Have you Heard of Yerdle? A few of my friends love it, and it’s pretty cool! It’s a great way to swap the junk laying around your house for stuff you actually need!
Swapping gets you better deals than shopping this holiday season! Join Yerdle and swap your stuff for new treasures you’ll love.
Sign up today to get $35 Yerdle Dollars + Free Shipping on your first purchase. Choose from over 70,000+ items — from dresses to shoes, purses to kid’s toys, home decor and more.
How it works: :
1. Click the link and sign up to claim your $35 Yerdle Dollars
2. Download the Yerdle App to see all 70,000 items
3. Pick out an item you want for $35 Yerdle Dollars or less, and pay no shipping fee or service fee! You must enter a valid credit card to check out.
4. Post your own items to earn more Yerdle Dollars and keep swapping.
Note: This offer is available to new users only. If you add 2 or more items to your cart, you’ll be charged a $2 “bundle fee” upon checkout.
I just joined! I can’t wait to start clearing out some of the stuff I’ve been holding onto!
One of the reasons that I coupon is so that I can have the fortune to help others. Many couponers donate to causes that are dear to them. My local Coupon Group donates HBA to Naomi’s Closet in Santee, CA. We also support one of the local American Legion posts with two of their service projects: Coupons to overseas families and homeless veteran outreach.
We are able to donate and help others because we use coupons and shop sales. Many times we are able to pick up free items to donate, or items that are 80%+ off the regular price.
My mom’s group has made blessing bags in the past (We usually make some to be handed out at a local homeless camp on Christmas Day). For those who are not familiar with the term, a blessing bag is a small bag (usually a ziploc type bag) filled with:
small or travel sized toiletries
snacks like crackers, tuna in a pop-top can or pouch, granola bars, instant oatmeal
bottled water
hard candy
lip balm
safety pins
socks
hand/baby wipes
razors
an extra ziploc bag
Feminine Hygiene supplies
A large trash bag folded up (It can be used as a rain poncho)
I try to keep a couple in my car and I hand them out when we see those in need while we are out. For those of you who aren’t native to Southern California, there are a lot of homeless here. We have good weather most of the year, so it’s ok to sleep outside 6-8 months of the year. According to the 2014 Homeless census in San Diego, there are over 8500 homeless residents in San Diego. That’s just the number that were counted, there are many more that were not.
Last year Lil’ Man and I made blessing bags several times and we plan to make more this year.
Examples of what we put in our blessing bags last year.
I keep all the samples I request in an up-cycled baby wipe container under my bathroom sink.
I also go through my HBA stockpile for items like BIC razors, lip balm, and toothpaste I picked up for free after coupon and store sale.
My parents travel a lot for my dad’s Board position in a non-profit, so they always have a stash of hotel soap/toiletries. My parents give us a grocery bag full to assist in the cause.
Last year, Lil’ Man and I sat on the floor and put together 26 bags. Not every bag had the same items in it, but they each contained a variety of HBA, snacks, and supplies.
Blessing bags area great way to help those of your neighbors who may be on the streets. If you live in an area where there isn’t a large visible homeless population, consider making blessing bags and donating them to a shelter or checking with your local churches for homeless outreach.
If you are shopping online this weekend, please check out Credit Sesame before you start. Shopping online can open yourself to having your credit compromised- Hackers, Shifty websites that look like the legit websites. It’s time to give your winter finances a fresh look and get your credit in tip-top shape. Thanks to Credit Sesame, I recently found a mistake on my credit report-it was easy to get rectified too!
Did you know that the recent FTC study found that over 20% of Americans or 40 Million credit reports have reporting errors that are costing consumers money in credit card interest rates and loans?
Make sure that your credit report does not contain erroneous information that could be impacting your credit score. Keep tabs on your credit report activities and your score by signing up for free credit monitoring and score services like Credit Sesame, so that you can easily protect your financial good standing.
* Receive daily credit monitoring alerts
* Get your FREE Credit Score Monthly
* Limit ID Theft Damage
* Find Potential Errors Sooner
* Get Access to Better Loans and Save Money
And unlike those “free” credit report offers that you see on TV with the catchy jingles, Credit Sesame is 100% free. You don’t have to enter your credit card number.
I love buying discount gift cards- It’ a great way to stretch our money further. Right now Raise (a company that sells gift cards at a discount) is offering $5 when you sign up here (make sure referral code ahewes shows up in the referral box to get your $5 free!).
I purchased a $25 Sears Gift Card (I chose a digital gift card, so I could use it online right away) and paid only $8.72 Out of Pocket! I paid with my paypal account, using money I earned doing surveys!
Raise has tons of great stores: Kohl’s. Staples, Macy’s, Walmart, and tons more!
Who doesn’t love free samples!!J oin Club Olay and they’ll help you take care of your skin through expert beauty advice, award winning products and money-saving offers!
Today is National Sandwich Day, so that means a few BOGO Offers! Before heading down to your location location, call ahead to make sure that your preferred location is participating!
Togo’s is offering a FREE 6″ Regular Sandwich with purchase of any 6″ regular or large sandwich, chips & 20 oz. fountain drink. This deal may be limited to those in the Togo Tribe (Their Loyalty club). I received this offer via email.
Have the McDonald’s App on your phone? Open it up to to find a BOGO Chef Crafted Sandwich coupon. There may be other coupons available to you too.
Subway is offering a free sandwich with the purchase of any sandwich and a 30 ounce drink. (Source Twitter)
If you know of any other free or BOGO Sandwich deals, please leave a comment!
You’ve probably heard or read about bartering to save money, but you aren’t sure where to start, or how it works. I’m here to demystify it for you!
I barter all the time! Thankfully, a lot of my friends have large vegetable and fruit gardens, fruit trees, or chickens produce eggs. I trade my time and services that I can provide for these things. I love to trade my ability and skill with sewing for farm fresh eggs. The price of eggs in California is insane! A dozen eggs can be almost $6.00, depending on where you shop.
Here are a few tips that I recommend you try in order to stretch your budget with the use of bartering:
Step One: Make a list of the skills you have. Can you sew? Can you babysit? Do you have a lawnmower and some free time to mow lawns? There are lots of things that you can do the people need help with. Maybe you have a great eye for organization and you could help a friend or a neighbor organize their pantry or their garage. Maybe you Love to clean? You can use that skill to either earn money or to barter for goods and services that you need. Maybe you have an overflowing garden or hen house!
Step Two: Make a list of stuff that you need. Do you need help sewing, cleaning house, or do you need to stretch your grocery budget a little bit further with the help of homegrown fruits and vegetables, farm fresh eggs?
Step Three: Ask! Ask your friends or if you’re feeling shy post on your Facebook page or whatever social media that you use. If you’d like to get a broader reach you can even post on websites like craigslist or fiverr.com. You’d be surprised at what kind of offers you get!
I’d love to hear about the types of things you barter for!
Recently, our bed frame broke. Our bed is nine years old, and our bed frame was the cheap-y one that came free when we bought our mattress and box springs. I shouldn’t really be surprised that it broke, but it did and it was no longer comfortable to sleep in our bed. It’s sagged in the middle because the part of the bed frame that broke was the center slat that provided the support for the mid section of the mattress.
I began my search online for a new bed frame. I checked all of the usual suspects: JCPenney, Sears, as well as trusty old Craigslist. All I wanted was a sturdy metal bed frame. No headboard, no foot board, just a bed frame.
Finally I found one that fit the bill. It was this one here from Sears. It was sturdy, as it had extra supports in the middle (which is very important when you have a small child likes to bounce on the bed like we do), and it fit my budget. So I set upon trying to get it for cheaply is possible.
First, I checked to see if there’s any place I could get a free Sears gift card with points from various rewards programs I use. I checked my Mypoints account, and I checked my SwagBucks account, and finally I checked my RecycleBank account. Turns out I had enough RecycleBank points to get a $10 gift card from Sears. I cashed out my points and a few days later I have received via email a $10 gift card from Sears.
Second, I logged onto my Shop Your Way Rewards Account (through Sears.com). If you haven’t signed up for Sears Shop Your Way Rewards, it’s easy! You can do it at any Sears, Sears Outlet, or Kmart location. It’s like any other store club card. Scan your key fob or enter your phone number when you check out and earn points. Points can be redeemed for cash off purchases. Also- Shop Your Way Rewards members get access to great coupons, and sometimes even surprise points (Frequently they send out $5 in points- just for being a member!). I had a $10 off of $50 or more purchase good for anything in the home department, which happens to include bed frames.
Third, I logged on to all of my survey websites: PaidViewPoint, and PineCone Research to see if I had points I could cash out for a PayPal payment. It turns out I had over $25 that I could cash out at PaidViewPoint. I requested a PayPal pay out and within six hours I had $27 and change in my PayPal account. I also discovered that I had enough points to cash out for a $15 payment via PayPal through PineCone Research. I requested that as well. I had $42 and change to use!
Fourth (And Finally), I also logged on to Top Cashback as well to see if I can earn any cash back for this shopping trip. Turns out I was going to earn a cool 3% cashback on my purchase.
So here’s how I got it for free:
Bed Frame $54.98 + $3.60 Tax
-$10/$50 Coupon
-$10 Sears Gift Card
-$38.58 from Paypal. (Money was earned doing surveys online as I outlined above. It took me less than two hours combined to do all of the surveys and earn this money. This time with spread over about a months time.)
Plus I qualified for free shipping because the original price was over $49.99
The best part is, I earned 3% of my post coupon amount ($38.58) because I shopped through Top Cashback. That’s more free money to use in the future! So I got paid .30 to buy something we really needed!
Freshly made bed (and laundry- It is Monday, after all!)
The bed frame was delivered on Friday and I just set it up this morning. And we did give it a good test bounce after the bed with put back together. It’s very sturdy I’m proud to announce.
The point of this post isn’t to show off, “Look what I can do isn’t this cool?!?”, but it’s meant to inspire you and show you that you can-do these things as well. You can get stuff for free. And not just little samples of this and that, but you can actually get things that you need for your home for free.
Taking surveys does take time however with PaidViewPoint, and PineCone Research. The surveys that you will do you’ve been pre-selected for, and take less than 10 minutes each. So you’re not wasting time doing surveys you don’t end up qualifying for and the payout for both of those companies is so low you’ll be able to reach a payout in less than a month even if you only do a few surveys for them each week.
So there it is. That’s how we got a brand-new bed delivered to our house for free. No smoke, no mirrors, no hocus-pocus, or anything shifty or questionable. Just a brand-new bed frame delivered free.
I’d love to hear about the kinds of things that you have gotten for free or really cheap using the profits from surveys or even secret shopping. So leave me a comment and let me know what kind of awesome things you’ve gotten for free!
Have you Heard of Yerdle? A few of my friends love it, and it’s pretty cool! It’s a great way to swap the junk laying around your house for stuff you actually need!
alphs.com, log onto your account, click on Savings, then digital coupons, sort by category (baby).
