Maximize Your Cruise Wardrobe With These Packing Tips

Cruises are a fun opportunity to dress up and look your best but how do you look fresh every day without bringing your whole closet?

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The first thing you need to think about is what type of clothing you will need. Will you be attending fancy dinners or dressing casual the whole time? Is there a theme party you would like to attend? Will you be dancing until dawn in your best dance dress? Some of these may necessitate bringing special attire and you want to make sure you have room set aside in your luggage for this.

SHOE CARNIVAL

If you will be dressing for dinner, one way to stretch your cruise wardrobe is to coordinate separates. Stick to no more than 3 coordinating colors such as black, white and tan. This way you can bring 1 pair of slacks, 1 skirt, 2 nice shirts and 2 jackets and make them look like 8 brand new and fresh outfits by mixing up what piece you wear with what. For example, the slacks paired with shirt 1 and jacket 1 could be one outfit, substitute shirt 2 with the same slacks and jacket for a whole new look! Now substitute the skirt in and you get another whole new look! In addition, you can use scarves and accessories to give each outfit a whole new look.

The same method can be applied for your casual wear. If you stick to a coordinating color scheme, you can get more mileage out of each piece since it will tend to look different when it is paired with a different top or bottom.

Deciding which shoes to take is perhaps the hardest of all! If you are anything like me, you have a perfect pair for each outfit and you'll want to take them all! Of course, you may not have room in those suitcases so you must be selective in what you bring. I suggest you wear your bulkiest shoes, like sneakers, onto the ship - this way the will not be taking up space in your luggage. Bring a dressy shoe and a more casual shoe as well. Make sure you think about color when you pack the shoes, if you are bringing only black dressy slacks then white sandals might not look so good!

Finally, to get more space in your suitcase for clothes, find out if the ship will be supplying beach towels and hair dryers. If they are then you can leave yours at home and free up some suitcase space for more clothes!

Maximize Your Cruise Wardrobe With These Packing Tips

SHOE CARNIVAL

Maximize Your Savings When Using Free Coupons For Groceries

The current difficult economy and the consistent raise in food prices have made it difficult for many families to make ends meet and get enough food on the table. Many smart shoppers know that using free coupons for grocery shopping can stretch their food budget.

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Grocery coupons are easy to find and easy to use. Even a casual coupon clipper can save money using coupons only once-in-awhile, but to be able to save money on a consistent basis takes time and effort. It is not unusual for experienced coupon users to save on average 60% or more on their grocery bill every month.

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Coupons for groceries and other products can be found anywhere. The newspaper is still the most used means for food manufacturers to deliver coupons for their products. But now-a-days the Internet has made locating coupons a breeze. Don't overlook some not so common places as sources for your coupons, such as your local public libraries or a local coupon swap club. Keep in mind that almost all coupons have expiration dates. So don't let coupons go to waste by letting them expire, and wasting your time that it took you to collect them.

Here are some tips on how to get the most from clipping and using free coupons for groceries:

Organize your grocery coupons. If you can't find your coupons, chances are you won't use them. You need a filing system to organize your coupons to make them easy to find. No one system works for everybody. You need to try out a few systems to find the one that works for you. Two basic grouping for your coupons should be food categories or type and expiration date.

Plan ahead. Before you head out of your home to go grocery shopping, compare the week's sales flyers and target the best deals. Try to limit all your shopping to one or two supermarkets or grocery stores so you don't have to drive around town and spend money on gas. Call your favorite store and find out if they honor their competitors' sale prices on the same items.

Sign up with stores' loyalty card programs. Membership has it rewards. In the case of groceries - lower prices. Loyalty card members usually get lower prices on some items already on sale. Most stores also offer bonuses at the end of the year if you accumulate a certain number of points during the year.
Use coupons on sales items. Whenever possible, plan to use high value coupons for items when the items are on sale, especially if the store double or triple coupons. To take full advantage of this, collect multiple copies of the high value coupons and stock up on the items when their come on sale.

Know when not to use coupons for groceries. Store brand grocery items are gaining in popularity with shopper, because the products are usually less expensive than national brands and just as good if not better in quality and taste. And supermarkets are promoting their own brand more and more with sales. So if you have coupons for a national brand but the price of the store brand is still cheaper... buy the store brand and save the manufacturers coupons for another day. Try the store brand before you buy a lot of it to be sure you like it. You're wasting money if you buy something and end up throwing it away.

It doesn't take too much time to clip and use grocery coupons and a small amount of effort can save you hundreds of dollars every year on your food bill. It may take some time and tweaking before you get a system working efficiently. But in these trouble economic times, using coupons for groceries is the best way for you to save money on your food bill.

Maximize Your Savings When Using Free Coupons For Groceries

PRINTABLE COUPONS

How to Maximize Your Coupon Savings

In these times of recession, a lot more people are using coupons to save on groceries and other products. Here are a few suggestions to help you maximize the savings you realize with coupons.

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Focus on the wording. Often people only look at the pictures on coupons. But if you read the fine print on the coupon, you might be able to redeem the coupon for products other than those pictured on the coupon. Manufacturers tend to highlight the priciest item in a product line on the coupon. Bigger isn't always better. Most people think (correctly) that bigger sizes means better values. However, when it comes to coupons, the opposite is usually true. You'll usually get the best deal by redeeming that coupon for the smallest size. Applying the discount on the coupon to the overall price of a smaller package brings down the unit price. Supersize the savings. Most coupons have a disclaimer that says you can only use one per item. However, you can still get multiple discounts on the same product, because there are two types of coupons--one issued by the manufacturer and one issued by the stores. The store coupons can be found in Sunday circulars, store fliers and on retailer and product websites. Clip both types of coupons for the same item and you can really rack up the savings. Be patient. If you find a coupon for an item you purchase on a regular basis, hold on to it for about 3 weeks before using. Merchants bet on consumers rushing out to buy the item which is featured on a coupon so they keep the item at full price. A few weeks later the store will usually put the item on sale. So, by holding on to the coupon you can get the store discount as well as the coupon discount to maximize your savings.

PRINTABLE COUPONS

So, with a little creativity and effort, you can truly maximize the savings you derive from coupons! Get out your scissors and get to work!

How to Maximize Your Coupon Savings

PRINTABLE COUPONS