I looked at Los Angeles (since I am moving back there this year) just to see what today’s deal was, and it was for a 40% discount on a Jeep-Drawn wagon tour of the San Andreas fault. $45 instead of $75…how cool is that? Anyway, I highly recommend you check it out for your area and see what kinds of deals they have. Seems they have press from every major newspaper yet I hadn’t heard of them before. So glad I found them, though!

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Organic whole wheat cereal
Organic high fiber cereal
Organic milk
Organic low-fat yogurt
Mixed jar of olives
Organic Tumeric spices
2 X Organic dark chocolate bars
Wild honey
Dried cranberries
Organic frozen cherries
1 lb raw almonds
Organic brown rice
3 pounds chicken
1/2 lb turkey breast
12 oz cheddar cheese
Feta cheese
1 loaf whole wheat bread
2 red bell peppers
2 lemons
5 lb bag organic Yukon Gold potatoes
1 package organic Earthbound Farms salad
1 package organic grape tomatoes
2 organic oranges
2 organic pears
1 organic butternut squash
1 organic red onion
2 organic apples
1.5 lbs organic blueberries
1 organic broccoli bunch
1 organic celery bunch
2 organic carrots

That’s it! This will just about feed me for almost 2 weeks (maybe 12 days). Every time I go I try to buy different products so my meal plans don’t get too static, and this trip I didn’t need to buy coffee as I still had enough at home to last me. Occasionally the bills are more because of personal care or vitamin purchases, but this is pretty average for one of my trips. Here is the scan of the bill:

The idea that organic foods cost WAY more than traditional foods isn’t actually true, especially if you can get them somewhere other than Whole Foods. My grocery bill hasn’t really gone up since I switched to mostly organics, and that’s because I stopped buying frozen pre-packaged meals & soda and started buying mainly fresh singular ingredients to cook with instead. Have you gone organic and/or raw & fresh foods in your grocery shopping? Trust me when I say that if you start buying raw/fresh foods and a good cookbook, you can save a ton on your food bill!

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Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Slipcovers are a planet-friendly choice because they enable you to stick to the green principles of reducing, reusing and recycling. You can reduce waste by keeping your old couch out of landfill and prolonging its useful life. The energy required to make and transport new furniture, and to dispose of old furniture, is significant. So, you can minimize your carbon footprint by reusing what you already have.

Alternatively, if you really need to get rid of an item of furniture – maybe it is the wrong shape or size for your room – you could recycle it by giving it to someone who could make use of it. At the same time you could buy some cheap secondhand furniture that is more suitable for your home. It doesn’t matter what state the upholstery is in, or whether the color matches your decor, as you can easily cover it up with a slipcover.

A New Look

As slipcovers are constructed to fit over an entire sofa or chair, they are perfect for concealing unappealing upholstery. They can be used to hide unsightly areas, such as worn, torn, faded or stained upholstery. Or you can simply use them to change the color of your furniture. For instance, many people like to use different color slipcovers according to the season. Others find they are ideal for coordinating their furniture with a new color scheme if they decorate or move house.

They are easy to fit, having ties or elastic to keep them in place. You can get a smooth finish by tucking any excess fabric into the cracks around your seats. They can transform an unattractive couch in minutes. You can also use a slipcover to alter the style of your furniture. For example, a slipcover with a straight or pleated skirt can be used to cover up wooden legs, particularly if they are scratched or chipped. By wrapping old towels around wooden arms, you can make them padded and then fit a slipcover over the top to complete the makeover.

Easy to Clean

As well as being much cheaper than reupholstery, most ready made slipcovers are fully machine washable, so it’s very easy to keep them clean. Many people use them on seats that are in good condition to protect them from wear and tear. If you’re a parent or grandparent, you’ll find it’s a lot less of a worry if a child smears chocolate or pizza on a slipcover, than on upholstery that would have to be scrubbed by hand! Pet owners find them useful too.

Fabrics

Mass-produced slipcovers are usually made from cotton, polyester, or a blend of both. From a green perspective, cotton is a better choice because it is a natural fiber rather than a synthetic one. Cotton makes a durable, hardwearing fabric that can stand up to a lot of use and regular washing. It goes without saying that organic cotton would be the most eco-friendly choice. However, as yet, organic slipcovers are not widely available. Sure Fit has a small range, for sofas and loveseats. So far, I have been unable to find organic cotton slipcovers for other types of furniture, such as armchairs, wingback chairs or recliners. I envisage slipcovers made from environmentally-friendly fabrics will become more commonplace as consumer awareness increases.

If you’re looking for a frugal fix for your mismatched or tired-looking furniture, slipcovers are a cost-effective solution. You can help the planet and make your home look nice at the same time.

The above was a guest post from My Two Dollars reader Caroline Williams, who always tries to save money and go green!

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If you buy the paper at the store, you pay the “sticker” price. So buying the paper here in Denver on each Saturday and Sunday would cost me $.75 and $1.50, respectively. That’s $2.25 per week, $9.00 per month, $108 per year. Pretty pricey, if you ask me. While I thoroughly enjoyed walking to the newsstand with my grandfather when I was younger, it’s not as fun when it’s your own money you are spending. I will pass on buying it at sticker price.

Subscribing is cheaper. However, not all subscriptions are the same. If you go directly to the newspaper website, you will probably get the least “cheap” subscription. That’s because this is where they expect most people to visit when they want to subscribe, so they want to charge as much as they can get away with. Sure, it’s cheaper than sticker price, but not by too much.

Subscribing from different places can save even more money. I got the deal I finally signed up for off the back of a receipt from the grocery store. (See, sometimes it pays to read the receipt) I also saw special subscription offers on flyers inside the Sunday paper, on a bulletin board at Starbucks, and on a business card stuck in my front door. It pays to look for an offer before you sign up for the first one you see.

So how much was my subscription for the weekend paper? $9 for a full year. That’s a savings of $100 off the sticker price and about $30 off the rate offered online. Not bad for 52 weeks worth of newspapers! Having that paper show up at my door every weekend will ensure that I stay off the computer on weekend mornings until I read it, check out the crossword puzzle, and drink a few cups of coffee. It’s a small price to pay for some sanity on the weekend.

Do you subscribe to the paper? If so, how much did you pay off sticker price?

Photo from Shutterstock

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• Feature Phone customers may choose unlimited talk for $69.99. Family Talk customers (prices assume two lines) may choose unlimited talk for $119.99 per month. Texting plans remain unchanged at $20 for unlimited plans for individuals and $30 for Family Talk plans.
• All smartphone customers, including iPhone customers, may now buy unlimited voice and data for $99.99. For smartphone customers with Family Talk plans (prices assume 2 smartphones), unlimited voice and data is now available for $179.99. Texting plans remain unchanged at $20 for unlimited plans for individuals, $30 for Family Talk Plans.

Beginning today, existing AT&T customers can change to any of the new plans without penalty or contract extension with the online account management tool at www.att.com/wireless.

What I really want to see is a $99.99 unlimited voice, data, and text plan – you know, like the one Sprint has for their Blackberry users. I love my iPhone, but I am definitely not a fan of AT&T or the rates they charge. One can hope that the iPhone will soon be freed up to run on any network and I can move to a company with more affordable rates. But for now, AT&T will have to suffice as they have the iPhone.

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Here are a few tips to get the conversation started, no matter what age your children are:

• For younger children, start by having them keep track of money they earn by doing chores, are given as allowance, or receive as gifts from relatives. By tracking how much they receive and how they choose to spend or save it, you can begin to help them think strategically about money and plan responsibly.
• For tweens and early teenagers, don’t let their summer and after school job pay checks go to waste at the mall and local food joints. Rather, encourage them to open a savings or checking account at your bank and with a portion of their money begin discussing the merits of savings and earning interest from a savings account.
• For older teens take time to explore as many paths as possible, whether it’s college savings, saving for a new car, establishing credit, or discussing various investment techniques. Get them involved and interested in their financial well-being and see where the conversation takes you.

Finally, take it a step further. In order to make this a resolution to keep, sign a Money Management Action Plan (PDF) with your children, keeping you both responsible for starting and continuing the financial literacy learning cycle. Once you’ve set goals, you can then explore the learning tools available at the Manage Your Money section in the JA Student Center to begin setting the financial literacy wheels in motion.

Guest post from Dr. John Box, Senior Vice President of Education, JA WorldwideAbout Junior Achievement® (JA). Junior Achievement is the world’s largest organization dedicated to inspiring and preparing young people to succeed in a global economy. Through a dedicated volunteer network, Junior Achievement provides in-school and after-school programs for students which focus on three key content areas: work readiness, entrepreneurship, and financial literacy. Today, 137 individual area operations reach more than four million students in the United States, with an additional five million students served by operations in 123 other countries worldwide. For more information, visit www.ja.org.

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1. Movie-rental subscription – I am a big fan of Netflix and cannot imagine having to do into a video store ever again.

2. Espresso machine for an at-home coffee shop – While I don’t need an espresso machine, making coffee at home saves a ton of money over buying it in a store every morning.

3. A smarter power strip – I have these all over my house and they save a ton on energy costs.

4. Cooking classes – Seriously, this would be the best gift ever. I wish someone would give these to me.

5. AAA membership – A good gift, but I don’t need it as my car came with roadside assistance.

6. At-home fitness equipment – Much cheaper than a gym, but most people don’t have room for a full-sized exercise room in their house!

7. National Park visitor’s pass – Again, would love this.

8. Warehouse-club membership – For families, sure, but a single guy definitely doesn’t need a membership to a place where he can buy 32 gallons of milk at once.

9. A savings or investment account – Great gift for kids, but make sure you also give them something cool.

10. The perfect carry-on bag – If you fly, you know that airlines now charge you to check a bag, which is ridiculous. Yet another reason I Amtrak it.

11. A home-energy monitor – Thinking of getting one of these, but not sure I need it. I imagine it would do a lot of people some good though!

12. Subscription to Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine – I already have one!

Happy Holidays!

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One of the places I went to first was Crate and Barrel to get some new bar stools for my kitchen. I knew exactly what I wanted and they had the cheapest price on these compared to any online or brick and mortar store. I asked if the bar stools were going to be on sale anytime soon, and she told me that they didn’t have any plans to put them on sale… so I bought them. (and they look great!) However, I saw a few other things I was interested in while in the store, so I asked her if any of them would be cheaper in a few weeks – and she said yes! She told me which ones would be on sale after Christmas, so I put them back on the shelves and decided I could wait in order to save some money. After all, moving isn’t cheap and I have spent more than my fair share of money this month already.

The lesson here? Always ask as it can never hurt. I know there are some people who ask for a discount on any and everything they buy, but I don’t normally do that. However, I have learned that asking if something is going to be on sale can definitely save you a few bucks – especially around the holidays. So go ahead and ask away – what have you got to lose?

However, if something isn’t going to be on sale and you still really want them, go ahead and buy them:

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Out of curiosity I stopped by Best Buy this weekend to check out the prices on their HDMI cables – wow. People actually pay those prices? $79 for a cable with the same ratings and length as the one I bought online for $9.99? What a ripoff. I am willing to bet that no one could tell the difference between an image being sent through my $10 cable versus one sent through an $80 one, and I am so glad I did some homework before wasting all that money.

The lesson here? Don’t blow your money on overpriced cables for your home audio/video setup. Chances are that unless you are charging admission for others to watch movies at your house, you are just wasting your money that could be better spent elsewhere!

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- $134 per month, including all taxes & fees
- Unlimited phone
- 12 mbps download speed internet service
- HDTV w/DVR service

Compared to the $152 per month I was paying in New Mexico for no HD and slower internet, this is a pretty good deal. I also got most of the set-up and installation fees waived just by asking, so if you are signing up for any new services you always have to ask. We set up the appointment for between 8-10am last Monday morning, and the guy showed up at 8:10am. Not bad for a first impression!

The guy that came to my place was incredibly nice and friendly, asked me exactly what I planned on hooking up, where I wanted all the “stuff” and a few other pertinent questions. In under an hour, my phones were working, my TV looked great, and I finally had internet service back after 4 days without it. It’s WAAAAAY faster than my old internet service in New Mexico, which is really great for 2 reasons:

1. I can finally do online backups of all my data from my computer. I am trying out BackBlaze for $5 a month.
2. My Blu-Ray player can stream high-quality movies over the internet from my Netflix account to my television. Sweet!

Overall, I have to say that I am pretty happy with the whole process of getting set up here at my new place and happy with the price. Hopefully it will continue and I will still feel like I made the right choice 6 months from now!

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