Our post Choosing the Right 529 Savings Plan was chosen to be in the Thanksgiving Survival Edition carnival hosted by Fiscal Geek.  Check it out with all the other excellent articles that were selected.

I also had the pleasure of completing an interview for Frugal NYC about the new BudgetPulse site release and the savings goals function.  Here is the interview with Frugal NYC.

Bible Money Matters wants to push you to get going. 20 Tips to Press Onwards Towards your Financial Goals

Cash Money Life knows that dealing with terms can be difficult, especially when they are real similar. Difference Between Credit Score and Credit Report

Five Cent Nickel wants to teach you more about bonds.  What are Series I Bond

Get Rich Slowly has a guest post to help you with your fall cleaning without having to spend on new products. Creative Cleaning with Everyday Products

My Next Buck has a guest post helping you save as well.  It costs a lot of money to keep the lights on, but there are ways to cut it down. 72 Ways to Save Money on Electricity Without Paying a Cent

Couple Money wants to help you get out of credit card debt and to spend less overall. Living Off Cash, Not Credit?

Good Financial Cents wants to inform you about your retirement fund. Good to Know Rules and Limits for the Traditional IRA

Canadian Finance Blog knows how expensive heating can be as the winter slowly arrives. Top 15 Ways to Save Money on Heating

Flickr: Striatic

By Heaven Stubblefield

When I first went off to college, my mother once told me to do my grocery shopping at stores where the elderly shop.  Her reason: the elderly, who are on a fixed income like social security or a pension, are very thrifty shoppers.  So I began finding those people, and then did my shopping there.  Unfortunately, their pension or retirement must have been a lot more than my starting salary, because I was gasping every time I checked out of the grocery store or went clothes shopping.  So I began purchasing the Sunday newspaper and shopping at Walmart for clothes.  But even then, cutting coupons for the 3 or 4 things I would buy that were there was not cutting my bill.  Fortunately, today, the internet makes it easy to find savvy shoppers and the best deals in your neighborhood.  Here are some sites that will help you with various types of shopping.

Grocery Store Shopping

Coupons.com is a website that enables you to print coupons on your computer.  It is a free site, thanks to companies advertising.  As long as your grocery store accepts these types of coupons, you are good to go.  You won’t have to worry about your store acknowledging the sale because when you go to the site you enter your zip code and can see sales happening in your back yard.

CouponMom.com is another website that will help feed your family, both inside and out.  With offers like links to discount gift certificates to your favorite restaurant and printable coupons for your grocery staples, you are sure to save money on this free site.

Department Store Shopping

If you are shopping online, CouponCabin.com offers specific instructions on how to save at your favorite department or clothing store.  For example, it will list promo codes to use when checking out online and their staff checks at least 3 times a day to ensure the codes work.  An added bonus to this website is that they email you on Mondays with the latest deals and offers.

Finding Savvy Shoppers

Fortunately, you don’t have to leave home to find savvy shoppers.  In a world where people do enjoy giving advice, advice abounds when it comes to shopping and saving money.  Most of the coupon sites listed above have forums where people can share their news or successes in the trenches of retail.  Whether it is a deal that might make a night out less expensive (and therefore more enjoyable), or a post about milk being on sale, people are out there to help you save money.

If you consider yourself a savvy shopper, then most likely you are surrounded by the same in your circle of friends.  And if you are a mom, that gene became stronger with the birth of your child.  Talk about money with your friends, whether you saved or splurged, and you will get advice from them on their saving successes.  Enjoy helping yourself and other.  Saving money is an instant gratifier!

It was the excellent article written by Heaven about using canvas bags in grocery stores that generated a lot of debate from readers and was a fun topic for all.  You can read that article here.

We are honored to be selected and look forward to future carnivals, as well as hosting one later this year.

Today, Stretchy Dollar, a member of the personal finance community was in charge of hosting this week’s Personal Finance Carnival and our Good vs. Bad Credit post was selected to be part of it.

It’s fun to connect with everyone in the community as well as all our users.

Check out the carnival for our post and all of the other great articles from this past week: Carnival of Personal Finance – History of College Football Edition

Welcome to family life. You have your spouse and at least one child. You are thinking about giving your child an allowance. Perhaps it is because you never received one, or you are taking an important step in teaching your child about money. There are various methods in determining whether or not to give an allowance, how to give kids allowance, and how to keep your kids wanting their allowance if you choose to give one. You should consider some of the following in deciding if you and your child are ready to deal with allowances.

First, can you financially support giving your child an allowance? Sometimes parents feel they need to show their kids their bank account in order for them to feel loved and appreciated. However, if you are swimming in debt, consider paying your child’s allowance to your bank so that you won’t feel guilty about giving your child money.

Second, does your child understand the concept of money? It seems ridiculous to begin giving an allowance to someone under the age of 5. They may or may not have fine tuned their math skills and may not understand the concept of getting money each week and choosing to do something with that money. In a book I read, the author suggested giving an allowance to children in the first grade. This way, the concept of wanting things is definitely there and they will be able to use math skills in tracking their allowance, which I’ll get to later.

If you have decided to give your child an allowance, congratulations; you are helping them mold the financial decisions they will make for the rest of their lives. There are various ways to determine what kind of allowance to give. Some parents choose to give their child an allowance. When I say give, I mean they simply hand a wad of cash over to their child with no strings attached. Other parents choose to give their child an allowance when they earn it. These parents see an allowance as earnings for being a productive member of the family. One tip to consider if you are utilizing the latter method, if they don’t earn it, do not feel bad not giving it. With this in mind, it is important that when deciding whether or not to give an allowance, you should consider how reliable your child is in completing your expectations.

Lastly, a tool that will keep your kids wanting their allowance every week is showing them ways to track their earnings. Here are two examples of how to track.

One is a software program that is free is kidsallowancebank.com. This allows you and your child to track money without giving any credit card information. It creates a way for your child to see how their earnings add up and to learn about banking.

Another way, using less technology, is to have your child use graphs. Let’s say you give your child an allowance based on the types of chores they complete that week. You give 25 cents for making their bed all week and 50 cents for unloading the dishwasher. If your child sees that they make more money unloading the dishwasher and making their bed, they will see how doing more work earns more money. They can complete a bar graph of what they complete each week and the money they earned for it. This allows your child to be creative by choosing different colors for each chore and mapping their earnings.

Allowance can be a tricky thing among households, especially if you don’t establish a clear method for giving money to your kids. But, if you are serious about teaching your child about money, allowances and tracking them are great steps.

Do you use a system of giving your kids an allowance?

Budgets Are Sexy talks about young drivers and how they can go about getting quality car insurance for a lower price. Very helpful for the new driver buying a car and needs insurance. Tips on Purchasing Auto Insurance for Young Drivers

Studenomics articles are geared towards the college student.  Those who are interested in summer rentals, he asks if they are worth it or not. Summer Cottage Rentals Worth the Price?

Man vs Debt talks about the power of resourcefullness and how it can affect things. The Power of Resourcefulness: A Guide to Peeing in the Shower

WiseBread wants your clothes to last. 10 Ways to Get more out of your Clothing

The Digerati Life looks at the numbers how people spend their day typically. Time is Money, So How do you Spend your Day?

Moolanomy wrote an article perfect for those planning their summer trip. How to Find Cheap and Hotel like a Ninja Master

Good Financial Cents asks if you know what to do when you look at a credit report.  He can help. How to Review a Credit Report

This 3 part series of tips in preparing your finances for travel will help you to be prepared and have a worry free travel experience. The most important thing to do is to plan ahead, but here are some tips to get you on your way…

• Have someone watch the house. If you have someone you trust then leave them a key. At the very least, have a neighbor collect your mail so no unwanted visitors realize you’re away.

• Know what you need. Make a list before you leave so that you can make sure not to miss anything. Go to the ATM for extra cash and make your currency exchanges before you leave (the rates are cheaper). If you’re going abroad, you may need to look into travelers checks.

• Get your bills out of the way.  Just like any other time, your bills have to be paid. You can even pay them ahead of time! My suggestion is to use online bill pay and pre-pay your bill.  Whether it’s your cell phone or auto payment, no service is going to turn down early money. Take care of it early and be worry free on your trip!

• Clear out the fridge. Make sure to grocery shop smart and plan for your departure. For example, buy a 1/2 gallon of milk a week before you leave instead of a full gallon. This strategy will save your pennies and keep your kitchen from stinking!

Parts 2 & 3 of ‘Preparing your Finance for Travel’ still to come…

Orange is a BudgetPulse user and has taken the time to interview me as well as write-up her positive experiences with using BudgetPulse to inform her readers on the value of the tool.  You can read what she had to say about BudgetPulse and please check out her other informative postings as well.