Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Holiday Shopping

Sold to the print edition of the Dollar Stretcher. Reprint rights available.

This article outlines strategy for holiday shopping in January. It begins:

It's the day after Christmas and you're a savvy holiday shopper. Where will we find you? At the store, of course. You probably took care of most of this year's shopping last January. Now it's time to plan for next year. If you do the shopping now (and have the storage space), you can save substantially on next year's gifts and decorations.

So let's talk holiday planning in January. You are going to need strategy. This article outlines five pointers for maximizing the January shopping potential.

For more information, contact kellogg.rebecca (at) gmail.com

Book Review: First Stop in the New World

My review of David Lida's First Stop in the New World is now available here at the Internet Review of Books.

Saturday, July 5, 2008

School Fundraisers and Coupons

Sold to the print edition of the Dollar Stretcher. Reprint rights available.

This article highlights a few common school fundraiser options that would be of interest to a family that uses couponing. It begins:

If you have school-aged children of your own or if your acquaintances have school-aged children, it is probably only a matter of time before you will be hit with a deluge of fund-raising pitches. It is not reasonable for you to shell out for every plea that comes along but ifyou choose carefully, and especially if you use coupons or are willingto start, you can find fundraising choices that can help the school AND help your wallet.

The best example of this is the Entertainment Book. Available in most areas, the book is a fat collection of stores that want to give you a discount. For a long time I held off on buying the Entertainment Book.Why should I spend money to get a discount? And then slowly I grew wiser.

For more information, contact kellogg.rebecca (at) gmail.com

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Treasure Hunt Map and Key

Sold to the print edition of Dollar Stretcher. Reprint rights are available for purchase.

This article outlines how to get a pass that will admit you to hundreds of museums for the cost of one museum's membership. It begins:

Have you gone to your local museum lately? Perhaps you've been offered a membership but have done the math and realized you might not attend the same museum the four to ten times in one year it would take to make the investment worth it.

There is a small item in the fine print of many museum membership packages that might make a membership pay off well for you.

It is called a reciprocal list.

A "reciprocal list" is a perk many organizations offer to sweeten a membership deal. It works like this:

Take, for example, a children's museum. The Las Vegas Lied Children's Museum belongs to the Association of Science Technology Centers (ASTC) and the Association of Children's Museums Institutions. The Lied participates in the reciprocal programs for both these organizations. When you purchase a membership to the Lied, you will be issued a card bearing the logos of the ASTC and the Association of Children's Museums Institutions. You will also be given a copy of the reciprocal list. The list is your treasure map and the card is your key to the wealth of great experiences available at participating museums.

For more information, contact kellogg.rebecca (at) gmail.com