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Back to School Saving Tips

by Home Living Magazine on September 6, 2010

Back to School Saving Tips

It’s that time of year again – time to get the kids ready for school! Back to school season is just as fun for moms as it is for the little ones. But, it’s even more enjoyable for the moms that can get the most bang for their buck on back to school shopping!

If you’re ready to learn how to shop for school supplies ’til you drop without dumping your money into overly priced products, read the back to school shopping tips featured below.

Thrift Stores

Thrift shopping is often frowned upon because the items are secondhand, and you might fear that they may be dirty and germy. However, a quick wash in the laundry will do the trick for most used clothing items. Thrift stores, such as Goodwill and the Salvation Army, often run tag sales. Sometimes all items with pink tags are priced 50% off, or items with red tags are priced under $3.50.

These items can include jeans, brand name suits, and shoes, among other things. Sometimes, you can score an entire secondhand wardrobe for under $25! But of course, you have to be a savvy shopper. When you learn to shop the tag sales at thrift stores, you’ll be able to dress your children for pennies on the dollar!

Make Use of Your $1.00 Store!

Did you know that dollar stores in your area may actually accept coupons on their already discounted merchandise? The most notable dollar retailer that accepts coupons is Dollar General. However, by checking the FAQ of your local dollar store’s website, you’ll be made aware of their coupon policy.

If you have a $1 coupon off an item that you’re going to purchase at the dollar store, you’re going to score the item for free! Thankfully, if you have coupons for a large quantity of items you need, you may be able to score half, or even more, of your back to school shopping deals for nothing but a few cents in tax.

Stockpiling Coupons

If you have three kids or more, it makes sense to consider stockpiling coupons for school supplies as soon as you can. A little trick that many savvy coupon moms like to use is stockpiling coupons for the essentials by purchasing the newspaper, printing online and requesting that coupons be directly mailed to their mailbox.

By the end of the summer, the coupon moms that stockpile coupons often find reduced deals because the items have been on the shelf for most of the summer. Often times, many items end up being free or laughably cheap.

Shopping a Year Early

When you go back to school shopping, it may be tempting to simply shop a few weeks before the semester begins, like most parents. But, if you purchase items, such as binders, pieces of clothing, pencil holders, etc. just a few weeks after school has begun, just about everything in the store will be marked down considerably.

To further your savings, sign up for email newsletters of all of your favorite stores. Stores like JCPenney send out quarterly coupons for 10% to 15% off of all of their merchandise, including their sales items. It isn’t uncommon to find children’s shorts and t-shirts on sale for less than $5. So, the savings can be considerable.

There are so many ways to save on back to school shopping for your family. You can stockpile coupons, shop for free (with coupons) at the dollar store, and even go shopping a year early in order to get your shopping out of the way completely.

If you’re willing to invest your time, and keep an eager eye, you’ll be able to score amazing deals for both school supplies and clothing.

Tagged as: back to school, frugal tips, kids, money, saving money, school, Shopping

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HUGE Coloring Sheets Collection

by Home Living Magazine on April 9, 2010

HUGE Coloring Sheets Collection
Printables (Great for Christmas, Homeschooling, Etc!)

Printable Kid Activities… Printable Sheets, HUGE! Over 6,000 Pages! Makes a Wonderful Gift Too!

This fantastic collection has 6,800 printable coloring pages! Great for homeschool, church, just having fun, those rainy days, traveling, etc. Kids love to color and with this huge collection of pages, they won’t get bored or run out of pages. Print them off and use them again and again, child after child, year after year! A great investment and for only $9.97, it’s one fantastic frugal deal!

Upon purchase, you will be able to download the Coloring Sheets Collection immediately, so there’s no waiting. That’s 6,800 pages to print and color, plus they are nicely sorted to find what you want!

Click here to go to the page to order or the order button below…. http://www.parentsology.com/coloringsheets.html

Click here for a list of coloring pages catagories you can expect to find.

Great idea for Christmas, homeschool, teachers, rainy day activities, and just plain good fun!

Click the order button to get your Coloring Sheets Collection now. You will be able to download your Coloring Sheets Collection upon completion of payment.

Tagged as: coloring pages, coloring sheets, fun, homeschool, kids, parenting

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Having a Stylish Home, Even When You Have Small Children

by Home Living Magazine on November 5, 2009

It’s no secret, babies and little ones like to get their hands on everything. Sometimes it seems like decorating your home and keeping your little ones and your belonging safe, are in constant conflict.

There’s good news.

You can still keep your home stylish, while keeping your little ones from causing harm.

Start with These Ideas:

* Banish the ugly, plastic cabinet locks. There are locks that are hidden away and you simply push down the plastic to fully open your cabinet. You can even find magnetic locks that are hidden on the inside of your cabinet. You simply use a magnetic piece, stored high on your refrigerator to open the cabinet when needed.

* When you want to keep children out of certain rooms, invest in a stylish locking doorknobs know to keep the littlest ones out.

* To keep kids from pulling down shelves or playing with your favorite pieces, buy shelves that hang directly on your wall. Place the shelves where they cannot be touched by little hands. You can place decorative pieces, DVDs and even books out of their reach.

* If you want candles, but worry that your children will burn themselves, try sconces that hang on your wall.

* Purchase a stylish high-chair that matches your dining décor. There are many wood and other finishes to choose from.

* Add color to your bathroom with towels and other non-harmful decorative elements.

* If you’re worried about breaking dishes, Corel carries plenty of shatter-resistant sets in lovely patterns and styles.

* You can choose colorful tea towels, oven mitts and trivets for the kitchen.

* Add throw pillows to your couch to add some style. Choose durable materials because little ones can’t resist throwing the pillows around and playing with them.

* Wall decorating is fairly safe with kids around. Use mirrors, art pieces and picture frames to add style to your home that is well out of your little one’s reach.

* Minimize the toys in the living room. Just keep one small basket of toys in the living room and keep the rest in their play room or bedroom. Boxes and boxes of toys in the living room only encourage more toys scattered about the house and take away from the décor you’ve carefully selected.

Now there’s no more excuse for not having the décor you want. You can have style and a safe and fun home for your kids.

Tagged as: home, kids

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The Top 10 Halloween Party Ideas for Children of All Ages

by Home Living Magazine on October 24, 2009

Planning a Halloween party can be a very fun thing to do. Whether you will be hosting adults, children, or a mix of both, Halloween parties are fun and exciting to have and to attend.

To help plan your Halloween party, and have it be the event of the year, here are some ideas to get you started in your planning:

Halloween Party Idea #1 – The first thing you need to do is to decide on a budget for your party and if you will be having adults, children, or both in attendance. Once you have made these decisions then it is time to start planning your event.

Halloween Party Idea #2 – Food and drinks are always a big part of any Halloween party. Here you can be very creative with items such as “scabs” other wise known as dried cranberries. Items such as bleeding cupcakes or things which look like eyeballs are generally a hit. Or you can go with a more traditional fare of cookies and candy.

Halloween Party Idea #3 – For beverages for your party you can make a great slimy punch out of lemonade, sugar, meringue powder, and seltzer water. To this add some green food coloring and stir. The mix will be slimy and frothy.

Halloween Party Idea #4 – Always a fun idea at Halloween parties is the addition of dry ice to beverages. This will make them send off fog and is always a hit with both adults and children.

Halloween Party Idea #5 – Decoration for Halloween is fun. You can make tombstones in the yard with simple Styrofoam cutouts and even hang lights and ghosts in your trees. Inside your home you can decorate with spider webs and other spooky items which you can purchase at any local store during the Halloween season.

Halloween Party Idea #6 – For a Halloween party you want your home to be dimly lit but not too dark so that people are tripping over things. Also a fog machine or cauldrons with dry ice in them can give a great effect.

Halloween Party Idea #7 – Music is always nice for a Halloween party. However, rather than have it playing in the room your guests will be in, try setting your tunes in a near-by room so that people can still talk and enjoy themselves. If you have a adult party use scarier music than if you are hosting children.

Halloween Party Idea #8 – Playing games is always a hit at any party. A fun game for adults is charades using scary movies and themes. For children, bobbing for apples can be fun if the weather and space allow for it. Also, contests for the best costume always go over well. (Let your guests know this on your invitations.

Halloween Party Idea #9 – If you want to amaze your friends, you can write secret messages on your drinking glasses. To do this, take a mixture of dish soap and water and write messages with it, using your finger, on the outside of some drinking glasses. Once you are finished place them in the freezer to frost over. As your guests drink, and the glasses warm, your messages will come into view. This is always something people will be amazed at and talk about for a long time to come.

Halloween Party Idea #10 – One of the best things you can do while you are planning any party, especially one for Halloween, is to go online and search for creative ideas. You will find a wealth of creativity to help you make the most of your party experience.

Tagged as: halloween, Holidays, kids, Parties

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Halloween Trick or Treat Yummy Recipes

by Home Living Magazine on October 22, 2009

Halloween Trick or Treat Yummy Recipes

Halloween Recipes

Get our collection of yummy Halloween recipes, just in time for trick or treat. You get 30 easy
and yummy ghoulish recipes.

http://tinyurl.com/ydh5flo

1. Flying Broomstick Ghosts
2. Wacky Halloween Lollipops
3. Hay Bale Candy Drops
4. Green Monster Toes
5. Spooky Graveyard Squares
6. Halloween Oatmeal Cookie Triangles
7. Mystery Halloween Cookie Pops
8. Munchable Scarecrows
9. Squirmy Crawler Cupcakes
10. Totally Batty Cupcakes
11. Caramel Candy Apple Surprise
12. Creepy Black Cat Cake
13. Creepy Crawly Ice Cream Cups
14. Trick or Treat Ice Cream Cones
15. Halloween Banana Bites
16. Glitter Popcorn Snack
17. Strawberry Rice Mini Rounds
18. Oh So Gooey Nachos
19. Wicked Witch Popcorn Balls
20. Crispy Rice Pumpkin Pops
21. Fluffy Ghost Pops
22. Eerie Eyed Mint Cocoa
23. Ice Spider Punch
24. Wrapped Up Mummy Dip
25. Monster Face Burgers
26. Ghoulish Squirm Sandwiches
27. Pumpkin Joe Pie
28. Crispy Witch Fingers
29. Frankenstein’s Coffin Surprise
30. Bloodshot Red Ghoul Eyes

Click here to order your ebook now:
http://tinyurl.com/ydh5flo

This is an ebook in PDF format. Upon receipt of order, your ebook will be emailed to you via email as an attachment to your email.

Halloween Recipes

Tagged as: cooking, halloween, Holidays, kids, recipes

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Halloween Wreath Craft for Pre-School and Kindergarten Students

by Home Living Magazine on October 22, 2009

This is a fun project that you may want to break up across a couple of days, so be sure to start a few days before Halloween. Mom, you can join in the fun as well and make a Halloween wreath of your own too!

Material List

• Paper Plate (One per child/adult)
• Scissors
• Leaves
• Glue Sticks
• Orange Construction Papers
• White Construction Paper
• Black Construction Paper
• Washable Black Marker
• Black Yarn (optional)

Adult Preparation: (To Be Done Prior to Actual Wreath Making)

Cut the center from each paper plate prior to giving one to each child. These will be the base for the homemade wreaths.

Day 1: Grab the kids and head outdoors.

Gather as many fallen leaves of different shapes and colors as you can find. Once you’ve collected enough leaves to cover each paper plate, head back inside and glue them to the paper plates. You can glue the leaves to cover the entire plate, randomly around the plate or even as a border around only the edge, whichever you prefer. Once you’ve glued the leaves to the paper plate, leave the plates to dry for 24 hours or at least overnight.

Day 2: Creativity

Depending on how much time you have to complete this project you can have the children do the next step after the leaves have been glued on, while you’re waiting for them to dry or you can make another day of it.
Let the children draw Halloween images on the construction paper. Here are some ideas for each color of paper:

Orange – Pumpkins (Use the black marker to draw the face on their pumpkins)

White – Ghosts, Mummies, Bones

Black – Cats, Witch Hats (You can use the yarn to put a tail on the cat and hair on the witches head if you’d like to put that under the hat)

Once the children have picked out and drawn which decorations they’ll be using, carefully cut them out and paste them to the wreath.

Tip: Pre-placement (before gluing) will give the child an idea of what the wreath will look like once it is all glued together. When the children are happy with the way the decorations are placed, it’s time to glue them to the leaves.

Again, allow the decorations to dry completely.

Day 3: Decorating Time

Congratulations! You’ve made your very own homemade Halloween wreath. Enjoy your child’s creation by hanging it on the front door or his or her bedroom door for all your friends and family to see and admire.

Tagged as: Crafts, halloween, Holidays, kids

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How Do I Protect My Children’s College Fund?

by Home Living Magazine on January 12, 2009

In this time of uncertainty, many people are concerned about their children’s college fund. In researching the various alternatives available, here are some suggestions if this applies to you:

One online source advises your best course of action would be to contact the financial officer at the college to discuss what options are available for your son or daughter. If you have suffered a severe financial loss during this economic downturn, they may be able to offer you financial assistance by extending the loan payments up to one year.

Conversely, you may be able to apply for a loan through Sallie Mae. These loans require a co-signature and the interest rate is quite low. Since most banks are not lending at the moment, this may be appropriate for you to check on further. In fact, there are some universities which offer a loan repayable up to ten years. So it doesn’t hurt to call and or visit them personally.

Kiplinger.com offers information on obtaining a so-called 529 college-savings plan. There are current 49 states that offer the plan where you can find an adequate selection in a direct-sold plan. Its lower expenses mean that more of your money will go toward building your college fund.

In addition, Kiplinger offers advice on specific plans for your child’s college education. They are quoted as:

* If low investment costs are your primary concern, take a look at the Utah Educational Savings Plan Trust. The plan serves up a menu of nine Vanguard index-fund portfolios and charges only 0.38% per year for its most expensive option.

* The pre-fab portfolios offered by 529 plans are only as good as their underlying mutual funds. That’s why we like Maryland College Investment Plan, which uses a great mix of funds from T. Rowe Price. Maryland cut its annual fees this year, and the plan’s most expensive option costs just 0.99% annually.

* The Michigan Educational Savings Program, run by TIAA-CREF, is ideal for investors who shy away from putting their college savings into the stock market. The plan has a savings option that guarantees principal and a minimum annual interest rate based on a Treasury note index. That option doesn’t charge an annual fee. The plan also offers portfolios of TIAA-CREF mutual funds that are tilted more toward bond funds than most other 529 plans. Those options cost a very low flat fee of 0.45% annually.

* If you feel more comfortable using an adviser, ask about the Virginia CollegeAmerica plan. You’ll pay more in fees than if you bought a plan directly, but your adviser can craft a solid portfolio with 22 top-notch funds from American Funds.

Finally, you can check out this website for a state-by-state listing of the types of savings and loan programs, including 529s. You may wish to bookmark this site for later reading as it does offer many alternatives if your son or daughter chooses to select an out-of-state college.