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I’ve been talking with some Moms (and Dads) out there who are having a hard time managing their finances in these tough economic times. I know that we’ve personally cut back on some things due to our impending move to a larger home. I know that once we move, with a mortgage payment that is nearly double what we pay now, that some permanent changes are going to have to be made.

So I’ve decided that I’m going to have a regular feature here on AutomaticMoms that will highlight some of the tips and resources that I’ve come across that might help you manage your money more effectively, save money, or even make some extra money.

“AutomaticMom’s Money” is a new feature here, and I encourage you to sign up for our RSS feed so you can be alerted immediately of some of these time-sensitive resources and tips. Some of these alerts will be short-term resources that you might need to jump on to take advantage of. So please stop by regularly, or consult the feed for instant notification.

In the first ever, “AutomaticMom’s Money” I have a tip for those of you who plan to use your 2008 economic stimulus check (for those of us in the US) that should start arriving in mailboxes in about a month or so. If you are like me, you plan to try to parlay that check into more money either by making an investment or by paying down high-interest debt. If though, you were planning to do some home improvements, this little tip might help you stretch that check a bit further:

Sears stores will be offering a bonus to customers who convert their economic stimulus check into a Sears or Kmart gift card. The bonus will equal 10% of whatever your economic stimulus check is. So if you are like my family, we are receiving $1500 (two adults, one child) your bonus would be $150!

The gift cards will not have an expiration date, so you could conceivably live off that little bonus for quite some time. Kmart and Sears are the same company, so you could use it interchangably at both stores. You can also use the card at Lands End and the online site for LandsEnd.Com and Sears.Com.

Check out the story on CNN:

http://money.cnn.com/2008/04/15/news/companies/sears_stimulus.ap/index.htm

Here’s where it gets interesting…Kmart…not my favorite store, but they have baby supplies, diapers, food, housewares….use the card only when things are on sale or clearance and you’ll get even more bang for your buck. And don’t forget about coupons to make it stretch further.

And the economic stimulus check…that’s $300 for each child, so each child represents an additional $30 in bonus under this program.

I’m not sure that I will personally do this, since the check will be arriving around the time that we are hoping to move, but I can see how this would be a wonderful way to stretch that check further. If you were planning to just put it in the bank and use it a bit here and there, this might be a better deal for you because you are receiving 10% guaranteed return on the check rather than the ever-dwindling interest rates on deposit accounts. But I stress, this is a good deal for someone who planned to spend it anyway…if you need it for something else or if you don’t have any money set aside for emergencies, you would be better off creating a financial cushion instead.

The CNN article also mentioned that this may start a trend among retailers….maybe other stores will follow suit? In that case, wait until as long as you can before trading it in to make sure you are getting the best deal for you and your spending needs.

I have MANY, MANY more tips like this….grab the RSS feed now so you’ll hear about them first!

Technorati Tags: economic stimulus, Sears, economy, saving money, budget, budgeting, shopping, discounts, coupons

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