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Saturday, January 25, 2014

How to play for Less Part zillion: Online Savers

Hey hey there!  Well, we are in another deep freeze in Western NY and you know what?  i'm tired of hearing crap about the weather.  I think I'll just make some crock pot soup, run my little heart out on the treadmill (cause it's only gonna make me stronger) and enjoy the winter.  Yep, I said it.  Gonna enjoy it.  As I got in my 8 miler this morning (woop woop) I was thinking about how I would enjoy this freeze for 5 minutes at mile 9 in Musselman in July....grass is always greener.  Done with it.  My grass might be snow covered, but I've got what I need right here.  Boo.  Ya.  On with it.
What I don't have...are limitless funds.  And I know you guys don;t either.  After the holidays and the litany of New Years "I'ma do betters"  I bet (the money I don't have) that everyone wants to try to save a few bucks in 2014.  And I'm with ya.  So since I lamed out at helping everyone save with Christmas, I'm gonna do a quick overview of my "livin' it online savings" latelys (aside from the obvious ebates, groupon sites, and craigslist).....here we go!

1.  Checkout 51 - Similar to Ibotta, but without the smart phone (I'm an idiot, I just can't get Ibotta. I know).  They post a list of things you can shop for each week and you snap a pic with your phone of your receipt and upload.  Easy peasy.  I made $4.50 shopping last week and $1.50 this week - just by getting stuff I already needed (eggs, cereal, OJ, etc.)  when you get to $20, you can cash out with paypal or amazon.  Free money.  Cool.

2.  Savingstar - Another grocery savings site....this one does e coupons, but the neat part is that it links to your loyalty cards - so you go in, upload your shoppers card numbers (Tops, CVS, Wegmans, etc.) and clip the online coups you use.  When you buy the items, it credits your account, and after $5.00 you can cash out with online gift cards or paypal (be careful, in a sleep deprived state, my husband informed me that my amazon gift card....was only good at Amazon (face palm)).  The cool thing about this site is you can still use paper coupons for the items - so my store had yogurt on sale for 2/4 for a 4 pack, and I had a 74 cent coupon off 2, and so did savingstar.  So I used the 75 cent coupon, which doubled, then savingstar, which made the yogurt $1.75 for 8 containers, or roughly 20 cents a container.  awesome.

3.  FaceBook "Pass it on" sites...I belong to Free for All, Rochester Pass it On, and Simply Free.  These sites are great - people pass along things they don't need any more, no strings attached.  The only goodwill catch is that you aren't allowed to re-sell them - you need to pass it on when done.  I've gotten Rob 2 snowsuits, a v tech steering wheel, an activity mat, and learn to tie dolls from the site, and I've passed on duplicate books, some bibs, and any formula check I get.  I sort of feel like every time I get something, I need to pass something on, but thats not a rule- just my yin/yang working.  The free site has a big "sale" in Rochester on February 8, and I can't wait to pass on some of my no longer neededs and get some bebe stuff...for free!  Add it to your pages - you'll be glad you did!

4. Energy Saver programs -  Not sure if RGE does this, but my energy provider (NYSEG) pays me to be energy conscious.  So when I use a more efficient bulb, turn down the water heater, or unplug my computer outlet when not in use, they give me credits.  I earn roughly $5 every 3 months, and you can either credit your account or cash in for a Target or Walmart gift card.  I get the gift card 'cause I feel like it's more fun :-)

There ya go!  Not rocket science, but maybe a few new ideas for your 2014 savings repertoire.  Have a great weekend!  It's a double run weekend and hanging out with my slightly sick kid-ster weekend here....babe wants mommy when hes stuffy, and I am all sorts of there.  C'mon, who wouldn't be?

1 comment:

  1. You can earn $20 for completing a 20 minute survey!

    Guess what? This is exactly what big companies are paying for. They need to know what their customer base needs and wants. So big companies pay millions of dollars every month to the average person. In return, the average person, myself included, fills out surveys and gives them their opinion.

    ReplyDelete