Must Have Money Saving App!

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I really should have shared this app right as soon as I found it! I LOVE it! I've casually used the app for a while now and have found it to be super user friendly. It appeals to my organizing side in a whole new way!

Why do I love ShopKick?? 

#1 Reason: You don't have to buy a single thing to make money from it! 

How does ShopKick work? 

Basically if you have a smartphone, you download the app here, have the GPS setting on and earn points(they call them kicks) when shopping!

 There are four ways to earn Kicks:

1) Walk-in points. (My fav) Just have the shop kick app open on your phone as you enter the stores listed from the app. You will get points(or kicks) anywhere from 25 even up to 200 just for simply walking into a store with your app turn off. 

2) Scan products. While the specified store click on the store icon and then click on products. There will be a specified amount of product Scan products. While I specified store click on the store icon and then click on products. There will be a specific list of products that you find it and scan as you're browsing the store. Kicks vary from 10-75 and sometimes more per product.

3) Click kicks. In the shop kick app click on products and there will be a full list of different product groups. Click on each individual product group scroll to the bottom and find an icon with an envelope. Tap or click on the envelope and it will reward you with kicks anywhere from 1-5 points, usually 1. Not every group will have the envelope icon but most do the icon is almost always at the bottom of the page.

4) Purchase Kicks. OK this one is not technically free but if you're making a purchase anyway you might as well try it out earn some free kicks. If you add your credit or debit card to your shop kick account it will track your purchases at those stores as long as you have your shop kick app open at the stores. Right now you can earn 200 points just for adding your credit or debit card to your shop kick account as well.  Honestly I have not done this yet and have earned plenty of points for kicks to earn free gift cards. The rewards vary. I've earned two target gift cards so far and have not used to purchase kicks feature.

Another feature I really like is that you can find deals in your area really easy by simply clicking the "Deals" icon. Above is a snapshot of just the first two stores with deals! There are lots of "Back To School" deals going on right now. You can save the deals to your profile too so that later you can quickly access them. Sweet! There are some great discounts from 20-50% off too! Check them out!

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Refinance Your Home!

Have you heard? Mortgage rates are REALLY REALLY good! 

Refinance now!

We are refinancing our home. Yup! It sounded scary for some reason but really it's exciting because we will save over $22,000 just by getting a new 30 year loan! We debated a 20 or a 15 but ultimately the rates were not too much better than the 30 year!

Check with your local mortgage lenders now to see if you can save!

(I have a great contact for Southern Utah area if you need one.)

Just email me for more info at MLBB.etsy@hotmail.com

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Epic Mickey Debt Count Down- Month 30!

Say WHAT?! "You ARE actually still doing this?!" some might ask. 

Well. Yes. Yes we are. Of course, it has been ohhhh... like 9 months or so since I lasted posted about it. Since June actually. Sorry about that. It might have been the new baby, or the selling our old condo, moving twice, a new church calling, school, termites, and a million other things that kept us from getting back into the routine of Epic Mickey but excuses no more!

It has been a financial adjustment, to say the least, since selling our condo and buying a new home- a real home more than 3 times the size of our teeny tiny condo. Some might say, "But you are going against what Dave Ramsey teaches..." And you would be partially right. But that is another post to to come in the future. Keep your eyes peeled!

So without further ado... we jumped from month 21 to month 30! With not much progress on Mickey but LOTS of progress elsewhere. We DID pay 20% down in the new place which would have been more than enough to finish off Epic Mickey. It just made more sense to put it on the house and avoid PMI while simultaneously lowering our mortgage payment. PMI(Private Mortgage Insurance) would have been $240 more a month on top of the mortgage...what a a joke!

This does push our Student debt payoff back a bit but we have done our calculations and we *should* be on track to have it paid off by Feb 2015- JUST ONE MORE YEAR. We can make it!

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BACK TO CASH ONLY! My New Lil' Budget Book!

For quite a while now I have been using my debit card instead of actual CASH. 

I know right?! I did WHAT?!!!

We(my husband and I) got to a place where our budget wasn't as tight and we liked the idea of earning perks for everything we spent.. BUT then it hits us.....

"We don't really WANT to earn perks as fast as we are! Just means we are spending too much $$" 

Even though it is still "technically" cash when using a debit card, I find myself feeling ok with spending a couple extra bucks here and there when swiping plastic. It's not as hard to part with when I don't see it. As for my husband, I think he's the same way but he doesn't do most of the shopping so I realize a majority of the problem is with me! 

"When you use CASH, you spend 12-18% LESS than when you spend on PLASTIC!" 

- Dave Ramsey 

As I stated before, Pregnancy and Finances don't mix too well- at least for me! SOOO I made me a new MLBB to get back into the swing of things and I'm using CASH BABY! 

I personally LOVE My new Lil' Budget Book!! Isn't it adorable?!!

(It even makes me want to start making them again!)

So to all of you who might be back at this stage again, know you aren't the only one! 

Let's get back on track and start saving more and spending less. :) 

Here is a sneak peak of my new Craft Closet too...

I still have lots to do with it but it's for sure feeling like my favorite space in the house already!

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Be sure to enter the Mother's Day $200 Shopping Spree Giveaway

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When do you Tend to Overspend?

If you happen to notice, I published a Finance Friday post. I have always intended to give a Budget Tip of the week on a specific day each week but so far, I haven't been great at that. 

Well, we'll start this week and go from here. Finance Friday sounds Fun doesn't it? And to be honest, it is usually the weekends when my family tends to overspend so I am going to try and motivate people to do the opposite while I try and do the opposite too with a post every FRIDAY! 

I'm curious though, 

When do YOU tend to OVERSPEND?? 

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While you are visiting be sure to enter the following giveaways:

FLASH GIVEAWAY- JAMBERRY NAILS
Tropical Traditions Virgin 32 oz Coconut Oil $40 Value

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Finance Friday - Budget Tip - Buyers Remorse and Returns

Normally I don't allow myself to just splurge on things, especially for myself! And I don't think it was an actual splurge either. You help me classify it as you read on.

In about one month I lost 14 pounds!!! I was ready to celebrate! Who would be right? 

I also made a deal with my husband a while back that for every mile I run I get to earn money for shopping for new clothes :) Yeah my husband is pretty much amazing for actually agreeing to this. That was about 100 miles ago when we made the deal then we budgeted the money in too. 

Even better, part of it came straight from our PerkStreet rewards program for simply just using our debit card for purchases. We had earned over $100 to put towards a gift card. I chose T.J. Maxx (because we frugal girls all know that you can get a LOT for $100 at T.J. Maxx right??). So I headed to the store to shop for MYSELF! That alone was a pretty weird and great feeling- if you are mom, you might be able to relate to this feeling. 

I knew I had the gift card money and then some that I earned through running so I piled on the clothes to try on... I was testing to see what size I was too since I had dropped so much weight. I was so thrilled when I tried on a SIZE 4 and it was sooo comfy and easy to pull on. And even a size 2 waist fit- accept my new runner thighs did not, lol. I had previously been a loose size 10 so you can image my excitement.

That's where it really started. I was feeling GOOD! So good that I tried on a lot of clothing! he! he! 

When I came out of the dressing room with my stack, the lady asked the usual, "What are you keeping?" 

My reply..."ALL OF IT!" with a big smile! I'm not going to lie, I've never had that happen before and I LOVED it! 

I went to the register and checked out. To my surprise and bad math while trying to juggle 3 kids, the total was near $200- whoa! How did I get that much in there? Well, that's ok because that is really about where my total was with the gift card and earned money... so I just took it home with me...although I did ask, "What's your return policy?" Joking that my sweet hubby might make me return at least some of what I got. BTW, he was totally ok with it and said I earned it! Love him!

Sooo, then I tried everything on at home and made my sweet hubby sit through a fashion show. Am I so mean or what? Lol! I was still loving all my new clothes but I did leave the tags on. Then the next day came and I tried them on again and tried mixing and matching with clothes I already had. Then I realized that some of the clothes weren't screaming my personality as much as they were just screaming I lost weight and I have new clothes. So again, I set them aside still with the tags on them.

Day three came and guess what?!! Out of the 10 items I purchased, I took back 7 of them!!! Yup sure did. And I still LOVE the three I kept! 

What to learn from this story:

1) Keep your receipts- especially if you are impulse buying.

2) Ask about return policies!! Some stores only give store credit.

3) Don't remove tags for at least 3-5 days after purchase so you KNOW you love it... 

4) Try on the clothes but don't WEAR them for at least 3 days after purchase just in case you DON't end up LOVING them.

5) Return your unloved items for your money back!

What tips do you have to share with others about impulse buying and returns?

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While you are visiting be sure to enter the following giveaways:

FLASH GIVEAWAY- JAMBERRY NAILS
Tropical Traditions Virgin 32 oz Coconut Oil $40 Value

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