Thrifty and Thriving

with code FREE_PHOTO_CLING_DEAL today (8/18/10 only) and you have to have it shipped (about $6) but it’s a $9.99 value!

Does your kid destroy backpacks? As in, carries everything and a hamster around and by the end of the school year its barely able to hold a folder? Yeah, thought so. I used to do that too. But wait! There’s hope! There are a lot of places you can get inexpensive backpacks for your kids, and not feel bad that they are ruined by the end of the year. Here are a few places to check out:

Target has backpacks on sale! You can get a nice backpack for your little dudes and gals for under $10. Check it out here.

Staples has 25% off Jansport Backpacks here. (The coupon is really tiny at the bottom of the ad)

School-Bags.com has a bunch of bags under $20 here.

eBags.com has 20% off site-wide on backpacks here.

And finally, don’t forget to check out Amazon and eBay for inexpensive bags.

Happy hunting!

Even though I’m not a student anymore, I still get really excited about back to school shopping. When I was a kid, it was the one time of year that I got a ton of new supplies that I could organize, decorate and shove into my backpack. It was awesome. These days, I still get a little thrill every time I have to buy a new folder or binder or pens. It takes me back to when Mom, Brother and I would head out to the Oscars Drug store and get to check all the items off our classroom lists. My mom was the original Super Saver and when it came to school supplies she was a master of savings.

Here’s some tips I learned from her over the years and that you can use for your back to school shopping:

- Buy the plain colored folders instead of the one with cartoon characters. Those cartoons won’t be cool in a few months anyways. Plus, if you get the plain ones, then there is more room for creativity and you can encourage your kids to decorate their own folders.

- Re-use colored pencils. I know they look dingy and boring, but a quick coat of paint and sharpening them makes them good as new.

- Do you have a ton of crayons? Melt them down and turn them into fun shapes! It is a little more work, but it means your kids will have the coolest crayons in the classroom

- Same as the folders, get the plain binders with the plastic covering. Then your kids can change out what they want their binder to look like throughout the year. Plus, if they don’t destroy them, then you can use them again next year!

- Instead of buying the top brand Elmer’s Glue, get the generic brand. It will hold macaroni on paper and keep a couple extra bucks in your wallet.

- Finally, buy in bulk! You know every year you will need paper, so why not buy a lot of it?

What do you do to cut back on school supplies costs? Any helpful tips?

The U.S. government has said that iPhone owners are officially allowed to “jailbreak” their devices for “educational purposes.” (read more here)

Jailbreakme 2.0 was released promptly after the announcement and you can now jailbreak your iPhone by visiting the site.

Read more here

The U.S. government has said that iPhone owners are officially allowed to “jailbreak” their devices for “educational purposes.” (read more here)

Jailbreakme 2.0 was released promptly after the announcement and you can now jailbreak your iPhone by visiting the site.

Read more here

10 ways to cozy up your home (fewer people have the credit line to do the renovations – kind of sad but good tips)

and,

Tired of carrying around loyalty cards on your keychain? Read about mobile loyalty programs

Let’s discuss!

Kids are trading cell phones for Porsches these days, at least this kid did

Ortiz [the kid] spends five to six hours each day searching Craigslist for the right kind of swaps. Over the last two years and 14 trades, he’s had an eclectic assortment of items in his possession, including an iPod touch, various dirt bikes, a MacBook Pro, a golf cart, and a 1975 Ford Bronco. It was the Bronco that allowed him to become the only kid at his high school who drives his own convertible Porsche to class.

Read the full article here

Check out this article from Budget is Sexy. It introduces the concept of bonuses you get throughout the year if you get paid weekly or biweekly.

I get paid 1 time a week. That’s 52 paychecks per year. There are 4 weeks in each month, or are there? Four months out of the year, I receive 5 paychecks. How can this be? Am I just that good of an employee that I warrant a quarterly bonus? I like to think so, but alas, that is not the case. 12 months X 4 paychecks each month = 48 paychecks a year. So what about the other 4 weeks of the year?

The author also lists some ways you can spend those bonuses:

What to Do With Your New Found Bonuses

There are plenty of things you can do with the extra money:

Buy some toys
Give it to charity
Go out to eat
Burn it for warmth
Put it into savings
Invest it
Add it to your retirement fund
Put it towards paying off debt
Cash it for $1 bills and roll around in it
The possibilities are as plentiful as oil in the Gulf of Mexico.

What do you do with those extra paychecks?