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The Budget Stretcher
"Saving you money...One Dime at a Time!"
Week Of: August 6, 2007
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For the next few weeks I'm going to give away an ebook each
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The Big Book of Cookies
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***What's Inside***
Free Ebook Download
Subscriber's Tip of the Week 1
Coupon Savings
Grandpa Terry's Update
Credit Card Information
Grandpa Terry's Tip of the Week
Site of the Week
Grandpa Terry's Email
Subscriber's Tip of the Week 2
Subscriber's Tip of the Week 3
This Week's Articles
Special Recipe - Lunch Box Recipes and Ideas
Watch for next week's newsletter featuring:
Save on back-to-school shopping
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Subscriber Tip
When my girls were small I saved tons of money by shopping at
thrift shops only when items were 50-75% off; even then I only
bought brand names in like-new condition. When they outgrew PJs
and nightgowns I used the same strategy, going to a shop that I
knew priced the sleepwear at $1.98 at 70% off. The better stuff
holds up, I handed them down from one daughter to the other. I
also shopped out of season at Kmart, which had a policy of
allowing customers to lay-away clearance items without any
further reductions. I would estimate their sizes for the next
season and take them on a &"shopping spree"; for new clothes
until they were about ten. Even the checkout person was amazed
when she saw what I'd bought; then she realized she that could
do the same and get a 20% discount! I also loaded up on under
things and socks this way (I would fill a shelf)when they were
very inexpensive and dress clothes for the next season can be
bought his way. It allowed me to save to buy more expensive
shoes and coats. I also watched the sale ads and bought my work
clothes that way for my first office job (I went to college in
my 40s!). And absolutely, yard sales are great for kids clothes
too. If children are given the correct thinking about clothing
and other personal possessions, they will not be ashamed of
doing this. I found out that most people didn't know my
&"secret"; . My budget for family clothing was about $400 per
year when the average for a family of four was $4, 000!
Val
All you have to do is submit a "Subscriber Tip" and if it
appears in The Budget Stretcher you will get your choice of
either The Complete Budget and Bill Organizer Download or 10 of
my Budget and Credit Card Calculating Forms.
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Coupon Savings
by Michelle Jones
If you think your town or nearby city may have a food bank but
you're not sure where it is, check out The Nation's Food Bank
center by entering your zip code right on the front page! Also,
if you don't have time to check them out today you can visit
Second Harvest from our grocery site through the banner (which
is usually located either at the top or bottom of every page).
If you would like to help but are not able to donate food or
money at this time you can also search for "volunteer
opportunities" once you locate the center nearest you. As with
most charities, I am sure, any help is appreciated!
Save hundreds of dollars on your groceries each month, with or
without using coupons! Read more of Michelle's FREE grocery
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Grandpa Terry's Update
Welcome to The Budget Stretcher!
This is my annual Back to School issue. Hopefully, you will
find something you can use to save a little time and money.
I wanted to reprint the links for back to school that I used
in last year's issue:
Back to School
Thrifty Fun
Back To School Resource Center
Family Education
Back to School for Kids With Special Needs
Back to school savings guide
5 Tips: How to get deals on books, computers and more.
By Gerri Willis, CNN/Money contributing columnist
Back to School - First Gov.gov
I think that should keep you busy for a while. I hope this issue
makes sending your kids back to school just a little easier.
If you have any back to school ideas I can run them next week.
That's all for now. Remember, I really enjoy hearing from you
folks. If you have any comments, complaints, suggestions or just
want to say Hi, please send me an email to
If you know someone that may be interested in subscribing to our
newsletter just have them visit:
Have a great week,
Grandpa Terry
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Credit Card Information
Too Soon To Ditch Cash
By Jeremy Simon
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Grandpa Terry's Tip of the Week
Save On School Supplies (Reprinted from Jul 28, 2003
Newsletter)
I was interviewed by a lady recently for an article that will
appear on an investment web site that will run in their
publication in the next week or so.
Her topic was saving money on school supplies for elementary
school age kids. I was able to come up with a few suggestions
that I thought might help and I did a little research on the web
to come up with a few more.
I thought you all might be interested in seeing the list.
Start out by checking to see what you already have that might
be used for the upcoming school year. This includes school
supplies and school clothes. Once you have determined what you
have that can be used you will need to make a list of what you
need.
If you have older kids see if any of their leftover school
supplies can be used.
Check with your friends and family to see if they have any
supplies you can barter.
Collect as many Back to School flyers from your newspaper as
you can to see what items you can save money on from your list.
Pay cash for your back to school purchases. The interest on
credit cards can easily eat up any savings you managed to get.
Check the Dollar Stores. They normally carry some items you
might need at very affordable prices.
Try to buy your back to school items without the kids along.
This may be a little difficult when you are buying their clothes
but it could save you a bundle and a lot of headaches.
Always store your school supplies in one location to make sure
you can find them when you need them. This will save you money
later on.
Be skeptical of the initial list you receive from the teacher.
It is best to buy the basics first and the rest after you see
exactly what they need.
Put your child's name on everything.
Check to see if you are eligible for free or reduced lunches at
school. If not consider packing your child's lunch.
Buy your kid's clothes just a little large. This may delay
replacing them.
Instruct your kids that their school clothes are just for
school. If they want to play after school they have to change in
to play clothes.
It's too late for this year but you may want to start your back
to school shopping much earlier if you find items on sale. As
fast as kids grow at this age it may not be a good idea to buy
their clothes early.
I hope this helps!
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Site of the Week
Freezer Smarts.com
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Grandpa Terry's Email
Can You Help This Subscriber? Email me at tre2000@midwest.net
if you can help.
I am also looking for a hard drive for my mom. She has a
monitor and a keyboard. We had a flood back in April and we lost
most of our stuff because it was an act of god insurance won't
pay for anything. I was fixing my mom's computer and now that's
gone too. Are there any places that you know that can help
families like us. I am not lying about this...This whole event
has made my family closer. My husband is in a wheelchair and it
has been a very difficult time for him and it is hard for him to
get out of the depression he had. Thanks for listening and God
Bless everyone at the budget stretcher....you really understand
the little guy.
Marcia
-------
Hi Terry,
I have been mystery shopping for 2 years now. The best place to
for any of the companies listed here. You also cannot expect to
make a living doing this. I started doing this after I retired
and it's a good source for pocket change. Most companies pay
through PayPal so you need an account with them.
Martha
-------
My fellow mystery shoppers might be very upset with me sharing
this information, but the best places to find legitimate mystery
search for mystery shopping. Both of these are ways and places
that I have found lots of companies to work for over the past
two plus years. All mystery shoppers seem to agree - NEVER pay
to become a mystery shopper!
A mystery shopper
-------
Hey Terry...
In response to Rodney's comment about Sears, I am so aggravated
to hear that! I worked for Walmart/Sam's Club for thirteen
years. When I left (under great terms, and an offer to return at
any time) for another job, I was making over $14 an hour. When I
decided, I had made a terrible mistake, and wanted to come back,
I was offered $8.40 an hour, and that included extra for being a
long-time former associate, and having 25 years of retail
experience. On top of drastically lowering the pay scale, they
raised the amount associates pay for health insurance, etc. At
that particular location, it would have been difficult to even
put gas in my car with that amount of money, and the other
close by locations all had a "hiring freeze". Sometimes I wonder
how any of us survive. I live alone, have no credit cards,
no medicals bills, no extravagant habits, etc, and I live
paycheck to paycheck, with no extra EVER, for vacations,
unexpected car repairs, etc.
Suzy
-------
Dear Grandpa Terry,
Please suggest to Linda, the lady who was asking whether to
cash in the life insurance policy, to consider carrying some
sort of life insurance, or maybe a CD or Money Market fund or
something to cover her funeral and other final costs for the
sake of those who will be left behind. I speak from experience.
My Mom died unexpectedly in January of 2003. She had a minimal,
$2,000.00 policy. She had meant to increase it, but never got
around to it. Her funeral expenses alone were $12, 500.00, even
though we had only a basic, simple funeral, with a public
viewing and private grave side service for the family, and a
mid-priced casket and vault. Nothing fancy or extravagant. That
price also did not cover the cost of the grave marker. Funerals
aren't cheap!
Catherine
-------
Hi Terry (and Suzy),
I belong to a secret shopper program. The website is
and visited but have not signed up for yet is
different mystery shop organizations that you can apply to in
order to become a shopper for them. Just understand if you
choose to do something like this, it is not a way to make a
living, especially in the beginning. It can be fun but you will
need to be very observant, have a good eye for detail, have a
good memory for the information asked for and keep good records
that might need to be accessed for up to six months later. When
I do mine, I schedule several in a day and plan my route so I
will not have to waste much time or gas. I do this a couple of
times a month. You might also like to keep records of mileage
for tax purposes. Good luck if you decide to do this and have
fun, just don't expect it to be quite as glamorous as most of
the ads make it sound.
Well wishes,
Lynn D.
-------
Dear Grandpa Terry,
The below listed link is to a real secret shopper company that
Suzy can apply to. I can vouch for them because I have worked
for them. There is no fee to join. It can be a lot of fun,
however, if money is tight it will limit the kind of shops you
can do. I couldn't afford to do the restaurant shops but thought
they looked like great fun.
For shops involving checking out retail staff performance, you
often have to buy something nominal, then return it. You have to
provide your money for any gas and/or tolls required to get to
the shop site, and you have to have enough money to make the
purchase. You do the shop, submit an online report, and are paid
the following month after the month in which you did the shop,
so there is a down time for getting paid.
For restaurant shops, you have to pay for your meal and a
guest. You submit your receipts and report, and are reimbursed
for both meals plus paid a flat fee, again the month after the
month in which you did the shop.
You also need to have a Paypal account to be paid by most
secret shopper companies.
One word of advice: do each shop as soon as it is assigned to
you, and be very prompt in turning in your report. If you
establish a reputation for 100% reliability, the scheduler will
send more and more work your way. Conversely, if you screw up
even once, it could cost you future shops, because the
scheduler's get a lot of grief from their bosses if shops are
assigned and not completed. Good luck!
Catherine
Grandpa Terry,
Here is another legitimate secret shopper company for the lady
who was interested.
Catherine
-------
Submitted by Suzy. "True/Not True, it doesn't matter. It's
something to think about!
"3900 Saturdays"
The older I get, the more I enjoy Saturday mornings. Perhaps
it's the quiet solitude that comes with being the first to rise,
or maybe it's the unbounded joy of not having to be at work.
Either way, the first few hours of a Saturday morning are most
enjoyable.
A few weeks ago, I was shuffling toward the garage with a
steaming cup of coffee in one hand and the morning paper in the
other. What began as a typical Saturday morning turned into one
of those lessons that life seems to hand you from time to time.
Let me tell you about it:
I turned the dial up into the phone portion of the band on my
ham radio in order to listen to a Saturday morning swap net.
Along the way, I came across an older sounding chap, with a
tremendous signal and a golden voice. You know the kind; he
sounded like he should be in the broadcasting business. He was
telling whom-ever he was talking with something about "a
thousand marbles." I was intrigued and stopped to listen to what
he had to say
"Well, Tom, it sure sounds like you're busy with your job. I'm
sure they pay you well but it's a shame you have to be away from
home and your family so much. Hard to believe a young fellow
should have to work sixty or seventy hours a week to make ends
meet. It's too bad you missed your daughter's "dance recital" he
continued. ; "Let me tell you something that has helped me keep
my own priorities." And that's when he began to explain his
theory of a "thousand marbles."
"You see, I sat down one day and did a little arithmetic. The
average person lives about seventy-five years. I know, some live
more and some live less, but on average, folks live about
seventy-five years.
"Now then, I multiplied 75 times 52 and I came up with 3900,
which is the number of Saturdays that the average person has in
their entire lifetime. Now, stick with me, Tom, I'm getting to
the important part.
It took me until I was fifty-five years old to think about all
this in any detail", he went on, "and by that time I had lived
through over twenty-eight hundred Saturdays." "I got to thinking
that if I lived to be seventy-five, I only had about a thousand
of them left to enjoy. So I went to a toy store and bought every
single marble they had. I ended up having to visit three toy
stores to round up 1000 marbles I took them home and put them
inside a large, clear plastic container right here in the shack
next to my gear."
"Every Saturday since then, I have taken one marble out and
thrown it away. I found that by watching the marbles diminish, I
focused more on the really important things in life.
There's nothing like watching your time here on this earth run
out to help get your priorities straight."
"Now let me tell you one last thing before I sign-off with you
and take my lovely wife out for breakfast. This morning, I took
the very last marble out of the container. I figure that if I
make it until next Saturday then I have been given a little
extra time. And the one thing we can all use is a little more
time."
"It was nice to meet you Tom, I hope you spend more time with
your family, and I hope to meet you again here on the band. This
is a 75 Year old Man, K9NZQ, clear and going QRT, good morning!"
You could have heard a pin drop on the band when this fellow
signed off. I guess he gave us all a lot to think about. I had
planned to work on the antenna that morning, and then I was
going to meet up with a few hams to work on the next club
newsletter.
Instead, I went upstairs and woke my wife up with a kiss.
"C'mon honey, I'm taking you and the kids to breakfast." "What
brought this on?" she asked with a smile. "Oh, nothing special,
it's just been a long time since we spent a Saturday together
with the kids. And hey, can we stop at a toy store while we're
out? I need to buy some marbles.
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Subscriber Tip
I wanted to send you a web-site that has saved my families
thousands of dollars on glasses due to my son being legally
blind and losing his glasses all the time or either breaking
them in sports functions that he belongs to. The web-site is
girlfriend showed me the web-site and I am forever in-debted to
her........
Marcia
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Subscriber Tip
I house-trained my Chihuahua/mix dog to use "pee pads" in my
apartment so I don't have to walk her when it's cold out. This
worked well for me until I got a second dog. My English Springer
Spaniel, who is trained to outdoors, started to use the
pee-pads. He's a big boy, so even though I only buy them on
sale, it was getting expensive. I had to try something -
anything!
I saw a close-out on holiday design plastic tablecloths for
$1.00 each and had a brainstorm. I removed the pee pads and put
down the plastic tablecloth with old newspaper on top of it.
Both dogs used it just like normal. So far, so good, however….
On occasion, the tablecloth would ‘migrate' a few inches and
the dogs would ‘miss'. I needed something that would not move
and remembered a camper that had a sort of "stable but removable
plastic film" stuck to the carpet to protect it. I did some
research and bought a roll of carpet mask - self adhesive carpet
protection. I stuck this "plastic film" to the carpet and put
the newspapers on top of it. Voila! Problem solved.
Judy
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This Week's Article Links
Just click the links to view the article
Back to school, or back to the poor house?
By Tawra Kellam
Back To School Clothes On A Budget
by Kim Danger
Turn back-to-school shopping into a learning adventure
By Amy C. Fleitas • Bankrate.com
Back to School Shopping Blues
By Patti Chadwick
To read more articles visit:
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Special Recipe
Lunch Box Recipes and Ideas
Easy Ritz Cracker Snack
From Diana Rattray,
Your Guide to Southern U.S. Cuisine.
INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup marshmallow cream
1/2 cup peanut butter
48 Ritz Crackers
1 1/4 cups semisweet chocolate chips,
melted
1 cup flaked coconut or chopped nuts
PREPARATION:
Spread about 1 teaspoon peanut butter on 24
of the Ritz crackers. Spread 1 teaspoon
Marshmallow Creme on remaining crackers.
Sandwich crackers together, using one peanut
butter and one marshmallow, then dip in melted
chocolate or white chocolate (almond bark),
and roll in coconut or finely chopped nuts to coat.
Set crackers on waxed paper and let stand until
chocolate sets. Store in air-tight container for
up to one week. Makes 24
Get many more ideas for packing a lunch box:
This recipe compliments of The Best Cookbook Anywhere
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Everyday Savings
These Tips provided by The Frugal Shopper
Please show your appreciation for these great tips by visiting
this site.
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Contact Information:
Budget Stretcher
1203 Madison 228
Fredericktown, MO 63645
FAX: 573-783-5982
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Disclaimer: This newsletter is only intended to provide
information on proper money management. Budget Stretcher or
Terry Rigg can not accept responsibility for any injury or
damage that may be caused to yourself, others, or property when
following any advice given.
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