Frugal Friday: Online Shopping with Coupon Codes

Long gone (or few and far between) are the days when I could walk around the mall (or Target) with a Starbucks Coffee and shop. Did those days ever really exist? Now it's a hustle because I'm pressed for time or I am toting around small children.

Online shopping has changed drastically in the last decade or so. You can buy almost anything online. You can arrange for free shipping, shipping to store, store pick up....ship it to a friend or to a vacation spot. Amazon Prime has completely changed my life. You can order just about anything and get it within two days for FREE. Never mind all the other benefits! We had an entire post to review all the benefits - and they are still adding them! If you haven't tried it - get your free trial and give it a go.

But I digress... One of the biggest benefits to online shopping, aside from not needing to leave your home, is coupon codes. Many brick-and-mortar stores have coupons, but you have to get the newspaper, or sign up for their emails and be on the lookout. Many of these coupons have an online code printed on them. There are hundreds - probably thousands - of websites dedicated to listing all these codes. It can be quite exhausting to go through.....

Have no fear - it can be so much easier! A few weeks ago, I found a browser add-on called Honey. Honey finds and (on most sites) auto applies coupon codes to your order. The first time I used Honey was on Old Navy. Old Navy allows the use of multiple coupon codes - Honey found and applied the four best! And it's so much easier than searching and copying and pasting!

Honey even has a rewards program. It's called Honey Gold - and you can earn cash back at several stores (list here).  Of course you can still use ebates - and any credit card rewards programs you have for even more savings / cash back. If you don't have rebates, you can read about it here.

Read More

Modern Monday: Get Paid to Meet Your Fitness Goals

You may have notice the increase on posts regarding healthy habits and WW meals. The three of us have all joined Weight Watchers - and we all have Fitbits! I love my Fitbit. I think it's a great tool for motivating someone to do more activity - and to gather data about one's habits. There are plenty of other trackers out there, and phone apps. Recently I found out you can get paid to have healthier habits. That's right - your Fitbit can earn you money! 

Don't have a Fitbit? Good news - many of these programs work with out step monitors or phone apps!

Walgreens Balance Rewards: If you are an avid couponer or Walgreens shopper, you've probably heard of Balance rewards. This is Walgreens' customer loyalty program. You can earn points on purchases, special deals, and for using your Fitbit. You can earn 20 points for every mile (bike, run, walk). One mile is approximately 2,000 steps. If you meet the standard Fitbit goal of 10K steps per day, you could earn 100 points/day. 5,000 points is worth $5 off your purchase. However, cashing out at higher points gives you more $ for your points (ex: 40K points is $50).

Bounts: It won't make you rich, but if you meet your workout goals, you can earn gift cards (including Amazon & Starbucks), products and discounts through Bounts. Bounts is a UK based start up funded by the University of Oxford. To get credit you are required to complete a minimum of 7K steps. You can also get credit for gym activity. (Free) Members can earn 5 points per activity; up to 15 points per day. This is a set it and forget it kind of app. When you redeem make sure you choose items that are in US currency! Sign up here

Leap4Life / FitWell: Leap4Life is a website to track your health and activity. You can earn FitWell points that can be used for cash rewards. 2,500 points is a $25 gift card. The more active you are, the higher status you achieve, and the more bonus points you can achieve. At diamond level, participants earn 50% bonus FitWell points. Syncing your device will earn you an additional 50 points. Participating in events, (virtual) races, and inviting friends also earn you more points.To make the most of this site, you'll need to check back and join challenges and events. Join my challenge & sign up here.

Honorable Mentions: These are sites I have not personally tried. 

Pact: is a website/app that allows you to make a pact to meet certain fitness goals and bets against others staying committed to their goals. Join, decide how many workouts you'll complete each week as well as the fine for skipping one ($5 min.). On Sundays, Pact divides the fines from people who skipped and pays it out to those who didn't. Payouts can be less than $0.50 to $5. You can also make pacts to eat well, or eat more veggies. 

Healthywage: This website is similar, but you get to set your own time limit and monthly payment amount. If you meet your personal goal, you will win a share of the prize. Prizes vary, but the website reports payouts up to 10K. You can set up a personal wager with yourself, one with your friends, or join a challenge. 

DietBet: This website operates off a goal of 4% (or higher) weight loss in four weeks. You join a "game" or bet pool, you win money based on how many people join, the total pot, and who completes their goal. If everyone in your pool meets their goal, you get your money back. If you are the only one to complete your goal, you get everyone else's money! 

Read More

Frugal Friday: Receipt Reward Apps

In the past we've discussed a few different rewards sites and apps, to get you more for your money. These apps included check-in style apps like shopkick and rebate apps/websites like ebates. We've also reviewed a few "coupon" rebate apps that require you to scan a receipt like ibotta and checkout 51. I'm an avid user of both shopkick and ebates, but don't often need products from ibotta and checkout 51. If I'm being completely honest, the latter products have fallen out of favor.

There are, however, 3 more apps I use regularly. One of them I can recommend, but have only recently started using and have yet to cash out. The other two earned me well over $50 in less than 6 months. All three of these apps require you to scan your receipts. The companies use these receipts for market research. I often save receipts to enter into YNAB, so I just scan as I go. All of these can be used in conjunction with shopkick and other cash back apps, reward programs, or cards.

Receipt Hog is the first app I ever downloaded that paid you for scanning receipt. It's easy and has a cheesy hog gimmick. Some receipts yield coins, other may yield a turn on the "hog slots" - a free slot game within the app that can gain you 2-10 points. Coins are awarded by the receipt total. One person also wins their last shopping trip in coins. Reaching a new level will give you bonus coins. Cash out starts at $5, but the more you save up the better deal the cash out is. Every qualifying receipt earns you a sweepstakes entry (I have never won). Learn more here. 

Receipt Pal allows you to submit both receipts and e-receipts. You can submit 4 receipts per card and receive 2 cards per week (though unused cards do not disappear). Additional receipts only qualify for entries to a $250 sweepstakes. This is probably the simplest app to use. Cash out with as little as $1. Includes Amazon and Paypal cash outs. 

Yaarlo is the newest of these apps, and the newest to my phone. It has many cash out options including Amazon, Target, Panera, Starbucks and Macys. Paypal is also available but has a $20 minimum. Typically Yaarlo pays more per receipt than the other two apps. Per their website FAQ, points are based on the receipt category with percents ranging from .10% for wholesale clubs to .25% at grocery stores, and restaurants. Some stores fall under promotions where you can earn up to 5% back. Recently they have added a shop 'n earn category featuring 1%-4% back (Just like ebates). Learn more here or Join now using code RACHAEL724 and get bonus points! 

Read More

Frugal Friday: Shopkick

Do you have a smart phone? Put it to good use! Over a year ago, I posted on how to get more bang for your buck using a few different apps. One of these apps was shopkick, a phone app that rewards you for going to the store. 

Shopkick is a phone app that rewards you for simply going into the store. You receive points every time you walk into a participating store. You can also receive extra points for "scanning" items. I'll be honest, I never scan. You can use your points for gift cards. So far I have used Shopkick to redeem $60+ in gift cards. My favorite store to get points at and redeem gift cards is Target.

Generally speaking, you get about 35 points for entering any store. On bonus days some stores will have 150 to 200 or more points for just walking in the store. I go to Target on a regular basis, at least twice most weeks. It's almost no extra working, considering my phone is already out because I have my shopping list on it, and I use Target coupons, and cartwheel. Give it a try here. 

If you're wanting to be super frugal, and perhaps a bit competitive - a friend of mine used to shopkick to spice up what would otherwise be a boring errand run with her significant other. They had a contest of who could scan the most items, the quickest. A modern day scavenger hunt if you will.......free gift cards and bragging rights??? 

[There are a few more check-in type apps out there. I have given a few of them a try, but have yet to receive any rewards. I'll be sure to write about them when I do. Are there any apps you use? We'd love to hear about it!]

 

Read More

More Bang for Your Buck

Previously, I posted about my favorite budgeting software - YNAB. While YNAB keeps my budget in order, I use coupons, and a few apps to get a little more for my money, and keep my budget on track. There's a lot of coupon apps out there. There's a lot of cash back apps out there, too. More importantly there is a lot of time-wasting apps that don't work. I follow quite a few finance/coupon/budgeting blogs, and have tried quite a few apps. These are my favorites!

First up is Ebates - this is both a website and an app. You may have seen commercials on TV recently, or you may have never heard of it. You can get cash back at some of your favorite stores for online purchases - and it works! I've been using Ebates for about 2 years, I've gotten $140 back on purchases I would have made regardless. (This is in addition to any cash back you get as part of credit/debit card reward program). Basically, stores pay Ebates a commission for sending shoppers their way (via the internet), and they give it back to you.

So how does it work? When you're ready to do some online shopping, all you do is go to ebates.com, search for the store you want to shop at, click the link and the store will open in a new window. Ebates tells you to allow so many days, but over the last year, I've been seeing my cash back within 48 hours. Every quarter, cash is sent back to you via paypal. Sometimes they have the option for an amazon gift card also.

New users receive a $10 gift card when they make their first $25 purchase, so sign up today, and starting getting a little more back for your money.

Shopkick is a phone app that rewards you for simply going into the store. You receive points every time you walk into a participating store. You can also receive extra points for "scanning" items. I'll be honest, I never scan. You can use your points for gift cards. So far I have used Shopkick to redeem $40+ in gift cards. My favorite store to get points at and gift cards is at is Target.

Generally speaking you get 35+ points for entering a store, that's not including bonus days of 150-200+ points (or scanning bonus).  I hit up target multiple times a week. Literally all you have to do is pull up the app when you walk into the store. This is convenient for me since I'm already pulling up my phone for cartwheel and target mobile coupons (I'll post about these later). Click here, and give it a try.

Last but not least are two coupon apps Ibotta and Checkout 51. Both apps offer cash back on purchases you make. Both require you to scan your receipt, and may also require you to scan your product. Ibotta focuses mainly on grocery items but also includes specials at different stores. Additionally if you sign up using Facebook, and have any friends using the app you get more cash back for the activity of your team members (no referrals necessary, its automatic). You can cash out at $10. Checkout 51 features fewer products but changes them weekly. You can cash out at $20. I'll be honest, I don't use these apps as much as I should. I forget they are there. I remember if prompted by a coupon blog/site (stay tuned for that post). 

Read More

YNAB - An Effective Way to Budget

One of the things all three of us have in common here at Modern Mother Cubbard is our use of YNAB. YNAB is not only a budgeting software; it's a different type of budget philosophy. YNAB stands for "You Need a Budget". It's true. You do. Everyone does. You'd be amazed at what can happen when you really put your money to work.

What's more amazing is the freedom that comes with budgeting. Yes, that's right - I said freedom. When you are in a good spot financially, you can afford to make more guilt-free choices, you can worry less about the future, and you can roll with the punches much better. Yes, budgeting requires rules, some self-control, and sometimes denial of self-gratification, but it can bring much more good with it. 

What I love about YNAB (that is besides the philosophy, free online classes, and all the info available on the YNAB website) is that it's digital. Currently, you have to have a desktop or laptop computer to perform the initial set up, but YNAB is available for your phone, tablet, and iPad. You can sync your account on the go. I can check out at the store, enter my transaction in YNAB, and all the devices are updated. My hubby immediately knows where we stand on our "fun-money" budget. 

So how does it work? Once you install YNAB, you'll need to set up a tentative budget. If you don't already have a budget, websites like Mint are a good way to figure out what you are spending on average. That last sentence may have you asking, "Why not just use Mint?" Budget trackers are a passive way to see where your money is going. YNAB is actively putting your money to work for you. 

Once you know where your money is going and you set up a budget, you can make informed choices about how to change where your money is going. The first time my husband and I made a budget, we were appalled to see how much money we spent on groceries and eating out. (Now, as a family of 3.5, we spend half that total and we haven't suffered at all). 

The first items you should budget are your financial obligations: your bills (minimum debt payments included). You should include bills/expenses that are not monthly also. For example, we get a discount to pay our insurance every 6 months instead of monthly, but we include it as part of our monthly budget. This way when the bill comes it's no surprise. We also use this method for pet meds (those are purchased twice/year) and car taxes. Next, you should set up all your general spending categories: food/groceries, entertainment, fun money, gas... Whatever categories work for you and your family. It can be a shocker to see what's left over.  Finally, you should set up a "rainy day fund". These are just-in-case line items. For example, maybe you want to have a line for car repairs and Christmas gifts. 

While the budget in YNAB is flexible and it can be changed at any time, it does remind me a bit of an electronic "envelope system". The money is set aside for different things. When it's out it's out, unless you take it from somewhere else. Technically, it's all in your bank account as one lump sum, but in YNAB it's predestined for different categories.  If you don't spend it, then it sits there for next month. This part is really great for more flexible spending items like clothes or fun money. Perhaps the last few months we haven't needed any new clothes, but suddenly the weather has changed and my son's had a growth spurt. I can buy what's necessary and not feel bad or worry bills won't get met because that money is already there. This built-in savings allows you to roll with the punches. The eventual goal of YNAB is to get ahead of your paychecks and live on last month's income.

Things can get way more complicated. You can choose to snowball debt, to add to savings, create a new savings. I could literally go on for days about YNAB, but I've tried to give you a pretty good idea about how it all works.

There is a 35-day free trial available on the YNAB website. While this is enough time to get set-up and learn to use the program, in my experience it takes at least a month to get results. Current purchase price is $60 (get $6 off with this link!). I have yet to meet someone who tried it and found it "wasn't for them." 

Have you used YNAB? What's your budget preference? Let us know what you think!

(note: we are not affiliated with YNAB. We just love it so much we had to talk about it :-D)

Read More