Print Free Kids Valentines

Kids love to exchange valentines on Valentine's Day. Valentines are going up in price just like everything else. How about a green, creative, money saving option? Free printable valentines for school exchanges? Here are many to choose from--funny, romantic, cute, cartoon--many styles! Mostly free with your printer!  Free Printable Valentines for Kids

Protein, Meat Food Swaps to Cut Calories

I started dieting 18 months ago. I wanted to lose weight and develop healthier eating. Initially I ate a vegan-vegetarian diet. Since then, I've tweaked my protein intake to include healthier meats and protein sources. Using these food switches, I've cut out roughly 1,000 calories a day. I've also saved roughly $8-10 a week per person per week on groceries. Those savings apply to homecooked meals. Money savings are higher when meat-based restaurant meals. Protein Swaps for Weight Loss

Money Tips for Welfare Recipient Parents

"Octomom" Nadya Suleman, the single mom of 14 (including octuplets) is back on welfare again, says TMZ. Suleman is an extreme example of negative welfare stereotype. But her unhealthy financial choices highlight key issues that we can all learn from. Here are money tips for parents on welfare, culled from five months when we received food stamps and Medicaid. Right off the bat, let me say that the tone of this article may seem preachy. I heard the discussions on whether we taxpayers should be able to tell welfare recipients how to their spend money. I say yes we who are frugal should be able to. It's our money after all. Am I saying that all welfare recipients spend foolishly? Of course not. But those who do who make it difficult for those who don't. Sometimes folks can't get the help they need because others are wasting those governmental dollars. There's only just so much to go around. Even those of us who aren't on government assistance, though we live frugally, will need it if we don't all trim our spending. Spending Tips for Welfare Recipients

How I Paid Off Student Loan Debt in 18 Months

 I paid off $22,000 in student loans accrued for my college age kids in 18 months. How did I accomplish this? What secrets did I use? My strategies for loan repayment are no different than those I used for paying off other debt. I use the old Nike shoe maxim--"Just Do It." Here's how it worked.

Make big (and I mean big) payments. Paying off a large loan is like swimming in Lake Michigan when it's cold. You've got to dive in quick and get it over with. Going in gingerly just prolongs it. With students loans, making small, ineffectual minimum monthly payments just compounds the interest and inflates debt to elephantine proportions. During the loan repayment, I made $1,500 payments monthly. Read more