Friday, March 13, 2009

Save on medications

Here is something that was on Good Things Utah about saving money on medications. And for those of you that know me, you will be shocked that Amanda found it before me. Here is the link to the clip.

http://www.abc4.com/content/about_4/gtu/featured_on/story/Money-Savers-Over-the-Counter-Medications/vQyXqdDYMUy8cIZq_ViZIw.cspx

Click on the video clip on the right side to see.

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Garage/Yard Sales

A Few Yard Saleing Tips- by Rose Torres

1. Nicer neighborhoods = nicer stuff (and often better prices).
2. NEGOTIATE THE PRICE. If they won’t accept what you are willing to pay walk away, you’ll find it somewhere else.
3. Check the newspaper on Friday and Saturday morning for ads. Map out which ones you want to hit first.
4. Start early. By 10:00 most of the good stuff is gone, by noon it is definitely gone.
5. Don’t arrive before it starts- sellers appoint a start time for a reason.
6.Shop group sales, Daybreak does a community sale about May that is fabulous (check the listings).
7. Avoid going on holiday weekends. Most people don’t do yard sales when they could be out playing.
8. If it is a large item in size or price and will need to be picked up/paid for later in the day, make a down payment. The seller will know you are serious and won’t sell it while you run to the ATM or find a truck.
9. Bring Cash. Only some sellers will accept checks.
10. A good rule of thumb: if it is new, pay half what they did. If it is used, pay less than half. As long as you think it is a deal, it’s a deal.
11. Most importantly: Don’t buy stuff you don’t need just because it’s cheap. That defeats the point of buying things used (to spend less!).

Comments from Kristin: I completely agree with these tips. I love to yard sale. The newspaper and online sites are were I look for listings. KSL.com (classifieds) and craigslist.com (Salt Lake) are free postings, so you might find extra listings there that the newspaper might not have.
~Another hint my sister thinks about when she is planning is, if there is a sale that starts on a Friday and she isn't shopping until Saturday morning, she would consider that a low priority, since the good stuff might be gone.
~Also, know what you are looking for, so you can check the listing for those specific things, and those might be your priority sales to get there when it starts. Decide which are priority sales and plan or map it out in order of when they start and where they are located by how much stuff they have that you are interested in. Then number them so you are not deciding on the road, and maybe mapquest it so you know what roads to take to get there the night before.
~ The most important tip that Rose mentioned was START EARLY. The early bird gets the worm, not the one who is sleeping in or taking care of the kids because she didn't delegate that to the husband.
~Oh, one that I found very helpful is, pray about your shopping trip, maybe days ahead of time and that morning. I have been surprised how much more we found on the trips we prayed about ahead of time. The Lord has blessed us for wanting to use money wisely.

Happy Yard Saleing!!!

Monday, March 2, 2009

D.I. Exchange

On Wed. March 25th we are having a D.I. Exchange at the church. Bring your things that you are clearing out from spring cleaning and let others take them home for more use.

Here is the schedule:
6:45 drop off/set up
7:00 exchange
7:15 a short class
7:45 clean up*

The short class will be on treats and entertainment for kids, whether you are a mother or a grandmother, it will be good to share. I realize this is mutual night for the youth, so if you need to bring your kids to the exchange, please don't let the lack of a babysitter stop you from coming. Just please, keep them near you, as there will be many things for kids to get into.

*Special note: all of the items that you brought to the exchange, that do not get taken, will be your responsibility to clean up and anything the D.I. excepts may be dropped off at my house for a D.I. pick up. That way you don't have to go home with all your unwanted items.

Call me if you have any questions.
Kristin
250-7569