Guest Post - Kami shares Saving & Earning Tips and Tricks

Please join me in welcoming Kami as she guest posts about four different tips and tricks she uses to save and earn from home! I was so excited when she contacted me last month about her interest in sharing with all of us....thank you so much, Kami!

Hi Everyone!

My name is Kami and I'm married to an awesome man named Carter. We have two boys, ages 28 months and 4 months. I am a CPA with a specialty in taxation, but retired when my first child was born. I work part-time during tax season for a local firm. It's a great arrangement that allows me to telecommute so that I can still care for the children. Though I'm relatively new to the coupon world, I've been a frugal person my whole life. My parents taught us to be wise stewards of the money God blessed us with. My husband was raised the same way and it is our desire to be sure we honor God with our lives, especially with our money.

Here are some of my favorite ways to save money. Hopefully they help you and your family!

1. Clothing

My mother always said I have a champagne taste on a coca-cola budget. She's right: I learned it from her! For our clothes, I buy name brand and high-end clothes. By wearing classic styles which we update from time to time with inexpensive trendier pieces, we are able to keep our clothing expenditures low. I used to think that discount stores were automatically cheaper. I have since learned that it is not always the case. Many times I can find the same item priced better as the big department stores. My favorite way to buy clothes is on clearance. I used to be a bit nervous about only shopping sales at the high-end stores. But now I just wear a cute outfit and go have fun!

As for my boys' clothing, they are young enough that I can buy a season ahead. I love to buy sweet little smocked and appliqued outfits for them, but those can run $70 an outfit! But by shopping the clearance racks at my favorite stores, I usually pay about $10 - $15 per outfit. Another thing I do is patronize the local stores and make friends with the salespeople. Because they know me, they often offer me additional discounts or freebies. For instance, last fall I wanted a pants outfit for my older son to wear to church. The store owner offered take off an additional 20% and monogram the outfit for free if I would let her keep it an additional month for display purposes. This was fine with me since it was something he wouldn't grow into for a while. We both benefited!

2. Furniture

As with clothes, I prefer to buy the highest quality I can afford; that way it is sure to withstand the test of time. With furniture, buying "pre-loved" (sounds better than saying "used" doesn't it?) furniture is a wonderful way to save lots of money. My favorite places to buy are on Ebay and through local antique stores. Knowing what to buy can be tricky. I've spent many hours browsing local stores to learn all I can about the quality of the items and figure out what I do and don't like. Every few years, a company will discontinue a certain line. Almost always they come out with a new line that is similar in style and color. This means that you can find something you like in the store and find its predecessor on Ebay. Discovering the previous line's name is easy - ask the salespeople!

We purchased our dining room set at a consignment store five years ago. It is a mahogany Henredon set complete with the table, two leaves, eight chairs and the china cabinet. The retail on the set was around $30,000. At the consignment store, we purchased it for $4,100 - a savings of over 86%!!!

3. Online Offers

I had actually done some online offers back in 2004 and earned an iPod, iPod shuffle, Dell computer and Samsung flat-screen monitor. Those sites all required referrals. It became increasingly difficult to get referrals and I told myself I'd never do it again. Once I stumbled upon moneysavingmethods.com and found out about the do-it-yourself offers, I couldn't wait to try! My first two sites paid out $500 in Visa gift cards. My third site paid out a $500 Home Depot gift card. Click here if you would like to try your own $500 Gift Card offer. I also recently started my first Nuitech site. I'm loving these online deals!

4. Vegetable Garden

I live in Alabama and we are able to grow a large variety of vegetables and some fruits here. Gardening requires minimal investment for a wonderful return. Produce is one of the items that I can rarely buy with a coupon so even after the cost to plant and water, I still save money. Plus, it's organic! There are lots of websites with helpful information on how to get started. We have enjoyed the Square Foot Garden method (http://www.squarefootgardening.com/) but there are hundreds of internet sites to help you get started. We began our first year with one small planter box containing three plants. This year we have approximately two hundred plants growing blueberries, pole beans, cucumbers, tomatoes, broccoli, okra, bell peppers, jalapeno peppers, corn, squash, and a variety of herbs.

Are you a reader, like Kami, who has benefited from one of my methods or has some of your own? Feel free to email me about doing a guest post. They are always welcome.

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