The Double Saving Divas

We conducted our latest Facebook chat with the Double Saving Divas on Friday and, as usual, it was filled with useful information about saving, budgeting, and money management. In case you missed it, here’s a round up of the major topics of discussion. Be sure to follow us on Facebook so you can participate in the next chat, which will be taking place in the coming weeks.

iStockphoto

We all have a special day in common — a birthday! With that in mind, there are many retailers and merchants who would love to celebrate with you and offer special discounts and freebies to add to your celebratory day. Here are a few helpful tips to help you celebrate your birthday in a frugal and fun way.

Sign Up for Emails

Most companies have perks for your big day just for signing up for their emails. Think about all of your favorite spots you like to visit –entertainment, restaurants, clothing stores. Be sure to put in your birth date correctly, and watch the emails come rolling in during the month of. We suggest that you create a separate email account to use while signing up for company emails. This will allow you to keep your “birthday” perks organized and to help avoid a build up of emails in your primary account.

Eat Free All Month Long

Go to your favorite restaurant’s website and enter their loyalty program. And this isn’t just for your favorite burger joint. Add your high-end favorites too! To your surprise, they’ll send you a “BIG” discount or most times a free meal to enjoy the month of your birthday. We love to take advantage of this all month long because, most times, you’re not obligated to redeem your discount just on your birthday. Strategically, we’re saving money around our birthday too!  Can anyone say “Date Nights!”?

Read Your Receipts Carefully

Be sure to read your receipts carefully before you toss them away. Many retailers place discount or coupon codes for your use on your next shopping purchase. We like to be very strategic and use these codes when we need them the most. For example, we would use them towards our birthday outfit or to get a free car wash before our night on the town.

Get Picture Perfect On A Dime

We all love to look our best for our big day. Would you like free beauty products to help with that? One of our favorites is Sephora’s Beauty Insider Progam. Not only do we love to get rewarded for our beauty purchases, but we love their complimentary birthday gifts! They’ll give you some of their hottest sellers for free. Many times this allows us to try a product that we normally wouldn’t purchase. And then, we tend to fall in love with the product…Go figure!

Also, check with your local beauty salons to see if they offer any perks for your birthday. There are some salon studios that offer free facials, hair cuts, and even mini body treatments. Shouldn’t you be pampered?

Join On Behalf Of Your Child

These “birthday goodies” aren’t just for adults, they’re for kids too. Some child-play facilities offer discounts and freebies for your child’s birthday.  Toys R Us has a popular birthday club that gives your child a birthday card and special gift for their big day. Not to mention, special savings for you too How cool is that?!

Do and Don’t Look For Loyalty Programs

This may sound like an oxymoron. But, what were trying to say is that you should always be on the lookout for your favorite places’ loyalty program, even when they’re hiding. In many cases, they aren’t advertised. So be sure to ask someone where to sign-up if need be.

Need a jump start with finding “birthday” discounts and freebies? As our birthday gift to you, check out this post titled “Where Do We Get Birthday Freebies?” with over 80 perks we’ve gathered and listed for your convenience.

Happy Birthday!

Tai and Tarin Perry, the Double Saving Divas,  are financially savvy identical twin sisters, and investment bankers turned money saving experts. You can also connect with them on their Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube Channel.

Join MadameNoire Business and Tai and Tarin for our next Facebook chat this Friday at 3pm. The Double Saving Divas will be online live to answer your questions about saving money, budgeting and finding discounts. 

Shutterstock

You would assume when it comes to car insurance that the most important aspect in determining your insurance premium would be the number of accidents you’ve had in the past, right? WRONG! According to CNN Money, that might be the NEXT important thing after your level of education.

After studying the five major insurers in 12 cites, the Consumer Federation of America found that major insurers charged a safer driver with less education and a lower paying job higher premiums two-thirds of the time. In most cases the premiums were 25% higher, however in some cases the premium was double.

In one instance studied by the CFA, two women of the same age and with the same salary requested quotes from Allstate in Baltimore with the only evident difference being that one was married with a master’s degree, while the other was single with only a high school education. The woman with the master’s degree was quoted $1,248 compared to $3,292 for the high school graduate. Even though, the woman with only the high school education had a flawless 10-year driving record and the college graduate had recently caused an accident.

Surprisingly, other income-related factors like occupation were also weighted more heavily than driving-related factors like miles on the road.

Although I’m not sure how being more educated correlates with being a better driver, especially with all traffic tickets, getting a break on car insurance sounds good to me.

Whether you’re a college grad or not, per the advice of the Double Saving Divas, you’d want to ensure you shop around to find the best rate. Speaking of the Divas, be sure to check out Madame Noire Business and the Double Saving Divas money-saving chat on our Facebook page.

http://thedish.restaurant.com

If you’re having a bit of difficulty with your savings plan, maybe you can benefit from a meeting with financial twin divas Tai and Tarin Perry. The two offer a powerful combination of tips and advice for saving that is bound to improve your bank account. Black Enterprise reports that the Chicago natives were born into a family of seven, and their mother’s thrifty spending early on to make a way for her large family helped them to realize the value and importance of saving. They have turned their financial savvy into the popular blog DoubleSavingDivas.com. The site receives over 44,000 unique viewers a month and has been featured on shows hosted by Rachel Ray and Nate Berkus, as well as “Extreme Couponing” on TLC.

The Perry twins first decided to run their blog after realizing that there were limited voices online to economically encourage and uplift African Americans.

“Before anyone else can help us we need to first learn how to help ourselves,” the twins said to Black Enterprise. “In helping ourselves the key is to have a new vision of what our money is and what it is to be used for. Once we realize this understanding we will no longer have to wait for someone to open up a door for us.”

They believe their site offers a unique take on financial knowledge. Not only is it from the point of view of two African American twins, it provides knowledge on coupons and store deals and explains how to use them in every day life.

“We tell about our successes as well as our failures in hopes that people would be benefited by both,” they disclose. “Our strategies have been tried and have been proven to be successful over time. Our techniques are very doable and we strive to take complex concepts and make sure that anybody can put them to use.”

In the future, the twins plan on producing an Internet based show entitled, “Let’s Save Money.” They also release that there may be a reality show and possibly a book later down the road. With all of their business success, their only regret is that they didn’t start sooner.

“Once you have a vision don’t hesitate to take the necessary steps in making your vision into reality sooner rather than later,” they advise. “While working a 9-to-5 career, we had to take the necessary steps to incorporate our blogging into our already busy schedules. We couldn’t allow being a wife, mother, and career woman stop us from pursuing our passion in building our brand.”

More on Madame Noire Business!

• Behind the Click: Asmau Ahmed, Founder of PlumPerfect.com
• How She Made It: Alia Jones-Harvey, Producer of A Streetcar Named Desire
• The Career Freshman Part II: Getting To The Next Level in Your Career
• Crisis Management Lessons: Handle Scandal Like Your Name Is Kerry Washington
• How She Made It: Jeri Lynne Johnson, Founder of Black Pearl Chamber Orchestra
• Entrepreneur Spotlight: A Sister-Run Business Brings High-End Tea Stateside