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Archives for April 2012

Arby’s: Free Curly Fries on Tax Day – April 17, 2012

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Photograph Credit: Arby's

On Tuesday, April 17, 2012 from 11:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., participating Arby’s will honor coupons for free value-size curly fries.

To print your coupon, click on Arby’s Facebook link, enter your name, and print your coupon.

The coupon will only be honored at participating locations on Tax Day, April 17, 2012. In addition to the coupon, you can enter Arby’s sweepstakes for a chance to win a $5,000 Tax Relief.

For more Tax Day freebies, visit Sheri Miller’s Swaggrabber.com for her comprehensive list including yogurt, cinnabon bites, and more.

To find other family activities, visit Using Time Wisely’s Facebook event page. Enjoy your weekend!

Stevi B’s: 4th Annual Free Pizza Day on April 29, 2012

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Photograph Credit: Stevi B's

On April 29, 2012, participating Stevi B’s locations will honor coupons printed from their Facebook page for 1 free loaded baked potato pizza on new whole wheat crust. To get this free pizza, you need to:

1. Visit Stevi B’s Facebook page

2. Become a Facebook fan

3. Choose your location

4. Insert your e-mail address

5. Click submit

6. Print your coupon

7. Take your coupon to a participating Stevi B’s location on Sunday, April 29, 2012 and redeem your coupon.

This offer is for pickup only. As usual, I recommended calling your Stevi B’s before heading out to verify their participation.

NOTE: This is only my suggestion because our family has arrived at (ahem) more than one establishment only to discover they were not participating.

If you want this deal, then print your coupon before the print limit is reached.

For more family activities, visit Using Time Wisely’s Facebook events page for dates, times, and event details. Enjoy!

Try, Try, Try, and then Cut your Losses

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Photograph Credit: Flickr (Kizzzbeth)

Do you have a grocery store that when you pass by your blood boils?  I do.

When Paul and I lived in Pennsylvania, I would get so worked up just driving past one of the grocery stores.

This store was easy for me to get to and had good prices. But after try, try, and try again, I cut my losses and drove across the street to another grocery store where I gathered my savings.

Try

The first weekend we moved into our apartment, I headed out to go grocery shopping. Finding this store, I stopped. After getting the items on my list, I proceeded to check out and wrote a check for the groceries.

When I handed the cashier my check, he handed it back saying he could not accept an out-of-state check. I explained that we just moved to town, and I did not have a local bank. With the store policy set, I had to pay by credit card. Though I am not opposed to credit, I had the money set aside for our move, and I really wanted to write the check.

Try

On my next visit, I made sure I brought my checks from the local bank. With apprehension, I proceeded to checkout after getting the items needed. At the time of payment, I wrote a check from our local bank. Once again, the cashier handed the check back refusing a starter check for payment.

By now I was getting irritated. I asked to speak to a manager. After I explained the situation, the manager suggested applying for a check writing card which would end the writing a check issue. So, once again I paid with credit. Then I filled out the card to get check writing privileges.

Try

During my third (and last) visit to this store, I ran in for a few items, and went to checkout. When I pulled out my checkbook, my heart began to race. After writing the check, I handed it to the cashier. Seeing that it was a local check, she asked if I had a check writing card on file. I indicated that I filled out the form on my previous visit. She called for verification before returning the check because the application had not been processed.

By this time, I was just tired of this store. Instead of paying with credit, I left my purchases. Yep! Right there in the checkout station, I walked out and never returned.

I got in my car, drove across the street to Giant (which was an affiliate of Bi-Lo) and became a loyal customer. They took my out-of-state check with no forms, questions, or comments. What a breath of fresh air!

Cut my Losses

After giving that store chance, after chance, after chance, I cut my losses. Companies that make shopping at their store difficult turn me off. As you can tell, this experience changed me. I feel like it just happened though the visits occurred over 14 years ago. Yeah! This experience frustrated me so much, I have yet to step inside that store (or any of its affiliates) since walking out and leaving my groceries behind at checkout.

In using time wisely, find a grocery store that fits your needs and become a loyal shopper. Knowing the staff, store policies, and store layout increases my productivity and shopping experience.

If you find a store that does not work with you, try, try, try, and then cut your losses. There are other grocery stores that would love your business, and welcome you as a loyal customer. Now to go calm back down . . . happy savings!

Question: Have you had a similar experience?

Goals for April 2012: The Bare-Bones Budget

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Photograph Credit: Flickr (Angie Torres)

The first quarter of 2012 is behind us. Whew . . . that went fast! Though I am not where I want to be, I am not where I started. Though I have setbacks, these goals focus my attention on my priorities.

I have based my goals on Crystal Paine’s book The Money Saving Mom’s Budget, where Crystal breaks down the steps to reach your financial goals.

By documenting my financial and other goals, I seek to change and improve. Though I do not meet every goal, I am plugging along. Progress, no matter how small, is still moving closer to my goals.

Physical

Drink 2 glasses of water per day.  Much better, but I’m keeping this goal for one more month before adding another glass.

Eat breakfast each morning. Good, but I still need more work.

Exercise for 20 minutes at least 3 times a week. Keeping this goal though I have not succeeded yet. 🙁

Family

Plan at least one family outing/activity each week. Accomplished! I love this goal! Our family enjoyed lunch during a field trip, hosted a dinner party, surprised Daddy at work with strawberry lemonades, planted our garden, and shopped together. Keeping our family relationships close remains a top priority.

Spend 10 minutes with each child each day. Need a little more work on this one. I get into project-mode, because I am task-oriented, and spend lots of time with them one day. Then I get busy and forget that one-on-one time. My girls naturally get more Mommy-time, but I get that special time with my son during homework. However, he needs more time than just work time.

Allow children to help with a household task each week. Our home has stayed relatively picked up this month. My helpers are hard at work, and I really appreciate their efforts to keep our home tidy. Allowing them to work beside me and teaching them is already paying off. Keeping this goal – for sure!

Financial

Follow Crystal’s year-long plan to reach my goals. On track. I have documented our household, grocery, and restaurant receipts for the year in this spreadsheet. Because I have added the household items, including diapers, to our food budget, I am averaging $85 per week for our family of 5.

I have not raised the budget amount from $80 to $85 yet. Simply put, we had extra expenses in January and February, and March was on budget. For April, I plan to check our bare-bones budget that we have in place and adjust our system to Crystal’s recommendation.

Purchase dressers for my daughters’ room. This goal is ongoing. No progress made on this goal for March.

Purchase upgraded computers for hubby and me. This goal is also ongoing. Instead of purchasing new, Paul found a laptop for parts that is the same make and model as mine. Per the tracking information, the laptop should arrive tomorrow. This cost was $30 (the exact amount we had saved). I’ll keep you posted on the results.

Business

Write posts one week in advance. Making progress! I am still writing hours before publishing the post, but I have a plan. Having decided and recorded on my blogging calendar, I know in advance the topics for my posts throughout April. Though I have not made progress in writing the posts early, my blogging time has increased in productivity because I don’t have to brainstorm for a topic each day. This one change has made a huge difference in using time wisely.

Make one improvement to the blog this month. For March, I hosted my first guest post. Yeah! Though I did not see a spike in activity, I enjoyed Jim Wang’s article. I also created images for guest post, register review, and my garden. Now to get my Facebook page updated. 🙂

Read two chapters of a book each month. Accomplished! I read more than two chapters because the e-book I read did not have chapters, just sections, and I listened to Crystal’s The Money Saving Mom’s Budget audio book. 🙂

My goals are working for me. With some easy and others challenging, the goals keep me focused. By plugging along slowly and steadily, I am making progress. If you are struggling with your goals, then adjust. Small steps are still steps in the right direction. Keep going!

Question: How are your goals coming along? 

Blue’s Clues Birthday Party – Part 1 of 3

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Nailing down a theme for an event early helps to guide the rest of the planning. With a theme of character, color, or holiday, you can coordinate food, decorations, and favors. Sometimes getting to the theme is a journey.

Choosing a Theme

Prior to my daughter turning two, Paul and I wavered back and forth on the theme of her party. Having had a pink princess first birthday party, she missed the Blue’s Clues theme that our other two children had for their first birthday. Also, my toddler loves Blue and dressed as her for Halloween.

The other option was the custom party I created for my oldest daughter’s second birthday party centered on the book, Good Night, Gorilla. Both of our girls love this book as there are repetitive themes throughout the pages – colors, moon, balloon, animals, banana, etc.

Knowing that our toddler would probably outgrow both themes by next year, we paid attention to her playtime activities. During the weeks before her birthday, the reading of Good Night, Gorilla faded, but Blue remained in the coveted corner of her crib. Though I wanted to repeat the Good Night, Gorilla birthday party, this was not my party. My daughter loved and cared for Blue, so a Blue’s Clues birthday party we did.

Though the planning, shopping, and executing falls on my shoulders, I chose to consider my guest of honor’s wishes above my own. Though I already knew the answer, I still asked my toddler to choose her theme. By doing so and allowing her to help with the decorations, tableware, and games, I demonstrated my love and my willingness to create a fun party for her.

With the theme chosen and most of the decorations gathered from my older two children’s Blue’s Clues birthday parties, I had a game plan. Next week in Part 2, I will share our Blue’s Clues birthday party itinerary. To be continued . . .

Question: Did you choose themes for your child’s first or second birthday party?