Money Tips Network

Yup. I could have saved more and spent less in August. As promised, I paid careful attention to my spending, saving and consuming habits in August. We all have money leaks. Here are my downfalls & solutions:

It's possible to spend less for drinks at bars, restaurants and resorts. Here's my list of do-it-mostly-yourself drink recipes.

• Spiked & flavored coffees: At bars, restaurants and resorts you can save a lot by ordering plain American coffee and a shot of Baileys Irish cream liqueur or other liqueurs. One shot of liqueur is good for spiking several rounds of coffee, especially if the establishment offers bottomless cups of coffee. Final ingredient: Tip the waiter or bartender generously.

My daughter fixed her ferret with a foot of fishing string. As such, our story about a defective toy has a happy ending. Our quick repair taught us valuable lessons. Here's what we have learned:

• Hit the return button. Why didn't we return the broken toy, asked one reader after reading the original story: Cheated By a Ferret: One Child's Lesson. We have several reasons: 1) We lost the receipt; 2) we trashed the original packaging, and 3) most importantly, we were too annoyed to think of the obvious. Anger can be counter-productive. Anger can be expensive. The faulty ferret should have been returned for cash or store credit.

I am trying to fly home to South Florida from Pittsburgh. My flight is delayed due to weather in Atlanta, where I have a connecting flight. But Pittsburgh International Airport has free Wi-Fi, which is making this long delay productive.

Free Wi-Fi is important, and if I have a choice between two airports in a region, I will book the cheapest flights in airports with free Wi-Fi. I am assembling a list: Which airports, hotels, cafes and stores have free Wi-Fi? Please leave a comment, with your travel experiences.

I will also make constant updates.

Aiports:
Pittsburgh International Airport (If you have to be stuck in an airport, this one is great!)
Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport

Hotels:

An alarm went off when my friend Yael recently paid for her groceries. It was a basic transaction. She paid for the food with a debit card and requested cash back.

However, when her pre-school son watched the exchange of plastic for food and cash, a siren sounded. "Mommy," he shouted. "You won a prize." Alarmed, Yael decided it was time to teach him more about money.

Nationwide, other parents are finding gaps in their children's financial education. For instance, according to a recent T. Rowe Price survey, nearly 60 percent of parents feel as if they should be doing more to school their children about finances. Here are a few lesson plans:

If a road trip is on your map for the Labor Day Weekend, consider these frugal, fuel-efficient driving tips from the Drive Smarter Challenge video contest:

"Decrease your speed. Gas mileage usually decreases rapidly above 60 mph. Each five miles per hour over 60 mph is like paying an additional 20 cents or more per gallon for gas.

Drive sensibly. Speeding, rapid acceleration (jackrabbit starts), and rapid braking can lower gas mileage by 33% at highway speeds.

Use cruise control and overdrive gear. Cruise control cuts fuel consumption by maintaining a steady speed during highway driving. Overdrive gear, when appropriate, reduces engine speed, saves gas, and reduces engine wear.

Do some sales clerks try to pal around with tween shoppers in an effort to get the kids to spend more money? Yes, says one reader, a sales clerk, who offers a great reply to the post: Telling My Daughter the Truth about Her New 'Friend,' The Salesclerk!

Here's one sales clerk's story:

I was hired about a month or so ago at a 'tween clothing store, and I've come to find it not so much my cup of tea. We're supposed to make "friends" with the girl and adult, or the girl[s], and try to sell them as much stuff as we can, by talking to them, or even looking at what they have, and bringing more stuff that matches/accessorizes/looks similar, and show it to them and so on.

What do you tell a thrifty mom who thinks her kids are spoiled? That scenario recently landed in my e-mail box. Here's the note:

Hi, I am concerned because I finally realized how spoiled my kids are. I've been buying them whatever they liked, although it's from thrift stores and yard sales. Because it's so cheap, I get them more than five things.

I find my 8-year-old son being un-appreciative, unresponsible and rude, and I think this could be why. Now the house is full of toys, and I don't know where to start. How to unspoil? I am overwhelmed. Do you know what I should read? How do I start, please?

Please chime in with tips, links and resources. Thanks!

My daughter feels cheated by a six-inch stuffed ferret, which recently took a $4 bite from her allowance. But I believe the furry ferret provided a long-term investment in my daughter's financial education.

The back story: While shopping at a national chain store, my 11-year-old daughter stopped to watch an in-store infomercial, which featured an endless loop of a toy ferret executing tricks. On the screen, the toy looked so cute. "It had this invisible string," my daughter explained.
"The commercial showed it doing all these cool tricks and stuff," she said, adding that the ferret was tied to the transparent string that seemed invisible from a distance.

The reality: "The string broke the first time I tried using it," she said. "The ferret worked much better in the commercial."