Hand Sanitizer

If you are looking for sanitizer check out the link.  It is a large container and is on sale at the moment. https://amzn.to/3eAMgr6  Stay safe out there.

A Litttle Fun and Free Amazon Prime

Hey guys, I hope you are all doing well.  Being cooped up can be hard.  Thank you for sticking it out so we can slow the spread of this virus.  If we all do our part we can flatten the curve sooner than later.

I have an offer her for you guys to get Amazon Prime free for 30 days.  Just go to this link https://amzn.to/2ymnydh  and start your trial.  You can get discounts, and Prime only exclusives.

Stay safe and keep checking back for more offers and deals.  Lets do more on lockdown

Saving Money and Getting Out of Debt: The Beginning

So You want to save money and get out of debt?  This is actually the first step.  Admitting that you need to get out of debt is how you get going.  A lot of people don't like to admit there is a problem.  If you can not do that then you will not be able to go any farther.

You have to start by admitting that you got yourself into a bad spot and now you need to get out.  Many people spend their years spending and digging the whole and then when they retire they have no way to take care of themselves.  They end up creating debt and then when they are gone their family has to take care of the problem.  This is not the position you want to leave your children in.

You have to commit today, right this minute that even if you do not want to take the steps I have used that you will do something to improve your finances.  You have to get the whole family on board and make sure they know what you are working toward.  If you are saving and your spouse is still over spending it will get you nowhere.  Have a family meeting immediately and put down  your foot.  Make it known that the family needs to make some changes for a better future.  If you are single then you need to make this commitment to yourself and hold yourself  accountable.  Your future depends on you doing your part.

If you are ready to improve your finances then stick with me.  I am going to walk you through different ways that will help you get things under control.  It is not going to always be easy but you are going to be happy you did it in the end.

Get ready

Ok so I have been working on saving money and paying bills.  So far I have learned how coupon and got 2 laundry detergents for $.84 for both not each but both.  I paid off my car loan one of my credit cards and the loan I got for my phone.  If you want to learn how I did this and see if I can help you then come back starting Monday June 2nd where I will start posting what I have learned and done to start turning my life around.  We all need a boost so I am here to give one if you are ready to take it.

Holiday Busy

With the holidays here it has been so busy.  I have been making to do lists and really trying to stay organized so I keep on task.  It is not easy when you have to fit in your child's scheduler either.  We are doing pretty good though.  I have all of my Christmas shopping done.  I just have to wrap them.  I am very excited about the gifts I found for my daughter this year.  I found some great deals early on.  I got an $80 item for $35 by watching sales and having some killer coupons and such.  It is going to be so fun watching her open them. 

That has been one of my time consuming events.  Going from store to store to get things I need on my list at a good price takes a good chunk of time.  You have to go with a plan to really optimize your time.  I have my list for each store and stay on track to those specific items.  This really saves time instead of just wondering to look for things.  Know what you want from each place and go.  If you get of track then you will waste precious time. 

The next problem I have is I had to have all my gifts for others now.  My daughter has to go to her Dads on the 20th so that cut time short to have our celebrations with other families.  We have one each day starting tomorrow through Thursday.  So I work then go to the parties each day.  So Friday will be a day to finally relax.  That will be different I don't even know what I will do with the time.  I am sooo busy that it will be crazy to have nothing to do.

There is also the work schedule.  It is all over the place and then sometimes Saturday so I have to work my time around that too.  I am happy to have a job but sometimes the hours make it hard to get stuff done this time of year.  Luckily one helpful thing is there is a Walgreens right in the same parking lot so I have been able to utilize them for some things as well, which has been nice. 

I can hardly wait until Christmas day when we get to relax and just enjoy each other.  It will be so nice to just hang with my parents and my daughter and enjoy each others company.  Which frankly is what it is really about.  I just cant help myself during the holidays

So what is your struggle during the holidays and how do you handle them.

Day 2 of Savings Apps

As promised I am continuing my posts about apps that are for shopping.  I really like the apps because they are very convenient.  I just have to remember my phone and I can save.  I am not saying that I don't still use coupons but apps can also be used with coupons and I generally do the worst shopping mistake and shop on a whim instead of being prepared.

https://keyringapp.com

For today's topic we will discuss the key ring app.  I like this app because you can put all your savings cards in one place.  Instead of having a million loyalty cards in your wallet you can put them all on your phone.  In addition to this for some of the stores it will even tell you the savings that are going on for that store.  You can even join other programs that may not have a card but that Key Ring has partnered with.  It is very helpful in getting your savings at your favorite stores.

I have been using it for awhile now and it has been a life saver.  Sometimes I have had to grab a set of spare keys or I am driving a different car and then I don't have my card.  I may even just be going for a short trip so I don't grab my wallet and that means no card.  It is very frustrating to lose points or discounts because I forgot it.  Nothing like not getting the sales items because you forgot your card.

That is why this app is so great.  It clears up your wallet space which is nice for putting other things in there and it makes it less bulky.  That is a bonus in itself.  One thing any body can use is more space and less clutter.  I know I am happy that way.  If you are a multiple loyalty card holder this is a must have. 

Upsetting Day So Lets Talk Savings

So today did not go as planned at all.  I was not able to get anything that I wanted to done so I am not very happy.  I could not get on the site to finish my divorce papers so I was not able to go file.  My cable was out and couldn't get it fixed so that was annoying.  So today we are going to talk about savings and points apps.  I am going to cover them over the next couple days.

For today we are going to talk about Shop Kicks.  If you do not already know what this is, it is a phone app where you earn points for shopping and then redeem the points for awards.  It is very easy.  You just take your phone with you when shopping and it will alert you to the different kicks you can earn.  You can earn kicks for just walking into a store or by scanning the specific merchandise.

So far my favorite place to get kicks from is Target.  I have earned bonus boards there which is when you scan a full group of specified items.  I also earned $2 to shop just for getting kicks and entering the store.  They also have books as they are called.  You can look through specific store to see the latest items they have.  Some times for looking through the books you earn bonus kicks.  They can be right then or some are issued the next time you go to that specific store.  It is free and you are earning stuff from doing it.

The hardest part for me is when I am just running in and out of a store I some times forget my phone so I miss out on kicks.  The good news though is that they are free so I am not losing anything by forgetting.  It can be a little frustrating when you are so close to getting the level of points you want but that is the good thing, you can always earn more. 

You can use it to make shopping fun for the kids.  You can do the bonus boards as scavenger hunts and they can help.  It will earn you kicks and it will keep them occupied helping to look for the items.  I mean who couldn't use a way to entertain the kids while shopping.  The bonus is you can earn free stuff doing it too.

The prizes are pretty good.  They range from gift cards to merchandise, they even have it so if you earn enough points you can get a Vespa scooter.  The nice thing about it is that you are already going shopping so why not get something back.  If you are interested in trying it out http://get.shopkick.com/lithium12388

Another Day of Tested Patience

So today really worked my nerves and sadly I made a comment this time.  I am not proud of it but 3 people were verbally ganging up on me and it was all I could take.  I didn't yell or anything like that but I did let them know that the way they were talking to me was less than appreciated.  They really didn't talk to me the rest of the day.  Which honestly was fine by me at that point.  I have to work again tomorrow and I am not really looking forward to it.

I did get to talk to a coworker that no longer works in our office and he made me feel better and just reminded me to keep positive and my faith and don't let the rest get to me.  I know that is what I am supposed to do so I am really trying.  I want to have a more positive experience at work so I am trying to keep positivity in my own day.  I will at some point not have to worry about others because I will be so comfortable with myself.

Totally off subject though, the survey money making is hard.  My inbox is overflowing and I can not seem to catch up at all.  I keep staying up so late to work on them I am over sleeping but still not getting enough sleep.  While I do not have a favorite yet, I do have some tips in case anyone out there is thinking about it.

1- Set up a separate email account just for surveys
2- Make sure that you have at least 3  hours a day if you sign up to a lot
3- Be prepared to see a lot of the same thing from different places
4- Don't expect to get rich right away

Another thing I found out about today in case you have not heard of it is Ibotta.  It is like Shop Kicks but they pay you cash.  You can get it from the Play Store for your phone.  I have already earned a couple dollars just by looking at the grocery items they have on there.  It seems pretty easy so if you have a smart phone and shop I say give it a try.

Also I am highly recommending that if you shop at Kmart then you need to make sure you are part of their program.  It earns you money to save on your next purchase.  Yesterday I got a new shirt and between the program and the gift card I had I got the shirt for $0.30.  It is totally worth it.  Plus if you are a member and you do a layaway by the end of next week you get it with out the maintenance fee.  That is a good thing as well.

I am going to end for tonight. Sorry it is all over the place tonight but I am really tired and typing things as I think of them.  Going to get ready for bed and try to get some sleep tonight.  Have a great day.

Super Busy Day

So today was busy.  We woke up late though and missed church so I was not super happy about that but the rest of the day went well.  We went and got lunch at McDonald's and won some instant prizes from the Monopoly  game going on right now.  We picked up the newspaper and got some stabilizer for the gas in the lawnmower and after many attempts it looks much better now.  Not perfect but better.  I also worked on a little laundry.

After the whole lawn thing I came inside and entered 10 codes to the online Monopoly McDonald's game which is the maximum for the day and won two free rentals on Red Box. That was fun winning two free movies so I know I have some entertainment coming in the future.  I also took the time to enter some Coke rewards points.  I am sad because I had over 100 but I didn't log in with points for too long and lost them all so now I only have 15.  I have to make sure to log them when I get them so I don't lose them again.  They have some really neat prizes and free items you can get. 

I am currently into getting all the freebies and stuff I can.  I am trying to take more advantage of these offers and see how it turns out.  I am still working on the survey sites.  I have already unsubscribed to 2 of them because they were going nowhere.   They just kept wanting you to buy stuff or subscribe to other sites not really what I am looking for.  I have a page full of them so far and still looking for which ones are the better to use.

Well even though I got some stuff done.  My vacation is over and I can not stay up late to work more so now I feel like I did not get enough done.  I am going to try to get a few more emails down before I go to bed.  Tomorrow is not going to be fun getting up early again.  Hope every one has a great week.

Useful Information About Target

So today we went to Target to get some dog food and we like to occasionally eat at the cafe.  We first stopped at the cafe and did our eating.  As a side not to this story be careful of getting the salads from the cooler the chef salad my daughter got had lettuce that was not so appealing looking.  We then took our usual stroll through the $1 section.  If you are a teacher you can find some useful items like stamps for papers, chalkboard border, grade books and more.  Then it was off to the dog food.  I myself find there are way too many options to choose from and I am always comparing prices to pounds.  We are currently using IAMS.  We tried the Rachel Ray brand but our dogs would not eat it very well.

Now it was time to head to the check out.  As you might know Target has a few different private label cards.  I personally have the store credit card.  You may also know that when you use your Target credit card you can receive 5% off your purchase.  I am really trying to not use my cards as much as possible due to my finances.  I need to pay stuff off.  So the cashier rings things up and ask how I am paying.  I say debit and he starts into the whole thing about using the Target card to which I inform him I have a card already.  Then he says do you have our debit card, I say no and that I only use the credit card for the discount.  Here is the part I was unaware  of.

The cashier proceeds to tell me that with the debit card you also get the 5% discount.  This is not something I personally was told about before.  All it is, is a debit card linked to your checking account you already have and then you still get the 5% off.  So now you can still shop with out having to extend your credit and get the discount.  It took less than 5 minutes to sign up for the card and you can use it immediately.

Another thing that some people may not know is that by using the card you can get the 5% even at the cafe and the pharmacy.  As another bonus when you use your card to purchase your prescription you can have the rewards program and after 5 purchases you get a day of discounted shopping.  This place is full of ways to save and now you can use the method you would have in the first place to get it.

To make this trip even better my daughter asked that since her salad was not to her liking could she get some popcorn,  which I was fine with so we went over there with my temporary card and ready to save on our popcorn when The guy at the counter says to my daughter " I have not seen you in awhile but if I remember correctly you were sick so are you feeling better."  He was right the last time we had been there she had been having stomach trouble and had to be careful about what she was eating.  I was very impressed that he remembered but not shocked.  He is amazing every time we go there.  The first time I saw him there I was having a bad day and had been crying and he was so nice that I left feeling 10x better.  I admit I am not positive on his name and I need to make sure to let his management team know just how great he is.  I believe his name is Roy and he works at the Target on W Saginaw if you are ever in the neighborhood.

I just wanted to share the new info I learned about their card program and throw in the amazing service that I got today.  It is so rare for people to just be nice to other that I wanted to make sure I let you know about and amazing local person.