What can you do today to save money later?

Today I took my daughter to the dentist. She had a tooth that was bothering her. It turned out it was badly decayed. I guess failing to make getting to the dentist a priority is going to cost us because she is going to have a large filling in one tooth and the the other tooth they are going to have the take out all the pulp and fill it with a calcium substance before putting a large filling on that tooth too (it's a baby tooth). Then this afternoon I was working on a project I need to have done before Christmas. When I ordered some prints online, I ended up paying extra to have them done in one hour rather than waiting a week to ten days to have them sent to me.

In both of these circumstances, I realized that if I had been proactive, I could have saved. If I had gotten my daughter in for a regular check-up or at the least, when I first noticed the decay on her tooth, chances are it would have been a small filling. If I had gone online and ordered the prints I needed two weeks ago, I could have taken the cheaper option and had them shipped to me without fear that I wouldn't be able to complete my project on time.

What do you have in your life that if you accomplished it today, it will save you money in the long run? Post your suggestions for the rest of us to learn from!

Shop for the best deal

One of the best ways to save money when making a purchase or getting a service done is to shop around. When I had to get my windshield replaced I called 6 different businesses. They were all able to tell me over the phone what it would cost. There was a wide range. If I just went with the first company I called, I would have paid double what I got it done for. I even called a local shop and asked them if they could meet a competitor's price (that was farther from where I live) and they did adjust their price. It took me about an hour and a half to find the best deal on a new windshield.
There is a really neat site that has just been launched in Missoula, MT, called http://www.whocanhelp.com/ . This site allows you to put in whatever service or job you need done. Then, instead of you having to call providers to get quotes, they look at the jobs and give you a quote on what they would do it for. The other neat thing is that if you have a simple task that needs to be done, you can hire a handyman for a much lower rate than a professional to accomplish your task.
So, if you are in the Missoula area, check out http://www.whocanhelp.com/ .

I Wanted a Good Deal on a Stapler

This last week I did some shopping at Staples. I was struck with this thought: You have to study the way a store markets things to know how to get the best deals there. I was shopping for general office supplies. When I went to look for staplers, I went to a section where they had about 25 different ones to choose from. The cheapest one was $7.99. Since I wanted three, that seemed quite expensive to me. However, when pushing my cart through the aisles, I found a "dump bin" of staplers that included a normal size stapler, staple remover and box of staples for $3 by the packing materials. I don't know if it was a special purchase or what, but I liked the price! If I never had ventured away from the stapler section, I wouldn't have found the deal. Staples also has "dump bins" near the front with special purchase office supplies that they are selling at a good deal. I got many of the things I was looking for in that section for a dollar or two. My theory is that if you want a stapler, they want to sell you one at full price. However, they place the "dump bins" in places that you will impulse buy since it is such a good deal. So, I have come to the conclusion that if I am going to shop at Staples, I should plan time to quickly walk through the aisles before making my purchase. You will have to study each store to find where the deals are to be found. Each store is run differently. If you make friends with the clerks at the stores, you may be able to find out when things are typically marked down or put on clearance. So, take a few minutes next time you are out shopping to consider how the store you are shopping at markets it's goods to you.

Use coupon codes when buying online

Today I made a purchase online. Several hours later I realized hadn't checked to see if there were any coupon codes for the merchant I made the purchase from. You can save significantly by taking that little step. All you have to do is type in the name of the vendor and coupon code. If I was going to buy something from Amazon I would type in "Amazon coupon codes." I could then look through the list and see if there were any that applied to my purchase. Sometimes the discount available is free shipping, other times it is a % off your purchase, or sometimes you get a certain dollar amount off. Some companies have special discounts if you are a new customer and other coupon codes you can use over and over again.

Speaking of online purchases, I will remind you to check out www.slickdeals.net . They have a great list of deals that are available online. They often will list deals with the coupon code needed to get a great deal. Several weeks ago I was able to get a 4 year subscription to a magazine for $4.40 (That's $1.20 a year!!!). It's retail value is $3.99 an issue. Prior to reading about the deal I could get at www.slickdeals.net, the cheapest I had seen the magazine was $10 a year.

Stack those deals

It's a good time to stack deals. It takes a little time to get all your coupons in order, but you will save more. Tomorrow we have a cereal sale at one of our two local grocery stores. They have boxes of cereal on sale for $1.68. I went to safeway.com (go to Coupon link...you can use those coupons at other stores unless they specify they can only be used at Safeway) and coupons.com, and printed off coupons for cereal. You will have to download a little program that allows you to print the coupons. Then go through the list of coupons and select the ones you want and print them off. You can go back to the site and keep printing coupons if you want to buy more than one box of a particular kind of cereal until you reach the limit set for each coupon. The extra $.50-$.75 cents off a box makes for a great buy on cereal. So take a few minutes and collect some coupons before heading off to a sale to save even more.

Buying sale items

Yesterday I had a few items I needed to pick up at the grocery store. I was again struck by how much you can save if you simply buy items that are on a good sale. Some people carry a price book and keep track of when the prices are cheapest on an item. I haven't ever maintained one long term. However, I do know what a good price is for the items that I use often. The item I needed yesterday was hot dog buns. Because I hadn't picked up more when they were on sale earlier in the summer I was stuck paying full price.

What do I mean by good price? I mean buying when an item is at it's cheapest or significantly cheaper than it usually is. I don't usually bother with sales when an item is only discounted a very small percentage. This week Whipped Topping is on sale at one of the two grocery stores we have here. The sale price is $.88. The regular price is $1.76. (That is half off the regular price!) Because I use Whipped Topping when I make coconut or banana cream pies or no-bake cheesecake, I bought five containers. I used one on a banana cream pie right away and froze the other four. When I go to make one of those desserts, I will be able to make it for quite a bit cheaper because I had the foresight to buy my ingredients on sale.

So keep an eye out for those good deals and stock up when you can. It will save you big in the long run!

You have to try Pomona's Universal Pectin

Our family really enjoys homemade jam. One thing I have never liked about making jam is the large amount of sugar that you use. I have tried the low sugar or no sugar version of the Pectin available at most stores and I didn't care for the taste or texture. This year a friend told me about Pomona's Universal Pectin. It uses 4 cups of fruit and 2 cups of sugar per batch of jam. I made cherry jam (with pie cherries). It was so well liked that our family consumed the whole jar of jam in one meal. The pectin appears to be quite expensive ($4.65 at our local health food store), but each box makes several batches of jam so it ends up being cheaper than the other boxes of pectin. It has such a fresh fruity flavor. I am using Pomona's Universal Pectin now whenever I make jam. Give it a try and let me know how you like it.

Compare prices before buying

It really pays to call around and check prices before making a purchase. We need a new windshield for our Honda CR-V. I called 7 companies within an hour drive of where we live. It took about 15 minutes. The highest priced one was $259; the cheapest one was $165. The one for $165 is an hour away. The best price I could get locally at Glass Doctor was $199. So, armed with the information I had gathered, I called Glass Doctor and asked if they could match the best price I was quoted. They checked and the best deal they could give me was $185. One benefit of going with them is they offer free rock chip repairs for a year. In the end I decided to go with my local company...and I got a better deal just by asking.

Taking advantage of coupons

I have to say I have not consistently been able to save much using coupons. Sometimes one of the grocery stores in the area will have great coupons, or there will be coupons in the store by a certain product that I have at times been able to take advantage of.

This week, however I was able to do quite well with coupons. Safeway.com now has coupons available on their site. They have both store coupons (which you have to use at Safeway) and manufacturer coupons (which you can use anywhere). The other place I got coupons was from kraftfoods.com . You have to set up an account, but then you can print off coupons. The thing I liked this week was that they had coupons for things I use and they were for a $1 off! For instance, they have coupons for a $1 off of Kraft BBQ sauce. Because that is on sale this week at two stores that I know of, I was able to get it for free. Anybody else like free? :) They also had $1 off coupons for Triscuit crackers, Wheat Thins and Ritz crackers, Miracle Whip, and Kraft salad dressing. By using those coupons when they had a good sale at Albertsons, I was able to get the Triscuits and Wheat Thins for $.47 a box and Ritz crackers for $.99 a box.

Great coupons like this aren't always available. So, if they are things you use or want to donate to a food bank, print them off and watch for a great sale.

Case in point...

So have you entered any drawings? Brianna did on Saturday at the Trade Show and her name was drawn for a movie bowl. It was a nice big bowl filled with 2 movies and all kinds of snacks. She was thrilled!

You can't win if you don't enter

Today is an exciting day. There is a gal coming down from Kalispell to template my bathroom. Three weeks ago my sister and I went to a building and home show in Kalispell. One of the vendors there had a drawing for a free granite counter top. I entered the drawing and won! The owner is coming to template our bathroom. Then we get to choose what kind of granite we want. They will fabricate it and come and install the new counter top. When there are free drawings to enter, take a minute and fill out a card. I know the odds aren't great that you will win when you enter drawings, but hey, you can't win if you don't enter.

Pick up those coupons

About a week ago I was at one of our two local grocery stores. As I was walking through I noticed that they had one stack of coupons on the side of the cooler for meats. I had never seen anything there before, so I stopped to check out what the coupons were for. They were buy one get one free for Bistro Naturals sausages or hot dogs. It looks like maybe they are introducing a new product and are offering coupons to encourage you to try them. Finding hot dogs and sausages that don't have nitrates and are made from meat that is not mechanically separated and yet economical is not always easy, so this looked like a bargain to me! This is not the time you take one coupon, you check the expiration date (4/30/09) and ask yourself how many you could use. Honestly, I took all that was left and gave some to a friend. I bought four packages to try them out. There is no use in stocking up on them if we don't like them. Well, we did like them so the next time I was at that store I checked and they had some packages marked 50 cents off because they were within one week of their sell by date. So, I bought all 10 packages they had marked down and used my coupons. I brought them home and put them in the freezer and we'll enjoy them on the BBQ this summer. I got those 12 ounce packages of sausages for not the full price of $3.29, but buy one get one free, plus the $.50 off because it was near the sell by date, for $1.15! Now that is a deal!

When you see coupons while you are shopping, they may not be a great deal that day, but if it is something you use, pick up a coupon (or two or three) because it might become a better deal later. Our grocery store also had coupons for $1.50 off a package of Oreo's if you buy a gallon of milk. It wasn't a great deal this week. But if Oreo's go on sale and I need milk anyway, it could be a good deal in the weeks to come.

I don't use coupons for lots of things, but this time, I think I saved big.

Watch the size on packages

Today we were at our local grocery store. They had a big display of pop. They were on sale for $4.99 for a case of Coke. My husband noticed that there weren't 24 in a case anymore. They now have 20 cans in a case. So, the price hasn't changed, but you are getting less for your money. So check out not only the price, but the quantity/size you are buying.

It always pays to ask

I don't always read things as closely as I should. We received an email from Choice
Privileges stating that if you stayed at one of their motels during a certain time frame on two separate occasions, you could earn a free night stay. Because we had plans that included needing a motel, I thought this was great. However, when I went to check to see if they had awarded us those bonus points today, they weren't there. So, I clicked on the promotion link and read all of the details (which I should have done at the start) and found out that to get that free night, you had to book your stays through choiceprivileges.com . Oops! I then sent an email to their customer service asking if there was anyway I could receive credit for those two stays and earn my free night. I received a very nice email back from them a few hours later letting me know that as a one-time courtesy they would award me those bonus points. The two lessons I learned were:
1. Read the fine print. It will save you from having to ask for special help later.
2. It never hurts to ask. Since they said yes, I have a free hotel night (value approximately $85). If they had said no, I would have only lost the 5 minutes I took to write the email.

Go scouting!

This past Saturday my children had a party to attend, so my husband and I took the opportunity to scout the area. We have lived in this area for a year and a half and there were many stores we had driven by and never stopped at. We visited pawn shops, second hand stores and normal retail stores By taking the time to visit eight stores we hadn't been in before and three that we hadn't been to for some time, we got a better idea of what is available to purchase here. We didn't spend much...just bought a set of pruning shears on sale at Home Hardware for $7.99 and went out to lunch at the new Mexican restaurant in Ronan. The thing of value that we acquired in that afternoon was the knowledge on where to get things And yes, there's at least one of those second hand stores I won't be going back to because it stunk....literally!

How about some spring organizing?

How about some spring organizing?

There have been a couple of things that I thought I needed this week only to find out I already have them. My son was sick and I ran to WalMart and bought some medicine. Later when looking through my cupboard, I found I already had a brand new box of medicine...ooops. I also thought I needed more black socks. However, when I was cleaning out my closet, I found that I had stashed some pairs up there last summer (because they have wool in them). I had forgotten that I hadn't pulled them all down. Now that I "found" more black socks, I won't need to go buy some.

So, along with that spring cleaning I know you are all working on, do some organizing. Knowing what you already have can save you!

Saving on medical bills

Medical costs just seem to keep going up. Unless you have a great insurance program that covers all your costs, I am sure you have considered what you can do to keep your medical costs down. Of course, the most obvious thing to do is take good care of yourself by eating what is healthy and getting excercise. However, when you do need medical help, here are some things to remember:
1. Find out what clinic in your area is most affordable. The best one we have found is in Missoula. It is called Cost Care. At www.costcare.com you can check out their hours and locations (they currently have 4). The appointments cost $45. They keep their costs affordable by having a small staff and collecting payment when they give service. They are happy to provide you with a receipt you can submit to your insurance company.
2. When you go in to the doctor, ask if they give a discount for cash payments. This is advantageous for them because they don't have to pay credit card processing fees and they also know that they will be able to collect on the services they have provided. If you explain your situation, a good receptionist will be able to tell you what financial options are available...but you must ASK.
3. Check the statements that you receive from your doctor (and insurance company) to make sure you are only being charged for services you received. If you have a question about your bill, call and ask about it. Recently I had a doctors appointment and I had a question about something on my bill. It took some persistence. At first the receptionist transferred me to someone in billing. She couldn't help me, but transferred me to the office manager. The office manager wasn't in, so I had to leave a message. She called me back the next business day. I explained the situation. She said she wasn't authorized to change anything without talking to the doctor. So I asked her to ask the doctor about it. She did and called back to let me know the doctor authorized the change on the billing. It definetely took effort to get to the bottom of the issue, but it saved me $106.
4. The most important thing to remember is that as a patient you are a consumer. Don't feel bad about asking for an explanation. Doctors provide medical services and you are entitled to understand what you are receiving and what you are being charged for it.

It is never convienant to have a medical issue. So, be a bit proactive and find out where affordable medical help is available. Of course, you are talking about your life here...so cheap is not the most important thing. You are looking for someone who has good expertise, you feel comfortable with, and who can offer you affordable care.

Call on those warranties!

I was talking with my sister today and she told me it was warranty week at her house. She went on to tell me how they have replacement parts coming for their kitchen faucet that is leaking (saving them $150) and a new Logitech mouse (saving them $30) for their computer. Why? Because when those things stopped working they took they time to call the company and check into their warranties. The faucet had a lifetime warranty on it. Moen did not ask them for their receipt or proof of purchase, they simply got the information on what kind of faucet it was and said they were mailing the parts out right out. They had the mouse for their computer for under a year when the right click button quit working. They called Logitech and they are sending them a new one. Sometimes with warranty claims you have to mail the defective product back, but they didn't have to in either of these circumstances.

So, when something breaks down (and you know it will happen eventually!) before replacing it, take the time to check whether it might have a warranty. It may save you some big bucks!

Is it possible to get a good deal on organic produce?

Yesterday I was shopping at Safeway. I have to admit, I didn't really feel like grocery shopping...but they had a coupon for $10 off a $50 purchase in their weekly ad that expired yesterday so off I went. As I walked through the produce section I saw that they had oranges for $1 a pound. I kept walking as I buy oranges when I can get them for $.30 - $.50 a pound. When I walked on I saw that the organic oranges were $.25 a pound! That struck me as very strange since organic produce is usually quite a bit more expensive. So I asked the produce gal who was right there about it. She said they had shipped them twice the amount of organic oranges they had ordered. So instead of letting them go to waste, they discounted them to clear them out. So, be aware when you wander through the store...you just might find an unexpected deal!

One of the things the produce gal mentioned was that organic produce has a very short shelf life. Have any of you been able to get good deal on organic produce that has to be used right away? Please post comments and share any experiences that the rest of us can learn from.

Flooring for $.64 a square foot!

Sometimes great deals come and you have to decide quickly whether or not to take them. I was looking at the materials section on www.craigslist.org because we have some projects we would like to do around our house. There was an ad for 350 square feet of laminate flooring for $225. The people had bought extra flooring when they were installing it in their home. I was able to look up the specs on the flooring and see what color it was online. Then we went to look at it and were able to see it installed and how it looked after being used for three years. The folks were moving to Texas and wanted to get rid of it. It was a win-win deal. They were able to sell their extra laminate flooring and not have to move it and we was able to get a great deal on it. This list price on the laminate was $3.99 a square foot and we were able to get it for $.64 a square foot. We are going to use the flooring in my husband's office. It was a project that we were planning to do at some point, but with a deal like that...we'll be doing it soon!

Flooring for

Allegiant Airlines - it is the sticker price plus...

Allegiant Airlines gives those of us in Montana reasonable airline rates out of Kalispell and Missoula. It is definitely NOT luxury travel. The seats are cramped and it reminds me of travelling on a bus...but for the price, it is a good deal.

We travelled on Allegiant to Phoenix in November. The cost for four round trip tickets was $163.72! But oh...let me tell you about the fees. By the time we added our federal taxes ($12.28), segment fees ($28), PFC ($18), 911 Security ($20) we were up to $242.00. The next three things we chose to add. There was a convenience fee of $46. They charge you this fee whether you book your tickets online or by phone. You can avoid this fee if you go to the airport and book your tickets. Be sure to check when the Allegiant window is open, because they have very limited hours. The other two things we elected to add was a $124 seat selection fee (we wanted to be able to sit with our 9 and 6 year old children!) and $60 so we could check two bags. That brought our total to $472 for 4 round trip tickets from Missoula to Phoenix...still a very good deal! To compare, a single round trip return ticket from Missoula to Phoenix is $471 with Alaska Air and $495 with Delta and both of those have one stop.

Things you can expect on board with Allegiant is the stewardesses to do a raffle for some merchandise (a hat, t-shirt and kids alarm clock is what a gal near me won). Allegiant is based out of Vegas and they say they like to add some gambling "entertainment" to the flight. Also, you pay for all drinks and snacks, so you might want to take a water bottle and fill it up after you go through security. The other thing you can do to keep your cost down when travelling with Allegiant is to pack light and avoid having to pay for checked bags. They let you take 1 personal item (such as a laptop bag, handbag, or briefcase) plus one piece of carry-on luggage that does not exceed 45 linear in (length + height + width). Allegiant says you need to be there two hours early for your flight. We definitely did not need to be that early flying out of Missoula, but it is way better to wait than miss the flight. When we flew home, we were so thankful we were two hours early at the Phoenix airport. There was extremely long lines as they had planes going out to three locations within an hour and only 3 check-in windows. If you fly to Phoenix, it is good to realize that you are not flying into Sky Harbor airport. The small airport you fly into in Mesa is only used by Allegiant.

Would we fly with Allegiant again? We definetely would because it was a great deal!

Currently you can fly (all non-stop flights):

Kalispell to/from Las Vegas (Monday and Friday)

Missoula to/from Las Vegas (Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday)

Missoula to/from Phoenix (Monday, Wednesday and Friday and sometimes on Sunday)

Missoula to/from Los Angeles -flights starting in May

Check out those online banking rates

If you have money you are saving, you should to check out where you can get the best interest on your money while it sits. Even though the interest rates aren't very good right now, it all adds up. The Internet makes it incredibly easy to research who has the best rates. Just go to http://www.bankrate.com/ . For information on high yield checking accounts you can go to http://www.bankrate.com/brm/rate/mmmf_highratehome.asp?params=US,416&product=33 . They will show you many banks, which ones have the best interest rates, how much you have to deposit to open an account, if there are any monthly fees, and a star system they rate the banks on. It has been obvious in recent months how important it is for banks to be FDIC insured. We have two online savings accounts that we use. We use one for our emergency fund. The other one we use for things we are saving or accruing for (vehicle registration, property taxes, vacation, Christmas, bills that we pay once a year like life insurance, and home repairs). These savings accounts are not a good place to put large sums of money for long periods of time, but we appreciate the ability to earn better interest (than we can with our local checking account) on our money that we need to have more readily available.

You never know when you might find a bargain

You never know when you might find a bargain! Today I was Lowe's with my husband. We were browsing because we have quite a few home fix-up projects that we will need to tackle soon. As we were walking through the store, there was a rack of clearance items. There was a container of weed and grass killer for 10 cents. It was regularly $4.47. It wasn't something that I need today, but it is certainly something I will use this summer. So, when you are going through stores, pay attention and check out those clearance aisles or bins. You may be able to pick up something for a really great deal and save big in the long run!

Playing Defense

Managing money well takes team effort. In our family, my husband plays offense when it comes to our finances. He is the wage earner and he works hard to make money. I see my job as primary spender to play defense. What does this entail? It means that I pay the bills (on time to avoid any penalties). It also means that I do my best to be savvy about getting the best deals. At least once a year it is good to check if you can get a better deal on your monthly bills. Check to be sure that you are still getting good insurance rates. Call your telephone company, cable company, and Internet provider to find out if they have any promotional deals you can take advantage of. Check out your cell plan and make sure you are not overbuying or under buying for the minutes/texts that you use. Sometimes just by calling and asking, they will offer you a better deal. I also try to play defense on the smaller purchases I make. When I go to the store I pay attention to when they ring up my purchases. In the past two days I have been overcharged at 3 of the 4 places I have made purchases. I was overcharged for colored pencils at Staples, toilet paper at WalMart and pizza at Papa Murphy's. Each time I had to wait for the employee to verify the price before they corrected it for me. Though kind, none of the employees were apologetic about overcharging me. Though it is time consuming, for me it is a matter of principle. I believe that when stores have prices posted, things need to ring up right. Make sure if you are doing well on offense (making money) that you also play good defense (stretch those dollars).

Pay attention when paying for your purchases!

To avoid being overcharged at the checkstand, make sure you watch while your items are being rung up. Last week we were down in Missoula. One of the things on my list of things to get was envelopes for our business. Since we were out north Reserve, we stopped at Staples. I really didn't need a huge box, but hey, I always have to figure out which one is the best deal. The most reasonable ones were the Standard business envelopes with a gummed enclosure that were on sale for $5.99 (reg. $8.29) for 500. Then in small print on the tag it said, "buy one, get one free." Now we are talking $5.99 for 1000 envelopes! Honestly, I really prefer the security envelopes but they run $16.99 for a box of 500. Since the plain ones were 17% of the cost of the security ones, I decided I could wrap a piece of paper around anything I am concerned about showing through the envelope (which very rarely happens). Then I went up to pay for my envelopes and I was charged full price for both boxes. I politely told the cashier that the sign said they were on sale and that they were supposed to be buy one get one free. So, the other cashier who didn't have anyone in her line went back to check on the price. She was gone quite a while, so after waiting for several minutes I headed back to show her the sign. Apparently it was a sale from the previous week and they hadn't taken down the signs, but they gave me the sale price as it was marked. And now that I have a 1000 envelopes, I probably won't have to buy more for at least several years! So pay attention at the check stand. It saved me $10.58 cents on that particular trip to Staples.

2 Simple steps to save on groceries

If you are spending more on groceries than you like, here's a couple of tips to help you reduce that bill.


1. Plan your meals. Studies show that people who shop less frequently spend less money. This is because there are less trips and fewer opportunities for impulse buys. Start simple though. If you usually run to the store almost daily, aim to plan your menu (breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks) for three days at a time and buy all that you need for those three days. If you usually shop once a week, make a menu plan and shop for two weeks all at once. If you are able, plan your menu around what is on sale. Weekly ads usually come out Wednesday.


2. Use up what you already have. Once you have planned your meals, shop your own cupboards and fridge before heading to the store. If you already have lettuce, don't buy more unless you have a plan of how you are going to use it.

If you find yourself frequently having to toss out food, keep a diary for a month and find out how much food you have to throw away. Then list how much it cost you to buy that food. Sometimes you can't anticipate when produce will go bad, but most of that money that was wasted in food thrown away, could have been saved if you had a plan to use it. This is something I need to work on as yesterday I had to throw away a bowl of soup and some oranges and carrots that had gone bad. Oh, how I hate wasting things!

So, if you have extra food that you can't use (perhaps you have a fruit tree in your yard that has a bumper crop and you don't even like plums!) or you are going on vacation and have produce you can't use, you could give those things to a neighbor or post an ad for them on craigslist.org or freecycle.org and give them to someone who will put them to good use.

Give it a try and post your experiences for others to benefit from!

Join the Polson Freecycle group!

Breaking news...Freecycle has come to Polson, Montana! So what is Freecycle(TM)? It is a group that is open to everyone who wants to "recycle" that special something rather than throw it away. Whether it's a couch, a fax machine, your perishables before you go on vacation, piano or an old door, feel free to post it. The one main rule is everything posted must be free. This group is part of The Freecycle Network, a nonprofit organization and a movement of people interested in keeping good stuff out of landfills. When you are part of the group, you get emails (either individual ones or a digest for the day) of the things that other people have to give away. You can contact the person by email and they choose who they would like to give their item to. If you are chosen, you make arrangements with that individual to get the item. This is a great site because it allows you to clear out those closets or garages of things you don't need and pass it one to someone who can use it!

You can enter your email address below to join the Polson Freecycle group. You do have to have a Yahoo! profile which you can quickly set up.

Subscribe to PolsonFC

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Essential websites for the bargain hunter - Craigslist

If you are looking to sell/buy something, you should check out http://www.craigslist.org/ . You select the area you live in (in my case, the state) It is a great website where you can browse items you are looking for. Items are broken down into categories which makes for quicker searching. You can also list items to sell. The beauty of it is, it is free to use. To list an item, you post it (you can include pictures), then you confirm an email that is sent to you, that the ad is the way you want and it is posted.

I have made two purchases off of Craigslist. The first was a worm factory. My children were interested in buying a worm factory which you use to recycle your food scraps (not meat). I posted a wanted ad on http://montana.craigslist.org/ and a gentleman in Missoula contacted me and we were able to buy it for half the price of new. They lived in Huson, but his wife met me in Missoula and we were able to complete the deal. The other thing I bought off of http://montana.craigslist.org/ was a package of carpet pad. When we were having new carpet put in upstairs, I saw that a man in Florence had posted a package of new carpet pad. He had purchased carpet pad for his whole house and had an extra package that hadn't even been opened. I was able to purchase it from him for and save a couple of dollars per yard off the new price.

Of course, it is always good to check if you are getting a good deal. When I bought the carpet pad I had to research how much carpet pad there is in a new package (the seller did not know) and what it goes for other places to determine if I was getting a good deal. Right now I am watching for deer fencing to go around a garden I would like to put in next summer. Someone had listed some deer fencing. The price that they were asking was more than I could purchase it new at Ace...so be savvy!

Get a new hot water heater for free?

I was really excited to hear about the federal tax credits available for improvements that you make to your home in 2009. If you are looking at doing some home improvements (windows, insulation, water heaters, stoves) you should check to see if they qualify for a tax credit.


We are going to replace our 20 year old hot water heater. By getting one that meets the requirements, we will get a $300 federal tax credit plus we can get a $60 credit from Mission Valley Power for installing an energy efficient water heater. The hot water heater will cost approximately $350. So after the tax credit and energy rebate from the power company, it's purchase price is entirely covered and we get the energy savings that comes with a much more efficient hot water heater.


Get the complete details at http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=products.pr_tax_credits

Tips to having success with warranties

When shopping for a new item (especially a large ticket item), people often compare what kind of warranty the item has. That is a wise thing to do, but you will only benefit from that effort if you have a sytem in place to file those warranties so you can locate them later.

Statistically, it is never a good idea to buy an extended warranty on items at the store or through third party vendors. There's a great article on this at http://www.investopedia.com/articles/pf/07/warranties.asp

When you get home, tape your receipt to the owner's manual or information that you have cut off the box that gives you information on the warranty. Then file that receipt and manual away. Your filing system needs to be customized for your needs. When I was first married I had one file folder for each item that I had a manual for. That was way too cumbersome. Now I have one folder labeled warranties that all those receipts go into. Look at your life and figure out how many folders you need. One might work for you or you might want to consider making separate folders like kitchen items, tools, or electronics.

Then, when something breaks, take a minute to look through your warranties before replacing it. If it is a low ticket item (less than $20) it might not be worth walking through the warranty process to get it replaced. This is because you often have to send your defective product into the company at your cost.

Okay, so how about a happy story. My dear husband knows that I am often cold. For Christmas he bought me a heated mattress pad. I loved that mattress pad! After 4 1/2 years the controls started not working and erroring out. I can't tell you how disappointing it is to jump into bed expecting nice warm sheets and find out that the control errored out and it is freezing! I figured we would just need to get a new mattress pad. When we were getting ready to move, I was cleaning out files and I found the owner's manual and receipt and discovered that mattress pad had a 5 year warranty on it. I called the manufacturer and spoke with a very nice gal in their customer service department. She gave me instructions on how to mail it back to them and a return code to put on the outside of the box. She said as soon as they received it, they would be sending out the new mattress pad with a new five year warranty! I was happy to spend the $13.00 to send it back rather than have to pay $100 to get a new mattress pad.

Essential websites for the bargain hunter - slickdeals.net

As a bargain hunter who loves to find a great deal, I would like to review some of the websites that I have found to be very useful. http://www.slickdeals.net/ is a community of bargain hunters that post their best finds on the Internet. The site is well designed and easy to navigate.

On the http://www.slickdeals.net/ home page they list the price of the item, any applicable coupon codes, and what the shipping charges are. These great deals are in a long list (not put in categories) . When a deal is no longer available, they note that the deal has expired.

There is also a list of coupons codes that you can use when you are making a purchase at stores on the Internet. You can search the coupons alphabetically by the store name, by whether they are new or expiring, or by subject (apparel, technology, or others).

There are also forums to read on a whole host of subjects relating to getting deals (ie. coupons, freebies, rebates), a blog, and a whole list of tools.

The tools they currently have listed are slickdeals mobile, Amazon fillers, credit card deals, price lookup, global search, store ratings, and product reviews. Slickdeals Mobile allows you to get alerts that are formatted for your cell phone. Amazon fillers is great because Amazon often offers free shipping if you spend a certain dollar amount. These fillers help you find something the amount you need to get that free shipping. They also have an extensive list of credit cards with rewards...but I personally don't use or promote credit cards. The price listing allows you to enter the product you are looking for and it will give you the price from various online merchants. The global search...There is also a list of Store ratings. Before buying from a retailer, you can see what others have experienced when they worked with them. There is also a whole section of product reviews, so when you are considering a purchase, you can read reviews from others who have purchased that exact item.

Get paid to go energy efficient with Mission Valley Power

If you live in an area that Mission Valley Power services, it is a no-brainer to switch to energy efficient light bulbs. If you have a different power company, check with them to see if they offer incentives for going to energy efficient bulbs. Mission Valley Power gives you a $2.50 credit on your power bill for each energy efficient light bulb you install into your home.

Yesterday I was at Costco in Missoula. The 6 packs of their energy efficient light bulbs cost $4.99 ($10.99 less a $6 instant rebate). Their light bulbs for bathroom vanities cost $3.49 ($10.49 less a $7 instant rebate).
We don't have a large home, yet we have at least 30 light bulbs in our house. And 8 vanity lights. So, if we bought new bulbs at Costco...
5 packs light bulbs $4.99= $24.95
2 packs vanity bulbs $3.49= $6.98
Total = $31.93
Now for the rebate from Mission Valley Power
38 bulbs x $2.50 = $95.00

So in the end, by upgrading all my light bulbs which will save ME in energy costs, I spend $31.93 on light bulbs and get a $95.00 credit on my power bill. That means I come out $63.07 ahead and I will save on my power costs for the next 7 years (average lifespan) that I have those light bulbs. You can print off forms and see different items you can get energy rebates for at http://missionvalleypower.org/rebate_forms.htm

When you are making other purchases, check out to see if rebates are available for things like appliances, water heaters, home electronics and office equipment if they are energy star. There are also rebates for insulating and windows. We had the crawl space of our home insulated. The rebate we received was a credit on our power bill for 75 percent of the cost of having it insulated! Now we get to reap the benefit for the lifetime of owning this home.

So check out those energy rebates and see how much you can save!

Free tea at Starbucks in Safeway

Hello Polson friends...
On the back page of your Safeway ad there is a coupon for a complimentary Tall Tea (12 oz) beverage of choice from Starbucks...they are introducing their full-leaf tazo tea lattes and tazo tea infusions. The coupon expires on January 20th. If you need a coupon, they always have extra Advertisers with ads in the entry way going into Super 1.

Do I really need that?

It's January and there are bargains to be had. The question to consider...is that item I am looking at buying going to improve my life? I have been checking out http://www.slickdeals.net/ most days. They have a list of great deals that is constantly updated. However, I almost never need any of those things...they don't sell groceries! So if I buy things I don't need, just because I can save a lot off the list price, is it a good deal? Obviously not. It's no bargain to have to manage stuff you don't use or need! However, if I happen to see items on there that I have been watching for and can get a really good deal...now that is bargain shopping.

Don't take no for an answer

My son who is 9 has a business. He collects ink and toner cartridges from friends and businesses. He then recycles those cartridges. Large cartridges he sells to a remanufacturing company and small ink cartridges he takes to Staples which has an ink cartridge recycling program . Stapes mails reward checks monthly for their ink-recycling program. For some reason Benjamin didn't receive the rewards checks for all the cartridges he had returned since July. At first, I thought it was because they only sent out the checks quarterly...then I just didn't get around to checking into it. In December, I emailed to inquire what was going on. He received one of the three rewards checks he had earned. I emailed again about the other two rewards checks. Two weeks later, I called and was assured both rewards checks had been issued and were on their way, but my son only got one of the checks. So I called again today to check on where it was and the representative told me they do not re-issue rewards checks that have expired. I explained the situation and she said there was nothing she could do, but she would have the gal that had told me the two rewards checks were coming call me. I didn't get a call, but an email from her saying they do not re-issue expired checks. I emailed her back and very politely explained the situation that my son had not gotten his checks and that I didn't believe USPS could lose three different checks and that I thought the issue must have been on their end. I shortly got an email back from her saying, "As a one-time courtesy, we have issued a new Reward with an extended expiration date." My son is very excited to be getting that $18 reward check that he had returned cartridges for. I guess the thing to remember in these situations is perseverance counts...if you don't stay on it, it won't happen. I also used one of the phrases that I learned in Financial Peace University when I was told they couldn't re-issue the reward check. In my email I said, "and if you are not able, refer it on to your manager or someone who can rectify the situation." Though it was work to get those rewards, I appreciate that Staples re-issued the check!

Saving on rental cars

In November our family took a trip down to Arizona. We were able to get great flights out of Missoula, MT..more on that later. While shopping for a rental car we checked out the rental companies rates online. Prices varied greatly. For the airport we were flying into, we found that Alamo had the best rates. They wouldn't let me book it online with my debit card, so I had to call down to Phoenix and book it directly at the airport. They weren't able to give me quite as good of a deal as was advertised if I booked through http://www.alamo.com/, but they assured me it was the best rate they could give me. I also was able to verify that there wouldn't be any extra holds put on my debit card when renting the car. When comparing prices I also checked out what coupons were available. Alamo had a coupon for one free day with a week long rental. I took that with us when we rented the car. We also checked with our insurance company to find out if our car insurance covered us in the rental car. They verified that we had the same coverage as we had for our own vehicle (but it wouldn't cover loss of usage fees in case of an accident). So we were able to waive any extra insurance that was offered. The total for our 8 days with unlimited miles was $186.43. (Hertz was going to charge $340 for those 8 days!) Alamo had great customer service and were very quick and efficient at check-in.

Should you pay more for quality?

When does quality count? Does it matter? Is it worth the extra cost? The answer is yes and no.

If you want to have something for a long time, there's a good chance you need to invest in quality. My husband has a Air Canada duffel bag that he has had for 15 years. This bag has survived trips on buses, cars and planes and is still in great shape. It wasn't the cheapest in terms of price, but it was good quality and shows very little wear after all this time. In this case, it was definetely worth investing in quality. You have those items too. Take a look in your closets. What did you have that just won't wear out? You invested in quality when you purchased those items.

There are other purchases where quality may or may not matter. Personally, I haven't found that a $4 toothbrush lasts me any longer than the special 2 pack I bought for $1.79. When it comes to aluminum foil, it depends on what my purpose is in using it. If I am wrapping up baked potatoes, the cheap aluminum foil works fine for me. However, if we are barbequing salmon, I wouldn't even bother if I didn't have heavy duty aluminum foil. When it comes to food, we've all heard about name brand and generic labels at times being produced at the same factory (of course this isn't always the case). Sometimes there is a huge difference in quality and sometimes there isn't. So, look for those areas where quality doesn't matter to you and see if you can save!

Magazines for 90% off the list price

Today I saved big on two magazines my husband wanted for his business. I had the check written for WIRED and the card filled out for Entrepreneur to send in. Today on http://www.slickdeals.net/ I saw they had some great deals on magazines at http://www.discountmags.com/ for 3.50 a year. I ordered the Weight Watchers magazine. I don't do WW, but am always interested in eating healthy and good recipes. When I put the Weight Watchers magazine into my cart at CheapMagazineSite.com the site offered me the opportunity to get other magazines for $5 a year or $8 a year. WIRED was one of those magazines for $5. I was so glad I hadn't sent in the check yet, so I voided my check and ordered it from discountmags. It lists for $59.40. The lowest I had seen it was $10. So when I got it for $5 it was a great deal! For Entrepreneur I found the best deal using ww.CheapMagazineSite.com (which just searches all the discount magazines sites and shows you which one has the best deal) was http://www.magazines.com/. This list price is $59.88 and the cheapest I had seen it was $11.97. I was able to get it for $6.97. They had the needed discount coupon listed at CheapMagazineSite.com. If you enjoy magazines, you can get them at a great price if you shop around and are patient.