As the Memorial Day weekend approaches, everyone is looking for different ideas on what to do for their three-day weekend. For many of us, Memorial Day marks the beginning of summer. Pools and water parks open for the first time this year and area lakes and beaches are full of boaters and campers. While for others it is a time of relaxing and remembering those who have or are currently serving in the military along with family and friends who are no longer with us. It is also a time to be thankful for all that we have and spend a little quality time with family and friends.
For those not sure what to do without breaking the budget, there are a lot of free or low-cost ideas for individuals and families. Check your local paper for festivals in your area. There are always several cities and parks that will host festivals and most are free to attend. These festivals usually have live music, activities for the kids and lots of food. Bring a lawn chair and sit back and relax while listening to great music. If you want to keep costs down even more, bring a picnic lunch or a cooler for drinks. It is a great way to enjoy the outdoors and spend time with friends and family.
Don’t want to go anywhere and have to deal with the crowds? Why not host a Pot Luck Barbeque with friends? With everyone bringing a dish, this helps spread the cost around to several people rather than just one person or family. Since most Memorial Day weekends do not have scorching temperatures, you can get out the lawn chairs and have additional activities outside in the back yard. Set up a Flag Tag Relay race for the kids. Click here for instructions on how this can easily be set up to provide lots of fun.
Another fun activity for little kids or big kids is making your own homemade ice cream. You don’t even need to buy an ice cream maker. With a just a few simple ingredients, you can make your own ice cream. Check out this website on several different methods and choose one, or several, that suits your needs. Once the ice cream is made you can set up a Sundae Bar with different toppings and let the kids make their own.
And, if the weather does get a little hot, why not let the kids run through the sprinkler. While most families don’t have a pool in their backyard, kids still love to the run through the sprinklers. This is such a simple activity with lots of exercise and laughter that can be easy on the budget.
We wish everyone a fun and safe weekend whether you are go on a vacation or making simple plans to stay home and enjoy time with friends and family.
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Cashland is a leading provider of fast and friendly financial services including Oklahoma personal loans, prepaid cards, check cashing and Western Union money orders and money transfers.
School is almost out and kids cannot wait to have a break! Now, what do you do with them during the summer to keep them from constantly saying “I’m bored!”? There are a lot of great summer activities out there for kids to do. Summer camps offer great experiences for kids and come in several different options from day camps to overnight camps. Some places will offer summer programs that have different activities each day or one day each week. While some can be expensive, especially when you have more than one child who wants to attend, others are free of charge.
We compiled some different websites to give you a start on what options are available throughout Oklahoma.
State of Oklahoma:
Fantastic Christian Summer Church Camps in Oklahoma
Oklahoma City Metro Area:
Summer Camps and Activities Directory
Summer Educational Opportunities For Students
Free Activities for Kids in Oklahoma City
Tulsa Metro Area:
Summer Activities for Kids (Stillwater area)
Lawton Area:
Enid Area:
We hope all our customers and their families have a great time with their kids during the summer break!
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Cashland is a leading provider of fast and friendly financial services including Oklahoma personal loans, prepaid cards, check cashing and Western Union money orders and money transfers.
Congratulations to Lloyd, who has been chosen as the Cashland Employee of the Month! Lloyd currently helps with maintenance of all the Cashland stores and has been with Cashland for two years. Like always, we asked Lloyd questions about himself so you can get know him better; below are his answers.
Where were you born?
Chickasha, OK
What is your current city of residence?
Oklahoma City
Where would you like to see your career at Cashland go?
I like where I am!
What do you like best about being a Cashland employee?
It feels more like a family atmosphere.
Do you have a personal motto or mantra?
Karma Baby, Karma
What is your favorite sport or pastime?
Nascar
When are you the happiest?
When I am around friends and family.
What would people be surprised to know about you?
I have 26 years of military background.
What accomplishments are you most proud of?
Surviving (3) combat zones!
Cashland is a leading provider of fast and friendly financial services including personal loans, prepaid cards, check cashing and Western Union money orders and money transfers.
Too many Americans have become complacent about their money these days. We tend to spend with little regard to whether we can really afford it or not. We know we make money each month, but do we really keep track of what is coming in and what is going out? To mark Financial Literacy Month, we wanted to look at different ways to increase your financial knowledge and keep you on track for better financial wellness.
Do you balance your check book each month? Most banks have made it very easy to access your account online and many are developing smartphone apps to keep you in touch with your money. While you may see what your current balance is each day, do you take the time to make sure you actually have enough money to cover expenses that have not shown up yet? Do you occasionally find your account overdrawn causing you unnecessary fees from the bank? By balancing your check book, you are able to keep a more realistic idea of how much money you truly have.
Do you know what your bills are each month and how much you have to spend? This of course is best achieved with a budget. While you don’t have to budget every dollar, at the very least keep track of your amount coming in and what bills you have to pay out of that money. This gives you an idea of what your “spending” money is for the month.
Do you pay your bills on time? Not only does paying your bills late cause you unnecessary fees, but it can also cause your credit score to be low.
Do you find yourself in a cash flow crunch at certain times of the month due to all your bills being due at the same time? Try to space out your payments for rent/mortgage, credit cards, utilities and car so that you are not expected to pay everything at once. Sometimes a simple phone call to your utility company requesting a new payment date can take care of the problem. Most places are willing to work with you.
Do you have an emergency fund for those unexpected expenses? Medical bills, car repairs along with many other expenses can come at any time. By having that money set aside, you will not have to rely on credit cards to pay for these items.
We hope these tips will help to keep you on the road to better financial health.
Please like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to stay up-to-date on money-saving tips, budgeting information, and fan/follower only discounts, deals and contests!
Cashland is a leading provider of fast and friendly financial services including Oklahoma personal loans, prepaid cards, check cashing and Western Union money orders and money transfers.
In honor of Financial Literacy Month, we wanted to put together some websites to check out as trusted resources about your finances along with a tip from each to give you an idea of their way of thinking. According to the experts at Money Management International, below are a few of the A-List websites for financial tips.
From Ben at www.MoneySmartLife.com
If you have some financial decisions or actions you’ve been putting off, now is the time to take care of them. I find what works for me is to make a prioritized list of the things I need to do and carry it around with me until I’ve completed it. You probably won’t have time to get them all done at once but if you write them down and stay on top of it you should finish sooner rather than later.
Read more at: http://moneysmartlife.com/
From FMF www.FreeMoneyFinance.com
How can anyone make any sort of meaningful financial progress without a budget, spending plan or whatever you want to call it? Certainly some people do live and do “ok” without a budget, but are they really making the most of their money? I don’t think so.
We’ve had a budget for our entire married life (15 years) and we’ve tracked our expenditures by Quicken for 7-10 years or so now. Doing so has helped us plan, make decisions, adjust to unexpected circumstances and control our spending. I consider having and using a budget to be one of the cornerstones to growing your net worth.
Read more at: http://www.freemoneyfinance.com/
From The Frugal Duchess at http://sharonhr.blogspot.com/
In one of my poor-little-me moments, I once complained to a woman, who I thought had it all: luxe car, huge house, elaborate vacations. But she nodded and disclosed that she was also caring for a dear, but ailing relative. Faced with the poor health of a loved one, she would have traded the keys to her car and home for my healthy family. I took the hint and focused less on my deficits and more on the tangible and intangible assets in my personal accounts.
Read more at: http://sharonhr.blogspot.com/
From the author of www.BluntMoney.com
Take a few minutes and think about all the little things you might do each day that would save some money, improve your health, and save lives — your own in the short term, your children’s in the mid-term, and the earth’s in the not-so-far-away-either term.
Little things, like..
Eating locally, or at least eating foods that are in-season. Drinking tap water from a glass, not a bottle that was trucked in from who-knows-where. Using that same water glass all day long, or heck, for however many days it takes until it gets dirty. Using cloth napkins. Using torn-up tee shirts instead of paper towels. Cleaning with baking soda & vinegar instead of harsh chemicals. Washing your clothes less frequently. (Such as when they’re actually dirty, instead of every time you wear them.) Changing some light bulbs. Walking instead of driving. Combining trips if you do drive. Turning the water off while you brush your teeth. Not using your toilet as a trash can. Recycling glass, paper, and plastic. Buying things with the least amount of packaging available.
Every single one of those things can make your life easier, save you money, help you live a healthier life, or all three — and they’re all extremely easy to do.
Read more at: http://www.bluntmoney.com/
From SVB at www.TheDigeratiLife.com
There’s pretty much no excuse for paying bills late. Unfortunately, I’m guilty for missing payments in the past, or dropping the ball on them for a variety of reasons: misplaced bills, lack of organization, questions about the bill that hold up the payment, procrastination, and so forth. But there are some unsavory consequences to late bill payments, especially if you do this habitually: your credit history and credit score can be adversely affected, which could lead to unfavorable interest rates and additional fees on loans you take out. The difference between a good and a poor credit score can literally be many thousands of dollars, especially if the loans in consideration are for big ticket items such as mortgages or car loans. Apparently, even a single late payment can cause rate increases among your creditors across the board.
So what to do? The key is organization (which I need to improve upon!). Review your mail immediately and file your bills away using a system that you can stick with. Pay bills on a regular schedule or as soon as you get them. For those bills that don’t need to be sent out right away, label them with the date you intend to mail them out. Say NO to late fees and higher interest charges!
Read more at: http://www.thedigeratilife.com/
From Madison at www.MyDollarPlan.com
Financial success has little to do with money, stocks, bonds, asset allocation and retirement plans. Sure those matter, but let’s not confuse financial tools with the fundamentals. The foundation is based on preparation, planning and the relationship that money has with other aspects of your life.
The fundamentals: Set financial goals, communicate with your spouse, motivate yourself with frequent rewards, and plan for the unexpected. Finally, don’t delay happiness. Too often, we tell ourselves, I’ll be happy as soon as I pay off this debt… retire… or earn more money. Setting goals is great, but there is no reason you can’t enjoy the road to get there too.
Read more at: www.mydollarplan.com
To check out the full list of websites go to www.financialliteracymonth.com.
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Cashland is a leading provider of fast and friendly financial services including Oklahoma personal loans, prepaid cards, check cashing and Western Union money orders and money transfers.
Congratulations to Anastasia Tarpley, who has been chosen as the Cashland Employee of the Month! Anastasia is currently the Customer Service Manager for our Cashland Online division and has been with Cashland for a little over one year. Like always, we asked Anastasia questions about herself so you can get know her better; below are her answers.
Where were you born?
Oklahoma City
What is your current city of residence?
Oklahoma City
Where would you like to see your career at Cashland go?
To the Top!
What do you like best about being a Cashland employee?
I love the people I work with, we are always laughing.
Do you have a personal motto or mantra?
You reap what you sow.
What is your favorite sport or pastime?
Zumba, Zumba, Zumba!
What three words would you use to describe yourself?
Fun, approachable and forgiving
What would people be surprised to know about you?
I am a great country singer/performer.
What is at the top of your bucket list?
I want to see the Aurora Borealis!
Cashland is a leading provider of fast and friendly financial services including personal loans, prepaid cards, check cashing and Western Union money orders and money transfers.
One of the largest items on almost every budget that can be flexible is groceries. While we all need to eat and want to eat good meals, this is a great place to look at when wanting to save money. Not everyone is made for couponing. It does take time and most people just do not want to mess with the cutting and clipping and keeping up with them. There are still lots of other ways that you can save in this area.
There are few basic rules that are always being mentioned when going grocery shopping. Rule number one is DO NOT go to the store when you are hungry as you will want to buy anything that looks good. Some other basic rules are making a list and sticking to it, use cash only when paying rather than a credit or debit card and shop less frequently. Try to keep shopping to only once a week or once every two weeks. This still allows you to get your fresh items such as fruit and milk, but the less you are in the store, the less you will tend to buy!
Plan meals by what is on sale that week at your local store. Regardless of where you choose to shop for groceries, they will always have items on sale. Check out the sales flyer before making your list of meals for the week. Choose meals that are centered around items on sale, especially meat since that can be the most expensive item for most meals. If your store has a loyalty card, get signed up to use it. This can give you a variety of savings. Make sure you check out what they are and take advantage of them.
When planning your meals, it’s sometimes better to just keep it simple. Don’t go overboard for every meal with expensive entrees like steak and shrimp and choose one night a week to prepare a meatless meal to keep expenses down.
Frugal grocery shopping is a great way to save money each month by simply buying the right items at the right price. We hope these tips help in reducing your grocery bill each month.
Please like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to stay up-to-date on money-saving tips, budgeting information, and fan/follower only discounts, deals and contests!
Cashland is a leading provider of fast and friendly financial services including Oklahoma personal loans, prepaid cards, check cashing and Western Union money orders and money transfers.
