Chapters in the book include:

Chapter One
Meeting the Automatic Millionaire

Chapter Two
The Latte Factor: Becoming an Autmatic Millionaire on Just a Few Dollars a Day

Chapter Three
Learn to Pay Yourself First

Chapter Four
Now Make it Automatic

Chapter Five
Automate for a Rainy Day

Chapter Six
Automatic Debt-Free Homeownership

Chapter Seven
The Automatic Debt-Free Lifestyle

Chapter Eight
Make a Difference with Automatic Tithing

Friday, April 10, 2009

Start Late, Finish Rich

One of the Books by David Bach, http://finishrich.com/ is Start Late, Finish Rich. Many people think since they haven't started saving money yet, it is too late. But he shows ways to start saving. And anything you can save is better than saving nothing.

The Chapters in the book include: It may seem like alot of chapters, but most of the chapters are less than 10 pages long.

Part One: It's Time to Get it

Chapter One
So you Started Late - Give Yourself a Break Already

Chapter Two
It's about your Money, It's about your Freedom

Part Two: Spend Less

Chapter Three
Find Your Double Latte Factor

Chapter Four
How to Transform Your Debt into Wealth

Chapter Five
Manipulate The Credit Card Companies - Legallo

Chapter Six
DOLP Your Debt out of Existence

Chapter Seven
Beware of the "Nonprofit" Promise of Debt Counselors

Part Three: Save More

Chapter Eight
Pay Yourself First... Faster!

Chapter Nine
Toss Out the Budget and Make it Automatic

Chapter Ten
Your Life should be Interesting - Your Investments Should be Boring

Chapter Eleven
Why Renters Stay Poor and Homeowners Get Rich

Chapter Twelve
How to Buy a Home, Pay it off Early - and Save $71,000

Part Four: Make More
Chapter Thirteen
Who Says You Can't Make More

Chapter Fourteen
A Four-Week Action Plan to Get a Raise

Chapter Fifteen
Becoming Your Own Boss-Without Quitting Your Day Job

Chapter Sixteen
Make More...On eBay

Chapter Seventeen
Make More...In Direct Selling

Chapter Eighteen
Make More...In Franchising

Chapter Nineteen
Get Rich in Real Estate...On the Weekend

Chapter Twenty
Get Rich in Real Estate: The Advanced Course

Part Five:Give More, Live More
Chapter Twenty One
It's Never Too Late to Give More

Chapter Twenty Two
Start Late, LIVE RICH!

Chapter Twenty Three
You Started Late... But Your Kids Don't Have to

Thursday, April 9, 2009

Red Box - Free Movie Codes

Some blogs have codes for one free movie on Mondays for Redbox movies. I will try to post the codes each Monday. One of the sites I find the codes at is http://momadvice.com/blog. Sometimes they have free codes for Wednesdays also. If you google redbox codes some sites have codes that may work other times too.

This code can be used all day until midnight at any Redbox location.You can't beat a free movie rental so schedule some fun family nights and check out what Family Films are available.

Side Notes:- If you want to rent more than one movie for free, bring more than one credit/debit card. You can use the same promotional code, you just will need different cards to charge it to. The charge will be zero as long as you return your movie on time for the nex.t day.

- When entering in your free movie code, you need to enter it FIRST before picking the movie. On the very first screen, click the, "Rent with Promo." Enter in the above code and then make your selection- the amount should then total zero.. This code can be used all day until midnight at any Redbox location

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Why You Shouldn't Get a Big Tax Refund

Now that it is Tax Time, I thought this was an important subject. I know a lot of people wait for their tax refunds. But if you are getting quite a bit back, you are basically giving the government an interest free loan of your money throughout the year. It may be a good idea to look at your W-4 and see how many dependents you have listed. You can go to the IRS website at http://irs.gov and use the calculator there to see the difference in the amount of tax withdrawal based on the number of withholding allowances. If you lower the withholding you will be getting more each check and less at the end of the year.

One way to look at this is then you would have more each month to pay your expenses. Many people, when they get a large sum back in April, they treat it as extra or free money and use it on items they wouldn't normally buy. But if you think about it, it is really your money that you have paid in and let the government use interest free.

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

The Importance of Checking your Invoices

A few weeks ago, in anticipation of our impending flooding I had a my sump pump replaced. Friday I received the invoice in the mail. One line had and price of the sump pump. The next line had 2 hours labor X $95/hour. The repairman was barely here 1/2 an hour. When I called that day, she said it also took into consideration time since he left their shop and returned. I said I understood that but didn't see how that could be 2 hours. Yesterday the service manager called me back and said they had been charging a flat rate of the original amount of the bill (the total with the $190 of labor). I said that would be fine, but when you have it considered 2 hours of labor for less than an hour's work. So he deducte the $95. So with one phone call I saved myself $95.

This also stresses the importance of checking charges on your credit card statements. To be sure there hasn't been a mistake.

Monday, April 6, 2009

Foot Solutions Shoe Drive

The Foot Solutions store in Fargo is owned by my friend Benita Nordenstrom. They are hosting a shoe drive to benefit Soles4Souls, an international footwear charity that delivers shoes to needy people around the world.

During the shoe drive through April, Foot Solutions will offer a $10 discount to all customers who bring in gently worn pairs of shoes to donate to the charity. The store is located at 4650 26th Ave S, Suite D, Fargo.

For more information call the store at (701) 356-8637 or visit www.footsolutions.com/fargo

United We Sand - Fargo Moorhead Flood 2009


My friend, Brenda Levos http://ineedchocolate.com/ is a graphic designer and came up with the "United We Sand" logo for the 2009 flood. There are t-shirts, sweatshirts and decals for sale with the proceeds going to the Impact Give Back Fargo Flood Fund.


Below is information from Brenda's website on the tshirts:

In March of 2009, the Fargo, ND and Moorhead, Minnesota experienced record flooding of the Red River. North Dakota also saw flooding at unprecedented levels statewide. During this crisis, communities came together as one, young and old, all working together to fill over 3 million sandbags in an attempt to save the city from widespread flooding. The one really unifying thing that I saw was that all of the people who had participated in a sandbagging line had this big residual sand spot on the front of their shirts, I thought it would be fun to have shirts made which reminded us of the Community in action!
Hot off the presses, the "United We Sand" shirts are now available in the Fargo Moorhead Area, as well as online from a local organization. I still have the CafePress site up, but having a local producer and distributor allows us to give a greater margin back to the community while keeping the prices reasonable.
T-shirts are selling for $12 each, with $6 being donated to the Impact Give Back Fargo Flood Fund, with Dakota Medical Foundation matching the first $25,000. With the match, the entire purchase price of the shirts is attributed to the fund.
The website for Old Lutheran, the company producing them is: http://tinyurl.com/unitedwesand
You can also pick up shirts and decals at their Moorhead location:Old Lutheran1408 1st Avenue NorthMoorhead, MN 56560
E-mail: customerservice@oldlutheran.comLocal Phone: 218-236-1224 Toll Free (US Only): 1-877-653-5884Fax: 218-287-8005

New retail locations have been added for the United We Sand T-shirts.Pick one up today at one of these locations:
Old Lutheran (carrying T-Shirts, Sweatshirts and Decals)1408 1st Avenue NorthMoorhead, MN 56560
Ace HardwareMain Avenue Moorhead
Foot Solutions4650 26th Ave. S. Ste. D Fargo, ND
All 6 area Hornbachers Locations!



Walgreens Deal

I have mentioned before the rebate program at Walgreens http://walgreens.com. Many people think rebates are too much hassle. But I feel once you get in the habit and learn how to do it, it doesn't take much extra time. You can even enter the information online, so you don't have fill in forms out or mail in the receipts.

This month, one of the deals is if you buy $20 of Garnier products you get $10 rebate. They also have the products on sale. The hair coloring is regular $8.25 and on sale for $5. I bought 4 and will get $10 back. So what would have cost $32 will end up costing me $10 or $2.50 a box.

Also, Hersheys Kisses and candy bar bags are on sale for 4/$10 with a rebate of $5 off $10 purchase. So you end up getting 4 bags/$5.

So what would have ended up costing me almost $50 I will end up getting for $15. I had $50 on my giftcard from previous purchases also, so it didn't cost me anything out of pocket today to get these products and $15 rebate back.

Sunday, April 5, 2009

Smart Money Moves

There was an article "Smart Money Moves" in the Parade magazine in today's newspaper http://parade.com

Ideas mentioned were

Wait for Your Tax Refund. Some preparers offer an advance to get your tax refund quicker, but the fees on this are quite high. So they say if you're pinching every penny, do you really want to give a chunk of your money away.

Hold on to Your Valuables. There have been many ads for the Cash for Gold companies. I have heard other stories about this, that some companies don't give you what you could get from jewelers, etc. Most the the time you send your items to them in an envelope they provide and then they send you the money. But once they receive your items you can't do anything about it if you don't receive as much as you think it should be worth.

Put it on Layaway. More places are offering layaway again. This is one way to buy items you may not have the money for now without having to increase your credit card debt.

Be Wary of Store Credit Cards

Don't Cash the Convenience Checks that come with your Credit Card bill. It may seem like a good deal but once you cash them, you are agreeing to a loan with exorbitant interest rates and no grace period. The interest starts accumulating immediately.

Avoid Rent to Own. These too may seem like a good deal, when you think $20 or so a week. But when you figure out the installment by the amount of time they set on it you end up paying 2 to 3 times or more than the original price of the item.

Friday, April 3, 2009

Free Clinic Services for Jobless

Walgreen Co. is the latest company to use the tactic of helping the unemployed, offering free visits to its clinics for people who lose their jobs and don't have insurance.

Walgreen's Take Care health clinics will offer free visits for the rest of the year to adults who lose their jobs on or after March 31. Spouses, domestic partners and children also qualify if they don't have their own health insurance. A certification form must be completed. Walgreen has a short video on the program.Quest Diagnostics Inc. is offering certain free laboratory tests, such as strep throat and urine cultures, in the "Take Care Recovery Plan." People must prove they are getting government unemployment benefits to qualify for the free visits.According to the clinic's question and answer web page, the offer includes most services offered at the clinics, including for common family illnesses such as colds, cough, flu, upper respiratory conditions and minor skin conditions. It doesn't apply to healthcare services outside of Take Care Clinics. It also doesn't include wellness services provided at the clinics, such as physicals, vaccinations and health evaluations.
Getting health care is one of the first things the newly unemployed worry about when losing their job. It's one of the main reasons why I continue looking for full-time work after being laid off nine months ago. Other than housing, it's one of the most expensive costs for a family, and few part-time jobs offer health care coverage.The Walgreen program, and others that help the unemployed, are commendable, and I can see the long-term benefit to businesses that try to help out their customers. Hopefully when the recession ends someday, these offers will remain for people who continue to be out of work.

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Suze Orman on Oprah

Suze Orman will be on Oprah today about surviving the recession. I'm not sure if this is a repeat. There was a similar one on earlier. She has a new book out called "2009 Action Plan". I have a PDF copy of the book that she gave a free download of on the last show. Please send me your email address if you are interested in receiving the PDF copy of it.

Freecycle

Freecycle at http://freecycle.org is a website you can sign up for. It is a place if people have items they want to give away or people can request items they are in need of. Everything is free, but it is a way to keep things out of the landfill.

Welcome! The Freecycle Network™ is made up of 4,718 groups with 6,577,000 members across the globe. It's a grassroots and entirely nonprofit movement of people who are giving (& getting) stuff for free in their own towns. It's all about reuse and keeping good stuff out of landfills. Each local group is moderated by a local volunteer (them's good people). Membership is free. To sign up, find your community by entering it into the search box above or by clicking on “Browse Groups” above the search box. Have fun!

I had signed up with freecycle about a year ago. Usually things go quickly after listing or things I figure others need more than I do. A few days after I booked my cruise I checked my email and there was a listing for a few formal dresses that were just listed. I emailed about one of them and it was still available. She wasn't even sure what size it was but it was close to what I would wear so she said if it didn't work to freecycle it again. When I got it, it fit perfectly. The only cost was to dryclean it.

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Andy Stanley Book

Andy Stanley, author of "The Principle of the Path" will be a guest on the Dave Ramsey show tonight. Fox Business Network at 7:00 CT.

Dave's Thoughts"If you're ready to break the bad habits, bad behaviors and bad decisions that have been leading you into trouble, you need Andy Stanley's The Principle of the Path. I just wish I had a copy of it 20 years ago!"
Publisher's Notes Your Direction, not Your Intention, Determines Your Destination.
There is often a tension between where we want to end up in life and the path we choose to get there. We fail to see that having good intentions is never good enough. Like Charlie Brown, we wrongly believe there's something to be said for trying hard. We need to understand why, in spite of our good intentions, we may have ended up at the wrong destination with our finances, our marriages, our careers, or a host of other dreams. So how do we get from where we are to where we truly want to be? The Principle of the Path is a road map to proper direction and discipline.
Includes Extensive Study Guide.
Reviews
Every once in a while a book comes along that causes me to adjust the way I see myself and the world around me. This is one of those books. Andy Stanley's practical, biblically grounded wisdom, self-deprecating humor, and personal example are why he is one of my favorite communicators. —Jonathan Reckford, CEO of Habitat for Humanity International
This book encouraged and energized me. it will allow you to see your own path with new vision.—Andy Andrews, speaker and best-selling author of The Traveler's Gift
About the Author
Andy Stanley is a pastor, communicator, author, and the founder of North Point Ministries, Inc. (NPM). Since its inception in 1995, NPM has grown from one campus to three in the Atlanta area, and has helped plant 14 strategic partner churches throughout the United States. Each Sunday, over 20,000 adults attend worship services at one of NPM's three campuses. Andy's books include It Came From Within, Communicating For A Change, Making Vision Stick, and Next Generation Leader. Andy lives in Alpharetta, Georgia, with his wife, Sandra, and their three children.

See http://daveramsey.com for more info on ordering, or amazon.

Money Doesn't Grow on Trees

I have mentioned in a previous post about the importance of teaching children about money. One of the books I found on this subject is "Money Doesn't Grow on Trees", A Parent's Guide to Raising Financially Responsible Children, by Neale S. Godfrey.

The chapters included in the book are:
1- What kind of (Financial) Personality Do you and your childred have?

2- How to Teach your Child the basics of money management

3 - When to start your child on an allowance

4- Work for pay and setting up a budget

5 - How to introduce your child to the World of Banking

6 - How to use the World as your Financial Classroom

7 - How to Explain the Terrible Ts: Tipping, taxes, Tolls, and Tickets

8 - How to Work with your Teenager on Money Management

9 - What Parents need to tell a child about their own finances

10 - How to Negotiate living with your adult Children

One thing is to explain things to your child. Things that seem simple to you do not occur to children. One story in the book is about a friend of hers driving across country with his three yound children to visit grandparents at Christmastime. During the trip, the four-year old son was always the last one out of the restaurant after each meal.

Finally, when they were almost home, the annoyed father asked his young son why he straggled behind. The youngster reached into his pocket, pulled out a handful of change and said, "Because I have to go back and check the table to see that you haven't accidentallly left your money behind."

After the waves of anger and humiliation left my very proper friend (he was tempted but refrained from driving back to each restaurant to make reparations), the father realized that, to a child the routine act of leaving money on the table would appear to be extreme carelessness.