Some kids have a natural love of reading. Others need a little encouragement. The best thing we can do as parents is provide them with books that are challenging and educational, yet entertaining. This can get expensive if you buy lots of new books, but there are ways to keep your child reading for cheap or free. Here are some ideas:

1. Go to the library. This is the best place for anyone to read for free, and most public libraries have a large selection of children’s books. Best of all, the librarian can help you find books that are appropriate for your child’s age and skill level, so there’s no guesswork.

2. Look for used books online. There are entire sites that specialize in used books in various genres. Amazon.com is also a good place to look. They sell both new and used books, and they make it easy to compare prices among their sellers. You could also try eBay if you’re interested in buying used books in lots.

3. Check garage sales. When having a sale, parents often go through their children’s toys and books and get rid of the ones they’ve outgrown. The books you’ll find often sell for a dollar or less each, so you can pick up several of them for what you would pay for one new book.

4. Visit your local thrift shop. These stores often sell donated items at rock bottom prices. Not every thrift store sells books, but it doesn’t hurt to ask. If they do, you could find some wonderful deals.

5. Make a trip to your local book exchange. These places will take your used books and give you credit toward books that others have brought in. This is a great way to get rid of your kids’ old books and get more that are appropriate for their current reading level.

6. Find a closeout book store. These stores sell books that are no longer being published at discount prices. If you can’t find one in your local area, check online.

7. Check your newspaper’s classified ads or your local trading post publication. You probably won’t find many individual books for sale, but parents sometimes advertise kids’ entire book collections if they want to get rid of them without having a garage sale. You can often find large lots of books at very low prices this way.

8. Find a source of hand-me-down books. If you have a friend with a child a year or two older than yours, you could ask what she’s going to do with the books her child outgrows. She might offer to sell them to you. There’s also a chance that she will be willing to pass them along for free.

Fostering a love of reading while your child is young will benefit her for the rest of her life. And you don’t have to spend a fortune on new books to do it. Used books and books borrowed from the library have just as much value as those purchased from a bookstore, and they’re much easier on your wallet.

Originating post: How To Save Money On Kid’s Books for This Summer

How To Save Money On Kid’s Books for This Summer is a post from: The Family Wallet.

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Water Gun Shootouts – Older kids love paintball, but who can afford expensive gear and rental fees at paintball facilities. Instead, you could organize water gun shootouts. Use your own backyard for the battle zone and arm each of the kids with cheap water guns from a dollar store. Keep plenty of towels at the back door to dry your combatants when the battle is over. Before you know it, every kid in the neighborhood will want to play at your house.

Backyard Camping – Camping out never gets old for youngsters, but a trip to a state park may not be in your family’s vacation budget this. Don’t worry; you can have all of the same excitement in your own backyard. Pitch a tent (you can borrow a neighbor’s if you don’t have your own) in the backyard and your kids will be in camping heaven. You can lead ” hiking expeditions” to the park in the daytime and hunker down around the “campfire” to tell ghost stories at night. Hot chocolate and s’mores pre-prepared in the kitchen will go a long way to making the imaginary campfire feel more realistic.

Summer Movie Programs – If movies are an important part of your family’s entertainment, your local movie theater may have the perfect way to keep your children happy for the summer. Look for summer movie programs that make it inexpensive to take your kids to an age-appropriate movie as often as you’d like. One theater chain offers an eight-week program that features two different movies each week. During the earlier part of the day (when the theater typically isn’t busy) the kids can enjoy one of the two movies. Membership to this program includes admission to eight movies for only $10. You can’t even rent eight movies for $10!

Originating post: Inexpensive Summer Fun Ideas For Kids

Inexpensive Summer Fun Ideas For Kids is a post from: The Family Wallet.

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The items that we have on hand are what determine how far our food will go. Filling your cabinets or pantry with a few useful staples can be the difference between a trip to the grocery store each and every week versus once or twice a month. Stocking just a few choice items is all you need to create wonderful meals.

1. Flour.
Flour is a starter item for many recipes. You can add it to some water and make gravy in the pan for many meat dishes. Flour is used to make bread (biscuits, rolls, loaves) and to coat chicken. It can also be used to coat a round or square cake pan to prevent the cake from sticking. Of course, one of the favorite uses for flour is in cookie recipes that make scrumptious desserts.

2. Rice.
My husband loves rice so much that we once bought a fifty pound bag from a grocery store in his hometown. Fifty pounds! Rice is a side dish, but it doesn’t have to be plain. It can be jazzed up with veggies to accompany dinner. My mother uses leftover rice for a dessert called sweet rice. Just add evaporated milk and some sugar to a bowl of rice and warm it in the microwave. It is a tasty treat for after dinner. Another popular dessert is rice pudding. Rice can also be mixed with leftover meat and a cream soup to form a casserole. Rice has many uses and your sure to find a few that your family will love.

3. Pasta.
There are many different pasta choices and all have great uses. Manicotti can be stuffed with tomato sauce and cheeses. Macaroni can be used to make a creamy salad and also is great combined with cheese or spaghetti sauce. Spiral pasta is used in many different pasta salads. Spaghetti can be used in a casserole topped with cheese or in the traditional way with tomato sauce and meat.

4. Spices.
There are other ways to season food besides salt and pepper. In fact, many spices taste better than salt. Even diehard salt-a-holics won’t miss the salt in foods if other seasonings are used. Cayenne pepper, chili powder, nutmeg, cinnamon, oregano, and garlic powder are all useful tools in your flavor arsenal to give foods a fresh new taste.

5. Beans.
There go those beans again. Beans can top your salad (edamame), make an awesome dip (black beans), and go well with grilled foods (baked beans). They provide a good source of protein with very little fat. Beans are good in soups, stews, and over rice for a simple yet filling meal.

Do you have these staples in your kitchen? You can probably think of several more that will enhance your pantry and save money. Start with these and grow your own list of basic kitchen staples that are versatile and economical.

Originating post: Save Money With These 5 Kitchen Staples

Save Money With These 5 Kitchen Staples is a post from: The Family Wallet.

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How Auto Insurance Is Priced
There are a number of different factors that go into pricing automobile insurance policies. Some of the primary criteria include:

•What Type of Vehicle You Drive.
Certainly, one of the key factors in the cost of your auto insurance is the type of vehicle that you drive. It goes without saying that fast sports cars will typically be more expensive to insure than more conservative vehicle models.

•How Often You Drive.
How often you are behind the wheel of your car is another important factor in auto insurance premium pricing. This is due in large part to the odds of you being in an accident. In other words, the more often you are driving, the higher the odds are that you may need to file an accident claim.

•Where You Live.
Where you live refers to the actual area of your city or town in which you reside. Some areas have higher crime rates than others and therefore, residents of these locations will likely need to pay more for auto insurance due to the potential for theft or vandalism.

•Your Age and Gender.
Although there is not a lot you can do about your age or your gender, these criteria also pay an important part in the pricing of your auto insurance. Typically, the accident rates for drivers under age 25 are higher than for those who are older. Research has also shown that males are somewhat more risky to insure than females when it comes to driving.

•Your Driving History.
Your driving history is a huge component of how your auto insurance policy will be priced. Here is where you can make a big difference by having a safe driving record. This can include avoiding things such as accidents as well as moving violations like speeding tickets.

Based on the numerous factors that go into pricing auto insurance, it is important to control the ones that you can such as practicing safe driving and owning a more conservative vehicle. In addition, there are other ways that some insurance companies may allow you to save even more on your premium. For example, if you insure your auto with the same company that also insures your home, you are likely to receive a multi-policy discount. Many insurance companies also offer discounts for good students as well as for driving accident-free for a certain amount of time.

Originating post: How to Save Money on Your Auto Insurance

How to Save Money on Your Auto Insurance is a post from: The Family Wallet.

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If you live in the country or the suburbs, you may be able to grow your own garden to provide your family with organic produce that you grow yourself.  However, we live in a suburb right outside of a large city, and there is no room to garden in our tiny yard.  Rather than give up on gardening, I began to explore other options and happened to find a community garden just a few blocks from our home.

Community Garden Benefits

If you are not familiar with the concept, a community garden is a plot of land that has several gardening plots that individuals can use to plant their own gardens.  If you don’t have enough land to garden on your own property or if you live in an apartment complex, a community garden can offer you a chance to grow your own produce.  There are some benefits to utilizing a community garden:

-Supply your family with organic produce while spending very little money.  Your expense here comes with the time you must spend caring for the garden rather than the money you must part with to buy food someone else has grown.

-Teach your children where food comes from and let them help you take care of the garden.  Most kids like to dig in the dirt and help water and care for the garden.  As an added bonus, once they see where the vegetables come from, they may be more likely to want to eat them.

-Membership is usually reasonable.  The community garden I plan to use this summer only charges $20 per summer.  If we maintain our garden and follow all of the rules of upkeep such as taking care of weeds and bug infested plants, we will get the $20 back at the end of the season.

-Have the opportunity to help others.  Many community gardens produce an abundance of produce, so many gardeners give away their excess to local food pantries and homeless shelters.  If your garden produces more than you and your family consume, you will be able to help others by donating.

You can find a community garden near you by simply typing in your city name and “community garden” in your favorite Internet search engine.  I found several community gardens close to me this way.  Alternatively, Local Harvest also offers a search engine to help you find nearby community gardens.

If you would like to nearly eliminate your grocery expense for fresh produce and would like to feed your family organic produce, community gardening may be for you.  In return for your hard work growing a garden, you can feed your family wholesome foods fresh from the garden for several months of the year.

Originating post: Save on Food Costs with a Community Garden

Save on Food Costs with a Community Garden is a post from: The Family Wallet.

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Does this happen in your house, too? Do you cave in and buy them the latest must-have game, or do you stand your ground and protect your budget? In our house, we’ve found a way to try to do a little bit of both. It takes a little extra work and little patience from the kids, but we’ve developed a few tricks that allow the adults and the kids to live in harmony.

Purchase used games.
Families all over the country experience the same phenomena. Children insist that a certain game is the game that they must have. However, once they’ve played the game once or twice, they realize that the game isn’t as much fun as they thought it was going to be. These games make their way to secondhand video game stores. These stores are the only place that we buy videogames now. We can get games discounted to almost 50% less than their normal retail price.

Purchase aftermarket accessories.
I have to admit that we succumbed to temptation last year and bought our family a Wii. However, we did find a way to save on all of the little accessories that go along with playing with the Wii system. We bought aftermarket pieces like the steering wheels and charging stations for a fraction of the price of the ones that have the Nintendo logo on them. The kids don’t know the difference.

Preview games before buying.
To avoid being the disappointed family I described in Tip #1, we preview a lot of our games before we buy them. How do we do that? Well, we rent them at places like Game Rush. Sure, it costs a few dollars. But I figure it’s better to spend a few bucks and find out that we don’t enjoy a game than it is to spend $40 on a game and then find out we don’t like it.

Visit eBay.
I love scoring video games on eBay. Games, accessories, and even game systems are all over this popular auction-based website. I even found our Wii for a bargain price there.

What tips do you have for saving money on video games?

Originating post: Money Saving Tips for Buying Video Games

Money Saving Tips for Buying Video Games is a post from: The Family Wallet.

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When you open a savings account, you are given a passbook. Every time you make a deposit or withdrawal, the amount is recorded in the passbook.

Let’s say, for example, that you have an online business where payments are made to you through PayPal and then transferred to your savings account.

While you may know how much you have deposited into your account utilizing a PayPal printout, it is still important to update the passbook whenever possible. This way, you can be sure that the funds you have deposited are noted in the passbook. You also want to receive the quarterly interest from your bank.

Unlike a family budget where you have to record expenditures and income, the passbook does the work for you. Each time you make a deposit or withdrawal, it is duly recorded.

The discipline needed is in cases when you cash a paycheck and set aside money to deposit into your savings account. Both can be accomplished in one visit to the bank. If you keep deposit slips in the glove compartment of your car or in your purse, you can easily make the two transactions at the same time.

On the other hand, if you merely cash your paycheck at the bank and take the money home, there is no inducement to fill out the deposit slip until another day. Perhaps you decide that you do not want to deposit the amount you initially set aside. Or perhaps you have a deposit slip already made out but decide to rip it up because you need a few extra dollars for something else.

Let’s face it; we have all been guilty of changing those deposit slips ? even with the best intentions. But doing so sets a pattern for future deposits. This is where the discipline part of saving can make all the difference.

In these difficult economic times, we cannot afford to change the numbers that can adversely affect our savings. If the household budget calls for depositing a certain amount of money into the savings account, then that is the amount that needs to be deposited. No ifs, ands, or buts.

It’s quite easy to say we will make up the difference the following month, but the odds are that will never happen.

If you have a budget that requires a specific amount of money to be deposited in the bank weekly, bi-monthly, or monthly ? try to stick to the budget. That is the true test of discipline and your willingness to abide by your own financial policy.

Originating post: Stay Disciplined With Your Savings To See Your Money Grow

Stay Disciplined With Your Savings To See Your Money Grow is a post from: The Family Wallet.

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Grocery Items
For instance, you can buy Jell-O brand chocolate pudding and pay more than you would for Food Club brand chocolate pudding, but the taste difference is slight. They both taste the same when you eat it. You can save an average of forty percent on an average grocery bill by buying store names rather than brand names.

Medicine and Supplies
The same goes for over the counter drugs and medical supplies. Walgreen’s ibuprofens are just as effective as Tylenol regular strength. The same goes for prescription drugs. Naproxen will cost you about twenty dollars without a prescription card, but Walgreen’s extra strength Ibuprofen will do the same and cost a lot less. However, some prescription drugs are needed and can be talked over with your doctor.

Clothing
Clothes are another expense that can be lowered by choosing store names over brand names. Wal-Mart, JC Penney’s and even Sears have store name clothes that are just as nice as brand names. You can buy double the amount of clothes when you buy store name clothes rather than buying brand name clothes.

In some cases, you can also buy store brand tools. However, many men and some women will disagree. Craftsman is a popular tool brand name and it can be expensive. Store brand names or other cheaper name brands could save you hundreds of dollars. Yes, some cheaper tools will not last for those tough jobs, but if you need a sander or a set of household screwdrivers, store names will do just fine.

You just need to compare and you will see the savings without losing quality when saving money.

What store brands have you found work for you?

Originating post: {Save Money} – Brand Names Versus Store Brands

{Save Money} – Brand Names Versus Store Brands is a post from: The Family Wallet.

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Get Free Boxes
Don’t waste money buying boxes from a moving company.  Instead, call your local grocery store and ask them to save some boxes for you.  Most stores are glad to break down the boxes and save them for you if you come in within a reasonable amount of time.

Check Moving Companies’ Reviews on Yelp
Yelp.com is a great resource.  There you can find reviews on all of the moving companies in your area.  Reviews are rated based on five stars (five being the highest, one being the lowest).  In addition, reviewers often give lengthy comments based on their experience.  If you don’t know what moving companies are in your area, simply enter your city into Yelp along with the words “moving companies” and Yelp will pull up all of the moving companies in your area with reviews.  Read through a handful of reviews for each company before calling any for a quote.

Call Several Moving Companies for a Quote
Moving companies’ quotes vary considerably.  Have a list of all items you will need moved (boxes and furniture, namely), how many floors you have, and where you will be moving to.  Take careful notes on their quotes.  Some may under quote how long it will take (and then charge you more later), but you won’t know it is an under quote until you compare what other moving companies say.

Move in the Off Season if You Can
The off season for many moving companies is December through February.  If you can move during this time, movers will have more openings, giving you a better choice of dates, and you will get cheaper rates.

Give the Little Guy a Chance
Many people feel more comfortable going with a larger, national moving company, but you may get better service and cheaper rates if you go with a local moving company that is trying to grow.  Chances are their rates will be lower, in part because they don’t advertise as heavily as the national chains do,  and in part because they want to get your business.  They may also offer better services because they want to generate word-of-mouth referrals to grow their business.

Ask for Extras
Negotiate with the movers before the move.  A moving company may tell you that their hourly rates are set and they can’t negotiate, but chances are they can throw in some freebies such as blankets to cover your furniture, and other optional services to make your move smoother.

Most people detest moving.  However, the move can be a little less painful if you know how to negotiate to get the best rates AND the best service.

Originating post: How to Save Money when Hiring Professional Movers

How to Save Money when Hiring Professional Movers is a post from: The Family Wallet.

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Crafts are another way to entertain the kids for relatively cheap costs. Many times, you can make things using what you have laying around in the house. Make things that keep them busy and interested. Use some flour and water to make a mixture so the kids can make play dough or even maps and cities on cardboard. Make piñatas or paper Mache objects.

Do scientific projects with the kids. Kids are fascinated by things they do not understand. Make a light bulb turn on using potatoes, show them how to make a sun dial or make something else interesting that costs little to know money at all. There are so many things you can find to do that deals with science on the Internet.

Free concerts in the park, free petting zoos and even museums have days when kids and families are allowed with free admission. You can find so many things to do with the kids that does not cost anything to do. Libraries have story hour and even have movie time if the kids need to get out of the house. Take the kids on a nature walk and make a game out of naming things they see.

Look for things in your city that offers free things to do. You might not think the kids will enjoy it, but they may surprise you. Do things that teach the kids how to express their creative side. You will even have fun seeing what they make and how much they enjoy doing it.

You will find many ways to entertain the kids and it does not have to cost hardly anything.

Originating post: Low Cost Entertainment Ideas {for kids}

Low Cost Entertainment Ideas {for kids} is a post from: The Family Wallet.

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