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Blog: The Pile High Club--how NOT to become a member
 Coupons and Gift Cards
In this post-Black Friday post, I wanted to cover coupons and gift cards, since many of you likely used at least one this past weekend, and will likely use more as the holiday season progresses.
Where to keep your coupons
If you're an occasional clipper, then my suggestion to you is to get a simple coupon organizer (you can find them at Target and Wal Mart for around $4) and keep it in your car. Many people take the time to clip coupons and then store them in a coupon organizer that is in the kitchen junk drawer or filed away somewhere. This does you no good when you're rushing out the door with kids in tow and have a million things to remember to bring to the grocery or the mall--not the least of which is the dang coupon organizer!
Clip your coupons at your leisure, then put them by your keys so you remember to take them out to the coupon organizer in your car's glove box the next time you head out to the car. By keeping your coupons in the car, you always have them at the ready, no matter where your errands take you.
The same also goes for any gift cards you receive. I don't like keeping gift cards in my wallet, because if my purse is ever lost or stolen--losing my gift cards (a.k.a. free money!) just adds salt to the wound. And keeping gift cards in your house, again, means they're never in the right spot when you need them. If you keep them in your car then you have that Starbucks gift card or Dunkin Donuts coupon handy the next time you drive by on your way to work (can you tell I'm writing this in the morning? coffee and donuts on the mind. . .).
Are they worth it?
If you are a super-crazed clipper who settles into a Sunday morning with a pair of scissors, a newspaper, and a keen eye, I have only this to ask: what is your time worth? Is the time it takes you to scour your paper and cut the coupon and file it away in the appropriate place worth the 40 cents you'll save on tampons--that is, if you remember to use it before it expires? I get paid by the hour, so I always put a price on my time, no matter what I'm doing and weigh out if it's actually worth it.
Real Simple magazine had this to say:
With coupons, "people may buy products they wouldn't normally buy, which are overpriced to begin with," says Eric Tyson, author of Personal Finance for Dummies (Wiley, $22, www.amazon.com). Remember: Manufacturers don't issue coupons because they care about your budget. "Coupons are a marketing device to sell products and drive traffic to stores, not to save consumers money," says Jean Ann Fox, director of consumer protection at the Consumer Federation of America. Coupons can also cause you to go out of your way. "It's not worth driving all over town, spending money on gas, and putting wear and tear on the car to shop at a store you wouldn't normally go to, just to save a few bucks," says Tyson.
Of course, coupons are useful when they save you money on what you're already planning to buy. So first make a shopping list based on your needs, and at that point check the coupons for potential savings. If only they made coupons for free time. Now, that would be a bargain worth clipping.
I concur!
Ways to save money without coupons
My husband and I really take advantage of our credit card reward points, and you should too! Redeem your reward points to get gift cards for others this holiday, or for gift-worthy loot. My husband and I have furnished half our home and landscaped some of our yard (with a lovely Pottery Barn hammock, thank you very much!) using gift cards from redeemed credit card points.
If it's miles you gain by using your credit card but travel is not high on your list of things to do, most airline frequent-flier programs will allow you to convert miles into magazine subscriptions, dining certificates, or electronics.
If you're not a coupon clipper or a points redeemer, but are still interested in saving a buck, http://www.realsimple.com/realsimple/package/0,21861,1685433-1544707,00.html" target="new">Real Simple has some creative ideas on how to save money during the holidays.
*****
SIDE RANT:
This http://www.usatoday.com/travel/flights/2007-11-18-holiday-travel_N.htm?csp=34 and the accompanying NBC Today Show story from last week drove me NUTS!
As if the airlines and travel in general hasn't gotten inconvenient and ridiculous enough, now they think they're going to tell us how to pack? As a professional organizer, I of course am pro-neatness and organization when it comes to packing, as in all things. I appreciate and condone neatly organizing your bag so that you can find things and plan your trip. But as an American, I'm thinking, "are you %$^&* kidding me???"
Seriously, the next time I travel I just want to throw my clothes and toiletries in a garbage bag and call it my carry-on, just because I still can (though for how much longer, who knows?). I am just completely irked by the notion that TSA thinks they can now insist that people pack in organized layers, coiling their electronic wires and such.
I just want to say, "Hey TSA, take it from a professional—people out there are MESSY and BUSY—it ain't gonna happen!!! How about focusing on people with bullets in their baggage instead of nagging us about slacks and panties folded in the proper configuration." Grrrrrrrrr.
posted on: 11/26/2007 10:30:00 AM by Heather Lambie
category: Paper
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The Pile High Club--how NOT to become a member
by Heather Lambie
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About Heather:
My Husband - "Honey, how thin can you spread yourself before you're no longer there?" Me - "I don't know. But I'm in it to win it, so we may have to find out."
Heather's Website:
www.yourhomeeditor.com
Favorite Websites
- The Sartorialist
This site appeases my hunger for all things New York, reminds me of my time there, and gives me great ideas for unconventional looks.
- Toffee To Go
They are located in Tampa, very near me, but they deliver/ship nationally. They have THE BEST toffee EVER. It's buttery, salty, sweet--all my favorite things in one bite.
- The Container Store
I know this is a no-brainer for an organizer...but this place really turns me on!
- The Poetry Foundation
- Because I Said So (blog)
As a mom myself, this mom of 6 (!!!) has me in stitches.
- Michael Buble
If I wasn't happily married, I might be stalking him. Bar none, the best voice and best sense of humor!
Quotes That Move Me
- General H. Norman Schwarzkopf
"The truth of the matter is, you always know the right thing to do. The hard part is doing it."
- Ivern Ball
"Most of us ask for advice when we know the answer but we want a different one."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
"The secret of education is respecting the pupil."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
"Once you make a decision, the universe conspires to make it happen."
- Abigail Van Buren
"The best index to a person's character is how he treats another person who can't do him good, and how he treats people who can't fight back."
- Dorothy Galyean
"Worry is like a rocking chair. It gives you something to do, but it doesn't get you anywhere."
- Aristotle
"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it."
- Mark Twain
"To be satisfied with what one has; that is wealth. As long as one sorely needs a certain additional amount, that man isn't rich."
- Jackie Kennedy
"If you bungle raising your children, I don't think whatever else you do matters very much."
Places I'm Dying to Visit
- Hawaii
Any how, any way, any time.
- Los Cabos, Mexico
- China
- Japan
- Alaska (via cruise ship)
- Marbella, Spain
Places I've Already Been
- Australia (Sydney)
- New Zealand
- Tahiti, Moorea, Bora Bora
- London
- Paris
Spent only one day here (took the Chunnel from London when I was there) but it was one amazing, beautiful day where I walked the flea markets, visited the Louvre, people-watched and used all 6 senses to experience it.
- Trinidad & Tobago
My husband is from here, so we go several times a year to visit family.
- Italy (Milan, Vicenza)
- Jamaica
Things I'd Like To Do Before I Die
- Run a leg with the Olympic torch before the games begin
- See the monarch butterflies migrate to Mexico
- Ride a horse on the beach (in the water)
- See a prize fight (boxing) in Las Vegas
- Run the NYC Marathon
I ran the Disney Marathon in 2000 (pre-kids). Would love to run another post-kids, to prove I can.
- Have washboard abs.
- Eliminate self doubt.
- Own an apartment in Manhattan.
- Watch the ball drop in Times Square on New Year's Eve.
- Take an RV trip down the coast of California.
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