Middle Path Finance

More thoughts on the $100 holiday

Last year, my children spent nearly 12 hours ripping open the colorful paper of too many gifts. From me, from my mother, and from their aunt. The vision of Christmas-- gifts spilling out from under the tree, stockings stuffed to the brims with candy and toys-- well, it just didn't turn out the way husband and I had hoped. 

To give you a little back story, we had asked grandma -- our children are her only grandchildren-- to tone it down this year, to significantly cut back on gifts. Then, if she still felt compelled, she could send a few dollars to the kids' 529 plans in leiu of toys. A few weeks before Christmas, my mother was beaming when I walked into her kitchen. There was a check for $100 on the counter, made out to my youngest's college fund. "He has so many toys. I didn't know what to get him," she said proudly, pointing out that she had honored my wishes. We have two children, 19 months apart. We aren't hurting for age-appropriate toys.

I was relieved, thinking that Christmas day would be the minimal, laid back family-focused food and togetherness affair I had fantasizes about for weeks. But alas. Grandma pulled up to the house. Her idea of toning it down? And entire carload of gifts. I wishI were exaggeratting. I also fell prey to the "is it enough?" school of gift buying, throwing myself whole-heartedly into deep holiday discounts and buy two toys get the third free deals. I too had too many gifts under the tree. The result was a very long, very exhausting gift marathon for the children and for us.

This year, I am determined to try again, to keep the gifts reasonable: fewer and more meaningful. To remember that the days of excess should be behind us, as a nation, and as a world. I have grandma yet another talk, and more specific gift limits for the children. Three each, less than $100, please.  She thinks I am crazy. Maybe she should read this:

Here is an articulate discussion of the $100 holiday movement. And, this more sprightly article about gift-giving when you are unemployed or underemployed.

December is a lovely month. Christmas lights, hot cocoa, and ice skating downtown. What's not to love? This year, my family is trying to focus on togetherness and celebrating, not how many gifts are under the tree.

 

 

Toys R Us expanding lay-away for Christmas

Toys R Us announced today that they are expanding their lay-away program to smaller items such as toys, in a bid to appeal to the needs of budget-crunched parents and families.

Here is a link to the full news story.

New daily deal site just for parents to launch in Columbus

Columbus is getting a new daily deal site just for parents, called JollySavers.com. The company is based in Columbus, and will be offering daily deals targeted specifically to families. Rumor has it their first deals will involve music lessons, family photos, tutoring, and gym and dances classes. They'll also be doing random drawings and awarding things like $20 grocery store gift cards. It isn't up and running yet, but it will be soon.

 

Book Review: "The Real Cost of Living"

I just finished reading "The Real Cost of Living" by Carmon Wong Ulrich.

The book is a post-Great Recession guide to major financial decisions such as buying and owning property, paying for higher education, and money issues such as credit card debt, self-employment, savings accounts, and investment accounts. It is one of the few books I have read recently which does not dispense the typical, canned one-size-fits-all financial advice that is all too common.

It is a book that actually recognizes the very different personal, financial, and societal landscape we all now live in. And, that many of the rules and asumptions about what money and personal people should make to become and remain middle class no longer apply.

For instance, Ulrich actually questions the value of higher education amidst soaring tuition prices, high loan debt, and high unemployment rates for recent graduates. And, about the personal, professional, and financial choices couples must make once they have children.

Overall, this is a good, quick read that is not a one-stop shop for financial advice or tips on living more frugally,but instead gives you food for thought. It brings up issues you may have never considered before about each topic, and gives you fuel for further research. Overall, a very good bet.

Simple butternut squash soup to warm up dinner

  Butternut squash is in season (read: extra cheap!) and now that the weather has turned wet and chilly, it's high time to turn one into soup! This recipe for curry butternut squash is very simple.

Peel the squash (with a carrot peeler, in case you aren't sure), and cut the squash into chunks. Place in a large sautee or soup pan and cover with water. Add vegetable or chicken bouillon. Bring to a boil, then simmer until soft.

Drain off the water and transfer the squash to a food processor or blender. Blend until smooth. Add curry power or paste to taste. Serve. Add a dash of nutmeg or cinnamon for an extra zing.

Are you a brainy or a gutsy shopper?

I just found this very interesting article about shopping in the Wall Street Journal. Looks like instincts win out over logic when it comes to big purchases. Who knew?

Krogrer's coupon policy just got stingier

Kroger just changed their official coupon policy. You're no longer allowed to use more than 3 of the same coupon in one transaction. Formerly, the only limit was that listed by the manufacturer on the coupon , usually four. I discovered this in line today while trying to use four Starbucks coupons. No go.

A few months back they changed their policy so that you couldn't use both a digital coupon (on your loyalty card) and a paper coupon. That used to be permitted.

While I don't see anything about this on their web site, I do know that Kroger's just posted their 2 Q earnings recently, and they didn't meet analyst expectations. Profits weren't that great. That's boiled down to you and me in the form of more stringent coupon policies.

Is the CVS $10 gas card deal worth it?

Last week, I decided to put the CVS spend $30 on select items and get a $10 gas card promotion to the test. I'm always skeptical when retailers push you to spend in order to get something back, but I'm always on the prowl for a true bargain. So, if you want to try to "earn" the gift card, here are a few pointers.

- The $30 minimum spend is BEFORE coupons, not after. This is the real trick to making this worth it. If the specially-marked items can be matched with a manufacturer's coupon, this can be a really great deal, because you can walk out of the store with a $10 gas card after having paid next to nothing.

- Sometimes, they have good deals on things you actually need. Last week, it was Arm & Hammer laundry detergent. It made it worth it for me to try.

- Many of the items in the $30 promotion are luxuries-- things you don't need and wouldn't normally spend money on if you didn't have to. Like candy. This is the slippery slope.

Bearing this in mind, I hit the CVS last Wednesday, armed with the sales flyer and a fistful of coupons. My target the 2/$4.97 Herbal Essence and Aussie products, as well as the $2/7 laundry detergent. I had $4 worth of coupons for every two hair products, which brought the price down to about 50 cents each. And, I had two coupons good for $1 off 2 laundry products.

I bought four laundry detergents for a total of $14. Halfway there.Actual cost: $12 after coupons

I bought four hair products for a total of $9.94. Actual out of pocket: $1.94

Total left to needed to earn gift card: $6.06. The six cents proved to be the hardest. I couldn't find anything I wanted or needed worth $6.06, although I had a coupon for $1 off two bags of M&Ms. Total $6. I still needed to spend 6 more cents to get the card. Of course, nothing on special cost six cents, so I ended up buying the cheapest thing possible to get the card: a $1.87 candy bar.

I wasn't too thrilled about this. I realized this is how they make money on this. I spent $7.87 (6.87 after coupon) on candy to earn the $10 gift card. Was it worth it? It was fun to try. 

This deal isn't all bad though. If you are organized and get and save multiple copies of all of the Sunday coupons circulars, this can be a real boon.

For instance, if I had had more copies of the coupons for hair products, I could have loaded up on super cheap (to me) but high-quality shampoos, conditioners, and styling products for a cost of less than 50 cents per product, while earning almost $2.50 per item toward the $30 minimum spend.

Since I didn't have more than two copies of each coupon, the better strategy for me would have been to cherry pick. Just go in and get the hair products and laundry detergent, and skip the gas card promotion. I would have left without a gas card, but spending less money and having purchased only items I know I use-- and at a deep discount.

What strategies do you use to score deep discounts at CVS?

 

Part time jobs grow as underemployment persists

How many of you are working part time when you'd rather have a full-time job? Here is an interesting article on where the real part-time work is: