Glidden paint is so confident you will love the quality of their new formula that they’re giving a quart away for FREE to those who register for it on their website from June 25 – July 2. Choose from any of Glidden’s 282 colors and Glidden will tint and ship a quart of eggshell sheen directly to you. Available only through Glidden’s website. Available for a limited time and while supplies last.

The website is extremely busy, so you need to be patient. Perhaps try later on in the day.

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This is from my segment on Atlanta & Company on June 22, 2009.

Get out your red, white and blue, Fourth of July is next week. Are you ready for hot dogs, fireworks and fun? With the holiday falling on a Saturday this year, you don’t get to take advantage of extra time off. But with all the sales out there you can at least take advantage of extra dollars off. So what should be on your shopping list?

Party Supplies

Backyard BBQ food – Most grocery stores advertise their hot dog, drink and chips specials to get you in door and then spend money on other items. But if you just stick with your party shopping list, you can get some good deals. Depending on your pantry or freezer space you may even consider buying extra.

Paper products – Plates, napkins and utensils are on sale. And they have no expiration date so this is a great time to stock up for your Fourth of July party and your future parties.

Grills & Patio Furniture

The best sales on grills and patio furniture are during Fourth of July. You can typically find savings up to 40% off. This is the perfect time to buy for the best selection and price. After Fourth of July, the clearance sales begin and while the savings my increase the selection dramatically decreases. So you will find it difficult to find a matching patio set or the grill you want without visiting four different Home Depot locations.

Appliances

like Home Depot and Lowe’s have big sales on appliances during holiday weekends. You can take advantage of store discounts and promotions combined with manufacturer rebates to multiply your savings. If you need a new appliance now this is a good time to buy. Otherwise the next big sale will be during Labor Day weekend.

Summer Clothes

Retailers don’t care about the thermostat, so even with temperatures in the 90’s as far as they are concerned summer is over. So swimwear, summer clothes and accessories are all heavily discounted. This is a good time to buy items you might have been eyeing but couldn’t afford or to stock up for next year. And with the long summer and warm fall weather we enjoy in Atlanta you can wear many items well into October.

Spring & Summer Home Items

Bed and bath items as well as other home items also get marked down based on the seasons. So if new sheets and towels are on your shopping list, this is the time to buy. Many times the only thing that changes between the seasons is just the color and pattern. Also many home décor items like candles and frames are also being clearanced to make room for the fall styles.

School Supplies

The beginning of July marks the beginning of the back to school shopping season. The earlier you buy, the better deals you can get. There are so many retailers from office supply stores to grocery stores competing for your business that many items are offered for free or a few pennies. Check out the weekly School Supply Deals on the ShoppingQueen.com website starting next week. Don’t wait until the tax free shopping weekend, most of the good deals will be over then.

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Are you getting the best deal? Discover how to turn smart spending into smarter savings. Ladies’ Soiree at the Market in Marietta, GA has invited me to speak at their event this Thursday, June 18th. To register you can call 678-354-5221. I will be sharing my secrets to getting the best deal no matter where or when you are shopping. More than just saving money at your local store, you will learn how you can save money online, at the doctor’s office and even at a car dealer. Learn the best places to seek deals and the most overlooked way to easily save money. Don’t forget to bring your burning money questions too.

The registration fee is $40 and includes a 4 course meal prepared by a la carte market. They offer freshly made take home meals especially for families. If you like their food you can take advantage of their A la Carte Coupon offer for Shopping Queen readers. (Note the coupon is valid until 7/31 not the date on the coupon.)

I hope you will come and join us.

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This is from my segment on Atlanta & Company on June 8, 2009.

Having kids – it used to be midnight feedings and diaper changes that kept parents up at night. Now it’s the cost of a college education. An average private university education today costs around $100,000. For children just entering kindergarten that cost will be around $250,000 by the time they enter college. Multiply that by the number of kids in the family and you can see why parents can’t sleep at night.

That’s why it’s important for parents to start saving for their children’s education early and regularly.

529 Savings Plans

529 Savings Plans are special savings accounts and investments designated only for college expenses. They are becoming increasingly popular and easy to find and manage. Here are the key features:

1. Contribute after tax dollars and they will grow tax free as long as the distributions are made for college expenses.
2. The federal government doesn’t offer a contribution tax deduction but many states offer a state income tax deduction for contributions in their state plan.
3. No matter what state plan you enroll in, the money can be used to attend any accredited college in any state.
4. There are no income limits or annual contribution limits.
5.  The parent or guardian is the custodian of the account and the child is the beneficiary. Thus the account is considered part of the parents’ assets for financial aid purposes and calculated at a lower rate.

To learn more about the benefits of 529 plans check out http://www.savingforcollege.com/

529 Prepaid Plans

529 Prepaid Plans allow parents to pre-purchase a future college education at today’s prices. These are state based and each has it’s own set of rules and regulations as to how soon and how much you can contribute. These plans are most recommended for parents who are fairly certain their child will attend college in a certain state. While these plans were popular they are no longer as popular and many states are no longer participating.

Coverdell Education Savings Accounts

Another college savings plan created by the government is a Coverdell Education Savings Account. Like a 529, the contributions are not tax deductible but the earnings are tax free if used for education expenses. Unlike a 529, a Coverdell Education Savings Account can actually be used to pay for any education expense from K-12 and college. Qualified expenses even include academic tutoring, books, supplies and equipment. There are income and contribution limits but this account could be a great complement to a 529 plan.

Tips for Saving

1. Begin saving early – the earlier you start saving, the more time your money has to grow.
2. Don’t worry about the amount – many parents delay saving for college because they feel they need to invest a larger amount. Just start saving something. As your kids grow and your income grows, save more.
3. Get your kids involved – you’re saving for your kids, so don’t keep them in the dark. Show them how much you are saving and your progress. Get them involved, so when your kid asks you for the latest and greatest new shoes or gadget you can say you are saving for college.
4. Put your own oxygen mask on first – as they tell you on every airline flight, take care of yourself before you take care of your child. Make sure you are saving for your retirement before you save for college. There are loans for college but there are no loans for retirement.

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Everywhere you turn there seems to be even more upsetting news about the economy. It’s all enough to make you depressed. You want to go out and have fun to forget about it all but then you remember how much it’s going to cost you. So what are your options, being depressed or being broke?

Before you pull out the bag of potato chips and pint of ice-cream, don’t despair. There is another choice – having fun on a budget.

Budget for Fun

First things first, the best way to ensure you have fun guilt-free is to budget for it. No matter how tight of a budget you have, you should leave room for fun. If you don’t budget for it, you will not only overspend but you will also not have as much fun because in the back of your mind you know you can’t afford it.

Set aside a certain amount each week for a fun activity whether it is a cheap movie rental or a date night with your honey.

Stretching Your Entertainment Dollars

Once you have set a budget, then you can start looking for all the fun that’s waiting to be had. Here are some inexpensive ideas:

1. Go earlier – Many restaurants offer early bird specials before the big crowds come to dine. So call your favorite restaurant and ask about their early bird specials or happy hour deals. Cinemas also offer early bird specials too. If you can’t miss a movie starring Brad Pitt but don’t have his bank account, go before noon. AMC Theatres offers tickets for 40% off before noon on weekends.
2. Look for coupons and promotions – Do a search online for your event, venue or restaurant and the words coupons and promotions. Many offer printable coupons online or you can sign up for their promotions list. If you can’t find anything online then try an Entertainment book. Entertainment books offer tons of coupons for restaurants and entertainment venues such as theme parks, museums and more.

Paying No Dollars for Entertainment

Cheap is good, but free is GREAT. You can actually have more fun not spending money than spending money. So where can you have fun for free? Actually in more places than you think.

1. See a movie for free – This time of year many communities and organizations feature free movie nights in parks and other public places. Not only is it free but a nice departure from closed in theatres. Just do a search for free movie and your city name and you should see a list.
2. See a free concert – Get on your local city or county recreation and activity newsletter/email list. Local communities plan many free or low cost activities for their residents and you just have to be in the know. Events range from free concerts, children’s art projects to free movies. You pay your taxes so make sure you enjoy the benefits too. And many times the activities are not restricted to just residents.
3. See a museum for free – Many cities and counties offer free museum admission to their residents on certain days. Check with your city and museum to see when they might be participating. If they don’t have any current dates, don’t worry you can still see museums for free. Bank of America customers with any kind of debit or credit card can see select museums for free the first weekend of every month.
4. Volunteer for free entry – Instead of paying for entrance to a celebrity golf tournament, theatrical play or other entertainment ask to be a volunteer. In exchange for an hour or two of service you get free admission. Not to mention you usually get better viewing access.

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With the kids out of school for the summer it’s tough finding activities to keep them busy. But don’t worry, Steve Jobs would like to help baby sit.

Well not exactly…

Apple retail stores are once again offering Apple Camp. These free workshops are recommended for kids ages 8 – 12. Each workshop lasts 3 hours. Students can learn how to make movies, music and more. For more details and to learn how to sign up check out the Apple Camp site.

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A root canal is not fun but we can schedule it and plan for it. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could schedule other painful incidents in our life, say a house fire? Statistics say it can happen to you. If it happens, will you be prepared? Are you prepared for a natural or personal disaster?
Obviously you can’t conveniently schedule an auto accident or major wind damage to your property, but you can plan for it with insurance. Here are the five essential types of insurance everyone should have.

Auto

In most states, everyone is required to have auto insurance. At a minimum you must carry liability insurance. This is what will be paid to the other driver if you hit somebody else. If you would like to cover your vehicle you will need to purchase additional collision and comprehensive coverage. Prices for auto insurance vary greatly from company to company and are based on a variety of factors including past driving history, vehicle model history, your credit score as well as any applicable discounts you may qualify for such as an accident free discount.

Home

If you have a roof over your head, you need insurance over your head too. It doesn’t matter if you own or rent. For home insurance, you want to make sure your policy is up to date. Does it cover the current cost of rebuilding your home as well as all the contents? If you have done any major upgrades or purchased expensive antiques, art or jewelry your policy should be updated. Renters should have a renter’s policy to protect their belongings as well as liability coverage for any damage they may cause. My friend, Mina, accidentally set off the fire sprinklers in her apartment. That incident caused major water damage to her apartment unit as well as the apartment below her. She was responsible for thousands of dollars in damage.

Typically if you choose a single insurance carrier for your auto and home/renter’s insurance, you can get a noticeable discount on the policies. It’s also wise to shop for new prices every couple of years.

Health

Health insurance is the most expensive insurance for the majority of American families. It can also be the most important. The only thing more expensive than health insurance is health care costs. Medical bills can easily put a family into bankruptcy. If you are covered by an employer plan, that’s great. If not, buying individual health insurance can be quite expensive.

To keep your premiums low you can choose a high deductible plan with an HSA. While you will pay the majority of your health care costs out of pocket, at least you are getting the low negotiated health insurance rate as well as the assurance that you are covered in case of a major accident or illness. The HSA allows you to use pretax dollars so that means an additional savings of up to 35% depending on your tax bracket.

Life

If you have any dependents, life insurance becomes just as important as groceries. One day it could put food on the table. You can get a term life insurance policy relatively inexpensively. And you should get one sooner rather than later because your age can make a big difference in price. As far as how much, that depends on your current income and living standards and the amount it would take to maintain that. While that is easy to figure out for someone working with a paid salary, don’t forget about life insurance for unpaid work, for example stay at home moms. Frequently stay at home parents are underinsured or uninsured simply because they don’t have an income. Yet if you had to hire someone to take care of the kids, run the household and everything else, that would be a significant amount of money.

Disability

While most people think it won’t happen to them, statistics show three out of 10 people will be disabled for part of their life. And if you have pictures of old disabled people in your head get them out because older Americans are actually the least likely to suffer a disability. The younger you are, the more likely you will suffer a disability. Disability insurance prices are based on a variety of factors such as your age, health, job duties and environment or other risky activities such as sky diving. Disability policies are one on the most complicated policies with numerous exclusions, waivers and fine print. So while it may be more boring than watching paint dry, take the time to read and fully understand your policy. You typically have a seven day window to return the policy, so read it promptly and make any changes or cancellations prior to the grace period.

An important note about life and disability policies is that many times they are offered through employment, but you should have separate policies on your own. The vast majority of employer policies are company based so once you leave the company, you have to leave the policy. So then you’re left finding a new policy at an older age with higher premiums.

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 This is from my segment on Atlanta & Company on May 25, 2009.

It’s that time of year again. Colleges and universities are filled with students taking in the sites. Yes, high school students and their parents are taking college tours across the country. They are checking out classrooms and dorms and wondering if this is where they will call home the next four years. If only the college tour included price tags on all the sites.

College is expensive but no doubt worth it. According to the Census Bureau the average high school graduate earns $31,000 whereas the average college graduate earns nearly double that. But do you have to go to a big name school to earn big bucks? While it might have been true for the parents’ generation, it is no longer the case.

Getting In

Get Started Early– Colleges and universities have greatly expanded their choice of programs and majors. Each program has its own requirements and applications. High school students should begin looking at colleges early in their junior year in order to be able to research and compare all the programs. They need to begin to cultivate relationships with the college admissions advisors. Ideally, the senior year should be about finishing and submitting applications and the mountains of forms not researching schools.

Network With Young Alums – Most high school students have a chance to talk with current college students and perhaps meet older alumni on other occasions. But the real wisdom comes from young alums. They just graduated and can give you real advice and feedback on their education. They are also more comfortable talking about financial aid and scholarships now that they are done. Current students tend to be more guarded about talking about money and other important details.

Don’t Count on a Backup School – The dynamics of college admissions have changed in this economy especially in states with lottery or state supported scholarships. Traditionally, private schools have been harder to get into than public schools. But in a tough economy public schools have been flooded with applications from well qualified applicants looking for lower tuition. So you can no longer rely on the state school as your backup.

Paying For It

Pay For a Tutor Not Tuition – It’s cheaper to pay for a tutor in high school than tuition in college. So focus your efforts on getting stellar grades in high school and on admission tests. These scores can literally be worth tens of thousands of dollars in college tuition. The better your scores the more likely you will qualify for private and public scholarships. So investing in a good tutor in high school could literally payoff big in college.

Get Started Early – Money goes fast so if you will need money to pay for your college you have to be the early worm. There are many sources for aid so you should research your options early and get organized so you don’t miss any deadlines. Sources for aid include private scholarships and college-based scholarships awarded on merit as well as need based aid provided by the federal government and many private schools.

Make Yourself Special – There are billions of dollars of scholarships awarded every year. You can get a piece of the pie too but it isn’t going to be served to you on a silver platter. You have to work for it and spend time and effort finding and applying for scholarships. A great resource is http://www.finaid.org/ There are many scholarships for specific groups, organizations or companies so think of everything the student or parents are affiliated with and don’t leave any stone unturned. For example there are scholarships through AAA, Google and even Coca Cola.

The Decision

Pay For Learning Not Amenities– Colleges are not immune to the keeping up with the Jones’s syndrome. They are spending millions of dollars to add new bling to their campuses like fancy dorms, dining centers with international cuisines and climbing walls. So don’t fall for the fancy new tables and chairs look at the quality of the faculty and programs. Would you rather sit in a new classroom learning from a new TA or an old classroom learning from an experienced professor with a PhD?

Forget the Big Names – If you are looking at taking out tens of thousands of dollars of student loans to pay for a big name school you think will lead to big gains in the future, think again. Big names no longer equal big salaries and opportunities at graduation. New studies have shown there are very little salary differences between graduates of prestigious universities and public universities. And if you are thinking it’s the connections you’ll make, rethink that too. The old-boy networks are eroding and a study from the University of Pennsylvania shows that the number of top executives with Ivy League degrees is decreasing while the number of top executives with public university degrees is increasing.

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Who’s got you raving or crying about their customer service? Every week I feature my experiences and reviews of the best and worst customer service experiences. Most of the time they are personal experiences but every so often some news worthy experiences might also make the final cut. So now here are this week’s Best & Worst Customer Service Awards:

Best Customer Service:

It’s such a pleasant surprise to get great customer service from an unexpected place. This week I was looking at my account online at Citibank. I had a question but didn’t feel like picking up the phone and playing number limbo. So I looked around on the website and saw “Send a Secure Message.” So I decided to give it a try and if I hadn’t heard anything in a couple of days then I would call. I sent the message and within FIVE minutes I had an email saying to check the Message Center for a reply. How shocking is that? The reply was a true reply by a person not a auto-generated messaged and get this it actually solved my problem.

So kudos to Citibank for actually providing customer service and in a very timely manner. The only suggestion for improvement I have is the format of the Message Center. The reply was posted in the original message. So when I went looking for it, I didn’t see a separate message and it took me a while to realize where to find the reply. It would make more sense to have a separate message for the original question and a separate message for the reply.

Worst Customer Service:

First of all I am not a coffee person. But every so often for a business or personal meeting I will go to Starbucks. With spring heating up I ordered a Tazo iced-tea. When I paid for it I asked how much are refills and was told they are free. They handed me my drink, and I asked why it is so orange. The prompt reply was that is the color it’s supposed to be. I then discover it has lemon. So they remake it.

After my meeting as I am heading out, I ask for a refill and they say its 53 cents. At that moment I had a decision to make. Pay it, Fight it or Walk out. I chose to walk out with a sour taste in my mouth (and it wasn’t from the lemon.) Now 53 cents was not going to break the bank, but it just bothered me that they said one thing before I purchased my drink and one thing after I purchased it.

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