Five Apps To Save Money in the Store

I don't dumpster dive, hound my friends for coupons, or store up a years' worth of toilet paper in my garage--but I did manage to save $160,000 on coupons! That's enough money to put seven kids through college or buy a modest airplane for my hubby (he votes for the airplane, I vote for college and guess whose vote counts DOUBLE?).

You don't have to clip coupons to save with all the wonderful apps that are available on your smart phone. So there's really no excuse to pay full price in the store! Here are some of my favorite apps:

Five Apps to Save Money in the Store

1. Shopper –One of the reasons people overspend at the grocery store is because they impulse buy or get things they really do not need. Making a list saves money and is easy when you use Shopper. This app lets you make several lists at a time for different stores, it calculates sales tax, allows for quantities, tracks your coupons and is secure because you need a password to open it (just in case you’re putting those Reeces on the list and your hubby never sees them.) It costs .99

2. Check and Compare 1024 -- Ever wonder how much money you are spending at the store while shopping and if you’re getting the best price? Just enter your item prices and quantities and “Checkout" will show you just how much your bill will be at the register. The “Compare” portion allows you to compare prices based on quantity and size to show the best value. You can then transfer the best value price to the checkout price field. The Budget tool can be set and keeps track of your remaining budget for one or multiple shopping trips until cleared. This app costs $2.99

3. Coupon Sherpa – This FREE app eliminates the need for a traditional coupon book by providing hundreds of in-store coupons for many merchants on your iPhone or iPod Touch. The coupons can be scanned by optical scanners right from your phone! Save money on food, clothing, shoes, restaurants, electronics, travel, jewelry, sporting goods, books and more. You can find coupons by category or store name, email coupons to friends, create your own favorites list of stores and find the store nearest you.

4. Yowza – This is another FREE app to launch on your iPhone, iPod Touch, or android phone and it instantly goes about finding deals and coupons in your geographic area. When you walk up to the cashier, just show the deal on your device and let them scan the barcode or type in the coupon code. No clipping. No stashing coupons in your wallet or purse. No need to remember which location that restaurant coupon was good for. It features city and zip code based coupon searches, notifications when your favorite store adds a coupon and you can share your savings via Twitter, Facebook, or Email.

5. Amazon Mobile -- The FREE Amazon Mobile app allows you to quickly search, shop, compare prices, read reviews, and make purchases on Amazon.com using a simple, interface. Amazon customers have full access to their existing account. It also includes "Amazon Remembers" that allows you to use the camera on your iPhone to create a visual list. The photos you take from the app are stored on both the Amazon Mobile app and Amazon’s website. If the item you want to remember is a product, Amazon Remembers will try to find a product similar to your photo for sale on the web. If they do, they’ll send you an e-mail alert and post the result along with the photo.


Happy Savings!
Ellie Kay
America's Family Financial Expert (R)

Cell Phone Savings So Simple, Even A Child Can Do It!

According to statistics provided by “Pews Study of the State of the Media”, 80% of Americans have a cell phone and 2/3 use it for something other than making calls. Nearly half of all American adults report that they get at least some local news and information on their cellphone or tablet computer. More and more families have more than one cell phone and they not longer have a home land line, opting to use their cells instead. And all of these trends are rapidly accelerating. How can you get the most value for your cell phone plan? Here are ways to save that your cell phone sales rep will not tell you.

Just Say "No" - We have to resist temptation when it comes to cell phone plans,especially when your contract obligation expires. If you do nothing for a few weeks, you'll begin to get all kinds of incentives and good deals that might be better than if you ugraded right away.

Timing is Everything There is a better time of the month to buy a plan or upgrade one and that is at the end of their accounting period when sales teams are trying to meet quotas or reach incentives. This usually occurs at the end of the month.

Don't Pay for Information -- There’s also a way to save on 411 calls, instead of getting gouged with ridiculously high fees for an information call. Just enter this free phone number in your address book: 800-FREE411 or 800-CALL411.

Rebates or FreeBates - I'm often asked if I think that phone rebates are they a deal or a dud? They are only a deal if you apply for them. Cell phone providers make money on rebates because many customers won't go through the hassle. Be sure you get all the info and apply online the same day you get the phone. That way, it won't get lost on your "to do" list.

Don't be All Wet! -- Protect your phone by securing it when you're around water (doing laundry, bathing the kids, etc) and don't even put it in the bathroom when you're taking a shower. Don't have it close to your skin when you're working out either! The results of a steamy shower or workout can be as bad as dropping it in the toilet. If you get your phone wet, then immediately dry off what you can, separate the battery and the phone, then submerge both in an air tight container of rice for 24 hours. This should absorb most of the moisture and may save your phone!

Kids Will Be Kids - So let's say, hypothetically, that you have a child who goes way over their minutes or text messages one month. You could end up paying outrageous fees for extra minutes. If the billing cycle hasn't closed yet, then call your company and upgrade to the next plan. It could save you 35 to 45 cents extra (per minute or text) for all the extra activity.

Little Known Discounts - When one of our teens, Jonathan, went in to see how much a new phone would cost, he decided to ask them if there were any extra discounts we could qualify for. We found out that my hubby's corporation, Northrup,offered a 28% discount for employees. Be sure to ask if your large company, government agency or credit union association can get you an additional discount on your already exisiting plan. You might be pleasantly surprised!

Ellie Kay
America's Family Financial Expert (R)

The Gift of Communication - Christmas Gifts that Keep Giving

In my series on “Gifts that Keep on Giving” I’m reminded of my college daughter, Bunny, and the fun we had staying at the Drake hotel in Chicago on a business trip. I really miss seeing her and today’s gift is perfect for her and her friends, it’s the “gift of communication.” When she was little, she talked non stop and now that she’s grown, she still love to chat whenever possible!


In my work with families who are on a budget, I have found that many have had to rethink their cell phone plan. In an effort to pay the bills, they may have had to cancel a cell phone plan or in some cases, they don’t have the credit to establish that service. In my quest to find a great communication alternative, I came across a cool new partnership in prepaid plans. This year, if you want to give the gift of communication to a family who is on a budget or a struggling college student, you can do so through a prepaid phone from Boost and Virgin Mobile as well as prepaid mobile broadband with Virgin Mobile’s Broadband2Go plans.

This is a partnership that is easy for me to talk about because it really benefits people who are on a budget. Let’s face it, those who need to limit their expenses, still need the ability to have a cell phone or connect to the internet. Whether you are happily employed or unemployed, it’s important to be able to pursue work situations through the use of a cell phone and through broadband connectivity.

Prepaid cell phones:

I think that prepaid cell phones are perfect for those who might not otherwise be able to afford or have the credit to qualify for a contract plan. I’ve also found they are a good option for families who have members who routinely go over their traditional cell phone limits, sometimes costing their parents lots of dollars in extra charges each month. (Ahem, not that this has ever happened to the Kay family! All I will say is: the leaves were raked and the laundry was folded by penitent teens for the several weeks.)

Prepaid plans from companies like Boost and Virgin Mobile were created for consumers such as college students who want to be able to afford freedom and independence on a budget. However, economics aside, cell phone plans such as the Virgin Mobile $25 Beyond Talk plan or the Boost Mobile $50 Unlimited plan keep both students and their parents happy. Parents appreciate being able to keep in contact with their kids, especially if there's an emergency. On the other hand, students, many of whom spend little time in their dorm rooms or apartments, like the flexibility and convenience of not having check if they’ve gone over their monthly allotted minutes.

Prepaid Mobile Broadband:
Another great gift of communication involves giving the gift of connectivity! Whether you are searching for a job, or the best price on a new pair of jeans, you need to be connected. Virgin Mobile’s Broadband2Go plans offer unlimited 3G, nationwide internet access for $40 a month with no contract. The Virgin Mobile MiFi device allows up 5 wireless enabled devices to connect at one time, so college roommates can share their gift all year long & divide the costs among themselves.

When you are selecting your gifts this year, be purposeful and try to give a gift that will keep on giving the whole year through. And Bunny, keep on calling, I love to hear how those finals are coming along!

Merry Christmas!
Ellie Kay
America’s Family Financial Expert ®

Stay in Touch with Skypes

Today was a day of mixed emotions for me and my family. We said goodbye to some very dear family members who are moving to Jerusalem permanently. They are going to do a noble work there and we know they will be happy and prosperous in their new home, but we will miss them so badly. It was hard to kiss the babies goodbye and know that the next time we see them they will have changed so very much. We cried more than a few tears and I even bought us some of the babies special shampoo so we can have it at home and remember how sweet they smell (maybe we'll bathe our puppies in the shampoo so they'll smell sweet, too!)

We do have a major consolation and that is the wonderful invention known as Skypes. By going to http://www.skypes.com/ we set up an internet account and can "talk" to our loved ones abroad for only pennies per minute! They accept all major credit cards and you can load your account with the currency of your choice. TIP: if you accidentally load with Euro, then don't convert to U.S. Dollars in the middle of the plan. Instead, use up all your Euro, then charge the new amount in dollars. This will save you the conversion costs.

We've got a webcam and so does our family in Israel, so the babies will be able to see us to remember who we are and we can watch them as they grow and hear the new words they are saying (in both English and Hebrew). We've also got a headset, which makes the sound much more clear. Sometimes Skypes will drop a call or there may be a delay in the transfer, but for the most part it's a marvelous and cost-effective way of staying in touch.

We not only use this to keep family close, but I use it when I'm away on business in a foreign country and want to call home. I used it when I was in China this past spring and it sounded like my family was across the street! Of course, when I accidentally called them at 3:00AM, they didn't sound quite so clear. The only possible problem is that Skypes comes into your phone system as an "unidentified" caller, so you might not be able to accept calls if your phone is set up to block unknown callers. I'm going to be going to Europe this coming week and plan on blogging and skyping my way through several countries.

Until next time!

Ellie Kay

"America's Family Financial Expert" (R)

www.elliekay.com

You Ever Washed a Cell Phone?

Yep. I did it again. I washed a phone that was stuck in a pair of jeans! What is the point of saving money if I'm going to have to spend it on new cell phones? Well, I stumbled across something amazing--a way to save a newly laundered phone! Print this message and post in on an inside cabinet in your laundry room because acting quickly is the key to saving that $150+ phone!
1. Don't push any buttons or try to use the phone at all.
2. Remove the battery right away and gently pat the phone and battery dry with a soft towel.
3. Get some rice in a plastic container and put the phone and battery (still separated) completely submerged in the rice. The rice absorbs the moisture from the phone and battery.
4. Leave in rice for 48 hours--without disturbing it.
5. Remove from rice and try it out!

Obviously this is not a guarantee of any kind, it depends on how badly the phone was washed and how quickly you get it on rice!

Until later,

Ellie Kay
"America's Family Financial Expert" (R)
http://www.elliekay.com/