I posted previously about my discovery about a year ago that I could save a lot of money if I stayed a few blocks off of N. Michigan Avenue vs. right on the Miracle Mile. So here I am at my fav hotel called The Ambassador East, and it's a holiday and my room is $119/night. There is a faux fireplace in here (pretty!) and a huge bathroom - I'm loving it!
Update: I wrote the above paragraph last night. After I wrote, the wheels were turning and I came up with a new idea: we got all of our downtown site seeing wrapped up yesterday so we packed up and headed about 30 miles west of the city to the suburb of Hoffman Estates. Really, it doesn't matter what suburb we landed in. The point of the exercise was to find a hotel that offered a 2 room suite, pool, hot tub, free breakfast and free internet. A few clicks and I found a Hampton Inn and Suites for $79. We have saved 50% on the original plan for today (no charge for parking, no charge for a pool pass at the athletic club, no charge for internet and no charge for breakfast tomorrow) - off to the pool!
Thursday, November 27, 2008
I'm Baaaaaaack!
It's time to resurrect the Money Saving Mama. I was grocery shopping at Target the other day and used $8.25 in coupons - nice! If I would have been better organized (ha!) I could have shopped at the grocery store in town that will double up to five coupons on Wednesdays - that would have brought my savings up over $13 bucks - that's no joke!
So The Money Saving Mama is back on the scene...get ready to save!
So The Money Saving Mama is back on the scene...get ready to save!
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Shipping Costs
I'm the first to say that I think the costs to ship anything is downright mind boggling, in terms of how cheap it is! That we in America can mail most any standard card or letter to anywhere in the country for 41 cents and it takes 1-4 days is absolutely amazing.
What irked me very recently was a promo I got from an internet based company that designs marketing materials and offers tons and tons of their products for free. Once in a blue moon I feel like wasting time and I create and pretend to order everything I can get for free. Yesterday I racked up $50 worth of freebies...mailing labels, note pads, checks, business cards... Then I checked the shipping...$17 and it would arrive mid to late February. My point: these items are not free. Actual shipping will run about 5 bucks, so the other $12 is really what I'm paying for my stuff. 75% off is not too shabby, but it's not free, as advertised.
Always be on the lookout when taking advantage of deals...there is often something that will even everything out...for the merchant!
What irked me very recently was a promo I got from an internet based company that designs marketing materials and offers tons and tons of their products for free. Once in a blue moon I feel like wasting time and I create and pretend to order everything I can get for free. Yesterday I racked up $50 worth of freebies...mailing labels, note pads, checks, business cards... Then I checked the shipping...$17 and it would arrive mid to late February. My point: these items are not free. Actual shipping will run about 5 bucks, so the other $12 is really what I'm paying for my stuff. 75% off is not too shabby, but it's not free, as advertised.
Always be on the lookout when taking advantage of deals...there is often something that will even everything out...for the merchant!
Free Cookie Recipe
As you can imagine, I think store bought cookies are a total ripoff! Bakery are usually ok, but homemade are best!
I took a recipe I found and then modified it with ingrediants I had in the house and used healthier (verrrry loose term in this case) ingrediants when possible. They turned out awesome (seriously) so I'm going to share my recipe now...
Peanut Butter Cookies - By The Money Saving Mama
1 stick butter
1 egg
1/2 cup all natural peanut butter
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
Dash of salt
Dash of baking soda
Dash of baking powder
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt butter in microwave. Stir in sugar and brown sugar. Then stir in peanut butter. Then stir in egg. Then stir in remaining ingredients. Roll into little balls and place on a non greased cookie pan. Take a fork and press down on the cookie ball twice, making a grid. Bake for 12 minutes. Remove from pan onto a cooling rack or in my cheapo case, a sheet of wax paper.
Put a couple on a plate and hide the rest or I guarantee you will eat them...
Enjoy!
I took a recipe I found and then modified it with ingrediants I had in the house and used healthier (verrrry loose term in this case) ingrediants when possible. They turned out awesome (seriously) so I'm going to share my recipe now...
Peanut Butter Cookies - By The Money Saving Mama
1 stick butter
1 egg
1/2 cup all natural peanut butter
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
Dash of salt
Dash of baking soda
Dash of baking powder
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt butter in microwave. Stir in sugar and brown sugar. Then stir in peanut butter. Then stir in egg. Then stir in remaining ingredients. Roll into little balls and place on a non greased cookie pan. Take a fork and press down on the cookie ball twice, making a grid. Bake for 12 minutes. Remove from pan onto a cooling rack or in my cheapo case, a sheet of wax paper.
Put a couple on a plate and hide the rest or I guarantee you will eat them...
Enjoy!
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Check Your Services!
I wrote about this last year...call all of your service providers a couple of times a year to make sure you're getting the best bang for your buck. I know the cable company's number by heart, because they seem to be the biggest offender in this department. You can literally call the cable company every 6 months and find ways to tweak your bill...
But this gleeful post has nothing to do with cable...I've uncovered a consumer's goldmine with our phone provider. Since I last called, they offer unlimited long distance! Yesterday I had 250 minutes per month. Today I have unlimited minutes. And the best part...I'm paying less.
Oh, yeah!
But this gleeful post has nothing to do with cable...I've uncovered a consumer's goldmine with our phone provider. Since I last called, they offer unlimited long distance! Yesterday I had 250 minutes per month. Today I have unlimited minutes. And the best part...I'm paying less.
Oh, yeah!
HUH??
The title of this blog entry gets caps and two question marks because this one will just blow your mind...
We have to refinance our house. We have a balloon mortgage and at the end of a balloon mortgage you have to pay it off...so a refinance is usually the answer. I'm not thrilled about paying closing costs again, but we've had a rate of 4.625 for 5 years, so I'm not complaining!
We have enough equity in out house to not escrow for real estate taxes. This means we'll save our own money all year and pay the taxes ourselves. The alternative is we would pay 1/12 of our taxes every month to the bank, and they would send us our money back at the end of the year to pay the taxes.
The paperwork arrived to get the refinance started and the banker marked that we would escrow for taxes. I emailed the banker and advised we weren't going to escrow. She let me know that would be fine, but there would be a fee of .25% of the loan amount due from us at closing to do this.
HUH??
I've yet to receive a clear explanation as to how this is legal or ethical, but I've done checking all over the place, and this is indeed what banks are requiring when a borrower chooses not to escrow these days. I know why they are doing it...there's good money in babysitting all of our money all year, and if consumers don't let banks babysit their money, they lose.
.25%, for us, would be over $600. Now why on earth would anyone do that?
I'm dumbfounded and I'm angry about this. We work hard to maintain perfect credit, and we have more than enough equity in our house to make it worth the bank's risk to let us save for our own tax bill. If we don't pay our taxes, and the bank took our house, they would win, big time.
Hopefully I'll read about more people encountering this scam and being equally outraged. Not that misery loves company, but maybe someone else can figure out what the heck to do to put a stop to this nonsense!
We have to refinance our house. We have a balloon mortgage and at the end of a balloon mortgage you have to pay it off...so a refinance is usually the answer. I'm not thrilled about paying closing costs again, but we've had a rate of 4.625 for 5 years, so I'm not complaining!
We have enough equity in out house to not escrow for real estate taxes. This means we'll save our own money all year and pay the taxes ourselves. The alternative is we would pay 1/12 of our taxes every month to the bank, and they would send us our money back at the end of the year to pay the taxes.
The paperwork arrived to get the refinance started and the banker marked that we would escrow for taxes. I emailed the banker and advised we weren't going to escrow. She let me know that would be fine, but there would be a fee of .25% of the loan amount due from us at closing to do this.
HUH??
I've yet to receive a clear explanation as to how this is legal or ethical, but I've done checking all over the place, and this is indeed what banks are requiring when a borrower chooses not to escrow these days. I know why they are doing it...there's good money in babysitting all of our money all year, and if consumers don't let banks babysit their money, they lose.
.25%, for us, would be over $600. Now why on earth would anyone do that?
I'm dumbfounded and I'm angry about this. We work hard to maintain perfect credit, and we have more than enough equity in our house to make it worth the bank's risk to let us save for our own tax bill. If we don't pay our taxes, and the bank took our house, they would win, big time.
Hopefully I'll read about more people encountering this scam and being equally outraged. Not that misery loves company, but maybe someone else can figure out what the heck to do to put a stop to this nonsense!
Huh?
Oftentimes, I just don't get it. This year, we've made up our mind at our house to lose some weight. We're eating a lot better (which isn't cheap, I might add!). But, we're not perfect here, and like to still dabble in Subway sandwiches now and again. We stick to the "Jared Menu"...look what those sandwiches did for him! Anyway, here is how it goes:
"Hi, I would like two 6" turkey and ham sandwiches on wheat..."
You really don't care about this part, so I'll fast forward...
"I would like one bag of baked chips and a small fountain soda."
"Would you like the meal deal, which is a bigger soda?"
"No, I'll stick with the smaller soda, thanks."
"Ok, but it's cheaper to get the bigger soda, just so you know."
Huh?
Tough as it is for this thrifty gal, I stick to my guns and pay more, and get less...
Maybe someday I'll fit in the size 8 jeans again and it will all be worth it...
"Hi, I would like two 6" turkey and ham sandwiches on wheat..."
You really don't care about this part, so I'll fast forward...
"I would like one bag of baked chips and a small fountain soda."
"Would you like the meal deal, which is a bigger soda?"
"No, I'll stick with the smaller soda, thanks."
"Ok, but it's cheaper to get the bigger soda, just so you know."
Huh?
Tough as it is for this thrifty gal, I stick to my guns and pay more, and get less...
Maybe someday I'll fit in the size 8 jeans again and it will all be worth it...
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