Cut Costs This Year, Starting with the Tooth Fairy
by Lela Davidson on January 2, 2009
in Uncategorized
When my daughter lost her first tooth, she was handsomely rewarded by the Tooth Fairy with a crisp dollar bill (which I swiped from my son’s piggy bank, but that’s another story). The next morning she pranced down the stairs, proud of her newfound riches. A whole dollar! She couldn’t have been happier.
A couple days later, her mouth got in the way of two toddlers engaged in a friendly backyard brawl. She ran bleeding and triumphant across the lawn, showing off the fresh gape at the bottom of her Kindergarten smile.
That evening as I put her to bed, she placed the tooth carefully under the pillow.
“Mom?”
“Yes sweetie?” I said, pulling up the sheet and folding it under her chin.
“Some people get more than a dollar.”
She hesitated before answering. “Well… some people get toys.” She was shy – or was it calculating. Then she added, “Ella got $20!”
Twenty bucks? For a tooth? No wonder the economy’s in such a mess.
I told my daughter that I didn’t know anything about the official Tooth Fairy payment schedule, but that her brother had always gotten $1 from the irrepressible imp and she ought to expect the same.
Not to deprive the Tooth Fairy of her mission in life, but consider for a moment where this leads. You let the Tooth Fairy drop twenty dollars a pop and then what about the Easter Bunny? He’s not going to be upstaged by some flighty chick who doesn’t even merit her own holiday. Before you know it the gold bunny will be made of actual gold. Poor Santa’s already on the hook for plenty. Let this kind of spending go unchecked and mark my words next year you’ll be pulling out a home equity loan for school clothes. If you can get a loan that is.
Bottom line: It’s a tooth, not an accomplishment. If your kid complains, blame it on the Fairy.
Got Coupons? Three Great Money Saving Websites
by Lela Davidson on October 20, 2008
in Uncategorized
With the weird economy and holidays approaching, I’m looking for new ways to save money every day. Coupons are back! I’m hoping that one good thing to come out of all this financial uncertainty is that I create some good and efficient habits for saving money on gifts and groceries. I won’t commit to hours on end of coupon clipping, but these days we don’t have to. Others have worked out systems and scoured the world for good deals. All we have to do is follow their lead! Here are three great websites to get you started on your savings adventure:
Money Saving Mom – This site is a blog format. I like it because I can scroll through and take one tip at a time. For example, she’s got this great post on making your own household cleaners which I love. I’ve been trying to do that myself for some time. AND the picture she used shows the exact bottle I use for my homemade brews! She’s also got a direct link to Smart Source coupons, which you can print from your home computer. (Note: I hear Wal-Mart won’t take these.)
Coupon Cravings – Here’s another great blog format. If you want timely advice about deals you can get NOW, check out this site. She’s also got quick print coupons on the side bars. I’d never heard of the great deals at Restaurants.com until I read about it on Coupon Cravings. What a great idea for Christmas gifts!
Coupon Mom – This is the woman who was on Oprah a couple of weeks ago. She claims to have saved something like $75,000 over the last 15 years. This is the old school coupon-insane method. I personally wouldn’t buy into the system whole hog, but there are certainly good tips everyone can use to one degree or another. The site is a little overwhelming to me. If you’re going to check it out, I suggest using a timer because you can go off in a lot of different directions if you’re not careful. But if you want to implement full-on coupon mania, this may be your best resource.
So – did you find a deal? Let us know!
Note to the locals: Harps (but not Price Cutter) doubles coupons up to half the price of the item. I haven’t tried it yet, but that’s what they told me at Price Cutter last week!
