Some Parents are Following their Teens to College

Students who graduate from high school are eligible to continue their education by going to college. These students are eighteen years of age (or older) and are adults. For whatever reason, there are now some parents who choose to follow their son or daughter to college. We have all heard of the phrase “helicopter parenting”. While some will argue that this parenting style provides certain benefits, many others continue to view it as less than ideal. A helicopter parent is one that swoops in and solves his or her child’s problems for them. That’s a great thing to do if … Continue reading

Save on a Mid-Summer Getaway

Forget about the fact that Wal-Mart and Target erected their school supply displays before the last firework exploded on the 4th of July.  Take a look at the calendar and you will see that there are more than six weeks of summer vacation left before most kids head back to class. For many families, that leaves plenty of time to get in another trip or two before the end of the season.  In fact, if you’ve waited this long to take flight on a summer vacation you stand to save a pretty penny.  According to travel insiders, late August is … Continue reading

Flying Solo

My baby is gone. She learned how to ride a two-wheeler and took off. It’s a mother’s worst nightmare. Your child is ready to spread her wings, but you just want to smother those growing appendages in a bear hug and hold on for dear life. This summer, my little fledgling was itching to take flight and she used her beloved bike to soar… far away from home. Too far. Way too far. What started out as a request to ride solo to the end of our cul-de-sac morphed into a journey stretching several blocks into an unfamiliar neighborhood filled … Continue reading

How to Avoid Soaring Flight Costs

Penny-pinching travelers beware:  those airlines that have been nickel-and-diming you to death are not changing their tune any time soon.  In fact, two commercial carriers recently announced amendments to their current policies that may put a real dent in your wallet. Discount airline Southwest will no longer accommodate passengers who fail to show up on their given departure date.  The carrier is launching a new “no show” policy that forces travelers to forfeit their fares if they fail to show up for a flight.  Southwest officials say they instituted the change so that planes are not taking off with empty … Continue reading

FInancial Lessons I Learned from Selling a Car

Want me to tell you what I recently learned from selling a car? Actually it was two vehicles, In the past two weeks. One was an SUV and the other a pick up truck. It was an interesting experience. Our normal modus operandi is to purchase a car and then maintain it until it basically turns into dust, so selling cars is pretty new to both my husband and myself. So why did we do it and what did I learn in the process? Be Prepared to Seize an Opportunity There is something called an opportunity cost that can work … Continue reading

Freebies from Pepsi Next, Earthbound Farm, Sleep Number, and More!

There are lots of good freebies out there, just waiting for you to find them. As always, you must act quickly once you locate a good freebie before they run out. Start by checking out this batch of freebies that I found this week. Emergen-C will send you a free sample of at least one of their Emergen-C Vitamin drink mix. (There is potential that the could decided to send you more than one). To get this freebie, you need to fill out the form on their website. This offer is for residents of the United States, only. Earthbound Farm … Continue reading

Space Heater Safety Tips from State Farm

Space heaters can make an overly chilly room into a warm and comfortable place for your family enjoy. It is very important to be careful about how you use your space heater. It is possible for a space heater to start a fire. State Farm has some space heater safety tips that you can use to keep your family safe. People purchase a space heater for two reasons. They want to make a room in their home a bit warmer, and they want to cut down on their heating bill. It is possible to warm up a room with the … Continue reading

Budget Beach Getaways

Sure, you can save a bundle by driving a small car to the coast and spending your entire winter vacation living out of tent that you’ve pitched on the beach.  However, there are a slew of other ways you can score a budget-friendly beach getaway without having to go to extremes.   Beach packages are readily available to a host of sunny destinations, including Hawaii, Mexico, California and the Caribbean.  The trick to saving more than a few pennies on these tropical getaways is to have social media platforms work for you.  By signing up for alerts from airlines, hotels … Continue reading

Separated But Not Really

Sometimes it takes the insights of someone else to come to the realization about an issue in your life.  That was the case when fellow blogger Michele Cheplic recently posted, “No Chance to Miss Your Kid.”  The timing couldn’t have been more perfect. My 18-year-old son is two weeks away from graduating technical school (Security Forces) at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas.  His first duty station is going to be Turkey, which we anticipated to not happen until March. Yesterday I received word from him that his orders to go will likely be earlier, possibly the beginning of February.  … Continue reading

Why Your Ancestors Looked So Serious

Take a close look at the oldest family photos that you have. Or, walk into an antique store and browse through some really old photos. Why aren’t these people smiling? There are some really good reasons why they looked so serious in photos. Today, you can take your family to JC Penney, or Sears, or a number of other places, and have a family portrait taken. The photographer is going to encourage your family members to smile. You will probably be instructed to “Say cheese!” It is difficult to say the word “cheese” without smiling. It takes a second (or … Continue reading