Swagbucks

Have you heard about Swagbucks? I just got an e-mail from a friend about it. Basically it's a search engine that earns you $$ every time you do a search. Since I do a lot of searches online, it's a nice way to earn a gift card or two every month. Here's how it works. You earn points everytime you perform one of the four following:

1) Search - Each time you use the Swagbucks search engine which you can download as a toolbar, you have a chance to win either 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 points.

2) Shop - For every $5 you spend, you earn 1 Swagbuck. This can be another way to add up points if you plan to do a lot of online shopping this holiday season.

3) Invite friends - For each person you refer, every time they win points, you win the same number of points! You can earn up to 100 pts per friend you refer. This can add up nicely in the long run.

4) Go Green - If you have old cell phones or mp3 players, you can earn Swagbucks by trading them in. I happen to have an old Nokia 6100 cell phone which I don't use anymore. It will get me about 20 swagbucks. Not bad at all.

What can I get for the points I accumulate?

There are lots of prizes you can claim. For example, here are some gift cards you can claim. I like gift cards because they're like cash. I am especially interested in the Amazon GCs because they require low points so 90 points can get you $10. Not bad at all. We also shop a lot at Target so I am interested in the $20 Target GC as well.

45 points = $5 AmazonGC
50 points = $5 Starbucks GC
99 = $5 Subway GC
115 = $10 Barnes & Noble GC
145 = $15 iTunes GC
220 = $20 Target GC
270 = $25 Disney.com GC
350 = $25 Exon Mobile GC

If you're interested, here's how to sign up! Swagbucks

Keep those paws warm

Skittles, our 4 month old cat loves heat. She used to sit on my notebook keypad or on my husband's PC unit at night when the temperature drops. As soon as I get up from my desk to pour myself a hot drink, my cat would hop on my laptop and plant herself firmly on the spot, refusing to budge until I drag her off paw by paw. Finally, I had this moment of "ah ha" and came up with the idea of making her a thermo pad/bed out of an old puffy jacket.



The concept is pretty simple. I got the idea from one of those self-warming pads for pets that I saw online. I was curious what made the pad "self-warming" and after some online research found that the material they used was mylar. Mylar is really cheap. They sell it as thermo blanket for camping/outdoor recue and they also use it to make car sunshade. As the weather gets colder, this is a DIY project that you can tackle. It's not hard and your pet will love it. One thing you need to know for this project is how to sew, either by hand or with a machine. I didn't have a sewing machine at the time so I hand sewed the whole thing. It actually wasn't too bad.

Here's the instruction: How to Make a Thermo Cat/Dog Bed from Puffy Jacket. Try to follow the instruction if you can. If not, as long as you get the idea and can sew the basic structure together securly and neatly, you can make it any shape you want as long as your cat and dog can squeeze inside the thing. If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment.

Savvier at being frugal

Today, we got some pretty good deals at Kroger. Here's what we got for $3.43 OOP after coupons and Mega Sale $5 back for 10 special purchase items.

Kroger Mega Sale items:

Nestle Carnation Evaporated Milk : $0.50 ea after MS discount - $1 off 2 coupon = 8 free cans (using 4 coupons)
Gold Medal Unbleached All Purpose : $1.50 ea after MS discount - $1 off coupon (it says for whole wheat only but they let me use it for unbleached so YMMV) = $0.50 for 5 lb flour
Quaker Quakes Rice Snacks = $0.50 ea after MS discount

Kroger Non Mega Sale items:

Eggland's Best : 2.69- $0.35 off coupon x 3 (11/9 insert) = $1.64
Kroger Peeled Baby Carrots 32 oz : $0.79 (manager's special)

Total = $3.43 after coupons and Mega Sale discount


Compared to last year, we've definitely scaled down on the amount of coupon shopping that we do this year. Like many coupon shoppers, we came to realize that time spent looking for and clipping coupons as well as planning transactions and trips add up. Sometimes, we see a deal and say to ourselves ok we have to go get it today before the deal ends or the item sells out. Trying to catch a deal often means more frequent shopping trips to the grocery store costing us both gas and time. We used to justify these trips by saying yeah but we saved so much money in the end. True, but why stress yourself out if there are smarter ways to get the job done. Now we plan purchases around the things that we need, not just what's on sale. We also decided to start using cash and not credit card to make our purchases. This, in addition to cutting down on the number of shopping trips we make, definitely help us keep track of both money and time. Now we have more time to do the things that we enjoy like cuddling on the couch with a hot cup of chocolate and a good book, watching movies at home on weekends, and chasing the cat down as she tries to run away with my hair band ...