As a New Yorker I’m stoked to see the Giants in the Big Game!

It will be fun to watch it with the kids too.  Though I suspect their interest will wane pretty quickly.  That’s OK, the little ones are still young (our oldest daughter isn’t that interested in it).

Do you get the whole family involved in the SuperBowl?  Do you hold a big party?  How do you get everyone excited?

I haven’t done a roundup in some time.

So let’s take a look at some super articles and carnivals:

Harvard Business Review | The Trouble With Bright Kids – Heidi Grant Halvorson – Very interesting article about the long-term messages sent to kids that have gifted intelligence.

CNN Living | What teachers really want to tell parents – CNN.com – Another interesting read, this one talking about the role parents play in their children’s education.

Good Financial Cents | The Top 67+ Family Finance Articles to Live Your Life to The Fullest

How To Be A Dad | Baby Sleep Positions: “The Roundhouse Kick”

Matt About Money | An Irrational Financial Act

Freakonomics Blog | The Worst Mistake I Ever Made: An Economists’ Parenting Quorum

GalTime | Is The Division of Labor In Your House More Equal?

Frugal Zeitgeist | Kicking Adult Child Out of the Home

After the Alter | Eat This, Not That…In Baby Land

And Carnivals Parenting Family money has taken part in:

Carnival of Personal Finance #346 | thejennypincher.com
Totally Money Blog Carnival – #52 | Canadian Personal Finance
Yakezie Carnival – Winter Wonderings
TotallyMoney Blog Carnival #43: The Movember Edition – TotallyMoney
Fall Festival 2011 and Winter Festival 2011 | Afford Anything
Carnival of Personal Finance #323 – Better Late than Never Edition | Sustainable Personal Finance
Festival of Frugality #294 Blog Carnival | Budgeting In the Fun Stuff
Canadian Finance Carnival #50 – Canadian Finance Blog
Debt Free by Thirty: Yakezie Carnival: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz Edition
Carnival of Personal Finance #321 – The Fraud Edition — Narrow Bridge Finance
Fesival of Frugality 292nd Edition
Yakezie Carnival: Easter Sunday Edition
The Yakezie Carnival: The M&M Edition

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Superbowl Weekend and Links

Most parents understand the need to prepare for their children’s college educations by budgeting money while the kids grow.

But there are other expenses—not on the magnitude of college—that are also worthy of budgets all there own.

If you have children who are at least in middle school, you already have an idea of at least some of them.

But if your kids are only a few years old or younger, you’ll need to start preparing for some of them right now, because the day for most or all of them is coming up fast!

Braces

Most kids it seems need braces.  I don’t know if it’s because kids are being born with more crooked teeth than they were a generation ago, or if our collective tolerance for teeth that are anything less than perfect has reached an all time low.

What ever the cause, braces cost a fortune!

According to Answers.com, braces normally cost between $4,000 and $6,000, but can run as high as $10,000.  I suspect the highest range is for the designer varieties, like the clear or colored versions that didn’t exist when I was a kid.  But like all professions these days, up-sell is the name of the game.

If you have two children, it’s likely that at least one of them will need braces; if you have three, assume two will need them.  What ever the need, an expense this large and predictable cries out for a budget.

Vacations

Vacations get expensive fast when you have kids!

If you’re new to parenting, or don’t have any but plan to, you may be unaware that airlines don’t offer discount pricing for children.

In the airline industry, a seat is a seat, and whether it’s occupied by a six foot adult or two foot toddler matters not.

If you’re used to traveling by air, you’ll need to be prepared for the fact that just getting where you’re going will be more expensive than it was in the days before children.  The $500 airfare you paid for you and your spouse will mushroom to $1,000 when your three year old and your newborn are added.

Speaking of discount pricing, once your kids get “older”—which in many establishments means reaching the age of 10—they will be charged adult prices.  This can include theme parks, restaurants and other entertainment venues.

And, as you’ll discover when they start moving beyond 10, they begin to eat like adults.  That can have a material affect on your restaurant bills.

Moral of the story: what ever you pay for vacations now will roughly double in a few years.  A weeklong trip to Disney World or even the beach can cost thousands of dollars.

If you don’t normally establish a budget for vacations, you’ll need to have one when you have kids and more so as they get older.

Extracurricular school activities

When I was a kid, some kids were in extracurricular activities but most weren’t.

It’s very different today.

It seems that nearly every school age child is in a sports — or music-program of some sort.  Many are in both.

When your children are in elementary or middle school, the in-school activities are usually free or have only a small fee ($50-$100), but when they reach high school you can safely assume you’ll need to pony up roughly $1,000 per activity per child.  If junior is in three activities, that will be $3,000 per year.  If you have two children in high school and each are in three activities, you’re looking at $6,000 per year—now we’re talking real money!

You probably won’t be covering those fees out of your checking account, so you’ll need a budget for this one too.

Junior’s first car

Even a car that’s well-used can cost a few thousand dollars, and by the time your kids are of driving age they’ll almost certainly cost more.

If you have more than one child, well—you can do the math.  The point is, this is another major expense category that will require advance planning—a budget.

There may be a tendency to think, “I’ll let my kids worry about paying for a car—I have enough expenses to cover”, and while that’s a legitimate point, teenagers often need a car long before they have the ability to afford one.

You’ll have to be prepared for this one as well.

Tutoring, test preparation and summer camps

This is really a miscellaneous category.  It’s filled with “nickel and dime” expenses—a few hundred here, a few hundred there—but collectively it adds up to real money that you’ll need to be prepared to come up with.

School agenda is being accelerated in districts across the country.  No where is this more apparent than in math and science, two subjects that are difficult for a large number of students to begin with.  In addition, since No Child Left Behind, pass-fail exams have become the order of the day.  Later on, there are college entrance exams.

All will need to be prepared for.

For many, this will require one-on-one tutoring, enrollment in out-of-school support programs (Kumon, Mathnasium, etc.) and the use of various test preparation services.

Then there are summer camps!

Most kids today seem to attend them fairly regularly.  Now there are different types of camps—some are daytime only, some are away from home, some are a few days, and some are a month or more. Some will be less than $100, others will be more than $1,000.  The point is, your children will probably be in one or more most summers.

In a typical year, you’ll probably pay out upward of $1,000 per child—although this expense can go as high as you want!  With two or more kids, you could be paying several thousand per year.
College education is an important event to budget for, but as you can see there’s a whole lot to be prepared for before your children reach that point. By budgeting for them in advance, you can insure that you’ll be fully prepared when they come up.

Can you think of any other large expenses for children that should be budgeted for?

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5 Kids Expenses to Budget For – Apart from College

If you or a loved one has a food allergy or intolerance, you may be frustrated by your escalating grocery bill. 

In my own family, both my daughter and I have a dairy intolerance, and I just recently I found out I also have a soy intolerance.  When we first discovered our dairy intolerance nine months ago, we struggled with trying to keep our grocery bill low.

Now that it has been nearly a year, we have discovered some strategies to rein in our grocery expenditures.

Don’t buy substitutions.

Initially, when I found out we couldn’t have dairy, I tried to find substitutions so we could continue to eat the way we had previously.   Yes, there is dairy free cheese and soy yogurt on the market, but the price is high.

Almost anything that is made as a substitution is more expensive than the real thing.  For a month I tried to buy dairy free ice cream, but it is $6 a container.  Buying dairy free substitutions easily added $20 to $25 to our grocery bill a week, or $80 to $100 a month.

Now, both my daughter and I have given up on substitutions.

I simply don’t eat cheese of any type.  I don’t eat yogurt or ice cream.

How do you save on groceries when you have a food intolerance?

Instead, we have cooked many more stir fries as they rarely involve dairy.  We have given up on many of our old dairy laden casseroles.  We don’t eat sweets much either, but when we do, we spend a little extra to buy a cupcake at a vegan bakery as a special treat.

My daughter had a vegan cupcake for her birthday, and she was happy as can be.

Write Companies for Coupons.

True, it is harder to find coupons for companies that make products for intolerances and allergies.  When I find a company I really like, I e-mail them and tell them of my intolerance and how much I enjoy their product.  They almost always follow up and send coupons.

Stock Up When There Are Sales.

My daughter and I drink almond milk.  It typically runs $3 to $3.50 per carton.  When there is a sale, I try to stock up.  Recently it was on sale for $2.50 per carton, and I happened to have .55 off coupons, bringing my total cost to $1.95 per carton.  This is 33 to 40% cheaper than it usually is, so I bought 8 cartons.  Yes, my refrigerator is packed with almond milk cartons, but we are stocked with enough milk to last us at least 5 to 6 weeks.

Hopefully, before I use them all up I will find another sale.

Coping with a food allergy or intolerance can affect many aspects of your life, but hopefully if you use some of the strategies mentioned here, it doesn’t have to impact your grocery budget too severely.

How have you saved on groceries when you have food intolerances? 

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How to Save on Groceries When You Have a Food Intolerance

Are you looking to save money by not dining out as frequently?  Do you want to feed your family healthy, home cooked meals, but you have a busy schedule that makes it difficult to do so every night?

If so, you may want to try once a month cooking (OAMC).

I have been cooking once a month for my family for nearly three years now, and I cannot imagine how I used to function when I had to cook a meal every night.  Once a month cooking removes most of the dinner time stress and can help your family have a more enjoyable meal time.

You may have heard about people who do OAMC and cook for one day from early in the morning until late in the evening and end up with a freezer full of 30 meals.  This is OAMC in its purest form, but I avoided OAMC for several months because I couldn’t imagine investing an entire DAY to cooking.  (I do now, but it took me a few tries to work up to an 8 hour cooking bout.)

If you are new to OAMC, I recommend taking a slower approach.  You have to realize the benefits of OAMC before you can confidently invest in a full day of cooking.

Picking the Recipes

Not any recipe will work for once a month cooking.  Nothing is worse than pulling out a freezer meal that tastes terrible or has a funny texture.

If you choose recipes that are specifically designed for freezer cooking, you will find the meals you pull from the freezer taste just as good as they did when prepared fresh.

Food.com is my favorite resource for OAMC recipes because it is free and there is a large selection of recipes.  Type in OAMC in the search button, and you will find over 600 recipes.  These recipes are also rated; I try to only pick recipes that receive 4.5 to 5 stars.

Holly Clegg’s Trim & Terrific Freezer Friendly Meals is a good cookbook to invest in.  The recipes taste delicious, and they are very healthy.

30 Meals in One Day is also an excellent resource, though I wouldn’t recommend investing in this until you are sure that you like freezer cooking.

Preparing OAMC Meals

Once a month freezer cooking can help you save time and money.

If you are not sure if OAMC is for you, please start slowly.  Choose some recipes from food.com and make one a night for dinner.  Just double the recipe when you make it.  Eat one meal that night, and freeze the other one.

Do this for five nights, and you have five week nights’ worth of meals in your freezer.  Do this for a month, and you have an entire month’s worth of meals in the freezer at no additional time investment to you.

Likewise, food.com has some excellent “dump chicken” recipes.  This is OAMC at its easiest.

When you return from the grocery store, stir up some of the marinades in the “dump chicken” recipes.  (I have tried Dump Coke BBQ Chicken and Just Like Thanksgiving Chicken).  Then, unpack the chicken breasts you just bought and put them and the marinade in freezer bags, put the name of the recipe on the bag along with the date, and pop it in your freezer, and you have a no muss, no fuss meal for the future.  On a busy night, pull it from the freezer, put it in a greased 9 x 13 pan, cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for an hour.

Dinner is ready!

Once a month cooking is a great tool to lessen your dinner prep burden.  If you utilize the strategies here, you can realize the benefits with minimal time investment.

In no time, you and your family will be enjoying tasty, home cooked meals in less time and at a fraction of the cost of a take out or restaurant meal.

Have you every tried once a month freezer cooking?

Copyright © Parenting Family Money Please visit for more great content!

A Beginner’s Guide to Once a Month Freezer Cooking

It is our great pleasure to host the Totally Money Carnival!  Dang this carnival has grown.  I was reading, and reading, and reading…  What’s great about this carnival is the breadth of subjects and of course the awesome information the articles contain.

If you are new to Parenting Family Money then do yourself a favor (and us) and subscribe to our RSS.  You can also follow Parenting Family Money on Twitter: @parentingmoney.

Enjoy the articles!

Editor’s Picks

Emily presents Common Investing Mistakes: 401K posted at Outlaw Finance, saying “If your employer offers a 401k plan, it should be easy to save for retirement. Are you guilty of one of these common 401k blunders?”

Sandy presents 10 Ways to Save Money on Life Insurance posted at Yes, I Am Cheap, saying “Just because you should buy life insurance doesn’t mean that you have to get hosed doing it. Here are some ways to save.”

My Journey presents Retirement Planning Pitfalls posted at My Journey to Millions, saying, “It’s essential that we as a culture realize the pitfalls of saving for retirement in an economy that no longer has the social resources of days long past.”

And the rest…

Budgeting

Pat S. presents Pay Yourself First. Automate Your Savings. posted at compounding returns, saying, “Automating your finances can make saving easy!”

Careers

Melissa Batai presents How One Family Survived Unemployment: Part Two posted at Mom’s Plans, saying, “This is the second part in a two part series that documents Tim and Catherine’s struggle to survive Tim’s back to back unemployment.”

Credit

CardWisdom presents FAQ: Should I Transfer a Balance to a Credit Card with a Current Balance? posted at Smart Balance Transfers, saying, “Credit card companies often try to convince consumers to transfer debt to cards they currently have debt on. This can be a costly mistake.”

Brian presents Which Is Better – The Credit Card or the Debit Card? posted at Wallet Watcher, saying “Much to-do is made about the benefits of one type of card or another. In fact, you would not be hard-pressed to find experts and consumers commonly contradicting which card is best – the credit or debit card.”

Robert presents The Biggest Credit Card Mistakes Young People Make and How You Can Avoid Them posted at The College Investor, saying “How to avoid some of the biggest credit card mistakes.”

Debt

Philip Taylor presents My Refinance Experience with Quicken Loans posted at PT Money Personal Finance, saying “An overview of my particular experience so you can decide if working with Quicken Loans on your purchase or refinance is right for you.”

Matt presents Winning With Money Part 1: Stop Digging posted at Living In Financial Excellence, saying, “Changing the way you look at debt changes the way you look at a lot of things in your finances. When you draw the line in the sand and refuse to borrow anymore,you start making better choices with your money.”

Chris presents From Debt Payer to Stupid Cents posted at Stupid Cents, saying “New staff writer Chris Thomas discusses personal finance, six figure student loan debt, and selling blogs.”

Marjorie presents Charge-off Guide posted at CardHub.com, saying “Hey, I hope you had a great weekend! I think you and your readers will enjoy my submission this week as I explain what a charge-off for you debt is and how it works.”

Economy

Briana Myricks presents 20 and Laid Off…Again? posted at 20 and Engaged, saying, “My husband may be getting laid off. If he does, we’ll both be unemployed.”

Jim presents Low Interest Rates: Good or Bad? posted at Canadian Finance Blog, saying “From a personal finance perspective low interest rates present Canadians with key strategies for debt reduction in a low interest rate environment.”

jared h presents Stocks to Purchase in a Down Market posted at RICH AS CHOCOLATE, saying, “Details of the top NYSE dividend stocks likely to thrive in a down market.”

Control your Cash presents Look at the BIG PICTURE posted at Control Your Cash: Making Money Make Sense, saying, “Stock prices are nothing more than opinions. They’re values attached, via crowdsourcing, to intangible pieces of dynamic, vibrant corporations.”

Everything Finance presents Does a Credit Rating Downgrade Mean an Upswing in Rates? posted at Everything Finance, saying, “The unprecedented decision of Standard and Poor’s to downgrade the credit rating of the United States Government has caused a global economic commotion as markets fluctuated dramatically since the new rating was announced.”

Finance

Mike Piper presents Does It Still Make Sense to Max Out Your 401k? posted at The Oblivious Investor, saying, “In light of the recent craziness in the stock market, does it still make sense for people to max out their retirement accounts?”

Echo presents When Interest Rates Are Low Should You Pay Off Debt Or Invest? posted at Boomer & Echo, saying “With low interest rates here to stay, should you take advantage of cheap borrowing costs to pay off debt or use this opportunity to invest your money?”

MoneyCone presents Ally Vs. Ing Direct: A Face Off! posted at Money Cone, saying, “Being online banks, both Ally and ING Direct can afford to offer very aggressive rates when compared to traditional banks. But between them, which one offers the best value for your money? Let’s find out!”

Jim Yih presents Inflation and retirement planning posted at Retire Happy Blog, saying “When you are doing retirement planning, it’s important that you factor inflation into the projections. Inflation changes the value of money over time.”

Jonathan Milligan presents Get Me Out of Debt! posted at Simple Life Habits, saying, “Are you drowning in financial debt? Here are 5 simple tips that you can use starting today to be able to get out of debt.”

Online Dividends presents 5 Stocks On Sale posted at The DIV-Net, saying, “With the drop in the market being the talk of the town, it’s not terribly difficult to find value. I could probably put a list of 30 or more stocks that I find particular value in, but I think ultimately you want to stick to your plan. You should always think about allocation, diversification and buying quality on sale.”

Miranda presents P2P Lending Review: Prosper.com posted at Deliver Away Debt, saying “An overview of how Prosper.com works for both lendors/investors and borrowers.”

Frugality

Money Beagle presents How To Get Free Stuff From The Vending Machine (Legally, Too!) posted at Money Beagle, saying, “Is this genius or overboard?”

Jonathan from Debt Loans presents Raid the Kitchen for Your Beauty Needs posted at Frugal Living, saying, “Everyone likes to look good, but nobody wants to pay the shockingly high price of fancy treatments and expensive lotions. The next time you run out of face mask, hair treatment or eye cream, take a good look at your pantry or fridge for natural ingredients such as avocado, lemon, eggs or cucumber to make your own beauty products. Here are some tried and tested remedies.”

Jonathan presents Homemade Beauty Treats for Mum posted at Money Mum, saying, “We all deserve a treat now and again but as a Mum, you’re probably the one to miss out in that department if money is a bit tight. Rather than forgoing beauty treats altogether, why not try making your own? In most cases you won’t need anything fancy and you’ll probably find that you’ve got a lot of the ingredients at home already. Here are some ideas that you can try out next time you’ve got some ‘me’ time in the bathroom.”

Jen presents Extreme Couponing Reality Check | Master the Art of Saving posted at Master the Art of Saving, saying, “But what about the downside, can it end up costing you more in the long run? Don’t get me wrong, I’m a coupon-lover myself, but I don’t take it to a dark place (anymore). So here are some of the potential costs that can be associated with Extreme Couponing:”

Roger, the Amateur Financier presents Frugal Friday – Raising Frugal Children posted at The Amateur Financier, saying, “It’s one thing to be frugal, it’s another to help your children be frugal. This article provides some tips on how to do the latter, encouraging your children to be frugal.”

Money Spending Mommy presents College Students: Pros and Cons of Moving Back with Parents to Save Money posted at Money Spending Mommy, saying “Is moving back in with your parents right for you? Here are some pros and cons to consider.”

SB presents Loosing weight saves money, the how and why guide posted at One Cent at a Time, saying “This is a personal narration of my weight loss program and how it is helping me losing weight and saving money, as all that I am doing they don’t cost money.”

Justin Weinger presents How to Buy an Engagement Ring posted at Money Is The Root, saying “Some tips on how to purchase an engagement ring when you are ready to propose.”

Crystal presents Auctions Are Fun! posted at Budgeting in the Fun Stuff, saying “If you’ve never been to the auction it may seem foreign to you. Here’s our experience with going to the auction for the first time.”

Investing

Darwin presents I’m Borrowing $50,000 From My 401(k) – Here’s Why! posted at Darwin’s Money, saying “By bucking conventional wisdom and borrowing $50,000 from my 401(k), I’ll be earning 20% on my investment and diversifying my asset allocation. What am I missing?”

Bob presents How to invest in food posted at Christian Personal Finance, saying “I have an idea—a way to keep your portfolio diversified. Something that – no matter what the market does – will retain enough value that you will not go hungry. I’m talking about investing in food. Also known as “stock”-ing up.”

Glen Craig presents TradeKing Online Discount Brokerage | Review posted at Free From Broke, saying “Looking to invest online? Take a look at this TradeKing review and see why TradeKing is a top-rated discount brokerage.”

The Wealthy Canadian presents My Portfolio: Sector Breakdown (Part 5) posted at The Wealthy Canadian, saying “This article discusses each equity position I own in the Oil & Gas sector and provides details of each company.”

Money Management

Daniel presents ING Direct Can Now Replace Your Brick and Mortar Bank posted at Sweating The Big Stuff, saying “For a long time, Bank of America ruled the world. Now ING is a viable replacement!”

CreditDonkey presents 5 Ways to Maximize Your Financial Aid Eligibility posted at CreditDonkey.com Tips, saying, “Smart financial moves to ensure you maximize your financial aid eligibility, legally”

Jason presents Is that the best you can do? posted at Live Real, Now, saying, “It is difficult in these hectic times to be alert to other available options and yet with so much competition between rival companies, you may find a better deal elsewhere.”

DJ presents The Importance of Keeping Records of Your Money posted at The Family Wallet, saying, “In order to get a handle on your budget, it’s absolutely essential to carefully track expenses. This includes bills, variable necessities such as groceries and transportation expenses, and discretionary spending. Here are some of the many reasons why we must do so.”

Jon Elder presents 13 Part-time Jobs With Benefits posted at Free Money Wisdom, saying, “There are a surprising number of popular employers who provide benefits to part-time employees. Here are 13 employers and a sample of the benefits each provides for part-timers—there’s an excellent chance that several are located where you live:”

Benjamin presents Changing the Way You Think About Money posted at Trees Full of Money, saying, “This article recounts one of the “turning points” in my family’s eventual success in becoming debt free.”

Eric J. Nisall presents Changing Banks Is Not So Easy posted at DollarVersity, saying, “Changing banks used to be as easy as opening up an account, depositing your money and closing the old account, but not so much any more.”

John presents Money Market Accounts vs. Savings Accounts posted at Wallet Blog, saying “In our submission this week we examine what separates a money market account from a traditional savings account. After all, if we’re to make responsible banking decisions and effectively manage our money, we must understand the options available to us.”

Other

Flexo presents Wells Fargo Testing $3 Monthly Debit Card Fee posted at Consumerism Commentary, saying “Wells Fargo is going to lose a good number of customers if they decide to implement this $3 fee nationwide, but don’t be surprised if every bank adopts this policy soon. Free banking could be over before you know it.”

Suba presents Mail in rebate : Why we fail and how to beat it posted at Wealth Informatics, saying “Almost 60% of the people won’t send in their mail in rebate or fail to get the rebate money. This post discusses the psychology of mail in rebate and a system to submit successful mail in rebates.”

Jacob presents The Office Of Tomorrow posted at My Personal Finance Journey, saying “With the way technology is rapidly advancing these days, who knows what sort of office environment we will go to work to earn our money in 50 years!”

Alvaro Cramton presents 30 Unique Career Paths With an Accounting Degree posted at Masters in Accounting, saying, “If you love number crunching but don’t necessarily want to spend four years in college, there are other paths you can take in the accounting field to find a job you love. These are 30 unique career paths available to those interested in the accounting field, ranging from entry level to more advanced professions.”

Edna Goldberg presents Top 30 Management Forums & Message Boards posted at Masters in Management, saying, “Whether you are new to management or have years of experience, it is not uncommon to have situations arise that you have never dealt with before. For these moments, it is helpful to have somewhere to turn for advice from someone who has been in your shoes. These thirty message boards and forums offer great advice for everyone from students to CEOs to help you manage those tricky situations.”

Steve presents Should I Invest in Google? posted at FastSwings, saying, “Google has had a great run and continues to perform well as a longer term investment.”

Tarik presents 3 Tips to Increase Sales | Success starts today posted at Success starts today, saying, “3 easy tips to improve your income from your business.”

J.B. presents The 1st Annual My University Money Scholarship Contest! posted at My University Money, saying, “Our first ever scholarship contest! We’re giving away $100 to the winner!”

Marie@familymoneyvalues.com presents Do You Talk to Your Parents About Money? posted at FamilyMoneyValues, saying, “Numerous financial sites and articles recommend that you get a grip on your parent’s financial situation. After all, they could get sick and expect you to handle finances for them, run out of money and expect you to support them, or worse yet, they could die and leave you with a mess. Not one of those sites seem to realize that it should be a two way street.”

Jason Price presents Time Management Exercise posted at One Money Design, saying, “Try this time management exercise to identify what’s most important in your life which can help you balance career, family and finances.”

Real Estate

Bucksome presents Reasons Why You Probably Can’t Count on a Mortgage Tax Deduction posted at Buck$ome Boomer’s Journey to Retirement, saying, “Reasons why the mortgage tax deduction shouldn’t be the motivation to buy a home.”

Dough Roller presents Which Mortgage is Right for You? posted at Dough Roller, saying “Before deciding on which mortgage is right for you, it’s important to first understand your financial situation and the benefits each type of mortgage can provide.”

Saving

Kevin presents How Much Should I Save, and Why? posted at Invest It Wisely, saying, “The “normal” guideline during good times is 10%, and that definitely isn’t a bad place to start. In current times, I feel that 30% to 50% of net income is a better goal to target.”

Madison presents American Express 5% Cash Back on Wireless posted at My Dollar Plan, saying “This is a great credit card to supplement any cash back strategy!”

Taxes

Kevin presents How Does A Roth IRA Factor Into Your Estate Plan posted at RothIRA.com’s Retirement Planning Blog, saying, “Paying taxes is one of the constants of life. But is it possible to avoid the hefty estate tax with a Roth IRA? Potentially.”

Whew!  Told you there were a lot of articles.  They were great though, weren’t they?  Make sure you check out next week’s carnival at Bank Nerd. You can submit your articles using the submission form.

Which article is your favorite? Let us know in the comments.

Copyright © Parenting Family Money Please visit for more great content!

Totally Money Carnival #33

We all want the best education for our children, but what if you can’t afford the perfect one? Do you saddle your aspiring college student with $50,000, $75,000–$100,000 in student loan debt upon graduation?

There are ways to avoid the student debt trap and still give your child a decent education.  True, compromises will be necessary, but with the cost of a college education spiraling out of control, there may be no other choice for many parents.

Try any one or a combination of the following.

1. Spend the first two years at a community college

This is a method that cuts the overall cost of a college education dramatically.  A student can spend the first two years at a community college, then transfer to a four year school to complete a bachelor’s degree.  Public colleges and universities will accept the transfer credits though it can be a bit harder if the ultimate destination is a private institution.  The student will earn an associates degree upon graduation, and it can also be a perfect transition for students who aren’t quite academically ready for the college world.

As an example, let’s say that you live in New Jersey, and your daughter wants to attend Rutgers University.  Tuition and fees for one year at Rutgers (off campus/commuter) is just over $12,000.  If she were to attend nearby Middlesex County College for the first two years, tuition and fees are about $4,800—less than half the cost of Rutgers.  Almost $15,000 will be saved on her college education, but after four years, her degree will be from—Rutgers University!

2. Attend an in-state school

Attending school in-state might limit educational options, but it can also save a fortune.  For example, for a Georgia resident attending the University of Georgia (living on campus) the cost for one year is just under $20,000.  But if the same Georgia resident crosses the state line and attends the University of Florida, the annual tab will be in excess of $40,000.

The difference between the two schools over four years is more than $80,000—how much of that will be paid for out of student loans?

If your child’s major requires a public university located in another state, consider having her take a year off from school to establish residency in the state where the school is located.  Inconvenient?  Maybe.  But saving $80,000 may be worth the effort!

3. Live at home and commute

How can you avoid the student debt trap?

By living at home and commuting to school, tens of thousands of dollars on a four year college education can be saved just by eliminating room and board and travel expenses.

Room and board at the University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign) was $9,714 for the most recent school year.  If you pay that for all four years you’ll have added nearly $39,000 to the cost of your child’s education and perhaps to his student loan debt.

If you live in a large metropolitan area there are probably a number of colleges and universities within commuting distance.  A good public university in your area can save even more.

4. Work your way through

Not only does working your way through school help to lower college costs—and the resulting student loan debt—but it can also provide something many college graduates don’t have: work experience.

There are three different ways this can be arranged:

1. Attend school full time, work part time
2. Work full time, attend school part time
3. One year on, one year off

The last two arrangements will lengthen the time it takes to complete a degree program, but that time will have been traded for less student loan debt and more work experience, both of which can give a young person a better start in adult life.  In addition, a person who has worked during the college years might find a smoother transition into work life than one who makes a cold shift from school to employment.

5. Set a specific student loan limit and work within it

Instead of borrowing any amount needed to cover the costs of college, set a limit on how much you think your child will reasonably be able to pay back shortly after graduation.

You can use any metric you like, but one that I like is to limit the amount of college debt to the average first year starting salary expected upon graduation.  If you expect your child to earn $35,000 in the first year out of school, the student loan debt should be limited to $35,000.  That’s a maximum—less will be even better—and it’s important to use the average income as a basis, not the upper range.

Remember, one day all that debt will have to be paid back so you have to be certain that it’s an amount that will be within the child’s future means to do so. Setting a limit will also help guide you into using some of the other alternatives above.

What other ways can you think of to avoid the student debt trap?

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5 Ways Around the Student Debt Trap

Summer vacation has arrived. For many of us, that means the constant refrain of, “I’m bored!”  You want to provide something for your kids to do (other than watch TV or play video games), but you don’t want to spend a lot of money.  Happily, there are some inexpensive things that you can do to amuse your kids over the summer.

9 Inexpensive Ways to Amuse Kids Over the Summer

1. Check the local movie theater: Many local movie theaters have certain days on which they offer free movies.  In my town, you can watch free kids matinees on Wednesdays.  Popcorn and soda is inexpensive: Only $1.

2. Visit different parks in town: If your town has different parks, you can visit them all.  Make a plan to visit each park.  The kids will have fun visiting a new place, and you can make it even more fun by making and bringing a picnic lunch.  Spread out your visits throughout the summer.

3. Library programs: Check for summer reading programs at the local library. Your kids might be able to earn prizes as they read — which should keep them busy and away from the TV.  My daughter’s school library is open for shortened hours over the summer, and offers a reading program.  My daughter ends up with two library programs: school library and public library.  For younger kids, many libraries have story time.  You can make it more fun by having family reading time outside.

4. Youth programs: My daughter loves Girl Scouts. Growing up, I did Boy Scouts.  It was a great way to spend the summer.  I learned new things, and kept busy putting together a project.  Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts can also be good programs with relatively low costs (my Boy Scout camp always had scholarships and assistance for those that qualified).

5. Gardening: Each year, my daughter plants two or three items in the garden.  Then, she helps us grow the garden.  Get your kids involved with the garden, whether it’s flowers or food.  It will give your children something to do, and something to be proud of accomplishing.  If you have limited space, start a container garden.

6. City Rec Center: In many cities, there is no need to get an expensive gym membership.  You can often save money by getting involved at the local rec center.  Many cities also offer low-cost sports leagues, so your children can play on a team.  Encourage your kids to spend time practicing so that their play improves.  This will give them something to do in between games.

Sidewalk chalk is an inexpensive way to amuse the kids over the summer!

7. Crafts: My daughter is really into origami right now.  All I need to do is look up the instructions for a new creation, and she’ll spend half the day learning to make it, and make multiples.  We don’t use origami paper; instead, she uses printer copies that we don’t need, or that contain mistakes.  For color, she uses leftover construction paper or wrapping paper.  There are plenty of other craft ideas that can be accomplished with dollar-store supplies.

8. Sidewalk chalk: Little artists can spend hours playing with sidewalk chalk.  Teach the kids how to create a hopscotch game, and then teach them to play.  They can transition to that once they are tired of drawing.

9. Go outside: As you might imagine, the great outdoors can be the perfect place to amuse your kids for less.  Bike rides, hiking, camping and sports can all be enjoyed outside.  You can even camp in your own backyard, or picnic in your backyard.  Explore local parks and find trails you may have never seen before.  Get out!

What do you do with your kids to keep them amused during the summer?

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9 Inexpensive Ways to Amuse Kids Over the Summer

It is our absolute pleasure to be hosting the Festival of Frugality this week.  As you know, the Festival of Frugality contains the best articles on frugality and saving money from sites big and small.  This week we’re going on vacation so I thought we’d share some of our tips on going away.

Let’s get right to the frugal awesomeness!

These are the Editor’s Picks:

Emily presents Should You Repair or Replace Your Car? posted at PT Money: Personal Finance.

Tom presents Save Money on Your Internet Bill posted at Stupid Cents.

Jon the Saver presents Use These Tips to Save on Your Next Prescription posted at Free Money Wisdom.

Suba presents Extended warranty – Who buys them, Is it worth it? What to look for? posted at Wealth Informatics.

Mr. Money Smarts presents Saving Money On Health Care: Health Savings Accounts (HSA) posted at Smart On Money.

Crystal presents Frugality Fatigue: Saving too Much Can Be Counterproductive posted at Budgeting In The Fun Stuff.

FMF presents Shopping for a Cruise posted at Free Money Finance.

Neal Frankle presents 5 Retirement Hobbies That Will Save You A Fortune posted at Wealth Pilgrim.

Consumer Boomer presents How To Attempt To File Bankruptcy For Free posted at Consumer Boomer.

And the rest…

Tip: When traveling with the kids, try to have have something to occupy them.  A portable DVD player or laptop for movies can payoff huge in keeping you sane.

Miss T. presents How to Save Money at Festivals posted at Prairie Eco Thrifter.

Kristia presents Do You Have a Plan For Replacing Your Appliances? posted at Family Balance Sheet.

No Debt MBA presents Eat slower? Spend slower! posted at No Debt MBA.

Brian presents Save Money on Music posted at Wallet Watcher.

Sabrina presents How to Cut Your Food Budget: Beverages posted at Frugal Living.

Matt presents Why 0% Interest Isn’t Free Money posted at Living in Financial Excellence.

Mike presents Tips To Maximize Reward Credit Cards posted at Rewards Cards Canada.

Tip: Keep snacks and drinks for the kids handy when you travel rather than buy them at rest stops or convenience stores.  You’ll save money and probably get better nutrition too.

The Family Wallet presents Five Money Saving Tips for Frugal Family Fun posted at The Family Wallet.

Dr. Dean presents Diabetes and your money posted at The Millionaire Nurse Blog.

Money Thinker presents Fixing Five Frivolous Fees posted at Money Thinking.

Sustainable PF presents Fashionable Pregnancy Clothes on a Budget posted at Sustainable Personal Finance.

FruGal presents Save a fortune on your holidays this summer posted at TotallyMoney.

Tim Fraticelli presents How We Keep Our Grocery Budget Under $250 Per Month posted at Faith and Finance.

Peter presents Save Money on Groceries Through Food-Buying Programs posted at Bible Money Matters.

Janet presents Credit Cards as Part of Your Frugal Lifestyle posted at Credit, Eh.

Going on a frugal vacation.

Tip: Depending on where you are traveling, try buying food supplies when you arrive a a place like Wal-Mart, Target, or Costco rather than depend on restaurants and fast food.  You can save a ton and because you are buying it there you save on space.

Glen Craig presents 5 Must Follow Home Energy Savings Tips for Summer posted at Free From Broke.

Fanny presents Amazon Credit Card Rewards – Earn Free Stuff posted at Living Richly on a Budget.

Jacob presents Psychological Tricks Retailers Use to Make You to Spend More – The Importance of Smart Shopping in Today’s Society posted at My Personal Finance Journey.

Adam presents Why I Am Not In a SIPP and It’s Unlikely You Should Have One Either posted at Magical Penny.

Tom Drake presents Money Saving Tips for Thrifty Canadians posted at Canadian Finance Blog.

Daniel presents Volunteer For Your Future posted at Sweating The Big Stuff.

John presents Want Better Healthcare at a Lower Price? New Primary Care Models Are Gaining Traction posted at Wallet Blog.

Miranda presents Paying Down Debt? Are You Sweating the Big Stuff? posted at Deliver Away Debt.

Tim Chen presents Bank Credit Cards: Explained posted at NerdWallet Blog – Credit Card Watch.

Tip: Know your kids.  A vacation with a lot of walking attractions, like historical destinations, can be great but your kids have to be able to walk it all and stay focused as well.  Younger children will only tolerate so much before they get cranky.  Either break up the walking part or understand you have to save some of the history for when they are older.

And that’s the Festival of Frugality!  I hope you enjoyed.  Make sure you check out next week’s edition at My Journey to Millions.

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Festival of Frugality #290 – Going on Vacation

In just a few short weeks, kids will be out of school for the summer (some already are).  While kids are counting down the remaining days they have left in school this academic year and can’t wait for those summer days, many parents are counting down the remaining days for a different reason.  How can they keep their kids occupied and make sure they don’t lose all of the academic strides they made during the year?  One way is to take advantage of summer reading programs.

National Programs

Barnes and Noble’s Summer Reading Program:  Kids read eight books during the summer and are then able to choose a free book from Barnes and Noble’s list when they bring in their journal form recording the books they read.  (The completed journal form can be turned in between May 24^th and September 6^th, 2011.)  There are 5 books to choose as the free book in 3 different categories:  1^st and 2^nd grade, 3^rd and 4^th grade, and 5^th and 6^th grade.  In each category, there is also one Spanish language book available.

Borders’ Double Dog Dare You Reading Program:
Kids 12 and under read 10 books, fill out the form, and return it to choose a free book.  (The form can be brought in between June 1^st and September 5^th, 2011.)

Scholastic Summer Challenge:  Between May 15^th and June 4^th, 2011, kids 15 and under can log in the minutes that they read each day to be entered to win one of three sets of 5 Klutz books.

Sylvan Bookworm Challenge:  Kids in grades K-8 sign up for free and choose books from over 7,000 available titles.  When they are done, they take a short, multiple choice quiz on the book.  Quizzes are worth 100 to 200 points, depending on the age level.  Kids can then redeem their points for a variety of prizes.  (Prizes range from 900 to 2,000 points.)

Pizza Hut Book It Reading Program:  Kids in grades K-6 read 5 books, complete a form and mail it in to enter a sweepstakes for a prize ranging from a jump rope to a $20 Visa card.  All entries must be received by August 22^nd, 2011, and the books must have been read between June 15^th and August 15^th, 2011.

Regional Programs

TD Bank’s Summer Reading Program:  Kids on the East Coast will want to take advantage of TD Bank’s summer reading program.  Read 10 books, complete the summer reading form, and take it in to the nearest TD Bank.  Ten dollars will be deposited in your current or brand new savings account.  (The form can be brought in between May 4^th and September 30^th, 2011.)

Bookworm Wednesdays:  This is another good program for those on the East Coast.  Bring in a book report to any participating Showcase or Multiplex Cinemas, and get a free ticket to a 10 a.m. Wednesday movie.  The movies are shown July 6^th through August 10^th.  Movies that will be shown include Over the Hedge, Bee Movie, and Kung Fu Panda.

In addition to these programs, make sure to check with your local public library for their reading program.  Each year my kids participate in our local library’s reading program.  Each week that they met the designated reading goal, they earn a free pass to a museum or a free kids’ meal at a local restaurant.  In addition, last year my son was one of the top 50 readers, and he was treated to a bowling and pizza party, free of cost to him.

Finally, also try searching the internet for reading programs in your local area beyond the library.

[Glen: Check with the school your child is attending as well.  My daughter's old elementary used to have reading incentives in the summer where a child can earn rewards and prizes by reading a certain amount of books.]

Summer is a great time for kids to relax, play, and enjoy the freedom from school. However, it can also be a time for them to strengthen their reading skills and earn rewards through the many free reading programs available.

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Take Advantage of Free 2011 Reading Programs During the Summer

Many parents—mothers especially—see work-at-home as the perfect blend of work and child rearing.  Because you’re at home you can both earn a living and be close to your children.  Additionally, you can save the substantial cost that comes with daycare.

But is that how it will work? It could, but it will depend on a number of factors and how you’ll handle them.

The type of work you’ll do from home

As a rule, the less customer contact your job entails, the better you’ll be able to combine child rearing with work.  Even if it requires significant email communication—but little phone calling or face-to-face contact—you should be able to make the blend successfully.

By contrast, in a sales position, or any job that will involve heavy customer contact, having your children at home will be a tough juggling act.  While many clients may be sympathetic with your attempt to create a better blend of work with parenting, others—often the higher paying ones—may consider it to be an unacceptable distraction, and your income could suffer as a result.

The age of your children is a MAJOR factor

Infants and very young children can make work-at-home hard to accomplish no matter what kind of work you do.  Children at this age need constant supervision and might compete for your time simply because you’re at home.   In addition, young children can have “bad days” that can sabotage a whole day of work despite you’re best efforts.

If your children are in this age range, you may have to consider a part time work-at-home arrangement or plan on greater reliance on childcare, which we’ll cover in some detail in the next section.  Failing all else, it might be necessary to put off a work-at-home arrangement until your children are a little bit older.

School age. Once children reach school age, regimentation sets in and the situation becomes more favorable.  It isn’t just that they’re out of the home much of the day, but also that school gives them a life beyond you and will create responsibilities in their lives.  This isn’t to say that they’ll cease to be concern in regard to your work-at-home arrangement, but they definitely will be less of one.

At this stage, you can generally work around any child/work conflicts through efficient scheduling.  For example, you can schedule your day such that the most intense part of your work day occurs when the kids are at school.

Once they come home from school you can block out an hour (maybe in lieu of lunch) where you can dedicate some time to spend with them at what is often their most active time of the day.  Once they settle down, or even later in the evening, you can go back to work to finish your less challenging assignments.

Middle and high school. You might think that you’ll be home free once your children reach middle school or especially high school, but this isn’t nearly the case.  True, they don’t need as much direct supervision, but this is also the time when they get involved in extracurricular activities and need to be chauffeured all over town.  Try these when this phase hits:

• Introduce them to the joys of self-reliance through walking and bike riding
• Work out car pooling arrangements with other parents where ever possible
• Be flexible with your scheduling to allow time to give a ride—it often comes up unexpectedly when an event is scheduled suddenly or another parent backs out of providing the ride
• Have one or two Plan B drivers who can offer a ride in a pinch—even if you have to pay for it.

As you can see, everything concerning children and work-at-home involves creativity and juggling. But you have to be prepared to juggle in different ways at different ages.

Budget childcare options

In an ideal situation (and they’re out there!) you can work full time from home with your child(ren) nearby occupying themselves quietly.  But for the more common situations where that isn’t the case, you’ll have to make some use of childcare.

The key with childcare is balance. A major reason you want to be home is so that you can be there for your children, but at the same time you have a job to do to earn an income that will enable to afford being there.

Earlier we talked about scheduling your most productive/high stress periods of the day for when your kids weren’t home so you’ll be able to complete your most important work.  If your children are pre-school age, or out on summer break, you’ll have to create those quiet times, and that will most likely involve some sort of childcare.

Let’s take a look at some options that will make that less expensive as well as minimize the time your children are outside the home.

Part time daycare. Many daycares offer part time care, either a few hours each day or two or three days a week.  On an hourly basis, the rates are higher than they would be for full time enrollment, but it can still save you money.  Not only will this give you the quiet time you need to work, but a regular routine of your children being out of your home will help to regiment their lives when they’re home.

You watch mine/I’ll watch yours. It’s no longer difficult to find other parents working from home, and you’ll probably find a few right in your own neighborhood.  By joining forces, you might be able to spell each other for a few hours each day by taking the others children along with yours.

Let’s say you do your best work in the morning, and you’re new partner works best in afternoons.  Your children go to the other parent giving you quiet time in the morning, then you swap and you go on childcare duty in the afternoon to provide her quiet time to get her most important work done.  Ideally, both of you have flexibility to wrap up unfinished business in the evening.

At home babysitter. If the idea of having your children being cared for outside your home doesn’t work for you, hire someone to watch them in your home.  The arrangement can be part time or full time, depending on need and affordability, but it can give you the time you need to get your work done each day.  The sitter can handle the routine care, but you’ll be close by in case of emergencies.

Shared babysitter. Again, there probably are people close by who also work from home and need some form of childcare.  Join forces and hire one sitter to watch both sets of kids.  You can alternate homes, or go with the one that has a more advantageous layout for children.  Whether this is full time or part time, you’ll save a lot of money over going solo, and have the knowledge that a parent will be nearby if there’s an emergency.

Keep in mind that no childcare arrangement will be perfect.  Either your children will be away from you, or they’ll be close by in which case you’ll have less time to get your work done.  But think of it as a transition—as they get older the options will get better.

Work-at-home is about work, and the minute you lose sight of that you’re in danger of losing the arrangement.  It can give you more time with your children, or at least put you closer to them, but success or failure—ironically—is largely determined by how well you’re able to keep work and parenting in separate boxes.

Have you ever done work-at-home with children?   What strategies worked?  Which ones didn’t?  What advice would you give to a parent who wants to work-at-home?

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How to Combine Children with Work-at-Home Jobs