FitSugar

geeksugar Gift Guide: Gadgets For Kids!

GeekSugar — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 06:00:34 PST

Now that you've got some great gift ideas for Moms-to-Be, what about the little ones in your family? They are the ones that usually appreciate games and gadgets the most - and what are the holidays about without a little bit of play?

If you're wondering what's hot for kids this year, have a peek at my gift suggestions below!

For more gift ideas, don't forget to check out HolidaySugar.

Fisher-Price Smart Cycle $90	iCarly Digital Camcorder $80
Leapster L-Max Girl Handheld $60	On Tour for Nintendo DS $50
Bella Sara: Video Game For the DS $30	Wii Nerf Racing Wheel $15

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Smart Cycle: Kid Friendly or Are You Kidding?

LilSugar — Sun, 25 Nov 2007 08:00:08 PST

There's lots of buzz about The Fisher-Price Smart Cycle, a Physical Learning Arcade System which is supposed to be the hot toy this holiday season. Retailing for around $100, the stationary bike which connects to your television encourages kids to learn three different ways.

They can drive - pedal and steer to control the on screen action of collecting letters and numbers, learn - use the joystick to play arcade style games or race - race other on screen cars by pedaling. Targeted at children ages three through six, it supposedly teaches letters, numbers, counting, problem solving, shapes, matching, creativity, spatial reasoning, and motor skills. And, additional cartridges are available for an additional $20.

Would you buy this?

Fit Gift Guide: Healthy Toddler

FitSugar — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 03:00:00 PST

The gift giving holidays are just around the corner and to spare you some of the last minute shopping stress the Sugar sites are creating ever helpful gift guides.

Now, if you happen to be looking for a gift for a toddler, I have three suggestions that not only get the toddler moving but also gives her mom a few moments to breathe when the child is occupied. Here are three great ways to help a mommy out by encouraging health and fitness in her child, which we all know can be tough with a stubborn toddler ruling the household.

What a better way to get your toddler moving than the YogaKids 2: ABC by Gaiam. The DVD provides a nice introduction to yoga philosophy. It is a wonderful and physical way to hang out with your kids.
Hullabaloo gets kids thinking fast while bouncing, twisting, spinning, high-fiving, and even dancing. The Hullabaloo DVD Game celebrates animals from all over the world and provides hours and hours of play-along fun.
The Smart Cycle is a stationary bike, a learning center, and an arcade game system - all rolled into one! As your toddler pedals, her favorite character friends guide her through learning discoveries, games, and even exciting races.

Gaiam YogaKids 2: ABC's ($11)

Hullabaloo DVD Superpack ($25)

Smart Cycle ($100)

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10 Things You Do to Save Money That End Up Costing You More

Wise Bread — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 15:15:37 PST

We're thrilled to present this smart Wise Bread story here on Savvy!

Have you heard of the expression “penny wise, pound foolish”? It’s something I heard a lot growing up, from my parents, and it can have multiple meanings:

You are very careful with small amounts of money, but throw caution to the wind with large amounts. This is akin to someone who eats from the dollar menu every day but then blows a hundred dollars every month on a gym membership that’s never used.
You do things to save money now, only to have those savings cost you more farther down the road.

The second definition is what I’m focusing on today, because it’s a lot easier to fall into the trap of saving money only to have it bite you later on. Here then are 10 things that you may be doing to save money that could actually cost you a lot more in the weeks, months, or years to come.

RELATED: The Case For Expensive Shoes

1. Avoiding Regular Checkups With the Doctor, Dentist, or Optician

It’s something I did in college when money was tight. “Aah, who needs to pay money to a dentist to have him tell me I should floss more?” Well, after leaving the dentist alone for a few years, I paid the price. Avoiding the regular cleanings and checkups left me facing a hefty bill later on when I needed a bunch of costly fillings. I was lucky that I didn’t need root canals or replacement teeth. Now I have a dental plan that covers free checkups twice a year, but even if you don’t, get to the dentist and doctor for health checks. It’s a lot better to pay a co-pay now than pay for major surgery later on. And worse still, it could even cost you your life, especially as so many conditions can be treated if they’re caught early enough.

Read on for more.

The LG Fridge That Will Help You Lose Weight

Kristy Korcz — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 10:24:01 PST

LG's home appliance lineup will be getting a little geekier (and healthier) with new Smart Thinq technologies. In general, Smart Thinq connects your mobile device to your home appliances so you can monitor things like your laundry cycle and cooking times from anywhere, but new refrigerators may actually help you achieve your 2012 weight-loss goals with the inclusion of a feature called the Health Manager.

This feature will help you build a personal profile, then suggests recipes, daily and weekly meal plans, menus, and food selections based on age, gender, weight, height, and BMI. Dropping a few pounds gets even easier when you can select and send a shopping list to your phone, and send recipes to a LG Smart Oven, which will then automatically adjust cook settings. It's almost like having a digital butler . . . except you'll still have to prepare the food yourself. Bummer.

Stay tuned for pricing and release date information!

15 Smart Things You Can Do With $100

Business Insider — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 00:15:47 PST

We're thrilled to present this smart Business Insider story here on Savvy!

At first blush, $100 is only $100. It's so easy to fritter away on eating out, entertainment, or booking a trip online.

But you should never underestimate how far $100 can go, even in this economy.

"It's smarter to put that money away because once it's in your pocket, it's pretty much gone," says Joel Larsen, a certified financial planner based in Davis, Calif.

No matter where you are in your financial life, we've compiled 15 tips to help you stretch that Benjamin.

Open a college savings account

"A lot of people will say, 'it's only $100,'" says Larsen, but if you were to save $100 a month over 20 years at a 7% rate of return, you would amass $52,092.67. Impressive, right?

Depending on your financial picture, you'll need to shop around to find the right plan based on investment performances, expenses, and tax exemptions.

Andrew Schrage, founder of the personal finance site, Money Crashers, recommends looking into a 529 College Savings plan set up by governments or colleges to help parents save.

"One of the primary benefits of a 529 savings plan is that it offers tax protection from the federal government," he says. "Also, you may be eligible for tax protection from the state government."

Read on for more.

Should You Move Your Money to a Credit Union?

LearnVest — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 00:15:03 PST

We're thrilled to present this smart LearnVest story here on Savvy!

You wouldn’t normally think of credit unions as sexy or hip.

They don’t have glossy ad campaigns and beautiful branches on every street corner. Even their basic definition-non-profit financial co-ops - sounds boring.

But these days, more and more Americans are clamoring to join the club of credit unions because of their low fees, higher interest rates on savings accounts and lower interest rates on loans.

Because they are non-profit, credit unions are the only financial institutions that go out of their way to serve low-income clientele. But you’d be wrong if you think that’s the only group they serve. Anyone can benefit from the low-fee, low-rate products that credit unions specialize in. And in fact, many more people are.

After a furor erupted over new debit card fees announced by several commercial banks in September, 650,000 customers have switched to credit unions, depositing $4.5 billion in new accounts. (That’s the same amount as existing credit union customers across the country had been depositing in an entire month.) Those bank fees have since been rescinded, but the bad taste in many Americans’ mouths remains.

Read on for more.

Keep Your Fitness in Check With Jawbone UP

Kristy Korcz — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 04:45:51 PDT

As 2012 approaches, you'll no doubt have some sort of resolution to get healthy. Rather than go it alone, why not employ some kind of smart technology to keep you at the top of your game? The UP might be just what you need. The Jawbone UP (yes, that Jawbone) is your wearable fitness monitor - it tracks your fitness levels, monitors your sleep and eating habits, and keeps you challenged with community activities.

Built with something called MotionX technology, the UP is said to be wicked accurate for monitoring your daily activities like walking, your pace, distance, calories burned, but also gets really detailed with your sleep habits since you wear the thing 24/7 (even in the shower - it's water-resistant!). No kidding - the UP doesn't just monitor the numbers of hours you've slept, but can also pinpoint how long it took you to fall asleep, the various different phases of sleep, and your overall sleep quality. The band even vibrates to "nudge" you awake at the optimal time during your natural sleep cycle. So thoughtful.

And as you may have guessed, the UP integrates with your iPhone to provide you with on-the-go stats and totals, but you can also use your camera to snap pics of the food and snacks you eat to compile your own virtual food journal. Fact is, when you know you have to take a picture of what you're eating, you're more likely to skip that piece of pie at the office potluck. Speaking of office, you can set the UP to remind you to get up and away from that computer screen during specific intervals throughout the day to get the blood flowing.

Coming in seven colors - blue, white, silver, brown, black, and two tones of red - the Jawbone UP seems to be the front-runner in the wave of new fitness gadgets, and by far the most wearable for the ladies. Get yours (or add it to your wish list) on Nov. 6 for $99.

The Basics of How to Start an Emergency Fund

LearnVest — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 00:15:00 PDT

We're thrilled to present this smart LearnVest story here on Savvy!

Rainy days are inevitable. Lately, they seem to stretch into rainy weeks and months. To guard against these unexpected tough times - emergencies - an easily accessible stash of cash is a must!

Build It Up

Experts recommend that you have at the minimum 6-9 months of your living expenses in a savings account for potential rough times.

If you don’t currently have enough to cover your living expenses for eight months, start by trimming the fat. Do it by calculating your budget.

After you’ve separated the need-to-haves from the nice-to-haves, set aside an amount every month from the nice-to-have pile to go into your emergency fund. Even $10 makes a difference!

Automate Yourself

Once you’ve figured out your amount to set aside, take temptation out of the process. Go online and set up automatic transfers to deposit your chosen amount directly from your checking account to your emergency savings every month. Alternatively, get your employer to divert some money from your direct deposit paycheck straight into your emergency fund.

Read on for more about emergency funds.

13 Signs You’re Too Busy

LearnVest — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 00:15:38 PDT

We're thrilled to present this smart LearnVest story here on Savvy!

There’s busy.

Then there’s too busy.

Busy is running from one appointment to the next. Too busy is running over someone on your way to the next appointment (physically, vehicularly, whatever). Busy is leaving your cell phone behind at the grocery store. Too busy is leaving your kid behind at the grocery store.

And then there’s the biggest of all ironies-we want to cut back, but frankly, we just don’t have the time to figure out how to do it.

Sound familiar? Well, we’re here to do an intervention-a time intervention. Today, we’ll help you figure out if your life is starting to burst at the seams when it comes to your time. If it is, you need a wake-up call to reset priorities, because there is no shakier foundation for healthy, balanced living (and healthy, balanced money management) than not having the space and breathing room that time provides in our lives.

If you’ve crossed over the line into too busy, you’ll need to reset your foundation: Maybe it means taking a day off from work to reassess your life priorities. Maybe it means evaluating what your time is worth and outsourcing chores like housekeeping or laundry. Maybe it means taking a break from social engagements for a little while to focus on building the right foundation.

Here are 13 signs that you might need a time overhaul in your life-and easy tips on how to get started, today.

You Spend a Good Amount of Time Worrying About Your Time

If your time is preoccupied with, well, your time, you might be: endlessly cycling through your to-do list in your head, spending a lot of time arranging and rearranging your schedule, or wishing throughout the day that you had more time.

If you've worried about your schedule or wished you had more time more than three times a day, you need a break from time itself as a stressor in your life.

Try this: Take a mental break. Remove one thing from your schedule for today that is the least important-it might be putting off doing the laundry or postponing a work call. Spend that time instead totally luxuriating in something in the present moment (like eating a macaron or listening to your favorite song) and not thinking about your schedule, or future plans, at all.

Read on for more.