One Cheap Chick

 

A party on Monday, fun activities for kids, teens and adults all summer long and a free book for children, teenagers and adults at the end of the summer. Also, kids and teens can "read down" their fines.And lastly, Utah state park passes are available for checkout. It's all part of Salt Lake County Library system's summer program. Check it all out here. Thanks to our intrepid features department for letting me know about this!

And just a reminder, both Barnes & Noble and Borders have summer reading programs for the kids. Go here for more information.

Verizon is offering a free $25 American Express reward card to customers who register online and sign up for automatic bill pay. This offer is limited to the first 25,000 customers; I'm not sure how many have already signed up. Go here for more information. Thanks FreebieBlogger!

I wish I had known about this earlier! This is my kind of freebie!

Today is  “529 Day,” designed to generate interest in college savings plans nationwide. The top-ranked Utah Educational Savings Plan today only will match contributions of up to $20. That's free money. The deal is for Utah residents only, and only for new account owners and beneficiaries. To qualify for the matching contribution, new account applications must be received at the Utah Educational Savings Plan office located at 60 South 400 West today by 5 p.m.  But you have until midnight Utah time if you do it online at www.uesp.org</a>  For more information call 800.418.2551. Read more about the one-day offer here.

If you have been thinking about opening a college savings plan for your children, this is a great time to do it! This is a top-ranked plan with numerous investment options.  You can set up an account with no money at all. But if you open it today with $20, they'll match that $20, for a total of $40.

 

Don't forget, McDonald’s restaurants in Utah have a freebie for you today. (May 29) Most of the company's locations now have the equipment to make lattes, cappuccinos, mochas, iced lattes, iced mochas, hot chocolates and flavored steamers. To celebrate the enhanced beverage line, restaurants throughout the state are offering a free small hot or iced mocha from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Fridays in May. (Some locations have been giving out sample sizes.) The "Free Mocha Fridays" promotion ends today.

The in-store event is Saturday (May 30). Get details here.

(This is apparently not in all stores, so you may want to call before you go!) 

 

 

A lot of folks in Utah are a bit fearful about buying a home right now, given the fact that prices continue to fall. In fact, Utah's home values dropped 9.3 percent in the year that ended in March, according to a report released today. That's the sixth-highest percentage drop among all states. Ouch. The national average was a drop of only  7.1 percent.

All in all, the report by the Federal Housing Finance Agency offers a discouraging assessment of Utah real estate.

 But then I interviewed a couple who decided to buy their first home anyway. They may qualify for one of the $6,000 grants from Utah for buying a home, as well as an $8,000 federal income tax credit for first-time home buyers. They also drove a hard bargain with a local builder and secured a 4.5 percent mortgage rate.

Would the couple have benefited from waiting another year or two? Probably not. Mortgage rates are likely as low as they'll go, the state grants are nearly all spoken for and the federal incentive disappears Dec. 1. In fact, economic forecasting firm Moody's Economy.com, said there is probably no clear benefit to waiting until next year to buy.

That said, after talking to a number of economists, I believe after the market bottoms in Utah, we're in for a sustained period of little or no appreciation. So it may be a good time to buy a home on several fronts — just keep in mind that getting rich quick isn't going to be one of them.

 

 

Check out this buy-one-get-one free minor league baseball ticket offer from Kraft. I called the Salt Lake Bees, and the team is participating in this promotion, good on Tuesday nights, as are most other cities. Interested in other Salt Lake Bees promotions throughout the season? Go here.

Also, check out this weekly event schedule: (Call the Bees at (801) 325-BASE with any questions)

Mondays         Harmon’s Family Night; $3 per person, one coupon per family

Tuesdays        Cheez-It Kids Eat Free (12 and under)

Wednesdays   Wienerschnitzel $1 hot dogs

Thursdays       Thirsty Thursday and 2-for-1 College Night with student ID

Friday              Zero Fatalities Post-Game Kids Run (12 and under kid run the bases after the game)

Saturday          Zero Fatalities Post-Game Kids Run (12 and under run the bases after the game)

Sunday            Good Neighbor Pharmacy 2-for-1 Tickets

 

About 4,300 Step2 Play Up Gym play sets sold at Toys“R”Us stores nationwide from January 2009 through April 2009 for about $400 are being recalled. The triangular hangers that attach the swing’s ropes to the upper rail of the play set can break, posing a fall hazard to children. For more information about this recall, including what to do if you have this set, go here.

There's also been a trampoline recall. Read about it here. 

 

Just got a call from Sonic restaurants. The company said it will have a Free Root Beer Float Night on June 3, from 8:30 p.m. to midnight. The company has about 3,500 locations nationwide. A company representative said "nearly all" of them will be participating in this promotion. As always, it's probably a good idea to call ahead and find out if the nearest location is "participating" before you go since many Sonic locations are franchises. Find a Sonic location here.