If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Be sure to leave your comments and suggestions! I read them all! Thanks for visiting!

  This is probably the best deal I have seen yet on the famous, “Entertainment” coupon books, so pay attention!

Right now, you can get a FREE 2009 Entertainment Coupon Book if you reserve a 2010 book! What a great deal!

I don’t know about you, but summertime is the time of the year I tend to use most of these coupons anyway, so there is plenty of time to get your money’s worth before the coupons expire in November! Besides the 2 for 1 dining coupons, there are coupons for national chain stores, online stores, car washes, gasoline, dry cleaning and more. Add in the great deals on movie tickets. amusement parks, museums, local kids’ attractions and more and well, let’s just say keeping the kids busy this summer won’t be as expensive as you would think!

Coupons and offers vary by region, so your book my vary, but I have purchased an Entertainment coupon book every year since I was about 21 years old and I have always made my money back and then some on the savings inside. Getting a 2009 book for free is a really fantastic deal (and I almost wish I had waited a bit to get mine!).

To claim your FREE 2009 Entertainment coupon book with a 2010 reservation, visit Entertainment Coupon Books now! This is a limited time offer and I’m not sure when it may expire!

Bookmark Using:

My friend Lynette Chandler gave me a piece of advice a few months back, and now I’d like to pass that advice on to you!

Lynette recently posted on her site, TechBasedMarketing.com, her tips for saving money on printing by using a laser printer instead of a traditional ink jet printer that most families and work at home parents have in their homes.

When she first mentioned it in the private forum for Mom Masterminds, I wasn’t sure what to make of it. In my experience, laser printers were expensive, the toner was expensive and they were best suited for multi-user, corporate environments. Could a laser printer really make sense for home use and for a very small home business?

But then she broke it down and showed that while the upfront cost for the toner cartridges and the printer itself might be a little higher, there are significant savings over ink jet costs as a result.

I checked out some laser printers online and was surprised that there were several highly-rated laser printers on the market for less than $200. Even that $200 threshold was a bit high for my budget, especially since I was used to the world of cheap inkjet printers. Even when I was able to find inexpensive ink jet ink online, I was still spending much more on ink than I would ever spend on a printer. It seemed worth a deeper look.

I stalled….and stalled….and in the meantime probably spent close to $200 in ink for my multi-function ink printer. Had I just made that decision earlier, I would have saved some money. But, finally about a month ago, I took the plunge and bought a wireless laser printer for my home and home office and I couldn’t be happier! I purchased a wireless printer so that I could plug it in anywhere in our home and print from any computer on our wireless home network! Guess where it’s plugged in? Behind the sofa in our family room! Why not put it where I tend to be most of the day, right?

Cost-wise, it breaks down like this: I purchased the Brother HL-2170W wireless laser printer at Staples for $109.99. Because I hoped that this would be a printer I would use a great deal and for a long time, I also purchased the 2-year service plan for $29.99 and the Brother TN360 toner cartridge for $67.99. Total cost: $222.01

The printer comes with a “starter” toner cartridge that I have been using for more than a month and it still has toner in it. I’ve printed over 500 pages already since getting the printer, and according to Brother, the starter cartridge will print an estimated 800 pages or so. A standard cartridge will print about 3000 pages. I opted for the TN360 “high-yield” toner cartridge so I could get a little more bang for my buck.

Considering that I was spending about $40 or more a month on ink for my multifunction inkjet printer, this is a tremendous savings! $40 a month equals about $480 a year in printing costs. Compared to my costs for the next 12 months (I doubt I will purchase anything else until next year at the rate I print normally) of $222.01 (and that includes the costs of the printer itself!) you can see how much money this saves.

Consider a laser printer for your home and home office! And thanks to Lynette for the great money-saving tip!

Resource Links:

Brother HL-2170W printer from Amazon.com: $109.99
Brother TN360 toner cartridge from Amazon.com: $46.99 (even better deal than I got!)
Wireless Laser Printers from Amazon.com

Bookmark Using:

Well, it looks like my husband and I have been on the leading edge of a new trend for once in our lives!

 I was reading Yahoo News recently and came across and article titled, “Prepaid Wireless Takes Off“, which reinforced what I have said for years: prepaid wireless phone plans are cheap.

Not really news there. I mean, most people know that a prepaid plan can be cheaper especially if you are not an avid cell phone user. I use my phone for just a few minutes a week, so it never made sense for me to have a regular cell phone plan. I managed to convert my husband and now we both are enjoying nice phones, cheap service and no monthly bill. Apparently, other people are following suit in higher numbers as the economy suffers. Going prepaid is going mainstream.

The common complaints people seem to have had about prepaid wireless plans really don’t apply to this new generations of plans. The first complaint that I had to deal with from my husband was that he didn’t want to run out of minutes right when he needed them the most. We are using Tracfone, and they have two features which make it nearly impossible to run out of minutes. The first is the “rollover” feature. When we purchase blocks of minutes, they come with 90 days of service (when you buy 60 minutes at a time). At the end of that 90-day service term, the minutes don’t expire. Instead, they accumulate in the account and roll-over. Sure, every 90 days we need to make a purchase of at least 60 minutes, but at only $19.99 for 60 minutes, that averages out to only about $6.66 per month and we can bank those extra minutes and use them at times of higher usage (like when we were in Los Angeles this past December). The second feature is an automatic refill feature that fills your account with a predetermined number of minutes each month via a direct debit to your checking account or credit card. Easy!

The second most common complaint seems to be that the phones the prepaid companies offer are outdated. While this may have been true even just a few years ago, that really isn’t the case now. I personally have a really nice silver Motorola flip-style phone that I love. I’ve had it for about a year and my husband has an LG phone with a pretty decent camera. Are these “top of the line” phones? Probably not, but they look nice and work well which is what is most important to us. Incidentally, there were several other phone choices when we purchased our phones, but we got such a good deal that we bought without hesitation.

Some people also cringe at the thought that they have to remember to buy an airtime card at the gas station or they will run out of minutes. Not only can you buy individual bundles of minutes online anytime you want, but with Tracfone in particular, you can also buy airtime right from your phone or enroll in a monthly plan that adds minutes automatically every month or just when your balance is getting low. So simple!

Is it an iPhone? No, but to be honest, I’d just be addicted to the thing the way I am my laptop! But if you need a phone and you need to save money, I highly reccommend checking out prepaid cell phone plans. We’ve saved hundreds of dollars a year and haven’t missed our old traditional cell phone plan one bit. Plus, I love anything that makes life easier and cheaper!

Bookmark Using:

Ok, any guesses on how long it will take for the home version of the Pizza Vending Machine to make it to stores?

In my constant search for ways to make things easier, automated and cheap….I present to you:

“Let’s Pizza”….a vending machine that makes a FRESH, hot pizza in under five minutes for about five bucks!

Pizza making vending machine serves fresh pies in three minutes
Claudio Torghele, inventor of the “Let’s Pizza” vending machine, wants his automated chef to be all three. It can churn out one of four different pies in only three minutes, but it’s not just warming up frozen pizza. It’ll prepare fresh dough, shape it, sauce it, top it and cook it, sliding a full pie out of a slot — all for just shy of $5.

Read the full story here….

Technorati Tags: let’s pizza, pizza vending machine, automatic pizza vending machine, vending machines

Bookmark Using:

This is a really cute idea and a fun business idea to boot!

Karin Magar is holding a teleseminar on April 22, 2009 at 3pm (PST) on a growing home business called, “Lawn Greetings“. See the picture? Can you imagine surprising a friend or family member with a greeting like that when they come home from work or a vacation?   Imagine a yard full of colorful animals and a fun sign that says, “Happy Birthday” or “Congratulations”! How fun!

Karin wants to introduce the public to this really fun and unique business through her teleseminar and through a FREE report titled, “Lawn Greetings 101” which talks about the business model and how to implement it in your area.

The teleseminar, hosted by Karin and co-hosted by Kelly McCausey of Work at Home Moms Talk Radio will give anyone interested in how this business works a wonderful overview of the business and give you a chance to ask your questions on how to start one in your area!

The teleseminar is cheap too….just $1! So grab your free report and/or sign up for the teleseminar by clicking here to visit Lawn Greetings. This looks really interesting and fun!

Bookmark Using:

You know that I like anything that saves me time and money, so it’s only natural that I would love, love, love Melissa Ingold’s Special Report Club!

Melissa’s club provides members with a PLR (private label rights) special report each month that can be edited, customized, broken down, sold, and basically tweaked into a full-fledged business complete with promotional tools and cover graphics! It’s the fastest way I’ve seen to get from “concept” to “business” in just  a few hours!

Monthly Membership Includes:

• A 30-page report on an Internet marketing topic
• A 9-10 page “giveaway” report designed to be a teaser for the longer report
• A pre-made and prewritten sales page for the 30-page report
• A prewritten and designed squeeze page to build a subscriber list from the giveaway report
• 5 customizable autoresponder emails messages for follow up and promotion
• A ready-to-use solo email promotion designed to sell the 30-page report
• 1 ecover for the 30-page report and another ecover for the 9-10 page freebie report. Membership includes .psd versions, so they can be edited
• 5 blog posts about that particular month’s topic
• 5 pre-written articles to inform your readers and promote your report
• A list of related affiliate programs to add an additional stream of income

Amazingly, membership in the Special Report Club is just $27 a month! Each month a new product, site and promo tools are created ready for you to customize and take to market!

I joined the Special Report Club recently and have to say that I was beyond impressed! The quality of the report, the graphics and promotional tools is beyond what I realistically expected. Many times when purchasing PLR, I’ve been disappointed in the quality, but Melissa overdelivers in a way I have to admit I don’t see too often in this market. I highly recommend giving the Special Report Club a whirl!

Click here to check out Melissa Ingold’s, Special Report Club and see how amazingly complete this package is!

Bookmark Using:

Imagine my surprise when my news reader featured yet another junk study that took eight years (and goodness knows how much money) to come to the determination that,

“Secret to marital bliss: Don’t have kids”

Sigh….ok, let’s examine this more closely. The “study” concluded after eight years of study (I could have told them this in eight MINUTES) that after the birth of a couple’s first child, satisfaction with the marriage declines.

Duh.

News flash, researchers….satisfaction with most EVERYTHING declines after the birth of a first child. How many moms, in particular, are dissatisfied with their amount of sleep? How about the toll birth took on their bodies? How about being dissatisfied with the amount of money earned as compared to the amount which needs to be spent on baby supplies? And let’s not forget the dissatisfaction with having to change one’s lifestyle with regard to taking a shower in peace, going to the grocery store in peace, or basically doing ANYTHING in peace.

So yes, researchers…having a baby causes dissatisfaction in several areas of one’s life but the takeaway from this discussion in my opinion,  and these so-called studies is that the reason there is a level of dissatisfaction can be summed up in six simple words:

“It’s Not All About You Anymore”

If more parents would realize that their temporary level of satisfaction is just that…temporary….and that their lives will become richer with each passing day of having children, they would be able to shrug off these feelings of dissatisfaction (not entirely, I’m no Pollyanna) and enjoy the wonderful gift that kids really are. Instead, researchers feel the need to “study” these things as though a study is going to change anyone’s perception of having children or provide any alternative solutions.

Having children changes your life. No kidding. But to suggest that new parents will experience a freefall of happiness in their lives just from having a baby….please. Instead, I would suggest that our generation realize that having children is supposed to be a somewhat more selfless act than some of us are treating it.  Buck up. Grow up. Stop whining.

Now, go play with your kids.

Bookmark Using:

Well, it’s finally come to this….I find myself in this position two to three times a year and today is the day.

Sounds ominous doesn’t it? No worries…nothing major. It’s just that today I have decided to do my major email inbox purge. I force myself to do this a few times a year, just to tame the influx of email that I receive on a daily basis.

Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE email. I find so many interesting and exciting things in my email everyday. I know some of my business-owner friends like to outsource their email to a virtual assistant, but I love having that immediate contact to the “World” and enjoy sifting through them to find those nuggets.

However, sometimes the volume of email can get a bit overwhelming. I’m running Spam Assassin on my server which does a fairly good job of weeding out the junk, but unfortunately it also has a habit of catching some of the gems by accident. I’m working on that.

But today is the day that I give all of you email publishers who have me on your lists, three chances. I’m sorting by name and randomnly selecting three emails to read from people who send regular informational/newsletter/update emails and I’m deciding based on those three emails, whether to kick you off the island. So beware!

Actually, it’s not as harsh as it sounds. I just find myself subscribed to way too many things every few months and start purging lists I don’t really need to be on. The upside to this is that by forcing myself to dive in and read some accumulated emails, I usually find some really cool and interesting things. It’s like a treasure hunt in a way.

So I’m jumping into my email inbox today….send a search party if you don’t see me in a day or so!

Bookmark Using:

We did it. We bought a standalone freezer. And yes, I”m psyched!

We got an AMAZING deal from our local grocery store, of all places, that really made the purchase worthwhile. The cost of the freezer was $159.99 but the freezer also came with coupons (and a gift card) that totalled $160 in value, so we essentially made our money back in free food and other goodies.

As if that wasn’t cool enough, our store also had a promotion where you could buy a $300 gift card and get a $30 bonus added to the card, which was essentially an instant 10% return on investment. Then, we used the gift card to buy the freezer and now we have plenty left on the card to shop for a few weeks.

We had gone back and forth about the expense of the freezer for months. We were also concerned that we wouldn’t have anywhere in our house to put it! Funny how you can make room when you have a looming deal deadline though.

That was two weeks ago, and we just plugged it in and started using it yesterday. It’s awesome! The cost to run the freezer (based on the Energy Guide statement that came with the freezer and the cost per KWH from our most recent electricity bill) will be about 50 cents per week!

So, I went out shopping yesterday and was finally able to take advantage of some fantastic deals since I knew I had a freezer to finally store things. When cheese is on sale for $1 for 8oz and you have a toddler, you RUN, not walk to the local store to stock up! What a great feeling to know that this freezer is more than paying for itself every day.

Spend a little to save a lot! This purchase was worth every penny!

Bookmark Using:

 If you’ve been waiting to purchase your 2009 Entertainment coupon book, now would be a fantastic time to do so!

All books are now just $15 (regularly $35-$50) and can be sent to you with free shipping!

I don’t know about you, but I love the Entertainment book for all of the “buy one get one free” coupons for restaurants, coupons for family attractions and deals on fine dining. I usually wait to purchase mine until the Spring because, quite frankly, we don’t go many places in the winter in the Midwest!

Get yours just in time for all of the fun that spring and summer are sure to bring! At just $15, using just a couple of the coupons can pay for the book easily!

Get your 2009 Entertainment Coupon Book for just $15 with free shipping!

Bookmark Using: