Last Minute Gift Certificates & Ideas

With only 5 Days till Xmas I'm sure you have all your gifts bought & wrapped!

If not and you can’t decide what to get for the person who has everything? Dilemma solved!

Gift Certificates are the perfect last minute gifts, especially for hard-to-buy-for people. These instant gifts are without shipping charges and in most cases, you’ll just supply the recipient’s name and choose whether you wish to have the gift certificate code sent via via e-mail or snail mail.

Perfume, Skincare & Accessories Gift Vouchers








Last but certainly not least, consider Amazon.com which not only has books but electronics, clothing and accessories, toys, music, movies and just about anything else you can think of, or that someone might want.

Enjoy the Festive Season!

Recycling Xmas Cards

A creative way of recycling your old xmas cards is to use cutouts from old Christmas cards to make delightful and creative gift tags.

I have always used my old cards as next years gift tags. Just cut out what looks like would make a pretty tag, punch a hole in the top with a paper-punch, and use a ribbon to attach to your gift. Sometimes you can get multiple tags from one card.

For larger gifts use the whole front of the card as a tag. For a little extra pizzazz add some glitter glue to parts of the card or even use a pair of decorative craft scissors for cutting the edges.

So... With 6 days till xmas you still have time to make up your own creative gift tags... not only saving you money but creating a gorgeous gift tag that I'm sure will be appreciated.

Seasons Greetings!

Clothing Savings

Clothes Savings can have a huge impact on your budget....Here's some ideas to help you keep within your budget.

Buy separates that coordinate: Make numerous combinations with a few well matched items. For women, skirts, slacks, jackets and blouses can be mixed and matched to create many different outfits. Change the look of these outfits with accessories such as scarves or jewellery.

Men's clothing offers a wide variety of separates that can be coordinated: shirts, blazers, slacks and ties can all be interchanged to create a versatile wardrobe with a minimum of expense.

Buy a season ahead: Buy next year's winter clothes at the end of this season and save. Buy quality clothes in the sales and these should last longer.

Stay away from trendy fashions: Sticking with the basics you can always be sure your clothing styles will last from year to year.

Always dress to suit your body type & style. Wearing styles that suit your body shape has the power to increase your attractiveness instantly. [Learn More]

Click Here => For Other Great Savings Ideas

Banana Cake Recipe

Don't throw your money away with your mushy bananas... Bake a cake instead!

Banana Cake

125g butter, softened
1/2 cup caster sugar
2 eggs2 large ripe bananas, mashed
1 1/2 cups self-raising flour
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1/4 cup milk

Icing:
1 1/2 cups icing sugar
30g butterjuice of 1 orange
orange rind to decorate

1. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, beat in eggs until combined.
2. Stir in banana. Stir in half the sifted dry ingredients and combine. Add remaining flour and milk, stir until smooth.
3. Pour mixture into greased 20c, round cake tin.Bake at 180ºC (350ºF) for 30 minutes.
4. Stand for 5 minutesbefore turning on to wire rack to cool.
5. To make icing beat icing sugar with enough orange juice to make a firm mixture, beat in butter. Spread over cake and decorate with orange rind.

Serve with cream and ice-cream for a tempting dessert.

Now that sounds delicious! Happy Baking!

Banana Cake - Recipe Source

Click Here => For Other Great Savings Ideas

Bananas!

Bananas reducing in price!

It certainly was a nice surprise to see bananas down to $3.99 AU kilo this morning.

They had reached ridiculous prices of up to $15 kilo over about 4 months due to a shortage due to the hurricane. At that price I was purchasing them far & few between.Despite this hike in prices, it wasn't the farmers getting the $ benefit.

Bananas are a quick & easy snack, a good source of fiber, potassium and vitamin C. Also great to add to your morning cereal.

To help your bananas last longer I usually try to buy them a little greener.

Tips:
Wrap in newspaper & place in crisper.... will last much longer or wrap in alfoil & place in crisper.
(the skins will go brown but they will last up to 5 days plus)
To ripen - place in brown paper bag with an avocado.

If you're anything like me I hate a mushy banana (they don't usually last that long in my house to even go mushy) - don't throwout - make a banana cake.

Enjoy your bananas... I know we will!

Negotiating A Better Deal

With goods costing more & bills arriving faster, you have to make your hard-earned money stretch further.

If you adopt this simple rule "If you don't ask you don't get", you stand a good chance of getting more for less.

Here's a few rules to getting your best price....

Do your homework....
The more information you have before you bargain, the greater your chances of scoring a deal.

Pick the right bargaining partner....
Always ask to talk with a manager or the owner.

Ask plenty of questions...
Be confident and ask the questions about the product or service you are interested in. Be polite & friendly & show an interest in the salesperson.

Make an offer...
Start off offering a price that's not too low & wait for their counter offer.

Be prepared to walk away....
If the salesperson cannot or will not budge on their offer be prepared to walk away.

Pick Up Other Great Ideas Like These=> [Learn More]

Happy Negotiating! If you don't ask... you won't receive!

Saving Money!

How To Save Money!

Reading through a magazine yesterday I came across this great cartoon that I had to share with you.... just wish I could show you the pictures!!

Here goes... Just imagine....

A man is holding his pink piggy bank
Caption: Take your savings

He has climbed a ladder to a very high cupboard & is placing his piggy bank inside
Caption: Place them on the highest possible shelf.

He is jumping on his ladder & breaking it up.
Caption: Destroy ladder

Well that certainly is an extreme measure to help save money! Do you have a story to match this?

Printing Savings Update!

In my previous post I spoke about the savings of purchasing the ream of paper & printing the job myself.

After having a think about this… I would save up to $33.00 from the one ream of paper by printing any future jobs myself.

Of course you have to work out whether your time is worth this saving…. Then again when you think about… Most times you need to leave the job to be printed & return for pickup.

All these little or not so little savings add up.

Printing Savings!

This week I organized the pamphlet printing for a Xmas promotion.

I headed off to Officeworks after my morning beach walk. I first checked the cost of a ream of red paper. Went to printing section & enquired as to whether it would be more economical to purchase ream & print myself. Not for the quantity I wanted printed.... I was told.

Ok.... Let them do it for me... which included cutting sheet in half. Thankfully I was lucky enough to browse round the store & wait for print job.... Parking is the pits! The gym is next door & they park in all the car spots.

Arrived home & decided to do a quick calculation. If I had bought the ream of red paper & printed them myself at Officeworks... I would have saved $10. (This was calculated on the sheets I actually used) The rest of the ream I could have kept for the next promotion.

Lesson learnt... Don't rely on someone else's calculation....Carry your calculator with you...(could have borrowed one.... Look where I was!!)

Looking forward to responses to Xmas Promotion!