Showing posts with label Money Saving. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Money Saving. Show all posts

Friday, January 9, 2009

Upromise

I'm sure many of you have seen this program at your local Publix supermarket. They do a great job promoting it. I grabbed a flyer one day months ago and put off joining until late in November. Man, am I glad I joined before the Christmas Shopping season!

If you are not familiar with the program, visit www.upromise.com as soon as you finish reading this post.

Upromise is a program developed to help you save for college through your normal everyday spending. You can register your Kroger Plus Card, Publix Card (they have one specifically for Upromise), your Harris Teeter card, etc, etc. Then you can register your Debit Card and any time you use that card to eat out at participating restaurants, a small % of what you spend will be deposited in your Upromise account as savings for college. BUT, the most productive way to save is by shopping online through the Upromise site. It links to Macys.com, Kohls.com, Shutterfly, SnapFish, Vista Print (just to name a few) and any time you shop on those sites, a % of what you spend is deposited into your Upromise account for college savings.

As of today, Dave and I have saved over $20 for Hope's college fund! We can link our account to her 529 Savings Plan so the money is invested as well. The most amazing thing about the program is you are saving without even thinking about it! You can ask your family to link to your account so every time grandma and grandpa spend money, they can save for college as well!

The program is free and although $20 in one month doesn't seem like much, over 18 years it will add up. The thought of paying for college in 18 years is so overwhelming. At least this little effort takes some of the pressure off.

I hope it works well for all you mommies out there! Now you have a very noble excuse to purchase things online!

Happy Shopping. . .I mean, College Saving!

Monday, February 25, 2008

Consignment Mania!

Goodness. I had no idea I hadn't written in almost 2 weeks! Life has gotten a little crazy this month. And there's still so much to do before the baby comes. Yikes! I'm sure all of us moms-to-be feel the pressure hang over us as we approach our due dates. I'm just trying to take it one thing at a time. And did my mention that my mom lives across the street now? She is a total blessing to me. I don't know how I would make it through this transition without her.

So I went to my first Kids Consignment Sale on Saturday. It was a HUGE one. My sister-in-law took me. It was actually, really fun. A little overwhelming with all of that stuff to pick through. But I ended up finding a few great items. A couple of things from my registry that were in great condition and 1/2 the price! I gotta tell you though. . . there were some serious, "consignment moms" there! These women are second-hand pros! They had their systems down pat, complete with shopping buddies, shopping carts and blankets to spread out on the floor right in the middle of the sale and go over their finds before making their final purchases. It was intense! I could see how someone could get sucked in. Although I don't really like the idea of getting there early and beating the other women to the best deals. I can't take the pressure! I'm sure I'll go again sometime. The most fun part is that you never know what you are going to find. If you keep your expectations low, you'll be so excited to find whatever you do!

Oh, I almost forgot. . . I didn't really share much after our last doctor appointment. One issue that came up was an umbilical hernia that I have. Just a silly, little hernia that is behind my belly button. But now that my belly is getting big, it's also growing. This morning I went in to see a surgeon. He was to tell me if I would need surgery before I had the baby. I wasn't very worried (thus my failure to even post about it) but I was so glad to hear the surgeon tell me he wasn't concerned and I could take care of it after she is born. Praise the Lord! It's one more hurdle we've had to jump over. . . but it means we're one hurdle closer to the finish line. Woo hoo!

I'm winding down my second trimester and I can't believe it's going by so fast. I can't even explain (although I'm sure all of you that are moms understand) just how much I cannot wait to finally see what she looks like and hold her. I'm savoring the quiet and the freedom we have right now. I know it will never be the same!