Money Saving Apps

  If you're like me, you don't have the patience to sift through coupons, cut coupons, print coupons, sort coupons, make lists, and organize all of it just to get free groceries with those coupons.  I would rather use an app or a money saving hack to save money.

  Here are some great money saving apps that are good on apple and android.

  1. Retailmenot: This website is great for coupon codes and discounts. You just brows through your favorite stores, go through their coupons or coupon codes, select the one(s) you want, and show it to checkout. You can even print the coupon or enter the coupon code online. Brows thousands of coupons from hundreds of stores.

  2. Shopkick: You can earn points by:
          -Making purchases
          -Simply walking into the stores
          -inviting friends
    The great part is that your points can be turned into gift cards!

  3. Wal-mart Savings Catcher: This app is great for checking prices after you have already shopped. You can scan your receipt and it will check other local stores for cheaper prices. If the app finds a cheaper price you get the difference loaded onto a Wal-mart gift card.

  4. Groupon: This app is great. You can scroll through the advertised discounts at stores in the area. Once you find the deal you want, you purchase the product through the app, print out or save the code, and show the retailer once you get there. (This also works for restaurants, spas, salons, chiropractors, and many more things) Just scroll through all the different discounts and select the one you want. Savings are between 50-90% off.

  5. Amazon Local: This app is a lot like Groupon. No need to print coupons. Purchase from your phone after making your selection. I have see deals for as little as 36% off up to a generous 96% off!

  6. Mint: This app Keeps track of all your financial accounts. It will create a budget, its password protected, and it's free!

  7. SavingStar: Two ways to save!
       1: Select offers on the web or mobile app. Check often for changing deals including their 100% cash back freebies.
       Use card at checkout or take a picture of your receipt. You can do this through the app or the website.
       Get cash in your SavingsStar account. Discounts arn't given at checkout, they will send you an email within 2-22 days (depending on the store) to get your credit.
(OR)
       2: Click the retailer link on SavingStar.com. When you click shop now, you'll be taken to the website of the retailer of your choice.
       Shop online. Your savings will post automatically to your account within 10 days.
       Get cash in your SavingsStar account. Have the money go to directly to your bank or   PayPal account, you can even chose to donate to charity.

    Bonus: If you get the SavingStar American Express Card you can earn 1-10% cash back.

  8. Bill Tracker app: This app is for Apple only. however, there are apps like it on android.
      This app is great for staying on top of your bills. It is password protected, you can keep track of your due dates, track amount totals, and you get notifications for payments due.

  9. Boxed: This app lets you buy in bulk without having to go to the local members only store like Costco or Sams Club. You get free shipping on orders of $79 or more. They have hot deals and gift cards. Best of all the membership is FREE!

Do you have a favorite Money Saving app on your phone? What do you use?

Socializing Your Homeschooler

Socializing your homeschooler

    A lot of people have the misconception that homeschoolers are not socialized and just stay at home all day every day. But, we know that homeschoolers are often times more socialized than public school kids.

    Socializing your child helps them prepare for the real world. They need to be introduced to all walks of life. You teach your kids social skills every time you go to the store, meet with friends, and go to a restaurant. They watch the way you interact with other people, which teaches them the way they should interact too. Make sure you are making time to get your child out of the house for social time.

    Here are some ways you can socialize your child while homeschooling:

    1. Field trips. Taking your children on field trips can help them meet new people, make friends, and it helps with learning things in the outside world. (You can read about all different kinds of field trips in our post " Field Trip Ideas"
    2. Join a local homeschool group/co-op. This is a great way for your kids to meet other homeschoolers.
    3. Have your child join a sport through the school district or city. This is a great way for your child to interact with other kids and get exercise.
    4. Summer and winter camps. They will meet other kids and have a blast at camp. Plus, you will get a small break too.
    5. Music classes. Find a local instructor or music store that teaches music classes.
    6. Church. If you attend church, your child can participate in the church clubs for kids.
    7. Go to the park. Meeting new friends at the park is always exciting!
    8. Spelling bee. If your child is great at spelling, get them involved in spelling bee's. This could be a wonderful way for your child to meet friends and be social.
    9. Help around the neighborhood. Have your child help go around the neighborhood and ask neighbors if they need help mowing, gardening, shoveling, raking, etc.

    There are so many ways that you can socialize your homeschooler. I know I am missing quite a few. What are some ways that you socialize your child? Please share in the comments below.

99 Problems

 A small portion of our journey with our son from ages 2-5.

    My 5-year-old son is nothing short of defiant. He's a boy, he's 5, and like all kids, he is wild, loud and all over the place. However, this child is a bit different. When he was two, he refused to talk. My husband and I would teach him over and over again how to say words, but they just came out as yelling nonsense. When he didn't get his way he would yell as loud as he could, an eardrum piercing yell that would send shivers down your spine.

     As he got older, we noticed that he wasn't learning his colors, ABC's, how to count, etc. He was having the most difficult time learning things and he couldn't remember the things he was taught the day before. On top of this difficulty, he was being defiant. We would tell him to help us clean up toys but, he would run off screaming. We would grab him, bring him back to his room, and try to get him to clean up his toys. Fits of rage, more screaming, crying, arms whaling, and kicking followed. We tried time outs, early bedtime, taking away toys, no TV, a reward system for cleaning up, etc. But nothing seemed to work with him.

    It came down to us calling for help through our school district that offered services for play therapy, speech therapy, and behavioral issues. We went through play therapy with him for a good 4 months before realizing that it just wasn't working. He would be great in front of the therapist most of the time but, once in a while he would show the defiant side. Everything the therapist suggested in play therapy we did at home.
 
    Here's what we did: When he misbehaved and didn't listen, he got a time out. (This was in a designated timeout chair.) His timeouts were 3 minutes in length. If he got up, talked, or screamed while in time out, he would get a second chance to start his time out over. If he misbehaved in timeout again, he would go to a "time out room". (The timeout room was a designated room that was quiet and away from any distractions.) In the timeout room, he would have to remain quiet for 5 minutes. If he didn't, the time started over. This repeated until he was quiet for 5 minutes. Once he could do that, he went back to his normal time out chair to sit for 1 minute to prove that he could listen and behave in time out. Once he was able to get out of time out we talked about why he was in time out, how to avoid timeout again, and to apologize for the wrong behavior. We tried this routine day in and day out for the full 4 months while he was going through play therapy.

    Fast forward to age 5. We have put him through family therapy to figure out if we were doing something wrong as parents. Maybe there was something else out there that could show us a discipline that our son would respond positively to and learn from. Maybe there was a way we could get him to learn his colors, how to count, and his ABC's. Going through this family therapy has been great for us. He is finally getting tested to see what kind of learning disability he has (if he has one) and if he has a behavior disorder. Our son finally knows how to count to ten, recognizes the color blue and most of the time he recognizes the color red, and he also knows the letters A and X. We're also practicing letter tracing with him so he can learn to write his name.
 
    Thankfully we are homeschooling him this year because he definitely isn't ready for Kindergarten (in the districts eyes). Back when I was in kindergarten that's when we learned the ABC's, how to count, our colors, shapes, etc. Now they want children to know all of that in preschool before they get to kindergarten.  

    We have been through a lot with our son but, I hope we can get it all figured out in the next month with his tests. It will help us know what type of learner he is, what will work with discipline, and help us know what kind of behavior disability (if any) he has so we can correct it.

    Do (Did) you have a defiant child? What have you done to correct the behavior?