A resource historically only available in classrooms has moved online to seize on a "national teachable moment" and make saving money a lifelong habit.
The Teach Children to Save Web site offers tips for children and parents on how to make budgets, start savings accounts and make regular deposits.
Results tagged “money” from Daily Link
My daughter has been in the public school system all of a month, and I have already spent a small fortune on things like magazine subscriptions, a school sweatshirt, an earthquake kit, PTA memberships, class pictures and teacher supplies. But then I come to work and read about budget cuts and bond measures, feel guilty for complaining and order some overpriced, shiny, retro gift wrap.
If you're feeling my pain, here are some ideas culled from PTA Web sites around the South Bay to help schools without going bankrupt yourself. By the way, these work even if you don't have kids. Pick a school in your hood, your alma mater or a mascot you like and hook them up with some corporate donations that won't cost you one extra cent.
RAID YOUR PANTRY
There are a couple of programs that may have been around when you were in school that are still going strong. You clip labels from cans of soup, cereal boxes and a bunch of other stuff and your school gets points toward buying something from some catalogs of stuff. Save them up and then send them to school with your kid now and then. I have a Ziploc baggie (the Ziploc box has points!) hanging on my fridge so they don't get lost.
If you don't have a kid to send them to school with, you can give them to a neighbor who does or drop them by the school of your choice at some point during the year. They'll take free money from anyone, trust me.
Check out these Web sites for more info:
Box Tops 4 Education
Site lists participating products, random contests to earn extra points, and other programs that give a kickback like 6% on purchases at barnes&noble.com when you buy through the "reading room."
Campbell's Labels for Education
Site lists participating products and how-to tips.
MAKE YOUR SHOPPING COUNT
eScrip
Register your credit, debit and grocery club cards and participating stores will give a percentage to the school you want to support. Macys, Vons, Pavillions and Hows are some of the biggies that participate in this program.
South Bay Galleria
You buy whatever you're going to buy anyway and then show your receipt to the guest services people to earn points for the school of your choice.
Ralphs
Register your Ralphs loyalty card and you'll earn a percentage for your school based on how much you spend per month.
Albertsons
Link your loyalty card to your school and earn some percentage of your expenditures.
Target
Register your Target credit card and get 1% of your purchases donated to the school of your choice. The Web site let's you track how much your school is getting. For example, Mira Costa High School in Manhattan Beach has 232 designated card holders and it earned about $1,750 in September. That's a pretty good kickback for buying shampoo and toilet paper.
The Democratic and Republican conventions are over, and the presidential campaigns are in high gear. John McCain and Barack Obama are competing in one of the most exciting election years in recent memory -- and likely to be the most expensive.
So just who is paying for all of this?
And, do contributions end up influencing positions -- or the wording of law?
As Deep Throat famously said in the 1976 Watergate-scandal film "All the President's Men": "Follow the Money."
Now you can.
Open Secrets is here to help.
The Open Secrets Web site is the most visible service provided by the Washington-based Center for Responsive Politics, a nonprofit research organization not affiliated with any political parties. The center says its activities are funded through individual donations and foundation grants, and that it does not take money from businesses, trade groups or unions.
The center combs through volumes of campaign finance data and makes it easy to search by who is receiving money, and from whom. The money can be screened by region, individual or corporate contributions, and economic sector. Besides the presidential races, data are also available for congressional races and funding by party.
In the 2008 race, Obama is far ahead of McCain in the fundraising game. Through July, the Democratic nominee has raised more than $389 million. The campaign has more than $65 million cash on hand, and debts are $915,894.
The McCain campaign has amassed an impressive record itself. The Republican's candidacy has raised more than $174 million, with more than $32 million in cash on hand. McCain has more than $2 million in campaign debts.
Obama received more than $37 million in contributions from California donors. John McCain received more than $17 million from the state. California contributed the most money -- more than $109 million -- out of any state.
Altogether, 2008 is looking to be the single most expensive campaign year ever. About $942 million has been spent in 2008 -- so far. By November, it's not inconceivable that America will have gone through its first billion-dollar campaign. The lowest figure for presidential contributions was about $161 million in 1980. The number has steadily increased ever since.
Did you know that the average U.S. household throws out a quarter of the produce it buys each year because of spoilage? For a family of four, that adds up to about $500 a year, according to a University of Arizona study cited in a recent Associated Press article.
And with most of us doing some economic belt-tightening, you don't really want to throw away your money like that, do you?
We didn't think so -- especially with food prices expected to rise up to 5.5 percent this year. To help, we have some Web sites that will teach you how to buy and store fruit and vegetables so they don't go bad before you're ready to devour them.
One great source is provided by the Henrys Market chain. Writer Shelley Levitt's "Spoiled Rotten" article offers extensive advice, and assures us that you don't have to go to the market every day to buy produce: "With proper storage and a little planning, you can enjoy fresh fruits and vegetables with just a single weekly trip to the supermarket." Levitt accomplishes this with a list of "Fastest to Slowest Spoilers -- What to Eat First." Levitt will also clue you in on what to refrigerate and what not to refrigerate.
If you're in a hurry, here are eight steps to keeping things fresh. Check, for example, Step 3: "Do not store fruits or vegetables in airtight bags. This prevents them from releasing gases and breathing. When fruits and vegetables are suffocated, they will spoil faster."
RELATED LINK:
L.A. Farm Girl on where to get the best produce in the South Bay
Find a Farmer's Market every day in the South Bay
Get bigger savings from your newspaper coupons
10 ways to live beneath your means
Database of South Bay eateries where kids eat free
Blogger Jay White says he retired at age 51.
It’s not clear if buying store brands and brown-bagging lunch played a huge role in making that possible, but those tricks are listed here among the 10 “smartest ways to live beneath your means”.
The bigger picture is to avoid being taken in by advertising — and to save.
REALTED LINKS:
Cheap stamps forever
Free financial planning software
Make money through recycling
Mint.com money management tools
Help with gas prices
Rent comparisions
Bargain Hunter blog
Are you in the habit of throwing money in the trash? You may not realize it, but that's just what you might be doing when you throw a bottle or can away instead of recycling. At Bottles and Cans find out just what can be recycled and how much you can make with little effort.
Want to know which candidates your neighbors and coworkers are supporting for the 2008 election? Or, are you curious about which celebrities are politically active, and how much they give to their respective causes? This site answers those questions and more--including an overview of past and present elections, new contribution limit guidelines and details on which parties are raising the most. Click here to start looking up contributions by donors you may know.
