This is a guest post from Money Saving Methods. It originally appeared on Coupon Cravings.
My name is Carrie and I am the author of Money Saving Methods. And, if you couldn’t tell from the title of my blog, I write about different methods I use to save and earn money from home. I am a stay-at-home (blogging) mom raising 3 kids (4, if you count my husband!).
Although saving is an essential part of financial well-being for your family (I love coupon shopping, sale shopping, etc.), so is earning extra money from home. If you track both together, you can make a substantial impact on your family finances, and every little bit helps.
So, I would like to share a few of my favorite money-makers.
1) Surveys. These can be money-makers that you do at your own convenience. Not only do you get to give your opinion, but you get paid. At times, you will get items to test at home or be invited to participate in focus groups. Some of the companies even give you a bit of money when you complete your pre-screening questions for each survey.
The key with Surveys is to NOT pay for any of these companies online that promise you will make a living doing this. I am here to tell you that it won’t happen. You will make money, but a realistic amount. Many people save up their earnings and cash out during the holidays to help pay for holiday shopping.
2) Mystery Shopping. Do you like to shop? What about going out to eat at restaurants with your family? If you do, Mystery Shopping is a wonderful way to make some extra money or get free dinners out, etc.
If you apply with legit (never pay) companies, you will begin to receive shop requests daily that you can apply for and, if accepted, complete. One of my readers recently got a $450 Gym membership for free just for filling out a report each month. How fun is that?
My favorite shops are always dinner shops, as I can bring my whole family…kids included. Other times, my husband and I have gone to very nice and expensive restaurants we would not have frequented otherwise. And, my kids favorites? The pizza shops!
3) Bank Offers. Do you see all those advertisements for $100 free to open a new checking account or $50 free to set up a savings account? Most of these have very easy stipulations to meet and before you know it, you have free money in your account. And, as many people don’t realize, they usually do soft pulls on your credit, so they do NOT affect your credit score. Yay!
The other benefit, you will find many banks have wonderful programs that might actually interest you and be beneficial financially. It is worth trying these institutions out and getting a bonus.
4) Online Offers. My all time favorite. I have been doing these for 3 years and have made a very nice income off of them…approx. $20,000. Next time you see a pop-up advertisement online for a free Plasma TV, don’t automatically assume it is a scam. Of course, research to make sure it is a legit company, or check my site, but consider how much extra money you could make for your family with these.
I just received a $500 VISA Gift Card in the mail a few weeks ago. And, to top it off, my readers’ accumulated earnings for March were over $11,000 in free money, 2 Wii’s and 2 Wii Fits. It is the most exciting earning opportunity from home! I can’t speak highly enough about these companies.
These are just a few of the money makers I enjoy and utilize for my own family each year. Don’t forget, there are ways to make money each and every day. Do you have a checking account? Is it a High Interest account? If not, you are losing out on money for something you use every day.
Do you grocery shop? Fill your car up with gas? If so, are you utilizing a credit card that pays maximum out on these services? We have a card that pays 5% and 3% back on these. Of course, we pay them off in full each month!
And, remember, as I said earlier, every little bit helps! When you combine earnings and savings together, the impact to your own family can be amazing!
Easter morning Hubby and I went out to breakfast and I ate 3.5 crisp slices of bacon, above, plus one sausage (for which I traded a half slice of bacon). I had a turkey burger for lunch and pork tacos for dinner so I covered a lot of ground.
If I learned anything about giving up meat for Lent, it is that I really like to eat meat, I am very lucky to be able to eat it everyday, and that I can save a lot of money going vegetarian.
We ate breakfast at Alphie’s, a low-key diner in Goleta, which is about 10 minutes north of Santa Barbara. Alphie’s offered friendly service, good food, and a pleasant setting. Plus, TASTY homemade biscuits.
Every other Sunday Alphie’s has live jazz starting at 10:30 a.m. We did not stay long enough to hear music as we had Easter eggs to dye with my nephews, who had as much fun dying their fingers as their eggs. Many of them ended up a greenish-brown color. The eggs, I mean!
Visit Alphie’s at 5725 Hollister Ave in Goleta. 805-683-1202.
Kiplinger.com, one of my favorite sources of personal finance advice, has a great post on teaching kids financial literacy. They recommend three Web sites, one appropriate for elementary-age children, another for middle and high schoolers, and a third for college students.
You’ve probably heard that bank failures are pushing FDIC fees for surviving banks up a LOT. Guess who will end up paying for them? That’s right. You and me.
Dealing with economic stress? Who isn’t. The NYTimes suggests coping techniques, like putting your worries on paper before you sleep.
Time is money, which means when you are trying to adjust a bill, reverse a charge, or negotiate a price it is super important to get a customer service person on the line quickly.
How many times have you passed up an opportunity to save money because you dread waiting on hold? I’ve got my hand raised (darn Time Warner bill.)
Well now you can save time – and money – more easily with GetHuman.com. This Web site is one huge list of corporate phone numbers and tips to get to a customer service representative immediately. I tested out three numbers with mixed results.
Call No. 1: Abercrombie & Fitch
I followed their directions and got a person on the line within 15 seconds!
Call No. 2: AT&T Wireless
Used their tip and within 30 seconds got a customer service agent who helped me switch the primary line on our family plan from my number to Hubby’s number.
Call No. 3: Fidelity
I sat on hold for 6 minutes and 30 seconds before giving up. To be fair, the entire time I was in the queue for a real person and it is the start of a holiday weekend. But still.
GetHuman was created by three guys who wanted to help “the voices of millions of consumers who want to be treated with dignity when they contact a company for customer support.” Read more about the site here.
Thanks, NoDebtU!
The upscale stationery store Carmody & Co in Pasadena is having a 10% off sale, including wedding invitations, presents for college graduates, and general stationery. Visit them at 121 E Union St. in Pasadena. 626-795-2924.
A Facebook friend of mine named Michele Miles Gardiner unintentionally started a fun game yesterday. She writes: “Due to the new financial climate where the Fed is printing money like toilet paper, my husband and I are thinking of new numbers. Here’s mine: Gadzook-illions. Here’s my husbands: incomprehensi-billions.”
Other friends suggested:
nonsensicallions
screwthepeopllions
notworthshitillions
laughatrillions
Hmmm…I’m still trying to come up with one. What do you suggest?
If you have money to spend on a mother’s day gift and need present ideas, I like Surprise.com. The site lets you search for gifts by personality type, including many that are relevant for Moms:
Crossword Puzzler
Career Woman
Organic Only
Soccer Mom
Loves Their Pet
Environmentally Friendly
Foreign Culture Buff
Browse all their categories here, or go straight to Mother’s Day Gifts.
[poll id="16"]
Shopping Notes is a site that will email you when a particular product goes on sale. Just plug in the Web site address of the item you want and your email and it sends you a note when the item goes on sale. I tried it with a two-piece suit from Target that is $15 per piece.
Shopping notes also will accept Web site addresses for non-product URLs (like the home page for Bell Bike Helmets) so make sure you have the Web site address for the specific item you want.
The downside to the site is that you cannot ask it to track sales for categories of items, like a red top or black pumps.
Zingsale may be the answer to this oversight! On Zingsale you enter an item description and chose one of 27 departments it falls into (for example, TV – electronics). Then click search and browse the results.
Strangely, a search for bikini swim suit in the apparel department returned many pet items. Women’s swim bikini narrowed it down a bit. I signed up for an alert when the price of this pink bikini, above, drops by at least 10%. The starting price is $68 so it’s going to have to drop by a LOT more for me to consider buying it.
I went to the Santa Monica farmer’s market on Main Street last weekend for the first time in months and I couldn’t believe how outrageous the prices were. I paid $16 for:
4 tangelos ($3)
4 carrots ($1.50)
4 yellow onions ($1.50)
3 red onions ($1.50)
1 bunch arugula ($3)
1 dozen brussels sprouts ($2)
1 small baguette ($1)
4 small organic apples ($2.50)
The quality was high for everything but the carrots, which had soft tips the next day. But I don’t believe that quality alone accounts for these high prices (and only the apples were organic). At an ethnic grocery I could have gotten these veggies for about $6. So what am I paying the extra $10 for?
Selection of exotic dates, chocolates and cheeses that I will never buy ($1.25)
Live music that 3-year-olds like to dance to ($3.75)
Beautiful people watching ($2.50 – I once saw Helen Hunt with her Hubby and kid)
Chance to give my non-existent kid a pony ride ($2)
Pleasant crowds that let me believe, for a few minutes, that not everybody in LA drives everywhere ($.50)
I am happy to pay for the crowds, which remind me of the hustle and bustle of New York City, and I will admit that I like the music and I like watching silly 3-year-olds dance. But in my perfect world I’d get all this and much lower prices. Perhaps next time I should just linger without buying anything. Does that make me cheap and creepy – or just cheap?
The Go Frugal blog at FreeShipping.org has a post about the top five iPhone applications that will save you money.
I’ve been meaning to blog about Fring, one of the apps mentioned in this post, but the others I am new to. If you have an iPhone, check it out!
Thanks, Luke!
The folks at MainStreet.com created a handy chart that ranks the happiness of people living in each state based on three factors: the number of foreclosures, unemployment and debt.
Nebraska is top-ranked. California is No. 49. Half of the top 10 states are in the Midwest. I encourage you to check the chart out and read their story about the ranking.
The Washington Post has launched a new blog that is similar to Bargain Babe. It’s called Small Change and it has stories about how the authors save money.
One recent post that caught my eye was about a story in the Wall Street Journal debating whether the current frugal culture will last after the economy recovers.
“The nearly $13 trillion loss of wealth since the recession began and the shaken confidence in the capitalist system is prompting a more powerful move toward frugality than usual,” the story says.
The stickiness of our frugal culture will be tested soon. Americans are getting more optimistic about the economy, according to a story in the NY Times that ties this shift to Obama’s presidency. “The percentage of people who said the economy was getting worse has declined from 54 percent just before Mr. Obama took office to 34 percent today,” the story says. “And 20 percent now think the economy is getting better, compared with 7 percent in mid-January.”
[poll id="15"]
Southwest is having a fare sale to celebrate flying into LaGuardi starting June 28. Flights from many cities across the country into New York are $99 or less one way.
Don’t delay if you are considering a summer vacation that involves air travel. The best flights will be gone in a few hours.
These fares are good everyday but Friday and Sunday.
Caveats: purchase by April 20, 2009 and travel between June 29 through August 13, 2009. Blackout Dates Apply: July 2 – July 6, 2009. Fares are not combinable with Senior Fares.
UPDATE: Virgin America is having a fare sale, too. Prices are for travel from April 14 to June 10, and Aug. 25 to Oct. 14. Purchase tickets by April 20. Samples fares include LA/SD/OC to Seattle for $59 to $69 and Boston to LA for $109. Expect higher fares are for travel on Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays.
Do you wonder if you will ever make and save enough money to live well and retire comfortably? My new favorite blog, Productivity 501, identifies 10 signs you will always be poor. Read ‘em, they’re good!
I am guilty of No. 6, though it has not happened in two years.
