How to Get What You Want For the Price You Want...

It just seems that life gets harder. Prices keep going up, and the amount of money coming in seems to be going down. Here are a few tips for helping that dollar stretch alittle further.

Instructions

Difficulty: Challenging

1. CLOTHES:
   Find consignment shops you can sell used childrens clothes too. Often most places will give you cash on demand, or credit. If you have name brand teen or adult clothing, try buying and selling at consignment places like Plato's closet. Scour ads. Don't buy until it's on sale, and make sure you have a list of the things that you and your children NEED. Go through the ads, and make sure you buy a sale item that is on the list. Try buying at end of season sales. At KMart, I purchased a brand new children's winter coat for $3. Organize a neighborhood clothing swap. Bring old children's clothes from the neighborhood and swap with each other. Also try places like freecycle.org. Freecycle is a free Yahoo group where you can give away and nab free items others are giving away. A lot of postings are clothes.
2. HOUSEHOLD ITEMS: Yard sales and garage sales are great for finding great deals on anything from children’s furniture to children’s clothing. Don’t buy from yard sales carseats, strollers, toys, or clothing with strings. Items like carseats, strollers, and toys should be looked at and inspected carefully to make sure they haven’t been recalled. Also try groups like freecycle.org. Many people post items they want to give away like desks, dressers, and bed frames. The best part? Everything on freecycle is FREE!
3. MOVIES:
   Avoid rental stores hefty rental fees and late charges! Children’s DVD’s and Videos can be rented at the library for less than at a regular movie rental store. Often, you pay only fifty cents to one dollar for movie rentals, and you keep them for up to a week! Some stores like Blockbuster offer unlimited movie rental for as little as $15 dollars a month. No late fees to worry about and often you can keep the movie for extended periods of time. Other movie rental stores like Hollywood offer family plans for any family or childrens movie you rent. When buying movies, save yourself some money and check out video rental stores. Often they sell pre-viewed DVD and Videos for inexpensive. Also check out websites of popular childrens videos. At sites like Baby Einstein, they’ll send a coupon for $3 off any Baby Einstein product. When going out to a movie, check for discount movie passes, or wait for $1 movie days. Many movie theaters will offer $1 movie days during the summer. Also check out second run theatres. Also, make sure to pack the snacks in a purse or diaper bag to avoid movie theatre hefty concession prices.
4. PLAYTIME ACTIVITIES: There is nothing like a boring rainy or snowy day to make children drive you and them crazy! Check out the local mall play areas. More and more malls compete for your and your childrens time by adding play areas for them. One local mall has a treehouse with a slide and tree log children can climb in. Other stores like Barnes and Noble offer ‘story tree’ areas where your children and you can curl up and read a book. Children’s museums are great places to play during the long winter months as well. Don’t forget to check out the local library for laptime for toddlers, and story hour for older children. Often the library has areas where parents can check out props for your own ‘storytime at home.’ If all else fails, a fun snowstorm or rainstorm can be fun for children to play in. Give your children a chance to splash or give them an umbrella and watch what fun they have. Look for coupons in local mailers. Often companies will have buy one get one free on amusement passports, or 50% off on one passport. Checking the company websites can help at times too to find deals. Calling the particular destination your wanting to go too can help too. One company directed a person to bring in a can of food, and $5 was given off. Also look for ‘bounceback’ specials. By buying an all day passport, you can come back a second time during a certain period of time for free or for significantly reduced cost. Use the FastPass system at places like Disneyland . For discounts on season passes, check at your place of employment. This year employees at one company we’re offered season passports for $30 per family—the usual cost of passports at this facility was over $90!
5. FOOD: Weve all heard this, but it does hold true, whenever you go out, try to pack snacks and food. Especially at high cost places like amusement parks, swimming pools, etc. If you can’t, or don’t want to store cold foods all day, look for coupons. Many mailers offer buy one get one free or free kids meal with the purchase of an entree coupons. Don't buy the combo meal with fries and a drink. Instead, get the sandwich and ask for a water glass. When baby is young and on formula and your out and about for the day, try to pack a couple of bottles. Before leaving in the morning, fill up several bottles with water. Bring powdered formula and make up a bottle when baby is ready. This will save a ton of money on the expensive pre made formula. Instead of buying treats at the movie theater, buy treats beforehand. Since they don’t check purses (yet) you can pack your treats in a diaper bag or a purse.
6. HAIRCUTS: A great alternative is to go to a beauty school to have services performed. Haircuts are often up to ½ off what they normally would be. Also, look for coupons to new or established salons. Often you can find 10-20% off coupons in phonebooks, flyers, etc. Try to find a salon that will give ½ off or free haircuts when performing major services like highlights, perms, etc.
7. DATE NIGHT: Look for coupons! 2 for 1 dinners, activities, or movie coupons can be found in flyers, newspapers, or other mailings. Look at websites to find special internet only specials. At one amusement park, the local radio station ran an internet special advertising 2 for 1 park admission after 5pm for couples on dates. If your willing to go out on a weeknight date, a lot of 2 for 1 specials are run Mon-Thurs nights. Massages are great date ideas. Check out the local massage schools for special Friday or Saturday night 2 for 1 specials.