By Sheryl Smolkin

By mid-August we’ve turned the corner on summer and many of us are considering the best ways to save both money and time as we prepare for the busy fall season ahead.

There is nothing like a simple economical home-cooked meal with friends and family to make you happier, according to a study cited on the Chatelaine website.

On Squawkfox blogger extraordinaire Kerry K. Taylor explains SCOP (the  Scanner Price Accuracy Voluntary Code) and how it can help you get groceries up to $10 free if the scanned price of a non-ticketed item is higher than the shelf price or any other displayed price.

If you haven’t started a Registered Educational Savings Plan for your kids yet, check out Jim Yih’s blog on retirehappy.ca. He gives four great reasons why RESPs are a more attractive option than ever for saving towards your children’s education.

If you regularly contribute to RESPs but are contemplating a change to your investment strategy, take a look at Robb Engen’s RESP portfolio on boomer & echo.

And finally, if you just got a new job or a promotion and you are negotiating your salary, don’t miss Salary Negotiation – How a Small Increase Becomes Big Money on shethinksimcheap.com.

Do you follow blogs with terrific ideas for saving money that haven’t been mentioned in our weekly “Best from the blogosphere. Share the information with us on http://wp.me/P1YR2T-JR and your name will be entered in a quarterly draw for a gift card.