Finding Money - Rebates

Each week our family has a set budget to spend on groceries.  One way I can help stay under budget is through rebates.  You can find rebates in the weekly coupon inserts, at Menards (one of my favorites!) or online.  Mommy Saves Big is the site I like to look at the most.  It's not updated frequently, as there are not a ton of rebates out there, but when it comes to over-the-counter medicines, Band-Aids, and Try Me Free offers on food, cleaning and make-up, I'm all over those!

The way rebates work is you usually buy the specific product that has a rebate on it, and send in the required information on the rebate form (UPC symbol, receipt, etc).  I try to calculate these products' prices into my weekly budget so I never over-spend just to get a rebate.  Then, the check will come in the mail 6-8 weeks later (long after I have forgotten about them!) and I deposit the check into our Emergency Fund or put towards one of our loans.  It's an easy way to "Find Money" and help pay down your loans!

Another way I maximize my savings in our grocery budget is by shopping at one store that price matches other local stores.  For example, Hy-Vee ad matches as well as accepts competitor coupons.  Cub Foods sends out a $5 off $50 purchase, so when I go to Hy-Vee, I'll get my groceries and if they only add up to $47 and I have a Try Me Free offer available on, say, Lysol Wipes, then I will throw in the Lysol Wipes to get me over the $50 purchase minimum so I can use the competitor coupon, and then I submit the Try Me Free offer and receive a check in 6-8 weeks.    

Financially Fit Friday

“When real faith grips you, you develop a mind-set that looks for the best in everything, refuses to give up, finds a way around or through every obstacle, and presses on to victory.”
- Norman Vincent Peale

Have you started a money makeover? What are you planning on paying CASH for? What bill are you paying off? Share a bit of your story! No story is too small to share! Real life stories keep Carrie motivated.  We've decided that I don't want to work 50-60 hours a week much longer as our children are growing and we want to spend time with them, yet still pay off debt and live happily.  So this journey may take a bit longer than it should, but we will have tons of memories and I won't be crabby, stressed out and exhausted :) 

So, here is where we stand.  Can't wait for next week when I can see a drop in our bills!

I, Carrie, got a second job as a server in a local restaurant.  I use the tips each week to pay for our groceries and to stock our envelope system.  My paycheck that I receive each week goes onto a pay card that we use to save up for house hold wants and needs.  It will be used for new furniture (we bought a home last year), new bedding, new flooring, new lighting, etc.  We will also be saving up for a quick weekend getaway for my husband and I to a wedding in June that is out of state.  I'm amazed at how quickly money is already being saved up!  (averages about $50-75/week) 

The following are the other loans we currently have that will start getting paid off once our Emergency Fund is stocked (except for the little dental bill, which we need to start making payments on already). 

Emergency Fund - $82.66 (Vehicle broke down and depleted our savings and then some)
 

The following are the loans we currently have that will start getting paid off...

Dentist 

•  Outstanding Balance is $569

Credit Card

• Current Balance (no interest has accrued, thankfully) $623.62

Personal Loan (Hubby had major dental work) Balance as of 4/24/14

• Outstanding Balance is $6573.90

My Student Loan Balance of 4/21/14

• Outstanding Balance is $5,273.50

Hubby's Student Loan Balance as of 4/21/14

• Outstanding Balance is $7,751.69

Family Loan $8000 – We will slowly start paying this back after this summer when I will be working full time again (I work in the local school districts) and the family member is ok with that, thankfully!


We also have two mortgages, one for our personal home and one for our rental property.  Neither one of these we will post until all other debt is paid off.  Then we'll tackle our personal home mortgage!

Finding Money - Swagbucks

Swag Bucks is a great way to earn FREE gift cards or cash!  It’s one of the easiest to do.  You just use the Swag Bucks search engine and every couple of searches, you’ll win Swag Bucks!  Save them up for FREE Amazon gift cards, or Barnes and Noble, or Paypal CASH!

Just click on the icon above to get started and follow their instructions.  It’s very easy.

Bonus – sign up your friends and you get matching Swag Bucks for their first 1000 Swag Bucks won!  There are other ways besides the search engine/tool bar to win Swag ucks – you can do surveys, print coupons (PRINT COUPONS!) and watch videos.  Without referrals, I still think you can easily get $5-$10/month just doing searches yourself, not including all the other ways like doing surveys, printing and using coupons, watching videos...

Finding Money - Saving Star

Saving Star is one of the easiest ways to save money.  All you do is go to the Saving Star website and sign up and then enter your store's loyalty card (like CVS or Hy-Vee).

Once or twice a month I will go to the Saving Star website and click on eCoupons, then activate any coupons I haven't activated yet.  When you buy the product and have your store loyalty card scanned, the cash back amount for that specific product is put into your Saving Star account.  Once it reaches $5, you can take a payout to your Paypal account.

Each Friday Saving Star has a FREEBIE offer that is only valid on Fridays.  They also offer a HEALTHY offer, which is usually 20% off a certain fruit or vegetable purchase.

There are no referral bonuses or anything that I am aware of for Saving Star, but they are still an easy way to "find" money!  You can also use this program ON TOP of any physical coupons you have!

Finding Money - Ibotta

Ibotta is a great smartphone app to help you save even more on your grocery bill.

How Ibotta works is you download the app to your smartphone.  

When you open the app, you will see different categories.  Grocery, Apparel, Restaurant, Pet, etc.  I usually only use the Grocery one, only because we currently have no pets, rarely go out to eat, etc.  

Click on Grocery and chose your favorite store.  Most stores all have the same offers in the, but Target for example has several "exclusives" where you can only receive a cash rebate if you buy that particular product at Target.  

Once you click on your store, many offers will pop up.  Each product offer requires 1-2 steps, from answering one questions, to watching a quick video on the product (a commercial).  Each step gives you an amount to earn for a specific product after you complete the step.  

For example, milk is usually a product with a cash back rebate.  Click on the picture of the milk carton.  Under the picture will be a few options to earn 25c towards a milk purchase.  Mine personally says "How to" which will give me a little pointer on using Ibotta.  The next option I have is to earn 25c for "Take a Poll" where I'm asked a quick question.  

Now, I head to the store, buy my milk, and when you get home, open the Ibotta app and click the "Redeem" icon on the bottom of the screen, and follow the steps for taking a picture of your receipt and UPC symbol.  

When you first sign up for Ibotta, you can earn a $2 bonus after you redeem your first offer!  What are you waiting for?  Then once you are signed up, get your friends on board with your referral link so YOU can earn $5 after they redeem their first offer!  Feel free to use any of my referral links in this post and help me earn $5! 

You can also use Ibotta in addition to any coupons you clip, as well as many other shopping apps!  Happy Shopping!

Finding Money - Shopmium

We live on a grocery budget.  One way I "find" extra money is by using coupons and apps on my smartphone that give me cash back on my purchases.  One of my favorite apps is Shopmium.

Each week Shopmium adds new products to the list of items that you can buy and receive a specific amount from buying those specific products transferred to your Paypal account!  All you do is take a picture of your receipt with your smartphone and the UPC symbol on the product and Shopmium automatically transfers the money to your Paypal.

Past products on the list to buy have been Sun Chips, Freschetta Pizza, Red Bull, Babybel Cheese, Heinz Ketchup, Method hand soap, Fage yogurt, Chobani yogurt, Jif Peanut Butter, etc.

Refer your friends to Shopmium and YOU get $2 when they get their first rebate and they get a FREE Lindt Chocolate bar!  What are you waiting for - go sign up!  Feel free to use my referral code (MMMEKETF) so I can get a $2 bonus!  Happy Saving!

Finding Money - Spare Change

This is probably one of the easiest ways I find money.  I have a small coin purse that is inside of my purse that collects any spare change I find laying around the house from the couch cushions to the washing machine.  I also RARELY spend my coins.  If my grocery bill is $89.42, I will give them $90 in cash and throw the 58c in change into my coin purse.  This adds up anywhere from $3 - $15 per week!  It may not sound like a lot, but over the course of a year, it adds up to over $200.

If you choose to, instead of depositing the coins every week or every other week, put them in an old ice cream bucket in your closet and in December you may have quite a bit of money to use for Christmas presents! 

Welcome!

Welcome! 


After taking a year off from really working towards financial freedom, I'm ready to get back on the wagon and finish it off! 


Each Friday I will post about how we are saving for our Emergency Fund ($1000) and then starting to pay off the non-mortgage debt we have.  We want our personal home mortgage (we also own a duplex) paid off in about 10 years, and as of right now I will not be posting about that balance until everything else is paid off. 


During the week, watch for posts on how we are saving money and putting that towards our debt.  We have done this journey a few times before, but never fully finished.  Nearly 6 years ago I was pregnant with our third child, and my husband was laid off.  This made us realize how we were truly living pay check to pay check and had nothing to fall back on.  The next 3 years we added a fourth child and paid off nearly $30,000 in personal debt and students loans, even with another layoff!  The last year, we haven't been paying off our debt, and with an unexpected dental bill (over $5000), we are back to square one and ready to get rid of it all for good!