I have some fun and easy ways to earn and save money.
For shopping:
Bring your own bags, as now a lot of places are giving 5 cents off for every bag you bring in and use. Coupons, coupons, coupons. Did I stress coupons? Sometimes free community papers have them or you get them in the mail. Have a lot you don't use? Try coupon swapping, there are websites or even set up something on Craigslist where you trade coupons. While it's illegal to sell coupons, there's nothing wrong with swapping a coupon for cat litter when you don't have a cat, to someone who does have a cat and has a coupon that you can use. If you live in or near a state that does bottle deposits, it doesn't hurt to bring the cans/bottles/glass back for money. Some stores may limit how much you can get in a day, but at the Stop and Shop I work at, people can get up to $6 cash back. Some liquor stores are lenient, so they may be your best bet. Also, shop with a friend and split food together. Buy a big package of meat or a multipack of something you both use and save money that way. Also, be wary of produce prices. If a particular fruit or veggie isn't on sale, watch the price tag. I've noticed that in one day, green peppers went from $1.69/lb to $3.99/lb. Prices of produce fluctuate daily, so be wary of produce that isn't on sale. You may pay one price today, and another one tomorrow. Also, if you have places like Shoprite or Pricerite nearby, shop there first. The produce is usually good, but it can have it's days where everything looks bad. I wouldn't buy meat there unless it's prepackaged stuff. But, there are name brands and even store brands are cheaper there. I can buy steak sauce for 99 cents, and it's just as good as A1 or Stop and Shop brand. Cilantro is 99 cents per bunch, as to Stop and Shop price of $1.49 per bunch. The only drawback is that you need to bring bags or buy bags at 10 cents each, but its worth it. Plus, you need a quarter for a carriage, which is used so that carriages don't get stolen off the lot. You do get the quarter back. And if you spy a carriage sitting there in the lot, chances are there is still a quarter in it, so get the carriage and earn an extra quarter in your pocket. It happens often enough.
Pick up as many samples of different things as you can, either at the store, from a magazine, or online. Samples usually come with coupons, and if you stock up on different samples, you won't have to buy that product you need right away. Face wash, soap and other things would be good to keep in the house and last longer if you use it according to the directions. Have special places for trial size items so they are in plain view when you need them.
Before you go to the store, check out circulars online so you don't waste gas going if there's nothing you need there, or so you know what things are on sale, and check for coupons and stick them in your wallet or purse before you leave. Some stores also have other special coupons online, so sign up for their weekly newsletters as well if they have them.
Stop and Shop takes competitor coupons only if it says something like "$5 off purchase of $50 or more". Other shops too, such as Bed, Bath and Beyond. Find out if your grocery or other stores take competitor coupons. Bed Bath and Beyond takes their expired coupons too, so even if that 20% coupon expired last month, they will take it anyways. That is also similar for other things like car repairs as well. If you need something fixed on your car that doesn't need to be done right away but needs to get done, get quotes from different shops. Some shops will price match and beat it by a percentage as well. I had needed new tires soon, and Firestone was going to charge me one price. I went to Town Fair Tire across the way, and they would match that price plus beat it by 15%.
If you do go to get your car replaced, avoid the following places, as I and other people have had really terrible experiences and/or are overpriced: Pepboys (they ruined the entire steering column and they weren't supposed to touch it) and Firestone are the top two places to avoid like the plague. Try to stay away from a dealership since they tend to be overpriced too.
If you can, find a mechanic who is willing to do work on the side and you buy your own parts. My last car needed brakes, and instead of paying $500 for it to be done by Speedy by Monroe, I bought the brakes myself and had paid a mechanic to do it for $50 an hr. I spent $300 total. When you do get your car repaired at the shop, pay attention to how much an hour it costs. Most dealerships make you pay $75-100 an hr, so you may pay more for labor than the part itself! Shop around for cheaper people, but know what is worth to shell out and what isn't. I can tell you right now anything with a transmission problem is a huge problem, and if that's the case, you are better off getting a new car. There are websites like Ask A Mechanic, who can help you with your issues. They will give you advice as to what could be wrong, best case and worst case scenarios. They might not be able to fully diagnose the problem, but they can direct you to the right path.
Also, shop around for better car insurance. Like the commercial says, "you may be paying more for car insurance." Avoid Nationwide as well, I had a coworker who got into in accident, and they wanted her to take the car to them. That's not right. The insurance company has to send someone to wherever your car is, you don't bring it to them. And check out the state laws about insurance, in Rhode Island insurance companies cannot force you to choose one of their repair shops; you can choose whatever repair shop you want. Check out your local government website about that.
Fun ways to get money:
Number one rule for this is, set up a separate email for the next few things. Only because doing this will clog up your email so fast it's not funny. But it's worth it.
www.mypoints.com is a website that you can have emails sent to you a few times a day, or whatever you choose. You get five points for every email you read (meaning you have to click the ad or whatever it is displayed in the email.) Once you click on the offer, if you don't want to do it, just exit out and delete the email. If you want the offer, go ahead as you will earn more points. Sometimes they do surveys too. I already got a gas card, and you can get gift cards to many places or get subscriptions to magazines or whatnot. They have a credit card if you want to earn more points that way, it's up to you. The points workout because you can get useful things.
www.Sendearnings.com is similar to Mypoints, but it takes longer to earn. Once you earn at least $30, you can get a check sent to your house. Also once you hit $30, you automatically become a gold member, so you earn more money. It earns a few cents at a time, but you do get a $5 head start. For this one it takes a little more work, but click on the ad, then click on where it says Read Email and then exit out unless you want to complete the offer. I recommend for this one and the other one prior is to just delete these messages once you are done with these offers. Unlike MyPoints, you get money rather than gift cards.
Anyone a Coca Cola fan? www.mycokerewards.com allows you to redeem caps for points. You can enter contests, get subscriptions to magazines, toy figurines, airplane tickets and more! A bottle cap is worth 3 points, and the 12 pack is worth 10 points. Sometimes they double points too on certain days. If your not a Coke fan, Pepsi does have stuff too, but I'm not sure about their program.
This by far is the best thing I use. It's called ShoppersHotline, and it's a good program. Basically, you go shopping like you normally do, and scan your groceries into a scanner they provide for you for free. You must have a phone jack in your house for this, as well as internet. You plug the scanner in the phone jack, and when you scan your items, the information is transferred over to the company. (Don't worry, your information is safe with them.) You earn 40 pts per scanning session. You can scan anything you ever buy. If it's not able to scan, they do provide you with other means to let them know how much you spend. Once you get to a certain amount of points, you can earn money on a black debit card they send you. But there's no pin number, so you have to use this card like a credit card. The smallest amount you can retrieve is $10, and you can earn it pretty quickly. Not only do you earn points by the scanner, but on their website, you can do surveys, and add a program on you computer, which every 3 months you earn $5 on your debit card. But you have to at least turn on your computer once a week. Also, you can enter in prescriptions, which earn you additional points. I believe you need 625 points for a $10 debit card. You keep the card to earn more money. Not only do you earn money, but each time you scan or do a survey or enter a prescription, you are entered into a monthly drawing for money as well. It's a pretty easy program, and if anyone wants to sign up, email me at sportygal785@yahoo.com and I can provide you with a phone number to get you started through my referral program. You can sign up yourself on the website, but it's a bit harder to do. You do have to be 18, not living in Hawaii or Alaska (US citizens only, sorry) and it's one person per household that is in control. If anyone has questions, you can call this number too. 1-877-999-2949 or again email me. It's pretty simple. And if you go on vacation, there's a setting for that too. I've used it for a couple years and it's awesome.
Anyone love gaming? Pogo and Slingo are two places I go to play games for free and earn points too. Earn points and you can enter into daily, weekly, and monthly drawings for cash. Also, there are jackpot games, where you can win money just by finishing a game. I tend to split up my points between the different drawings to up my chances. There are paid upgrades if you want to win double money and get special features, but it's not necessary.
Everything I listed is free, no hidden fees or any crap. There are more sites, which I will add as time goes on and I discover them. Keep posted for more ways to save money in the future. Feel free to pass this info along, and to comment.
*Update* http://online-sweepstakes.com
is another site I use often to enter in many different types of sweepstakes, from cash to cars, one time only to every day entering. This website was one I read about in Womens World a few years back. It's pretty useful, and you never know if you don't try to win by entering.
