Win 1 of 33 Washer and Dryer Sets from HHGregg and Maytag!

In the spirit of the Indy500 Maytag and HHGregg are giving away 33 washer and dryer sets in the Maytag Salutes Victory Lane Sweepstakes. You can enter for your chance to win one HERE

You can enter daily until May 29, 2016 for your chance to win one of those 33 washer and dryer sets.

Rules:

FREE Maytag Washer and Dryer Sweepstakes Details:
No Purchase Necessary. Starts 4/27/16 at 12:00:00 AM (ET) and ends 5/29/16 at 11:59:59 PM (ET). To enter the Sweepstakes, visit the campaign landing page; and then follow the instructions to complete the online registration. Open to legal residents of the fifty (50) United States and District of Columbia who are 18 years of age or older at the time of entry. Subject to complete Official Rules at Website.

Creating Garden Spaces For Our New Home With Ecoscraps Available at Walmart

We moved into our home in October. To say that we started our gardens from scratch would be a lie. The previous owners had created some garden spaces around the house. There is one in the front, a small one on the side, and a large one created on a hillside, all of which had some perennials in it. I started to notice though that the small one near the mainly used door, only had some tiger lillies lining the back and a creeping perennial towards the back in the middle. Nothing really in the rest of the garden. The hill side garden and the front garden had purple creeping phlox and hostas but there were areas that seemed bare and lonely. Our front porch screamed for hanging baskets and I had visions of how I wanted potted plants going up the steps in the front and a potted plant arrangement near the main door.

This the main door that most people enter through when they come to our home. It’s plain. There’s no covering over the door (which we want to fix. Maybe put an awning or something) Not very welcoming. We wanted to change that.

We also wanted to take care of some of those spots that were lacking in the garden. So we took a trip to our local garden center. I picked up several pots, a bunch of potted plants, and some perennials for the gardens. A friend had given me some bulbs to plant in the smaller garden. Then youngest son brought home some flower bombs he made in school for Mother’s Day.

I also wanted to pick up some potting soil and garden soil. I wanted it to be organic, no crazy chemicals for the kids or the cats to get into. Plus I wanted to grow some herbs so I wanted something as organic as possible to grow herbs that would be used in our food and drinks. I had heard about EcoScraps at Walmart. I’m gonna tell you more about these organic gardening products in a few minutes because they’re pretty cool.

I used to work in a garden center years ago. I found that there is usually a clearance rack with plants that are dirt cheap (pun intended). Sure they’re a bit sickly looking but with the proper care they perk right up. Those are my favorite plants. I was putting some $1 plants in my cart to nurse back to health. One of the garden center workers saw me. She help up a 12 pack of pansies and said “These are only $1 too” I looked at her confused. I asked “For the whole 12 pack!?” She said “yep” so those little guys went home with me too. Don’t underestimate the bargain plants!

bargain plants ecoscraps

So after I bought all these neglected plants and a few pots I headed to Walmart to get the EcoScraps gardening products I was telling you about. To appreciate it, you have to know about it. EcoScraps recycles food scraps and turns them into organic, sustainable lawn and garden products. Here’s some food for thought:

In the US we waste 40% off food produced. That is enough to fill the Rose Bowl every day! It sits in landfills producing methane which is 20x more harmful thatn CO2
Between 2011 and 2015, EcoScraps recycled 75 million lbs of food waste. We are matching that number in 2016 with projected recycling of another 75 million lbs of food waste–this time in just 12 months.
Recycling 15 million lbs of food waste is equivalent to keeping 500,000 cars off the road for an entire day.

Does that have you thinking? EcoScraps has a number of lawn and garden products. You can check them all out HERE.I got the EcoScraps organic potting soil, EcoScraps organic garden soil, and EcoScraps organic plant food since I figured my scrawny little rescue plants could use all the help they could get. My kids love to help me garden so we set to work right away. First the potted plants.

EcoScraps organic potting soil collage

Then we decided to tackle the gardens. I had bought some lithodora and more creeping phlox for the hillside garden. The hill is a little bit of a challenge, it’s steeper than it looks but it doesn’t stop me from getting up there to weed and plant. My oldest son was happy to help. I love spending this time with my kids. The bag of garden soil was pretty heavy so we reused some of the pots. We filled them up and took them up the hill with us. It worked out much better. Sure we had to refill once or twice but it worked out fine.

Ecoscraps organic garden soil colage

My daughter loves to help. I put some little gardening gloves on her and let her help feed the plants with the EcoScraps organic plant food. You don’t need much to feed the plants. Even with all the plants we planted and all the ones that were already there this bag will last us a long time. You only have to feed the plants once a month. We decided to feed the fuschia hanging baskets along with the potted plants and some of our indoor plants. My daughter just loved helping.

ecoscraps organic plant food hanging baskets

So after all the fun of gardening. We finally got a main entrance door that is starting to look welcoming. At least I think so, what do you think?

I can’t wait to see our flowers blossom. We’ve had a lot of rain here lately so I’m sure that will help as well. Here’s a video to help you learn more about EcoScraps, available at Walmart.

GIVEAWAY

1 US Luv Saving Money reader will win

a $50 Walmart Gift Card

so you can try EcoScraps products for yourself!

Ecoscraps Organic Gardening

This post is sponsored by EcoScraps. However, all content presented in this
post represents my own opinions

6+ Passenger Vehicles That Are Easier On The Budget

I’m writing this post now because I’m currently looking for a 6+ passenger vehicle. I had a certain budget in mind when shopping. I thought my demands were fairly simple. I want to be able to fit at least 6 passenger comfortably, I wanted some cargo space when all 6 people were in the vehicle, I wanted it to be a safe vehicle, and I wanted it to be within a certain budget I had in mind. I didn’t think my budget was unreasonable for a used vehicle either. I also preferred an SUV over a minivan because of the weather we can get in Pennsylvania.

When I looked over 6+ passenger SUVs this is what I found out. The most affordable ones have little to no cargo space when the 3rd row seats are in use. Which doesn’t make sense to me because wouldn’t 6 people have more stuff on a trip than 4?

Then it seemed the ones that could accommodate 6+ and have all the cargo space you wanted were half the price of a small house. So I kept searching and searching. We were hoping to find a used vehicle with less than 35K miles on it. After much research on safety, cargo space, and seating capacity. My top 3 in the SUV category are the Chevy Traverse, GMC Acadia, and Honda Pilot. I’ve found a lot of good deals on them within a 50 mile radius of my town.

Hand Putting Deposit Into Piggy Bank

If you are looking for mini vans or considering, I did look at those too. Actually the mini vans now a days are really nice inside, offer a lot of amenities, and a good number of them are AWD so it woudn’t be too bad for the winter. I currently own a 2006 Chrysler Pacifica. I LOVE it. It’s AWD and has done great in our Pennsylvania winters. I was kinda sad that they stopped making them. BUT I’m sure you’ve seen the commercials. The Chrysler Pacifica is back with the 2017 model and yes I did check it out because I love mine so much. Won’t be able to find any used right now but even the new ones are fairly reasonable for a brand new vehicle. The Kia Sedona is probably the most affordable of all of them, even brand new. I could get a brand new Kia Sedona for less than a 2 year old GMC Acadia with 35K+ miles on it. Then there is the Honda Odyssey. A very nice looking mini van but the pricier of the 3 mini vans I narrowed down too.

Also if you own any of the vehicles mentioned in this post I would LOVE to hear your experience with them, negative or positive.

When Is A “Used” Car Considered “New” And The Benefits Of Buying One

For Automakers, car dealers, banks, and insurance companies this info isn’t shocking. In fact, it’s daily knowledge. For someone like me who is currently shopping for a “used” vehicle it’s all in the definition.

car blue

So maybe I’m browsing dealerships and see a car I really like. It has 1000 miles on it and is listed under the “new” vehicles. But..but it has a thousand miles on it…isn’t it used? Actually as I found out, a car can actually have up to 10K miles on it and still be categorized as “new”. How?, you might ask. The term “new” basically means the car was never titled to anyone else (this includes being titled to a rental car company or used as a business vehicle). This car could have been used as a demo car or a test vehicle by the automaker or dealership.

If you find a car like this there’s a lot of benefits to buying it.

price is less than buying the same vehicle fresh off the assembly line.
Quite often it’s still covered under factory warranty but, always check the terms
The dreaded “new car depreciation” already happened.
still plenty of life and mileage to go through
may qualify for dealer incentives
You’re the first titled owner so if you sell it you can list it as “one owner”

There are also Certified pre-owned vehicles that can also be a good deal. They are used vehicles that have been inspected, refurbished, and certified by a manufacturer or entity authorized to certify a vehicle. They can include extended warranties, special financing, and possibly other incentives to buy.

Thinking of Buying Your Teen a Car? Consider this

Your teen is turning 16. Maybe you’re seriously considering buying your teen a car but can’t decide which route to go. Do you get a new car or a used car? Maybe they passed their drivers license test and you’re ready for them to start driving themselves so you can get some of your free time back. Here’s some financial aspects to consider when making your decision.

It’s not a secret that insuring a teen is EXPENSIVE. The reasons for that are pretty obvious: lack of driving experience, maturity, and statistics. Now I don’t want to scare you (I’m sure you’re already a little nervous) but the fact is teens are more likely to be in a fender bender than those 20 years of age or older. According to the CDC website that rate of accidents is at it’s highest within the first 30 days of licensure. Being a higher risk means higher rates.

car accident cartoon

The next thing to consider is what kind of car. Again, the insurance factors in. You might think a cheaper car equates to cheaper insurance. Not necessarily according to a report done by CNBC. It turns out SUVs and trucks are usually cheaper to insurance than coupes and sedans. Why? Because a larger SUV is less likely to sustain as much damage in an accident when compared to a smaller car. At the top of the list for vehicles that are cheaper to insure are the Ford Explorer, GMC Sierra and Toyota RAV4. In fact, some of the worst cars to insure are the Ford Focus, Chevy Cruze, and Hyundai Elantra.

You can contact your insurance agent before buying a car your teen has their eyes on and have them run the numbers.

Since driving a car is a big responsibility consider having your teen help with the car payments and/or insurance payments. Make sure they know how to change tires, what to do if they are in an accident, and have them learn how to do some of the basic maintenance of the vehicle like changing the oil, topping off fluids, and changing bulbs. It’s a good way for your teen to know the cost of driving and take more ownership of their own ride.

This post is sponsored by CF Search Marketing.