Since I do not work outside the home right now, I try to save money wherever and whenever I can. I carefully study the grocery sale papers every week and clip or print coupons. I closely monitor how my children and I spend my family’s money.

As much as possible, I try to do my part to help others while still maintaining our finances. The biggest way I do this is by sharing my children’s clothing with family, friends, freecycle, and the Salvation Army. We appreciate receiving hand-me-downs, so we always continue the cycle.

Another thing I do is donate my unused and/or expired coupons to the military families stationed overseas. I clip ALL the coupons from my Sunday newspaper, even the pet food ones and others I know I won’t use. Sometimes I’ll even ask my friends and family for their coupons when they are done with them. Then once a month, I mail all the coupons to a military base in Japan that I adopted through the Overseas Coupon Program. Military families are allowed to use expired coupons up to six months past their expiration date. These families often have just one income, so these coupons can really make a difference. The postage to send the coupons overseas is the standard domestic rate since it goes to a US base, but an international customs form is required. This is an easy and inexpensive way to support our military.

“The Drugstore Game” is a method I learned from sites such as Money Saving Mom and Krazy Coupon Lady. Money Saving Mom wrote “In a nutshell, the Drugstore Game is taking advantage of the rebate programs at CVS, Rite Aid and Walgreens to get household and beauty products for pennies on the dollar — or even more than free!” I go to CVS and Walgreens at least once a week to purchase items that are either on sale, have coupons, or generate Extra Bucks or Register Rewards. Sometimes a product is all three of those things, allowing me to spend only pennies for tax and then receive free items AND vouchers for future purchases. My bathroom cabinets are filled with body wash and toothpaste that I received free, or even got paid to take. I often collect these drugstore game goodies and take them to my local food pantry. I’m sure they would be greatly appreciated at a battered women’s shelter or homeless shelter as well. My local pantry is the Niles Township Food Pantry. They collect and distribute food, personal items, and even school supplies for children.

One of the easiest ways that I help my children’s school is by clipping the Box Tops for Education that are on all kinds of General Mills products such as Cherrios cereal, Nature Valley granola bars, Chex Mix, and Gogurts yogurt as well as other household items like Kleenex tissues and Huggies diapers, Pull Ups, and OverNights. Each little pink logo is worth ten cents to the school. While this may not sound like it’s worth the hassle of cutting out, participating schools earned more than $10 million in the 2008-09 school year alone! My children often bring me empty boxes and ask me to help them cut out the “moneys.” Then I just send their teachers an envelope full of the little pink papers so they can submit them and receive money for their school.

SuperValu and General Mills have partnered together for the Box Tops for Education program and are generously offering one lucky winner a $25 American Express gift card through MyBlogSpark. I believe this gift card can be used anywhere, including any of the SuperValu stores (ACME, Albertsons, Cub, Farm Fresh and Jewel-Osco.) If you would like a chance to win this $25 gift card, please leave a comment with a creative or unusual way you help your family, school, or community by June 8th. The winning comment will be randomly selected and announced on June 9th.

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Almost every day in the news, there is a new story of credit card fraud or identity theft. It could happen to anyone. That’s why it is so important to monitor your own credit, as well as all the members of your family, including your children.

Children are perfect targets for criminals because the identity theft can go undetected for a long time. ABC News reported a story which reports incidents of ID theft that happened to two different families. The identity theft victims were a 3-year old and a 11-month old.

For adults, it’s so easy to request a credit report online using the AnnualCreditReport with the website. You are allowed one free credit report from each of the three reporting agencies every year. You can order your credit reports online, by phone, or by mail using the posted instructions. However, if you are under the age of 13, you can only submit the paperwork by mail.

Getting your kid’s credit report

Last fall, I requested reports for both of my children from all three credit agencies. I had to do this because we never received Sophie’s original Social Security Card. It must have been lost or stolen in the mail.

Here’s what I did to obtain my children’s credit reports:

• For each child the following documents are required:
  1. A completed Annual Credit Report Request Form from the AnnualCreditReport website
  2. Copy of the child’s birth certificate
  3. Copy of the child’s Social Security Card
  4. Copy of the parent’s driver’s license
• Mail the completed forms (along with copies of each child’s supporting documents) to:
  Annual Credit Report Request Service
  P.O. Box 105281
  Atlanta, GA 30348-5281

After a few weeks, I received statements of “unable to locate credit information” or “no such file in the database” in the mail. This reassured me that no one has been using my children’s information to open fraudulent accounts.

The process may have changed this year as the AnnualCreditReport site is now requiring parents to contact each credit agency individually along with sending an additional supporting document, a current utility bill.

Here’s an excerpt from their FAQ below:

How do I request a credit report by mail for a child under 13 years of age?

The credit reporting agencies do not knowingly maintain credit files on minor children. If you suspect that your minor child’s information has been used fraudulently, you should contact the credit reporting agencies directly and report the illegal use of your child’s information to law enforcement. Please supply each credit reporting agency with your child’s complete name, address, date of birth and a copy of the minor child’s birth certificate and social security card. Additionally, please provide a copy of your driver’s license or other government-issued proof of your identity, which includes your current address, and a current utility bill containing your current address so the credit reporting agencies may promptly respond to your request. The addresses for the credit reporting agencies are listed below:

Equifax
P.O. Box 740256
Atlanta, Georgia 30374

Experian
P.O. Box 9532
Allen, Texas 75013

TransUnion
P.O. Box 6790
Fullerton, CA 92834

I saved copies of all the supporting documents I sent last year. I will just have to add in a copy of my current electric bill and send the paperwork to all three credit agencies individually.

The initial paperwork to obtain your child’s credit may seem overwhelming compared to the simple questions needed to get your own. An alternative method would be to enroll into a credit monitoring service such as LifeLock.

They have a program which can cover your entire family. LifeLock will regularly monitor your kid’s credit. If you want to save time and have that peace of mind, LifeLock may be for you.

MarloElaine Blog readers can save up to 25% off when you use the LifeLock promotion code: LOCKDOWN. Click to instantly apply the LifeLock Promotion code.

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How a 9 minute phone call will save us over $400 this year!

Since we are a single income household, I try to find ways to save money. As the cliche goes: a penny saved is a penny earned.

After reviewing my Comcast bill a few weeks ago, I realized I was paying roughly $100 a month on my combined cable and high speed internet service. Luckily, I encountered this blog entry. Jonathan of MyMoneyBlog writes about how he was able to save $105 on his Comcast bill.

I decided to give it a try and was able to haggle for much more savings.

Here’s a rough transcript of my conversation with the Comcast retention specialist:

Me: Hello, I just received my Comcast bill today and realized I am paying too much for my Cable TV and High Speed internet. I am seriously considering switching my service to AT&T Yahoo DSL at $14.99/month.

Comcast: Can you verify your account information? [taps on keyboard] OK, we’d like to keep you as a customer. We can’t match the DSL offer but we can provide you High Speed Internet for $19.99/month for six months.

Me: What about my cable service?

Comcast: For TV, we can provide that service at $29.99/month for a year.

Me: Is that the best you can do?

Comcast: Please call us back after six months and check in with us.

Me: When will this new rate be effective?

Comcast: Today. Since we bill out a month in advance, we will credit your account. We will be owing you money.

Me: [With a fat grin on my face] Thank you.

I made sure to talk someone in account cancellations so I did not have to waste time going through the automated prompts. If you have Comcast service, give it a try. It might save you some money on your monthly bill.

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Are you taking advantage of your employer’s money saving benefit, the Flexible Spending Account (FSA)? If you are, then you know how much work it takes to file a simple reimbursement claim.

I have completed and submitted enough FSA claim forms to know what does and does not work. I am sharing these tips with you so that you don’t have to go through the hassle of appealing your denied FSA claims.

1. Charge it: If you have an FSA debit card, use it as much as possible! The card eliminates the need to submit paperwork. Our United HealthCare FSA MasterCard only works for set amounts, such as $10, $20, and $35 (standard copay amounts). If I am picking up more than one prescription medication, I ask the pharmacist to ring them up separately on my FSA card. Also, if both kids have doctors appointments on the same day, I do the same thing.
2. Keep them separate: Pay for all FSA eligible items separately from non-FSA purchases. This allows you to submit the entire receipt without having to subtract some items and re-calculate the sales tax.
3. Provide copies: Never submit your original receipts, only copies. Save all receipts until you have been reimbursed, just in case they deny your claim and you have to resubmit. Additionally, if you need to return or exchange anything, you will need the original receipt.

4. denied claims has decreased dramatically

   Send proof: When in doubt, send additional documentation. This is especially important if you purchase store brands (CVS Tussin Cough) versus brand name items (Robitussin syrup). Take photos or scan your over the counter items and send a copy along with the receipt. Ever since I started doing this, the number of denied claims has decreased dramatically. Prescription documentation must include patient name, out of pocket cost, date filled, and prescription name or the NDC number. This information is usually all located on the insert that accompanies the medication. Again, send copies or ask your pharmacist to print an extra one.

5. Mark it: Be sure to circle the requested information, such as date, price, etc. Highlighting will not show up once the paperwork is scanned. Label all of your pages clearly with your account number and page number (ex. page 1 of 3).
6. Mail, do not fax your claims: We tried faxing our submissions, but had a lot of problems with it. Once our fax was received and printed, it was then scanned. The end result was very difficult to read. If the claims adjuster could not read our request, they would simply deny or ignore it. We find that mailing our paperwork is much more effective. Save yourself the hassle, use a postage stamp.
7. Direct deposit: Enroll in direct deposit for reimbursement. We usually receive the funds in our bank account two or three days before receiving the statement. This also eliminates the extra trip to the bank or ATM.
8. Review your work: Double check your math, sign your claim form, and affix the proper postage.
9. File the claim ASAP: The money kept in the FSA account is already yours, but it is not earning any interest. File the claim for your money as soon as possible so you can spend or invest it however you like. There is no need to wait until the end of the year, that is when the FSA department is its busiest.
10. Lastly, keep track of all of your claims: Make copies of everything you submit, including the claim forms and all supporting evidence. There’s no way of knowing which claims you will have to resubmit. Save yourself the time and keep a copy.

By following these steps, you will be more successful in have your claims fully paid and on-time.

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