This week’s swap hails from Dallas, Georgia where, incidentally, thanks to a great write up in BabyCheapSkate-Atlanta, many of our latest swappers are from!

This Georgian swapper has two boys outfits that are brand-new, never-worn and never-washed: 1 cute footed sleeper and 1 two-piece play outfit; both selling for only $12.00! Check them out here or at www.babyswap.net!

Picture this: You are gathered together with your family while they excitedly open their holiday gifts. The anticipation of this moment has been building for months. Gift after gift, the kids move from one present to another, in a wild frenzy of unwrapping abandon. In some cases, they barely glance at the gift before they move to the next. When all is said and done, you are left with a huge pile of torn gift wrap and toys your kids may only play with once or twice. But there is one thing about the gift giving whirlwind that will make a lasting impression – your credit card debt. That $500 or more you spent on all those things will follow you for months and possibly years to come. The toys will be long broken, lost, and stuck in storage, but you will still be paying for them, plus interest.

Sound like the picture perfect holiday? Definitely not. Unfortunately, for many people, this is exactly what happens every year in December. People get caught up in the joy of giving and end up spending well above their means. The result is that they continue to pay for those items long after they are discarded. If this is a familiar holiday scenario in your house, you will be thrilled to know that there are alternatives to the spend and suffer debt cycle.

If you sincerely want to enjoy a debt free, joy filled holiday, consider the following suggestions. Read the rest »

As the summer sun warms the thick August air, the real heat for parents of school age children is coming from back to school spending. With the price of everyday necessities burning a hole in your wallet, you will be relieved to know that there are many effective ways to cut the cost of those expensive school purchases. From sneakers to scissors, these 10 steps will help you stretch your school supply budget and still send your kids off to school in style. Read the rest »

A price book is simply a list of the items you use regularly and the best prices they sell for in the stores where you are willing to shop.  A price book is an excellent tool for tracking prices, sales and buying opportunities.  Prices in a price book should be listed by cost per unit so you can easily compare different size packages from different stores.  When you see a deal in the weekly flyer or in the store, you will know instantly if it is really a good deal and worth your time to go out and purchase.  Just because an item is on sale doesn’t automatically make it a good buy.  The regular price at some stores may be less than the sale price at others.  Your price book is an invaluable tool to help you determine if a sale is really a deal. Read the rest »

Want to Buy Much More for Less? Imagine filling your cart with your favorite groceries, but only paying a fraction of the total cost. By mastering the following eight steps, all shoppers who buy groceries can get the most out of their hard-earned money.

1. Learn the art of couponing. Smart shoppers know, without question, that using coupons wisely is the greatest money saving technique when it comes to buying groceries. If your stores double coupons, your savings will be even greater. Find multiples of the coupons for the products you use through coupon clipping sites like www.thecouponclippers.com . Buying more than one of an item when it is a great deal is the best way to stock up so you never pay full price. Organize your coupons so you can find them when you need them and you never miss a great unadvertised sale. Traditional accordion coupon organizers don’t allow you to see or find your coupons easily. By using the three-ring binder method, you can find your coupons quickly, store many more than an accordion organizer, and you are less likely to let coupons expire. See www.smartspendingresources.com for examples of binder organizers. Smart spenders pay for a good portion of their groceries using coupons and save more than 50% off their weekly budgets each and every week. Read the rest »

Imagine walking into the grocery store and filling up your cart with all of your usual shopping items: fresh produce, meats and seafood, pasta, milk, and the like. At the check-out line your subtotal pre-tax amount is $92. You hand over your coupons and what do you pay? $14. If you’re calculating, that’s 85% off the retail price and for smart spender and clever parent, Faye Prosser, it is also a regular grocery shopping experience. Read the rest »