How to Save on Clothes

The average American spends $1,700 on clothing and accessories each year! That’s quite a bundle. There are so many ways to cut that number down to a much more manageable amount. Here are some tips on how to save on clothes!

Buy clothes that fit now

I’m guilty. I find a really great dress and try it on. It looks alright, but 5 pounds thinner and it would look perfect. (Ok, maybe 10 pounds.) So I end up buying and putting it in the closet as ‘motivation’. For some people this may work but for most people it is just a waste of money. The item stays in the closet and eventually it gets given away.

Shop Second Hand Clothing

(I’m a country music girl – but I think this song is so funny!)

Garage sales and thrift stores are awesome places to find clothing at huge discounts. You do have to look for your size and sometimes you come out empty handed. But other times, you feel as though you have struck second hand gold. Recently while shopping at some of our local thrift stores I found my husband a Burberry polo shirt and an Armani button down shirt. I also found myself a pair of Seven for All ManKind jeans and my son a pair of Keen shoes that were new with the tags still on. It was better than a good day at the thrift stores! The retail price for my shopping trip would have been about $500, but I paid around $18.

You can shop second hand clothing online as well. Here are a few of my favorite places to shop online:

thredUP: thredUP is an online consignment store for children’s and women’s clothing. Prices start at just $2.99 and if you are a new member you get a free $10 credit. thredUP also carries new clothing as well that is deeply discounted! Take advantage of that free $10 credit! Some brands that they have include Gymboree, OshKosh, Janie and Jack, Abercrombie and more! I just ordered my niece a few things for back to school – brand new Gymboree skirts and sweaters – $2.99 each!! WOO HOO!

Like Twice: Like Twice is an online site that sells women’s gently used, name brand clothing. New members get a free $10 credit. Items start at only $8 so after the new member credit, that is a free piece of clothing! Some brands that they have are American Eagle, Bebe, Lilly Pulitzer, White House Black Market and so many more! (They are also currently giving you an extra $10 when you sell your clothes to them!)

Both companies also buy your gently used, name brand clothing! This is a great way to turn clean out your closets and refill them with new to you pieces!

Buy new clothing strategically

While we shop a lot for second hand clothing, believe it or not but we do shop for new clothes too!

I prefer to buy brand name clothing for a few reasons:

1. Generally, name brand clothing is better quality. (Please note that I said generally!) If you have to continuously replace clothing due to poor quality you won’t save yourself any money.
2. Name brand clothes hold at least some retail value. When my son was younger I was a little crazy for Gymboree. In fact, majority of his wardrobe came from there. After he grew out of them I would put them on Ebay and re-sell them. Then, I would use my Ebay money to put towards buying new clothing.
3. If you shop smartly you can get name brand clothing for about the same price as generic brand clothing!

Here are some tips while shopping:

– Shop the sales. At some point everything goes on sale so take advantage.

– Check to see if there are any coupons available. Stores want you in their door! Look in the newspaper, on the store’s website or Facebook page.

– Check the clearance sections and buy ahead.

– Buy classic pieces for your wardrobe. While buying parachute pants might sound like a good idea at the time, they will (and in this case, they should) go out of style. If you stock your wardrobe with nice, quality, and timeless pieces you will be set to go. You can always buy a few trendy pieces or add fun jewelry to your classics for a whole new look.

– Choose where to spend your money wisely. Buying expensive workout clothes won’t make you work out harder or make you faster. However, you should invest in a good quality swimsuit. A well designed swim suit will last years and hold up against chlorine, sunshine, and sunscreen.

Take Care of the Clothes You Have

Hem your own pants. To get your pants hemmed by a tailor could cost $12-14 per pair of pants.

If your jeans start to fade dye them! A pack of dye is only a few dollars as opposed to the cost for a new pair of jeans. I personally like dark blue jeans – not black, but dark. I have quite a few pairs. So when they start to fade I use RIT dye. There are other dyes available but that’s just the one I use. You can get powder or liquid – it doesn’t matter. Just throw it along with the jeans in the wash. I’ve NEVER had a problem with the dye and my washer or dryer! (I was nervous to try it at first – but NEVER EVER have I had a problem!!)

If the tag says dry clean – listen. If it says to line dry – do it. Reading the tags on your clothes is vital to keeping your clothes in tip top shape.

(Photo Credit)

Swap with your friends

Host a fun night together with your friends to have a clothing swap. Everyone can bring items from their closet (including shoes and accessories) and you simple swap. It’s a fun (and free) way to keep your wardrobe fresh!

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Reading is a wonderful way to exercise the mind, relax, and to learn new things. But buying new books all the time can get expensive, especially if you are an avid reader. Here are some tips on how to save money on books including 5 places to find cheap and free books!

Library

First, join your local library. Checking out books is free and most libraries also give you access to e-books. Plus, you will be able to check out movies, music, magazines and more. Libraries often have book sales where you can pick up books at a really great price!

(Photo Credit)

Garage Sales/Thrift Stores

People like to read a book once and put it on the shelf. Then, when spring cleaning comes around they put them in the garage sale or donation bin. Often times you get wonderful deals at garage sales (and lots of times if you are buying lots of books you can get an even lower price!) Thrift stores get so many books in that they price their books really cheap – usually less than $1 each.

(Photo Credit)

Used Book Stores

Check your local area to see if you have a used book store. If you do, check if they have a loyalty program or offer any specials. One chain of used book stores that we have in my area is called Half-Priced Books. I joined their mailing list and a few times a year they mail out coupons such as $5 off a $20 purchase. Often times, you can also sell back your books to used book stores and turn your old books in for new (slightly used) books.

Amazon

Amazon started out selling books and they still sell more books than anywhere else. Since they have such a large inventory their prices are very competitive. I’ve gotten hardcover, new books for as low as $2.99! And with my Prime account I get the book in 2 days and I don’t have to pay for shipping! Amazon also offers lots (and lots) of free e-books. You don’t need a Kindle to download e-books. You can download the free Kindle app on most phones, tablets and even right on your computer. (Read our how to save big on Amazon post here.)

Paperback Swap

There is a really great, free website called paperbackswap.com. Once you sign up with your free account, list the books that you would like to share with others. Then when another member wants one of your books you get an email. You print out a shipping form and pop it in the mail. In return, you receive a credit. Using your credits you can find a book that you would like and it gets shipped to you! You don’t pay for any books or when the books are shipped to you. You do however, pay the shipping of mailing out your books (between 2 and 3 dollars for an average sized book). So for less than $2-3 you get a new to you book! Plus, you even get 2 startup book credits FREE if you are the first account at your household – you can use those credits to order 2 books for yourself right away! That means you get 2 free books just for signing up!

(They also have a site for trading CD’s and DVD’s. Both are also free to sign up and when you list items that you would like to share you receive a free credit.)

This is one of my favorite ways to get new books (as well as CD’s and DVD’s). You can create a wish list and when your wish list items become available you will get notified. Even if you don’t plan on keeping up with your membership, make sure to take advantage of the opportunity to get free credits (and use them for your free items!)

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Amazon ‘s web sales are 5 times more than Walmart, Target, and Buy.com’s web sales combined. In fact, they are the number one E-Tailer in the world! You can find everything from groceries to electronics to movies to books. Shopping at Amazon can save you time and money if you shop smartly. Here are some tips how to save money on Amazon.

Amazon Price Tracker

If you use Google Chrome (which is by the way, my favorite browser) download the Amazon Price Tracker. I personally use Keepa Amazon Price Tracker. It’s free to download. What does it do? When you look up an item on Amazon, after the product description you will see a chart like below.

It automatically shows the prices that the item has been for the past three months. You can easily switch it to see all of the prices the item has ever been. This is a great tool to have! There is nothing worse than buying something and a week later it is on sale. With this tracker you know when an item is at its lowest price.

When you select the track the product setting you are able to put in your desired price and your email address. When the item reaches your price they email you! How do you know what price to select? I look at the lowest that the item has been in the past 3 months and use that as a guide.

Amazon Prime, Amazon Mom, and Amazon Student

Amazon offers a service called Amazon Prime. When you enroll in this service you receive free 2 day shipping, unlimited instant streaming for eligible movies and television shows and if you have a Kindle, you can borrow books from the Kindle library. If you need something shipped overnight then the shipping cost is only $3.99. There is a fee for joining Amazon Prime; however, everyone is eligible for a free 30 day trial. If you chose to keep your membership it is $79 per year. That comes out to only $6.58 per month. For my family, we order from Amazon quite a bit so it is worth it to us to save on shipping. For us, the instant streaming and being able to borrow books is an added bonus.

Amazon Mom is a service available to any mom, dad, grandparent or caregiver. Amazon Mom is free to sign up for and you receive the benefits of 20% off diapers and wipes and 3 months of free 2 day shipping with Amazon Prime. (You will not receive the instant streaming or Kindle Library benefits).

Amazon Student was created for college students and is available to those who have a .edu email address. It’s free to sign up! As an Amazon Student member you get 6 months of free 2 day shipping with Amazon Prime. After the 6 month trial period is over you can keep your membership (and get access to instant streaming and the Kindle Library) for only $39 per year! That’s a $40 savings! You get to keep your membership at the discounted rate for 4 years or you graduate whichever comes first.

Coupons and Subscribe and Save

Did you know Amazon offers coupons? Using Amazon’s coupons can be a great way to save!

Here is an example taken recently on a listing for Huggies Wipes (8 packs of 56 wipes). Currently they are on sale for $15.76 – a pretty decent deal at 47% off the list price of $29.71! But watch, because it will get better.

You will see circled in red is something called Subscribe and Save. Subscribe and Save is when you sign up to have a reoccurring delivery and in return you get a discount. Usually you get a 5% discount when you choose this option (in the example above since it is for a baby product and I am an Amazon Mom Member the discount is 20% for choosing this option! ) The great thing about Subscribe and Save is you can cancel your Subscribe and Save as soon as the item ships. That’s right. You can take advantage of the extra discount and as soon as you get your email from Amazon stating your order has been shipped go ahead and cancel! It just takes one click.

So if we were buying the wipes above you would click the subscribe and save option (circled in red on the right hand side). Then, see the green circle? Inside that is a $1.00 off coupon. Just click ‘clip this coupon’. That’s it.

Check out the savings:

Huggies Wipes (8 packs of 56) List price: $29.71

Sale price: $15.76

Subscribe and Save price: $12.61

After coupon: $11.61

That’s a total savings of $18.10!

Price Matching

Currently Target is price matching Amazon! This is great news because sometimes you can find coupons for movies and toys and being able to combine those coupons with Amazon’s low prices is awesome.

A few days ago I was able to price match to get this deal. The Fisher Price Laugh and Learn Stride to Ride Puppy (whew, that was a mouth full!) was at Target for $49.99. I price matched it to Amazon (who had it on sale for $33.99). I also had a manufacturer’s coupon for $10.00 off – so combining the two I got a great deal!

I picked up the puppy and took it to the customer service desk where I asked them to price match to Amazon. They pulled up the price of $33.99 and instantly discounted it for me. I ended up paying $23.99 for a $50 toy!

Note: As policies may change in the future, double check with your Target store to verify they price match to Amazon.

Amazon is a great place to save big on household supplies, gifts, items for the home and even food! Using these tips you now know how to save money on Amazon!

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Shopping for gifts doesn’t have to be stressful and you don’t have to spend a fortune! By shopping throughout the year and using my gift closet I save HUGE, plus it’s so much less stress!

If you buy things you won’t use you won’t save any time or money.

Lots of people start buying stuff because it’s cheap and they forget about it, it doesn’t fit when it comes time to gift it, or they end up with 5 gifts for the same person. If you go in with no plan then you can’t plan on saving as much as you should. The first thing I do at the beginning of the year is make my list.

(It’s not fancy, but if you want to print off my list you can get it here.)

In my list, I put their name, birthday, anniversary, birthday gift, Christmas gift and an other column. The other column is for things like baby shower, graduation, or wedding gifts. While making your list of names don’t forget teachers, neighbors, charities you normally shop for and a few extra gifts to have on hand. I like to list a few of Josh’s friends that I know for a fact we will buy for as well. This list is also handy for keeping track of what size people wear!

When a gift is purchased, I write in the gift under the appropriate column. This way I know who I have already purchased for and who I still need to purchase something for.

I try to keep a few extra general gifts on hand for:

* Hostess gifts

* Wedding gifts

* Shower gifts

* Birthday gifts

So what do you buy anyways?

So you know WHO you are buying for now you need to be on the look out for your gifts to fill your list! There are some tips on buying gifts:

– Beware of fads and phases, especially for kids. Sometimes phases can pass quickly. Something that a 6 year old is into in February won’t necessarily be something they will be into in December. Before you buy just ask yourself if they will still like it later on.

– For general gifts to just have on hand (not necessarily for a specific person) make sure they are just that – general. Something that most boys would be excited to have, diapers are great to have on hand to go with a baby shower gift, and lotions, bubble baths and candles can be put together for a nice gift basket that most women would love to receive!

– Some gifts are general enough to cover both boys and girls like puzzles, games, play doh and gift cards.

– Don’t forget to pick up tape, cards, ribbon, wrapping paper, party favors, napkins, paper plates etc when you see them on sale! There’s no need to save 90% on a gift to have to pay full price for the wrapping!

Where do you shop?

I do most of my shopping online. I love Amazon and do lots of shopping there. I have an Amazon Prime membership (you can get a free trial here) so I get free 2 day shipping on my purchases. I also buy a lot of clothes from Twice and thredUP. Both companies offer a free $10 credit to new members which means free clothes! (Plus, right now if you like Twice on Facebook you get an additional 15% off your purchase!) Groupon, No More Rack (new members get $10 off their first $30 purchase), Zulily and One Kings Lane (new members receive $15 off a $30 purchase) are also some of my favorites.

When I’m not shopping online, I’m checking out clearance aisles and for coupons. You can find coupons for toys, movies and even gift cards!

How do you save on gift cards?

Even if you don’t give gift cards as gifts – if you can get them at a discount (and they are for a place you would shop at regularly anyways) purchase them. Even if the discount is small. I think of it this way. I know every year at Christmas time I buy from Amazon, Best Buy and Target. During the year, I purchase 3 $100 gift cards for $90 each for those places. Come Christmas I have $300 saved back for my shopping and I saved $30. That’s the price of a gift (or in my case 2 or 3 gifts!). It adds up!

Kroger will often offer 4 times the fuel points saving you $6 on fuel with the purchase of a $100 gift card.

CVS sometimes offers $10 Extra Care Bucks when you purchase a $100 gift card.

Groupon has offered gift cards up to 50%.

Some companies offer gift cards as a promotional offer (such as when you switch cable companies). If you get one – even just a $5 gift card (hello teacher gift!) save it back!

Swagbucks is a great place to earn gift cards. Use it like google and trade your swagbucks in for gifts or gift cards! (I use mine for Amazon gift cards. I earn about $150 each year through Swagbucks!) For not much effort it’s perferct!

Recyclebank also is a place to earn gift cards. Again, I trade mine in for Amazon but get what makes sense for you! Recyclebank just requires a few minutes of your time to learn about being green and your points add up quickly!

By planning ahead you will save yourself not only money but a headache as well! Once you get going with your gift closet you will

We have just about 2 weeks until we leave for our wedding vacation! I feel like my to do list is 12 miles long! But I wanted to make sure to share with you how to save on your vacation! The answer is, plan ahead! Sounds easy enough right? 🙂

Most people plan on taking a vacation in advance, but they don’t plan out their vacation. I know, I know being spontaneous is a blast but if you want to save (HUGE!) you have to plan somethings out in advance.

Of course there are sites like Hotels.com, Kayak, and travelocity to compare the prices of hotels, rental cars and airfare. But here are some more sites and tips that help us save at least 50% on our vacations!

TripAdvisor

The first thing I do when we decide on a location for our vacations is I head over to do some research. I use TripAdvisor. It’s one of the best sites out there – even to check and see about cool things to do/go locally! Plus, it’s free!

I type in “things to do in (your location)”. When you click that you will have the area’s best attractions AND reviews. Reviews are awesome because they keep you from wasting your time and money!

I read through the list of attractions and I print out the ones that sound like they would be a good fit for my family. My wishlist if you will. (I keep my list in a binder, which I will show you this week!)

Now, I know in advance what things I would like to do while I’m on vacation and I’ve read the reviews so I know that they are worth my family’s time and money. If you are like me there are more things to do than time but right now don’t worry about that! If your family would enjoy it put it on your list! Also, star a couple items that are on your must do list. It’s all about priorities!

Groupon

You are probably a Groupon member (or have been at some point) for your local city but make sure you sign up for the city you will be vacationing in! I usually sign up about 3 months prior to our trip (most deals have a time limit). Each day you will get an email (don’t worry you can unsubscribe!) about things to do in the city you have selected. Use your wishlist you made from TripAdvisor and when you see some of those wish list attractions come up on Groupon snatch them up for 50% off!

By planning and purchasing your activities ahead of time you are able to save big! Plus, once you are on vacation it’s easy to go over budget – so having things pre-paid is SO nice!

Restaurant.com

Restaurant.com is a website that you can simply plug in your zip code and a list of participating restaurants will come up. You may purchase discounted gift certificates and print them out at home. There are minimum purchase requirements when using restaurant.com certificates, but they are easily attainable. For example, I bought a $10 certificate for $4. There is a minimum purchase requirement of $15, which is no problem for meals and drinks for 2 people! $25 certificates can usually be bought for $10 and have a minimum purchase requirement of $35.

Simply type in your travel destination and take a look at the restaurants available. The menus are also available online for the restaurants featured to help you decide which certificates to purchase.

If you collect Coke Rewards Points you can also redeem those for restaurant.com certificates as well. I redeemed my points for $50 worth of certificates before our vacation!

City PASS

Check out City Pass to see if your vacation location is included in their passes! City Pass offers a number of main attractions for 1 price for cities such as Boston, Chicago, Hollywood, and many more. You can save up to 50% on ticket admissions!

Entertainment books

Make sure to check out local coupons while on vacation. Visitor centers are a great place to check. Entertainment.com also has a big coupon book that has coupons for everything from food to entertainment. The books can be a little pricy if you are just purchasing one to use for vacation, but you may be able to find one on Ebay for a BIG discount.

What sites do you use to save on vacation?

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If you’ve visited coupon blogs and forums, you may have been confused by what appears to be a secret code. “BOGO,” “OYNO,” “Catalinas” – these terms are meaningful for couponing insiders, but look like a foreign language to the uninitiated.

Like most other forms of specialized knowledge, couponing has its own jargon that makes it easier for those “in the know” to communicate. If you want to maximize your savings with coupons, it pays to be familiar with coupon culture, and that includes learning coupon lingo.

As a primer, here are 10 of the most common couponing terms that pop up on coupon websites:

1. Blinkie

Refers to a manufacturer coupon that is dispensed from a small machine located on the shelf where the item it pertains to is displayed. The machine has a blinking red light, hence the name. You typically don’t need to use the coupons from a blinkie on the same day that you get them and can usually redeem them at any store that stocks the product.

2. BOGO

Stands for “buy one, get one.” The best kind of BOGO is buy one, get one free (also known as “BOGO free”). You’ll also see “BOGO half off,” which means the second item is half price. A buy one, get one free deal may also be referred to as B1G1.

3. Catalinas

Refers to custom-printed coupons that you receive when you make a purchase. Catalina coupons (also known as CATs) may be printed from a separate machine next to the cash register or they may be part of your CRT (cash register tape). The items that Catalinas pertain to may be in-store specials or may reflect your recent purchases. For example, if you bought pasta, you might receive a Catalina coupon for spaghetti sauce. You may also get Catalinas that provide a dollar amount off your next purchase. Catalinas are intended for future shopping trips and usually can’t be applied to your current purchase. They typically have EXPs (expiration dates).

4. Coupon Insert

Refers to advertising circulars that are inserted into Sunday newspapers. They are one of the most valuable sources for MFG (manufacturer) coupons. The top circulars are referred to by name, including Proctor & Gamble (PG), Red Plum (RP) and Smart Source (SS or S). Couponers who are into stockpiling (building a cache of products for future use) make a practice of buying several Sunday papers in order to get multiple copies of the coupon insert.

5. MIR

Stands for “Mail in Rebate.” This is a coupon, check or gift card that a store or manufacturer sends through the mail after you send in a qualifying rebate form.

6. OYNO

Stands for “on your next order.” This is a bit like BOGO, except the discount is applied to your next purchase. For example, after you make a $30 purchase, a store will give you a coupon for $10 off your next purchase. OYNO coupons usually have an expiration date and may or may not require a minimum purchase amount on the coupon transaction. If no minimum is required and you purchase an item that costs less than the value of the coupon, the item is free.

7. Peelie

This is an instant coupon that is stuck to a product. You will get an immediate discount at check out when you peel off the coupon and hand it to the cashier. Don’t expect the cashier to do this for you; if you get home and find you forgot to use a peelie, you should be able to use it the next time you buy the product.

8. Stacking Coupons

This refers to the practice of using more than one coupon for the same item, such as “stacking” a manufacturer coupon on top of a store coupon. Most grocery stores, drugstores and department stores allow stacking. Couponers who save the most money practice stacking on a regular basis, combining sale prices, MFG coupons and OYNO coupons to get deep discounts.

9. Tearpad

A pad with several coupons or refund forms that hangs from a store shelf. You are free to tear off as many coupons or forms as you like.

10. YMMV

Stands for “Your Mileage May Vary.” This refers to deals that are available at one store or from one manager or cashier, but may not be available everywhere.

Mandy Fricke is the community manager for Georgetown University in Washington D.C. Nursing@Georgetown, a Master in Nursing program, as well as a contributor to the Nursing License Map. In her spare time, she enjoys traveling, reading, and yoga.

I’ve had a few people ask about how to cut their television bills so I thought this would be a great time to repost! Especially Since Ooma is still on sale on Amazon – ditch the cable once and for all!

A while ago I took the plunge and cancelled cable. My family didn’t take the news very well. My husband was upset that I cancelled it in the middle of the NBA Finals (to my defense how many games are there?) and my son was appalled that we would no longer have Cartoon Network. (Just to save money? What kind of excuse is that?)

But after their anger subdued I explained to them that we were spending $2,000 a year for our cable! And while yes, this includes our cable, Internet and home phone I just thought that it was an outrageous amount. There are so many options out there to replace cable and most of them come with a free trial! So test them out and find what services work best for you and your family!

Instant Streaming:

Many services allow you to instantly stream movies and television shows right to your TV! You do need a few things in order to do this. You will need:

– An Internet connection

– A Smart TV, Roku Box, or a Video Game Console (that is connected to the Internet)

To stream you simple use one of the devices above and connect it to your Internet. Then choose which ‘channel’ you would like to add.

What in the world is a Roku Box?

A Roku box is a small box that you plug into your TV. It takes about 3 seconds to set up. Roku allows you have instant access to tons of channels. Think of it like your cable box that you have now (except smaller!) You buy the Roku box and that’s it – you never get a bill. You add the ‘channels’ that you want (some are free and some you pay for), you have access to Pandora (free music streaming), *play games (you can even play Angry Birds!), and instantly put your photos and movies from your phone on your TV!

There are a few different Roku box choices. (*not all games can be played on all Roku boxes. Some games, like Angry birds have to be played on ones with a motion controller).

We have one in each of our bedrooms. (We use our video game consoles to stream in our living room.) We bought ours on Amazon.

Your Local Channels

Invest in a good antenna and you can get access to your local channels – for free! The Mohu Leaf Antenna is a top rated antenna. You can go to TVFool and plug in your address to find out how many miles away your house is from a television transmitter. Knowing how many miles will help you find out which antenna you will need to purchase. It’s important to buy a high quality antenna so you are able to get all available channels as well as have good, uninterrupted service. Remember, buying the antenna is a one time buy! You will never receive a bill for your local channels! This is the antenna that we have and we really like ours! (And it’s on sale for $36.33 plus free shipping! Amazon prices can change at anytime.)

What kind of ‘Channels’ can I get from instant streaming and how much do they cost?

Crackle –

PROS:

• It’s FREE!

CONS:

• Limited choices – Crackle was originally designed for men 18-34. There are mostly action, comedy, anime and adventure choices.

What do we watch on Crackle?

We honestly don’t watch much, but we do watch the original Three Stooges – a lot! They have a few decent movies, but most of them are also available on other channels. (The Three Stooges however is not on the other channels.) But new things can be added at any time so we keep it.

Netflix –

PROS:

• FREE month trial! After that, you can get unlimited instant streaming for just $7.99 a month.
• Netflix Kids is included. Netflix Kids groups together all of the kids shows in one spot, which is nice. When my son logins in to Neflix on his 3DS, I don’t have to worry about him watching something inappropriate.
• Netflix just got the rights to Disney movies! That means you can find movies such as Lady and the Tramp and TV shows like Phineas and Ferb.
• When you pay for Netflix you pay $7.99 for your household. That means for $7.99 one person can watch in the living room through the X-Box, one person can watch in the bedroom through the Roku and someone else can watch through their computer all at the same time, all something different.
• Good selection of movies and television shows.

CONS:

• Some movies are by mail only. This is an extra service. Choose from a Blu-Ray or DVD rental plan and you can check out 1 – 3 discs at a time. Prices start at $7.99 per month for this service. I will say that they ship out quickly!
• The television shows are past seasons. You won’t be able to watch last night’s episode of your favorite show.

Netflix is one of our favorite services! What are some things that we watch? Law and Order, West Wing, Phineas and Ferb, The Lorax, 101 Dalmations, Extreme Couponing, and more! We currently have the 3 DVDs out at a time mail plan in addition to instant streaming. We pay an extra $15.99 a month for this. It may sound like a lot, but we are big movie people! We probably get 30 discs a month, so I think the price is fair. If you don’t watch that many movies I would pass on the mail offer.

The DVD by mail plan is no contract so you can cancel one month and get it back the next. This is great because on months that we have a lot going on or we are going on vacation we cancel that month’s services. There is no need keeping it if you aren’t going to have time to fully use it!

Hulu Plus –

PROS:

• FREE week trial! After that if you would like to continue your membership it is $7.99/month.
• If you don’t purchase an antenna this is a good alternative!
• Watch current television shows.

CONS:

• The TV shows are awesome, but we didn’t see any movies we were interested in watching.

Hulu Plus is really great if you are worried about having to give up your shows. They have a huge variety of shows to watch including Days of Our Lives, Shark Tank, CSI, Glee, Modern Family, Nashville and of course, children’s shows as well.

Amazon Prime –

Pros:

• FREE month trial!
• Amazon Prime is $79 for the year (or $39 for students. Must have a valid .edu email address) While that may sound like a lot it’s actually a good deal. It comes down to only $6.67/month (cheaper than Netflix) and it includes free 2 day shipping from Amazon as well as you can borrow a book for free if you have a Kindle.
• Good variety of movies and television shows.
• You can buy movies instantly on your television and watch them again and again. OR if you buy select DVDs/Blu-Rays on Amazon you can watch it instantly on your TV while you wait for your movie to arrive in the mail.

CONS:

• Like Netflix, not all movies are included. However, unlike Netflix you pay per movie. Movies cost as low as $0.99 which is MUCH cheaper than renting a movie On Demand through cable or satellite! Watching TV shows that are not included in the Prime instant streaming can get expensive though! They are usually $1.99 PER EPISODE!

We have Amazon Prime because we order a lot of items through Amazon so the savings on shipping alone is worth it for us! I also think that Amazon is quicker at adding new movies over to the ‘included’ side. Also, they have the rights for season 3 (and future seasons) of Downton Abbey – which for me is huge!

RedBox

• FREE month trial!
• For $8 you get instant streaming + 4 codes/month to use for movie rentals at any RedBox.

Cons:

* There are always tons of free Redbox codes online and through their text alerts.

* I feel as though the options at the Kiosk aren’t updated very often and sometimes it can be hard to get the movie you want.

I have not used RedBox to stream instantly. I do plan on taking advantage of the free trial! I’ll let you know what I think!

Play-On

Pros:

• 30 Day money back guarantee
• VERY affordable – pay once and have a lifetime membership. Plus, they are almost always running promotions. We paid $70 for a lifetime membership, plus they gave us a free Roku box (a $50 value). Currently, at the time of this being written, a lifetime membership would cost $44.99. Even if you only used it for 1 year that is just $3.75 a month! (The free Roku box deal is not currently available Check out their current deals here.)
• Chose to watch television shows from tons of channels like MTV, PBS, A&E, History Channel and more.

CONS:

• You have to download Play-On to your computer. Then through the wifi it will play on the TV. I’m hoping that in the future we will be able to just download the ‘play-on’ app straight to our game console/Roku box.
• It could be better organized. We have a lifetime membership so I hope that in the future it becomes more organized.

We have Play-On simply because it was a great deal. We were planning on getting a Roku Box anyways so essentially we paid only $20 for a lifetime membership. You do get a wide variety of channels and shows available which is nice. We also have Pandora (free music streaming). I love to put on the 90’s station and go to town cleaning up the house. We watch shops like Duck Dynsasty and other favorite shows that would be on Cable .

What we use:

This is what we do at our home:

We have the Mohu Leaf Antenna and get our local channels. Most of our shows are those that are on local channels anyways so it works out! We also have Play-On (so we have access to some of our favorite cable shows!), Amazon Prime, Crackle and Netflix. Some months we subscribe to Netflix mail order DVDs. I say some months because if it is a month where we are going to be super busy or on vacation I cancel it for that month! For example, we will cancel our subscription for May and June because we have a few events to go to on the weekends of May and we will be leaving for New Hampshire for 3 weeks at the end of May. There is no use in having something if you know you won’t be able to utilize it well. So we still get all of our tv shows + we have a HUGE “on demand” movie library! It’s really pretty awesome.

Here are our costs:

One time costs:

Antenna – $50 (Bought on Amazon)

2 Roku Boxes – $78 (Bought on Amazon – One came with our Play-On subscription)

Play-On – $70 for a lifetime membership

Total one time costs: $198 (we spread our start up costs up over time and used the money we saved on our cable bill to put towards the cost of buying these items. The first thing we purchased was the antenna and used our Xbox and Wii to stream for our free month trials. Then, as our savings came in we finished purchasing our ‘start up items’)

Monthly costs:

Amazon Prime: $6.58 (this is paid once a year in a lump sum of $79)

Netflix: $7.99

Total cost per month: $14.57! Plus I never have to pay for shipping on Amazon! On month’s that we use the movies by mail service our bill is only $30.56!

So our old cable bundle was $100 (after taxes and charges we were paying about $150 a month). Now we pay $25 a month for Internet and $23 (average for months we use the mail order service) for our television. We also pay about $4 for our home phone (find out more here). Our new ‘cable bundle’ costs us $52 a month – a $100 per month savings!! That’s $1200 per year! And we feel like we have more options than ever!

How to choose what is right for your family:

First, determine if you are going to need a Roku box or if you can use a gaming console. If you have a gaming console great! If not, then you are going to have to invest in a Roku box. I would check Amazon for them! You don’t need the fanciest one to start out with (unless you want) but I would recommend getting one of the HD ones.

Then, take advantage of the free trials listed above! You will quickly figure out which services you and your family use the most!

Do you use instant streaming? If so, where do you stream from? How much have you saved by ditching cable?

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This post contains affiliate links.

If you have been to one of my money saving classes you have heard me talk about Ooma. If you haven’t, Ooma is a home phone option that runs through your internet. The quality is beyond excellent, you get tons of features and it’s cheap. Really cheap. Our bill is less than $4 a month!! (You can find out how much your bill would be here.) And we have features that I LOVE!

Here are some features that come with Ooma Telo (yes – just some!)

* Caller ID

* Call waiting

*Caller ID blocking

* 911 text and email alerts (LOVE this feature. Josh is getting old enough to start staying at home – for a very short while! With Ooma if a 911 call is placed it will text or email up to 3 phone numbers to let them know an emergency call was made.)

* Call hold

* Voicemail

*TONS more – you can see them all here.

You can upgrade your phone to Ooma Premier Service (your bill will be $10 a month) (When you purchase your Ooma Telo you will receive a free 60 day trial to Ooma Premier!) Premier has more features like:

* Unlimited calling to Canada

* Anonymous call blocking

* An instant 2nd line

* Call forwarding

* And MORE! See them all here

Ooma sounds awesome huh? We’ve been SO happy with it! You do need to purchase the system – it retails for $179.99. But right now it’s on Amazon for 23% off!! It’s $138.99 and will ship for free!!

Product Features

I know that still sounds like a lot but if you are currently paying $35 a month for your home phone service you are paying $420 a year! That means Ooma has paid for itself in 4 months! If you don’t believe me about the awesome quality that Ooma is and how much you can save look at the reviews on Amazon – there are over 3,000 AWESOME reviews!!

Get Ooma here.