by admin on August 19, 2010
I have met so many bloggers over the last couple of years who are not monetizing their blogs in any way. I know that many people feel like they are “selling out” if they make money off of their blogs. Do you consider site-wide sponsorship any different than using affiliate marketing links?
I’m genuinely curious as to the reasons that so many people are not monetizing their blogs. Weigh in on whether or not you are and if you are not, why not? Is it a matter of integrity, technology, time, or all of the above?
by admin on August 9, 2010
The beginning of the school year is upon us and for most parents, that means spending a lot of money. Here are some tips to save when it comes to back to school shopping.
Back to School Boxes: It might be too late already for you for this, but our PTO offers “Back to School Boxes” that have exactly what you need for your class prepackaged. At first it might seem like they are a little bit more expensive because you can’t shop around. However, I find two advantages to them. The first is that I can usually prepay in the Spring so I am not putting so much money out at one time. The other is that because I am not making a trip to the store to buy the items, I am not buying any “extras” that tend to come with each shopping trip. I’m getting the exact items that my child needs and nothing more. And there’s no danger of buying the wrong things and ending up having to exchange.
Combine Clothes Deals: Keep your eye out for the best “stackable” deals that you can find. If you are shopping online, this means using both a free shipping coupon along with a percentage or dollar off coupon AND some kind of early bird or back to school sale.
Use Gift Cards: I usually buy the bulk of my kids’ school clothes at Children’s Place. However, I found out that I could get Kohl’s gift cards as a cashout from my American Express credit card. We decided to skip a short family vacation that we were going to use the points for and instead cash out for gift cards. I ended up getting almost $400 in clothes for $37 in cash once I used various stackable sales and coupons plus my gift cards.
Look in Strange Places: I was surprised to find a back to school section at Sam’s Club the other day. We didn’t need supplies for class but we always need pencils for homework. I was able to get a box of mechanical pencils for $5, and it should last the entire school year (without us having to buy another pencil sharpener because the kids always manage to lose or break them).
Shop Around for Textbooks: When I was in college, I had two choices for textbooks and they were both on my campus. Once I got there, I might get lucky and get a used book. Now you can shop so many online textbook places (including renting instead of buying at some of them). Just be sure that you are getting the right edition because many of them change frequently.
These tips won’t solve all of your problems, but they should at least help. And we can all use all of the help we can get when it comes to saving money!
