Gas prices are up. Food prices are up. Medicine prices are up. Unemployment is up. And needs haven’t gone away! This economy is a difficult one for anyone, but it’s especially demanding for caregivers. Many times they are not just giving time, they are helping with expenses. So what would be a whammy for a normal family is a double or triple whammy for caregivers! Is there anything that can be done?
Fortunately for us, there are many people out there working on just that situation – in bad times AND good. I thought it might be helpful to tell you about two of my favorites.
I have been a long time subscriber to The Dollar Stretcher. This free site is found at www.stretcher.com . You’ll be seeing their tips on this blog every few days in the near future. Gary Foreman started this years ago and they have a wonderfully huge site with articles and money-saving tips on every subject imaginable. You can read the articles at the site itself, or do as I have done and sign up to have their free newsletter(s) sent directly to your email. Just to give you an idea of what they write about, here are a few of the titles from this week’s newsletter:
MagicJack – How good can a free phone service be?
Game Room On a Dime – Create a place to mold memories and relationships within your family
My Story – 12 tips for surviving emergencies
Ancient Financial Wisdom – 5 strategies from King Solomon
Cooking for Less! – Using inexpensive ingredients
Storing Veggies for Freshness – Reduce the waste of spoiled produce
He offers 13 different newsletters (all free), that include the titles, “Bright Kids,” “The Computer Lady,” “Healthy Foods,” “Simple Times,” and more. You’ll find the signup page for these at http://www.stretcher.com/subscribe/subscribeDS.cfm .
Another of my favorite sites is called RefundCents.com. It’s appropriately named as it originally started as a refunding magazine, and it definitely makes cents AND sense AND even dollars! It’s expanded from its original premise to become both a print magazine and an online subscription with all sorts of wonderful information that can not only save you money but even make you some money.
It’s not a free site (though they do offer a free newsletter that gives you a flavor of what they offer), but I have been subscribing for years and always save enough to more than pay for my subscription!
Michelle Easter is the wonderful woman who runs this site and she has it set up in a very organized fashion. The two most valuable parts to me include “Centsible Chat” which is a forum that allows subscribers to write in continually throughout the day with any and all great deals they find and “Michelle’s Updates” which is where Michelle puts the cream of the crop from the Centsible Chat forum along with any great deals she’s come up with. This can range from double coupons at a store to fantastic sales at Target and Walmart to unbelievable discounts at a department store to freebies being offered…. When I am short on time, that’s the first place I head. Sometimes it’s the only place I get to, but it is well worth the trip!
And that’s not all! There is a regular column listing all the coupons out for each week. Another column tallies up all the sales and rebates at Rite Aid, CVS, and Walgreen, links them up with any coupons, and gives you a nice neat list of what the best deals are at each store.
She has information on Cheapo Weddings, Diaper Diva Deals, and also still covers everything you ever wanted to know about grocery couponing, refunds and rebates!
The print magazine subscription is $8 for 3 months which includes online access, or $25 for 1 year, also with online access OR you can subscribe to just the online option (which is what I have) for $12 per year. If you are interested in signing up, just click on http://refundcents.com/subscriptions.htm?RefID=FMNC .
Yes, prices are going up! But with the help of The Dollar Stretcher and Refund Cents, we can at least start putting the brakes on!
