Ways to Save on the Web

I recently read a magazine article that listed tons of great web sites that can save you money. I haven't had time to look at all of them yet, but I want to sometime. I decided to post them here in case anyone else could use the info (and then I can recycle the magazine but still have the web sites). I have italicized the sites I have tried and enjoyed:

• annualcreditreport.com (get a free credit report from each of the three main bureaus)
• upromise.com (earn rewards to pay for school)
• mint.com (track and manage your spending, saving, and budgeting for free)
• walletpop.com and getrichslowly.org (practical financial advice)
• lowcards.com, cardfusion.com, and cardratings.com (find low interest rate or better reward credit cards)
• comparisonshop.com (searches comparison shopping sites to help you find best price)
• Yokel.com and shoplocal.com (evaluate prices at brick-and-mortar stores in your area)
• couponcabin.com (coupons)
• retailmenot.com (promotional codes)
• priceprotectr.com (tell you how to get money back if price has fallen on item you recently bought)
• swapagift.com (buy, sell, or exchange gift cards)
• groceryguide.com (weekly specials and coupons for grocery stores near you)
• restaurant.com (discounts at local restaurants)
• kidsmealdeals.com (find local kids-eat-free deals)
• myrecipes.com and allrecipes.com (free recipes)
• theultimates.com (look up phone numbers)
• skype.com (web cam/ web phone)
• billshrink.com (analyze your cell phone usage and hunt for a cheaper plan)
• cellforcash.com (sell your old cell phones)
• techbargains.com and shopper.com (tech deals and coupon codes)
• openoffice.org and docs.google.com (free open source computer programs comprable to Microsoft Office)
• avg.com (free anti-virus software)
• safer-networking.org and lavasoft.com (free anti-spyware protection)
• zonealarm.com (free Internet firewall)
• modernfeed.com and hulu.com (free online TV shows - the same ones you watch on regular TV)
• pandora.com (free streaming music site)
• swaptree.com and swapthing.com (trade or barter for CDs/DVD and other items)
• cars.com, edmunds.com, and cartango.com (compare local prices, get info on rebates and incentives)
• pumpandsave.com (find best cash-back fuel cards)
• gasbuddy.com (find cheapest gas stations in your area)
• Erideshare.com, carpoolworld.com, and goloco.org (find a carpool)
• insurance.com (compare rates and quotes)
• happymedian.com (computes equidistant meeting spots between two locations)
• kayak.com and bookingbuddy.com (searches multiple sites to find best plane fare)
• airfarewatchdog.com (low-fare alerts)
• farecast.com (advice on when to buy tickets)
• hotels.com (htoel deals and bargains)
• Mousesavers.com (deep discounts on family vacations)

Air Travel with Babies

The holidays are a time for traveling. When you book the airline tickets the only thing you think about is how wonderful it will be to spend time with your family. You can just imagine the good times and great memories that will be made. However, when the day to travel arrives you remember that it can be quite a challenge to travel with young babies. Emerson and Finlay have been pretty good travelers so far - let's hope they can pull through for us as we fly this break. Here are some tips that have helped us navigate the airport/flying experience with twins. I'm sure the tips could work equally well for those flying with one baby. The picture below is cute Emerson waiting for his plane to Houston (we went there in September).

• Make sure your diaper bag is loaded with all the essentials: Before you leave home make sure your bag has everything you could possibly need while flying (diapers, wipes, changing pad, food or bottle if applicable, toys, books, burp cloths, extra outfit, baby medicine, etc). Make sure you have items such as diapers and toys in a location they are easy to reach for. The guy next to you might not appreciate being elbowed while you rummage through your bag trying to find a rag to wipe spit-up off the arm rest the two of you are sharing.
• Give yourself plenty of time: Everything will take longer with babies. It will take longer to pack the car, unload at the airport, get your tickets, get through security, get to the gate, etc. If you plan on arriving to the airport early you can eliminate lots of stress.
• Have one person be in charge of the baby(ies) and one in charge of any bags, strollers, car seats, etc when you go through security: It can be a real juggling act trying to get twin boys and all their gear through security. We've found it works best if I hold both boys and go through the metal detectors while Ricky sends all of our stuff through the scanning machines. He dissassembles the stroller, sends the car seat through, takes the video camera out of the bag, and sends our luggage through. We send the least valuable stuff through first because it usually takes us a LONG time to get all of this stuff through. Nobody ever tries to steal your stinky tennis shoes, baby jackets with spit-up on them, and car seats. We send the lap-top, wallets, and cameras through last, so we can for sure get through the metal detector before the valuables. Also, when we send the car seats through first I can put the boys in them and set them on the floor. Then my hands are free to collect all of our stuff.
• Accept help: We have been to a lot of airports with our boys, and people have been very nice wherever you go. If people offer to help you - let them. While I don't think I would hand over my boys to a stranger I have no problem letting someone help me dissasemble the stroller, or get a carseat off the table. Ask the security people to help you. They want to keep things going quickly and smoothly. They usually love smiling and playing with cute babies (or is that just the novelty of twins?).
• Change diapers and feed babies as soon as you get to the gate: These are two tasks done most easily when not on a plane.
• Make sure your seats are okay: Most of you might not have to worry about this, but if you have two infants it can be a problem. You are only allowed to have one lap infant per 3 seats. That means Ricky and I can't sit by each other. It wouldn't be a big deal except for the fact that our babies nurse. So we usually have to make sure we have two aisle seats close to each other so we can pass the babies back and forth. We've found that if we ask if there are any unclaimed seats they will sometimes be able to give us three seats to ourselves. That's nice.
• Make sure the baby has something to suck on during take-off and landing: Feed the baby or have him/her suck on a pacifier.
• Walk up and down the aisle: When our little guys get stir-crazy Ricky picks them up and walks up and down the aisle. No one seems to mind as long as the stewardesses aren't making their rounds with snacks and drinks.
• Make friends with the flight attendants: You are well taken care off if you let the flight attendants play with and dote on your babies. We have never flown on a plane where the flight attendants didn't treat our boys like little celebrities.
• Wait until everyone gets off the plane before you attempt to: It's much easier to get off an empty plane than a full one.
• Enjoy and don't stress: As long as you do everything you can to be good parents don't worry. If your baby won't stop crying there's nothing you can do and most people will understand. If someone doesn't understand, say your sorry but don't worry about. They are probably the kind of people who are looking for something to be grumpy about.
• Have a great trip!!!!