How Your Future College Athletes can Save Money on Their Textbooks

by Suzy

Textbooks are among the more expensive requirements for a college education. Athletes have a particularly difficult time affording textbooks, as they have to purchase athletic equipment as well. Athletes should apply for scholarships in order to save money on their textbooks. Scholarships allow a student to pay for tuition, books, and any academic supplies they require. By applying for scholarships, an athlete can easily obtain the money they need to cover the remaining cost of their textbooks. In addition, athletes have a much higher chance of obtaining scholarships if they obtain one through sports.

Grants are much like scholarships, as the government accommodates students with financial assistance to go to college. Grants are just as effective as scholarships and can easily help an athlete save money on their textbooks. However, for an athlete, scholarships may be a choice more suited to their abilities. If an athlete receives a scholarship offer for their athletics, part of the money received may go towards the payment of books. A benefit to a grant is that you may receive both a grant and a scholarship. The combined funds of a grant and a scholarship may be enough money to pay off textbooks.Purchasing used textbooks also helps athletes save money on their textbooks. Used textbooks may be lacking in quality aesthetically, but the information inside is still viable for academics. Used textbooks may be purchased online or from other students who do not require their textbooks anymore. A benefit to purchasing a used textbook is that they are in abundance and you will most likely find the discounted textbook you require. Used textbooks may also be found when students throw them away after their semester of schooling. Although this is an unconventional method to saving money on books, it can be an easy way to obtain the textbooks you need for free.Ordering textbooks online can also help an athlete save money on their textbooks. By purchasing textbooks online, students have an opportunity to use discount code with most websites. A discount code will usually take a percentage off the final price, allowing an athlete to save a decent amount of money. Other events such as promotions may occur in which students may purchase a textbook and receive another at a lower cost.


Four Great Educational Games for Children and Teens

by Suzy

As Christmas approaches, there inevitably are those school age children on your gift list that you may need help choosing a gift for. Surely there are games that are age appropriate, educational, within your budget, and shockingly fun. Let’s take a look at the top three educational games that may also fit some of the other criteria.

Of course as we consider games for kids, we have to choose whether to buy digital media games or physically present games that actually require social skills. Let’s go with the latter, because even though a gift card for a download is easy, it is no fun to wrap. And the deciding factor for me is hearing a child laugh across the table while playing a game. That is infinitely more desirable than seeing him holding his mobile device and be disengaged.Let’s also choose the 8 to 16 and over category for games. It’s a little more challenging, sure, but the research has just been done for you. Here are the top three picks for different reasons:1. Qwirkle – Made by Mindware, this is a strategy game. Players arrange tiles by matching colors and shapes. While this may sound like a game your average 3 year old could play, it actually is much harder than it sounds. It requires much strategizing and logical thinking. Cost ranges from $18 to $22.2. Rory’s Story Cubes – This game by Creativity Hub actually forces children to use creative thinking. They roll cubes with images on them and must create a story using all of the images. There are 54 images on 9 dice for millions of image combinations. I can hear the laughter with this game now! Rory’s Story Cubes sells for about $8.00.3. Perplexus Epic- For the kids who prefer the hands-on games, this game by PlaSmart is a 3D maze in a transparent sphere. The child must maneuver a steel ball through 125 various obstacles in the sphere. There is an entire Perplexus series, ranging from the Perplexus Rookie, to Perplexus Original to the most difficult, Perplexus Epic. The Perplexus series range in price from $16.99 for the Perplexus Rookie, to $32.99 for Perplexus Epic.

4. Wall Street Survivor – This game is an online based investing simulator. I recommend this game for the teens that are nearing the age where they should be learning about the concepts of saving money. It is helpful when your teenager can get a hands on experience investing money into the stock market dealing with real bullish and bearish markets. This stock market simulator is extremely effective as it mimics the trends real traders face when they do decide to invest money.
These four games are awesome choices for the kids in that “hard-to-buy for” age, but if you can tie them to a chair long enough to start any of these three games with them, it will be time well spent.


Saving Money When Shopping

by Suzy

With the state of today’s economy, most of us are trying to save, scrimp and budget our families’ finances. But how can we make the most of what we have? With the price of necessities such as groceries and household goods continuing to rise, how can we save money while shopping for our families?

We all know about the typical money saving tips such as coupon clipping and shopping sales. What many people do not know, however is that there is so much more to coupon shopping than sitting over your Sunday paper cutting coupons for hours. There are now quite a few different websites that offer both printable coupons as well as e-coupons that you can load onto your store shopping card. One great benefit to these online options is that oftentimes, they are “stackable” with store coupons, making the savings that much greater.

Another way that families can save a significant amount of money on their shopping is by doing a portion of their shopping online. There are many online retailers that offer significant discounts for everything from cat food to clothes as well as very reasonable and sometimes free shipping. Another way that you save by shopping online is kind of a hidden benefit, your gas bill will shrink when your groceries get delivered to you. With the price of gas these days, who doesn’t want to fill up a little less?

When looking to save money on food bills, many families would benefit from joining a food share program. For a small monthly fee (usually $20-$50) you family could walk out with hundreds of dollars worth of groceries. Oftentimes, these groceries include delicious locally grown fruits and vegetables. This is a lesser known, but equally great way to cut your monthly expenses.

The bottom line is; there are many ways that families can save on their shopping trips. You just have to want to be creative in your thinking and willing to put time and effort into it. Your wallet will thank you.