money saving tips – Page 12

Top 5 Money-Saving Holiday Shopping Trends – Guest Post Andrea Woroch

2016 is expected to be a big year for holiday shopping with sales predicted to increase by 3.6 percent, to the tune of $655.8 billion in spending. With that much money on the line, retailers will work hard for their share of your dollars by taking advantage of consumer trends and behavior.

To avoid getting duped by retail trickery, read up on the following holiday shopping trends and money-saving advice to get a head start on your holiday to-do list.

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In-Store Pickup
Both consumers and retailers are embracing in-store pickup, a perk that marries online and in-store shopping. Customers are able to dodge delivery fees and get their purchase in little as an hour, while retailers get online shoppers in their stores. Top retailers like Walmart, Kohl’s, REI, Home Depot and Best Buy already offer this service. Additionally, stores like Sears and CVS Pharmacy offer a curbside carry-out option where you can have your items brought to you. Options like this help you avoid the temptation to pick up other items in-store, a retail trick consumers commonly fall for.

Mobile Shopping
One of the biggest trends you’ll see this holiday season is an uptick in mobile shopping. Customers are increasingly using their smartphones to make purchases, and retailers are responding by offering a better mobile experience for their customers. Shoppers are also using their phones while shopping in-store to compare prices, look up product reviews and access coupons. Load up your smartphone with apps like Coupon Sherpa for access to deals like 20% off your purchase with a Kohl’s coupon, and download ShopSavvy to compare prices before you buy.

Social Media Shopping
Social media is playing a big role in influencing consumers’ decisions to buy, and retailers are making it easier than ever for customers to purchase items through social media platforms with ‘buy’ buttons. These buy buttons offer an expedited checkout process for consumers, giving them the option to make a purchase instantly without leaving the social network. For example, Pinterest has eliminated the extra link to make a purchase allowing customers to buy directly from the pin. You’ll find buy buttons on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, so beware of this option and remember to shop smart by seeking out coupon codes and comparing offers before you check out.

Black Friday Creep
Consumers don’t have to wait until Black Friday to find deals this holiday season, and you’ll see holiday sales creep into the calendar as early as Halloween. Best Buy kicked off their annual free shipping offer this week, and Target announced their plans to offer free shipping starting Nov. 1. Target will also roll out a deal mid-November to help consumers save $10 off their toy, grocery and clothing purchases of $50 or more. In previous years, retailers like Amazon and Walmart started offering Black Friday-like deals as early as Nov. 1.

More Shopping Holidays
Black Friday and Cyber Monday aren’t the only days shoppers can find the best deals this holiday season. Avoid the crowds and long lines this season and stay comfy on your couch with Free Shipping Day on Friday, Dec. 16. Hundreds of retailers will offer free shipping with no minimum order requirement and guaranteed delivery by Christmas Eve. Or, if you’re even more of a procrastinator, shop Super Saturday on Dec. 18. This day is considered one of the busiest shopping days of the year and though you won’t escape the crowds, you’ll be sure to score top deals at major retailers.

Feel free to share “Top 5 Money-Saving Holiday Shopping Trends” with your audience, giving proper attribution to the source.

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Andrea Woroch is a money-saving expert who transforms everyday consumers into savvy shoppers by sharing smart spending tips and personal finance advice. As a sought-after media source, she has been featured among such top news outlets as Good Morning America, Today, CNN, Dr. OZ, New York Times, MONEY Magazine, Consumer Reports, Forbes and many more. In addition, Andrea’s stories have been published among leading publications and sites such as Yahoo!, AOL Daily Finance, CNN Money, Huffington Post, LearnVest and New York Daily News. Check out Andrea’s demo reel or visit her website at AndreaWoroch.com for more information about booking an interview or requesting an original written article. You can also follow her on Twitter or Facebook for daily money tips.

For all media inquiries, please contact Andrea Woroch at 970-672-6085 or email andrea@andreaworoch.com.

Do You Trust Mobile Wallets?

One of the newer and growing forms of payment available is mobile wallets. If you’re not sure what a mobile wallet is, it’s basically using your phone to pay for things both in-store and online. It works by either connection credit/bank info or through some other type of financial backing or payment service. Apple pay is one example. Capital one has their own mobile wallet app.

I consider myself someone who is not afraid to try new technologies, especially if it makes things faster or more convenient. I’ll be honest, mobile wallets are something that make me nervous. It turns, out I’m not alone. If you have the same concerns or questions check out this info.

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NTT Data Inc. released a new global survey. In that survey they found that more than half of consumers believe mobile wallets are less secure than cash. On the other end are 60% of executives who are stating that mobile money will help build their businesses because it’s safe.

In August 2016, NTT DATA, Ingenico, Oxford, and Charney surveyed 2,000 global consumers and 300 companies worldwide to investigate sentiments, expectations and concerns about the future of money. Our study showed customers in developed and developing countries alike are interested in using mobile money, but companies must do more to ease their security concerns if adoption is to become widespread.

“Fear is a powerful inhibitor, and fraud fear is top of mind for many consumers,” says Peter Olynick, senior practice lead, Retail Banking, NTT DATA Consulting, Inc. “Consumers are not just worried about losing one or two transactions, they fear having their identity stolen. If financial institutions can mitigate those fears and improve merchant adoption for mobile, we will see consumer adoption rates begin to accelerate.”

From that survey were some interesting statistics:

Consumers around the world understand the benefits of mobile money

60 percent of consumers agree that mobile money enhances their purchase experience
50 percent say mobile money drives loyalty to their financial institution or online merchant

Security concerns are undermining mobile payments

More than half of consumers believe mobile wallets are less secure than cash
Nearly 75 percent of consumers say guarantees against monetary fraud would encourage them to use mobile payments, but only 44 percent of businesses currently offer or plan to offer such guarantees
Only 25 percent of consumers say online and mobile transactions are the safest form of transaction

Companies need to step up security authentication

Consumer appetite for sophisticated biometric features like facial and iris recognition is strong. However, most businesses continue to rely on traditional passwords and finger scans
Fewer than a third of companies globally currently use or plan to use biometrics like face, voice and iris recognition to secure mobile devices
Security-focused consumers prefer multi-step authentication for mobile payments (German and Scandinavian consumers, who trust passwords most, are the exceptions)

If you happen to be around Las Vegas on Tuesday October 25 you can here more findings from this study as NTT Data Inc at Money 20/20 during a session titled: Designing for Women: FinTech for the Decision-Maker in Most U.S. Households

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Knowledge is power. Learn the facts, learn how to protect yourself, learn how new technologies work. You can never be too informed right?

Fill Your Make Up Bag Without Emptying Your Wallet

Are you make up obsessed like me? Or maybe you just want to get some new lipstick and mascara. Make up can be expensive if you don’t know where to look. Here’s some ideas to help you save money while filling your make up bag.

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Drugstore Make Up Brands

When looking for drugstore make up brands don’t pay full price. Rite Aid, for example, often does buy one get one half off and buy one get one free deals. They also periodically do big discounts on Wet n’ Wild products. Add in coupons and your Wellness+ Plus Plenti Card and you can score make up dirt cheap. When coupons are available, you can get Wet n’ Wild very cheap.

Giant Eagle double coupons. When you see the 50 cents off Wet n’ Wild coupons in the paper clip them! It’s worth $1 off at Giant Eagle. You can get lipsticks, eye liners, lip liners, and single shadows for free with coupon and advantage card!

High-End Cosmetics

If you must have the higher end make up but, you simply will not pay for it there are ways around that too. Glambot , for example, allows you to buy never used or partially used make up. Your teen can even sell make up to earn money for more make up. You’ll find brands on Glambot like: MAC, Bobbi Brown, Too Faced, and more. It’s worth it to sign up for their emails. They often have sales and coupon codes. Plus a $5 coupon here.

Urban Decay is a popular brand. They offer more discounts than people realize. Sign up for their emails to know about free shipping days, special deals, Family & Friends sales, etc. Check out the sale section for deep discounts on make up. Also sign up for the Urban Decay Beauty Junkies program. It’s free. You get free shipping on all orders and earn rewards that they call “UD kick backs”. The more points you accumulate the more deals you get.

Daily Deal Sites

Daily Deal sites like Hautelook and Zulily often have name brand and high-end make up featured on the site. Brands like Becca, Estee Lauder, NYX, and more. If you’re new to these sites they often offer a credit to your account that could be used towards your purchase as well. Check the beauty tab on each daily deal site.

Beauty Subscription boxes

Another option to consider is beauty subscription boxes. There are a number of them out there depending on your budget. Ipsy is one that is only $10/mo. You get a mix of full size and deluxe size samples each month along with a make up bag. Birchbox is another that is $10/mo however, they rarely have full size products. There are more expensive options like, Wantables, which will put you back $36 per month but, offers all full size premium samples. Walmart and Target also offer their own beauty boxes but they sell out quickly. They do not strictly contain make up. They will also include things like deodorant, shampoo, and other toiletries.

Beauty Store and Counters

Sephora and Ulta are big names in beauty stores. Ulta often offers coupons via email and printable on the website. Sephora has their own beauty rewards program as well. Brands like Clinique, Lancome, and Estee Lauder, to name a few, periodically have bonus buys to get more bang for your buck. They’ll offer free products, deluxe samples, etc when spending a specific dollar amount or buying particular products.

5 Things To Do With Broken Crayons

There’s nothing like a fresh box of crayons. But what happens when the kids bring broken crayon stubs home or you accumulate a box of crayon bits that no one wants to use? You could throw them away but, why not reuse them? Here are 5 things to do with broken crayons.

Make Chunky Crayons

There’s several ways to do this. Probably the easiest way is to take a muffin tin, peel any remaining paper off the crayons, break the crayons into small pieces, and place them in the muffin tins. The smaller the pieces the quicker they’ll melt. Bake in the oven at 200 degrees for about 15 minutes. May need to put in longer if you have bigger pieces. Once melted, allow to cool slightly then place pan in the freezer for about 15-20 minutes. Chunky crayons pop right out.

Some other options: use candy molds, soap molds, or other molds that are heat-resistant.

Melted crayon art

Peel any remaining paper off crayons. Put them in a sealable sandwich bag. I let my kids smack them on the table with wooden spoons to make the crayons into tiny crumbs (pieces need to be very small to melt correctly). Pour onto a paper plate. Place paper plate on baking sheet and put in the oven at 200 degrees for about 10 min. Give the kids a Q-tip and let them make designs with the melted crayons on the paper plate.

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Melted Crayon Dot Art

Use supervision with this craft. Use 3 oz cups and put a different color in each cup. Place 3 oz cups on a baking sheet and melt the broken crayons for 10 minutes at 200 degrees. Use a Q-tip as a paint brush. Use a different Q-tip for each color. Dip Q-tip into melted crayon and make dots on paper to create a design. If the the melted crayons starts to harden, simply reheat.

Crayon Candles

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You’ll need an empty votive jar, a votive wick, about 5 – 3 oz bathroom cups, and broken crayons with paper removed. Place votive wick in jar. Fill each 3 oz cup with a different color of broken crayon IE: one filled with orange broken crayons, one filled with yellow broken crayons, etc. Place one 3 oz cup on a baking sheet and melt in the oven at 200 degrees for about 10 minutes. The smaller the pieces the faster they will melt. Once melted, pour that color into the votive jar containing the wick. Allow to dry Repeat with each color. If you don’t have empty votive jars you can use other heat-resistant glass jars such as mason jars, baby food jars, etc.

5. Crayola Crayon Maker

Ok so this one is not homemade but Crayola actually make something called the “Crayola Melt and Mold Factory” . They even have kits to make crayons shaped like crayon jewelry and other options. Though you would have to buy it, it could come in handy for the future to reuse old broken crayons to make new crayons in actual crayon shapes.

Helpful Hints:

There are several ways to get the crayons into small enough pieces to melt fast. You can use a cheese grater or mandolin slicer (adults only), Or put the crayons in a sealable bag and let the kids smack them with spoons until the crayons are pulverized.

7 Ways To Save Even More On Memorial Day Sales

While many consumers will hit the road to celebrate Memorial Day with a weekend getaway, millions of others will be heading to the mall to hunt down the season’s best bargains. Memorial Day weekend represents one of the biggest sale events of the year and also the best time to buy certain items, including mattresses and refrigerators.

Discounts will be plentiful this weekend, but savvy shoppers know there’s more to getting a deal than just buying something on sale. To spend less on your purchases this Memorial Day weekend, read up on the following seven “s’s” to saving even more.

Study the deals.
Since retailers will try to trick you into believing that everything is on sale this weekend, it’s important to study the deals to differentiate the best and worst buys. Summer items like clothing and swimsuits will see some discounts, but this biggest deals will be found on spring clearance, home goods and mattresses. Grills and patio furniture will headline ads and store circulars, however, these big-ticket items are better priced later in the season when retailers focus on fall and winter products. Check out Dealnews for a comprehensive Memorial Day buying guide.

Shop early.
Retailers typically start offering Memorial Day sales the week before the holiday itself. Plan to shop early to take advantage of a larger selection of sale items. If you wait untilMonday, most of the good stuff will be picked through. In addition to in-store offers, online deals will abound making it possible to avoid the crowds altogether and take advantage of savings from the comfort of your home, or road if you’re traveling.

Seek out stackable savings.
Scored a sale? Don’t stop there. Look for coupons to deepen the discount even further! Memorial Day weekend will see tons of stackable savings, so download a free coupon app like Coupon Sherpa for extra in-store deals like a free $20 Babies’ R Us gift card with $100 diaper, wipe, food or formula purchase through May 30. Also look for promo codes for online purchases, like $15 off your $75 order from The Gap or 20% off your highest-priced product with $60 purchase with an Aeropostale coupon.

Sign up for savings.
If you can’t find an additional coupon or promo code to sweeten your Memorial Day haul, sign up for savings by opting into a retailer’s email newsletter program. Most stores will send new member discounts of 10 to 20% off! Consider signing up a few days before the sale starts to ensure you receive the coupon in time to use it for your shopping spree. You may even consider creating a separate email account for all your retail offers to stay organized.

Scrutinize prices.
Don’t assume the 20 to 30% savings is the best one around. Comparison shop to make sure you’re getting the deepest discount by using the ShopSavvy app, which scans the barcode of a product you’re looking at and provides a list of local and online prices. You can also use CamelCamelCamel.com to compare the price histories of products sold on Amazon, and setup deal alerts to get notified when something you’re shopping for drops in price.

Swing by an outlet center.
Malls, department stores and boutique shops aren’t the only ones hosting Memorial Day sales. Your nearby outlet center will also offer store-wide sales as well as additional discounts for even bigger savings. In addition to looking up coupons on a mobile app, visit the outlet center’s website for information about available deals and coupons. Also remember that not everything at an outlet center is a good deal, so learn how to get the best deals from outlet shopping before you go.

Score cash back.
Get something back for the purchases you’re making online with EBates, which gives you between two and 10% back on online orders just by shopping through their portal. You can also use Paribus to receive reimbursements when something you purchased online drops in price. The tool scans your inbox for online receipts and tracks prices for you, taking a cut of the refund they find.

Feel free to share “7 Ways to Save Even More on Memorial Day Sales” with your audience, giving proper attribution to the source.

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For all media inquiries, please contact Andrea Woroch at 970-672-6085 or email andrea@andreaworoch.com.