apps

New Month, New Coupons!

Abby H.

file000786402730Here is your monthly reminder!  A new month means new printable and electronic coupons!

Check out the following sites:

One of my favorite website is the Sunday Coupon Review.  It helps me plot out scenarios in advance and I can email friends to ask for coupons in advance. Remember if clipping coupons isn’t your thing, but saving money is, check out my list of Smartphone apps that can save you the big bucks! New offers are added on the Smartphone Savings Apps all the time!

Here are just a few of the new coupons that have me excited:

$1.00 off one Minute Maid Juice Box 10pk

$1.00 off one McCormick Food Coloring or ExtractPerfect for making homemade Play Dough!

$0.50 off 1 Yoplait Dippers

$0.50 off one New York Bakery

Wanna Save Money in 2017?

Abby H.1 Comment

8f235f4422591a09bd341f17958e172c.jpgOne of the most common New Years Resolutions is to to save money. And it’s a good one!

Last year I wrote a series with the top ten resolutions:

 

If you feel like you are too busy to “deal with” coupons:

I hope these tips and articles help!

Freebies at 7/11 through the end of the year!

Abby H.

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Woo Hoo! 7/11 is treating us every Monday and Friday through the end of the year! Download the 7Rewards app (just go to your favorite app store online) to your phone or other mobile device and you can start and end your work week with freebies!

Stride Gum offer valid on 11/11, 11/18, 11/25, 12/2, 12/9, 12/16, 12/23 and 12/30/16 only.
Belvita offer valid on 11/14, 11/21, 11/28, 12/5, 12/12, 12/19, 12/26/16 and 1/2/17 only.

Fine Print: Quantities are limited. Check coupon in app to see if offer is still available. Limit of one offer per member per day. Program available only to members of the 7Rewards™ Program and available only at participating 7-Eleven® Stores, excluding Hawaii. Go to the 7-Eleven Mobile App for additional terms and conditions of 7Rewards.

My hustle: How I make Part Time Income as a SAHM!

Abby H.6 Comments

When I started this blog, it was to get back to my roots- Helping people save and earn money. As a result, I don’t make a lot of money from this blog. So, I needed to bump up my side hustles to make the part-time income that I’d grown accustomed to. I thought I’d share my best hustles with you.

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If you are unfamiliar with the term hustle, Urban dictionary defines it as, “Anythin you need to do to make money… be it sellin cars…… If you makin money, you hustlin.”

I have two littles to take care of, so keep that in mind. If you don’t have kids, you might be able to spend more time doing each of these activities, which in turn could yield more money!

Surveys online. Here are two fer shure, legit companies that I use. Pinecone Research (they are always looking for 12-24 or Hispanic demographics) pays $3.00 paypal per survey! My other favorite is PaidViewPoint– They only send you surveys that you qualify for, so there is no wasted time. Payout is only $15.00, so I make payout about once a month. It’s not tons of work, and every little bit helps! What I like about these companies is that they only send you surveys that you are qualified for. No time wasted to find out a quota is full or that you don’t fit their criteria. 

Some survey companies also do paid trials: They send you a product, you use it then complete a survey and give your opinions on the product. And you get paid! So it’s a win win. You get a free product, and you get paid!

Secret shopping. There are tons of apps and websites that will help you find secret shopping gigs. I recommend checking out Volition.com for a listing of secret shopping companies (and reviews). A few of my friends recommend jobslinger.com as a great resource. I earn about $75.00/week doing secret shopping and that’s for less than 1 hours work! Some companies don’t need you to buy anything, just go in an evaluate customer service, or audit shelves to make sure items are in stock. Oh, and I can take Bitty Bird along with me!

Turn your Junk Mail into Cash! I’ve been doing this for YEARS, and I love it. You can learn all about Small Business Knowledge Center here.  I just got another $20 Visa GC in the mail yesterday! My forth this year! We get tons of junk mail right now because we refinanced our mortgage not long ago.

Focus Groups. I wrote about them here. They are not a constant source of money, but I do one about once a month or so, and they tend to pay $75 or more for just a few hours of your time. It’s a fun way to share your opinion with companies and earn some great money.

And of course, I use cashback apps. My full list of favs can be found here. No lie, I cash out about $50.00 a month between all of the apps downloaded onto my iPhone!

Then there are of course the old stand-bys to make money:

  • Garage sale (seriously, everyone has too much stuff),
  • Utilizing Resale Shops (Kids clothes, ladies clothes, sporting goods, etc.)
  • Recycling bottles and cans,
  • Driving for Uber or Lyft,
  • Babysitting or pet sitting
  • Selling your plasma. In San Diego, Scantibody Labs is the main company that does this.  There are some pretty strict rules about this so if you have a lot of tattoos or piercings you may not qualify. I have super tiny veins, so I am unable to do it.
  • Selling your stuff on Craigslist, or apps like Close5 or OfferUp.
  • Tutoring kids or offering lessons in an area that you excel in (musical instruments, art, sewing, math, cooking, etc.)
  • Finding items at thrift shops or garage sales and re-selling them on eBay or other sites for a profit.

A lot of these can be done from the comfort of your home, or can be done in conjunction with your normal errands, so there is no extra money spent on gas.

What is your hustle? How do you make extra money?

My monthly Savings to do list…

Abby H.

file000901554050I get asked a lot about how do I manage to stay on top of all of the deals and programs that I take part in?

I calendar it.  I use my Google Calendar to remind me each month.  Here are just a few of the types of reminders I have set up:

 

 

 

 

1st (then once a week after that): Printable coupons refresh. Print new coupon from Coupons.com, SmartSource, RedPlum, Hopster. Check apps and add items that appeal. Here are a list of the apps I use.

1st: L’Oreal Gold Rewards– enter 2 more codes. I do love free hair color!

1st and 15th: Mail out SBKC junk mail envelopes. I process our mail when it all comes in and I put the junk mail in the envelopes as it comes in.

Daily: I spend a little time each day (usually when Lil’ Man is napping) working my points programs. This includes Swagbucks (doing surveys, watching videos) and Mypoints (I save all of my Mypoints emails and do them all at once, one time a day). I also try and do MTurk work too (about 20 minutes, usually while I’m on hold calling someone, or while Hubs and I watch a movie n the evening.

Once a Week: Log onto Recyclebank to see what new point earning opportunities there are to do, check BzzAgent and Smiley360 to see if there are any new campaigns to get in on (and score some sweet freebies).  I also clip out the coupons I need when I get coupon inserts. I stopped getting the paper, so I usually get inserts from friends and family who don’t coupon, or who use different coupons than I do.  I go through the cupboard and meal plan for the coming week.

As I am notified via email: Paid View Point (some of the surveys are time sensitive- those usually pay extra!), PineCone Research (surveys must be completed 3-6 days upon receiving the email).

Last day of the month: Clean out coupon wallet and removed expiring/expired coupons.

As needed/codes become available: Enter Pampers points, Huggies codes. I use the Swagbucks tool bar to do most of my internet searches, so I earn Swagbucks points intermittently with that too. I also order free samples when I see them available online. I’ll be posting about what I do with all the samples coming up.

I try to do as much shopping online with discounts as I can.  That means I check with Mypoints, Swagbucks,  and UPromise to see who is giving the better points/cash back, and I use my Upromise Master Card to make purchases online (which earns me even more cash- up to 5%, when I shop through the UPromise website at selected merchants). I also check Retailmenot for coupon codes before shopping online too.

How do you keep track of all of your programs to save money?

Saving Money with your Smartphone

Abby H.27 Comments

Mobile-Smartphone-iconUPDATED January 2018

Every time someone asks me about coupons and saving money, the #1 objection is: “But I don’t want to carry a bunch of coupons with me all the time like a crazy person.” (BTW, I am that crazy person, I always have my little coupon wallet in my purse.) There are several ways you can save money with something you probably already own: A smartphone.

Almost everyone has a smartphone these days! There are a lot of apps available that can help you save money or even earn money.

Here are just a few of my favorites:

Fetch Rewards: The newest app! It’s not store specific, which is great. You can learn more here. I’ve been using it for a little over 2 weeks and I’ve cashed out $12 in Amazon Gift Cards!

Find & Save: Earn cash back when you shop at stores like the $.99 store, target, multiple grocery stores, and lots of stores at the mall too! No need to buy anything special at these stores, just hit the pre-tax purchase amount to score cash back (either a flat amount or a percentage). It’s a great way to save money by shopping just like you normally would.  Use Code 62CQ when you first open the app.

Ibotta: Ibotta is an App for Smartphones. Available for both iPhone and Android phones, Ibotta is an app that helps you earn cash back every time you shop! Just check iBotta when you are shopping to see what products are available for rebate, buy them, perform simple in store activities and earn, earn, earn. You’ll take photos of your receipt and upload them through the app.  I just did it today, it was easy peasy. Once your account balacne reaches at least $5.00, you can transfer the money to your paypal account!

You can use Ibotta at the following stores: 7-11, Food4Less, Ralphs, Rite-Aid Wal*mart, Walgreens, Target, Vons, CostCo.  I only included stores in Southern California. However, Ibotta works at over 27 different Grocery and Drugstores. What I really like about Ibotta is that you can use it with a paper coupon!

SavingStar: What makes SavingStar different is that you don’t receive money off at the register.  The savings in held in your SavingStar account, and once you reach at least $10.00 in savings you can transfer it to your Paypal Account, buy a gift Card, or even donate your savings to charity!

SavingStar is the first national, fully digital, grocery eCoupon service, available for free at www.savingstar.com and on iPhone and Android mobile apps. There’s nothing to clip, nothing to print. Chose offers, shop, and save! SavingStar is currently available at over 100 retailers!

Checkout 51: Checkout 51 is a new program that’s so easy to use, and no Smartphone is needed! It’s an app on your iPhone or Android phone, or you use your computer. Just purchased specific products (and these products change each Thursday, so make sure you check out the app/website before heading out to shop), scan and upload your receipts weekly. Checkout51 is NOT store specific!

BerryCart: Great deals and rebates on natural/organic shoppers, works just like Checkout51! They always have produce rebates too! BerryCart is not store Specific!

Receipt Hog: This one is fun, and easy.  Just snap a photo of your receipts and upload them via the receipt hog app. Earn points for each receipt, and redeem points for gift cards (like Amazon) or cash. I’ve been using Receipt Hog for over a year and I’ve earned $50, just by scanning my receipts!

Target:: If you are a Target shopper, this app is for you.  Instead of the traditional dollar or cent off coupons, Target’s app offers savings in a percentage.  You choose specific offers, based on what you buy, and there are new offers all the time! The best part is that you can use Target App, a Manufacturer Coupon, and a Target Coupon all on the same item!

Mogl– This site/app is a little different.  Sign up and register your credit/debit cards.  When you eat out at participating restaurants, you’ll receive 10% cash back!  You can use this in addition to any other cash back offers your credit or debit card offers. We don’t eat out very often, but we usually earn about $50/year.

What I really like about these apps like BerryCart, Ibotta, and Checkout51 is that you can double, triple or quadruple dip deals when the stars align and there are the same (or similar) deals on each app. Perfect for those of us who are on an ultra tight budget!

*Disclosure* Most of those links are my personal links, so if you sign up I earn a few cents. When you sign up, you can share your links too and earn a little bit of green!