I’m often asked ways that I save and as you guys know. Today I'm sharing my tips and tricks with you.

10 Ways to Save

Game Night At Home
Host a Game night instead for going out. You can easily borrow games from friends and family or sell the games that you currently have and are no longer using to purchase new ones.

Used Books
Get Books from Your Local Library or Have share/swap groups with friends/ family. If you have to purchase, purchase used. I’ve found a ton of books at the thrift/consignment shop.

Cancel Memberships
Workout at home instead of going to the gym (YouTube has a ton of workout videos as well as your local library)

Use cash-back apps when purchasing items
 (My Favorites are Top Cash Back and, eBates)
I always use cashback apps when purchasing online and instore. The cashback amount changes daily and they usually offer cashback with almost every store.

Rebates
Use rebates when they’re offered. For instance, for the last couple of years, Bear paint offers rebates Memorial weekend at Homedepot. If I typically need to touch up paint around that time of year for our home. I’ll purchase the paint when they have the rebate offer and save money.

Purchase on Sale 
Most stores have the same sales each. When menu planning. I prefer to menu plan for the month. It gives me a pretty clear view and opportunity to buy the items that I need when they’re on sale.

Research
Do your research it’s so important to do your research. I always do a quick google search prior to making a purchase. For instance, for Father’s Day, my Dad wanted a specific hat. I did a quick Google search and found that same hat on Amazon cheaper buy almost $20.

Sign up for Newsletters 
If you follow me on social media I gave this tip on my social media pages. Sign up for all of your favorite store's newsletter. The Mister wanted something specific for his Father’s Day gift. I wasn’t signed up with the store that I purchased the item from. I signed up with their newsletter and saved over $20 with my first purchase. I was going to make the purchase regardless.

Credit Card Cash Back
(I’m all for using credit cards if you use them responsibly and pay off the entire balance immediately or when the bill arrives. If you struggle in this area skip this option. ) As I prior mentioned the gift I purchased for the Mister also had a cashback offer with my credit card company. I believe I saved $30. I also received points for the purchase as well. These offers change all of the time with credit card companies. Prior to going out shopping or out for dinner. I always check to see what current offers they have.

Quality over Quantity 
Last year I switched antiperspirants. Honestly, it took me forever to make the change. I even did a review on this product on my YouTube channel and also wrote a blog post about it here. This deodorant was three times the cost of the deodorant that I was currently using and honestly, I believe that I’m actually saving more in the long run and the environment at the same time. Because I don’t have to reapply my deodorant throughout the day. I Apple it once. Of course, this changes during the warmer months when I take more showers throughout the day. However, sometimes we think because the upfront cost is pricey that we’re not saving when we’re actually saving in the long run.

Do you have any money saving tips?

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If you follow me on social media. I’m pretty honest about my student loan debt and I’ve recently embarked on a debt free journey. I always feel a little weird about the topic because I take my bills serious. I’m one of those people who try to stay on top of their bills and be mindful of the items I’m purchasing.
To be honest, I think that I’m frugal at heart though. Since I was a little girl I would shop the clearance racks and save the money I made from babysitting. When I became a young adult and started to live on my own. Not really sure what happened. I hated balancing my bank book. I just hated it. When I got serious about my debt free journey. I knew that it was important to really pay attention to my spending habits. What I was spending my money on.
It’s also very important to know how much money you have. Thus a no-brainer for budgeting my checkbook. It wasn't an option for me anymore. It was mandatory if I wanted to be serious about this journey. 

Back History 

When I was a young adult. I honestly didn't know how much money I had in my account. My account was always in the negative (in my early twenties prior to having a credit card). Once I ventured into having a credit card. I started to pay attention and ran into a couple of hiccups due to not knowing my wants from my needs.
However, last year, I decided it was time to pay off my student loans. I don’t want to have students loans forever. I’ve been a fan of so many financial advisors like Suse Orman and Dave Ramsy for years. I’ve read several of their books and found myself eager to make better choices. However, not taking any actions. I wanted to start with the issues I was having and where my money was going.

The Problem  

A couple of years ago, I noticed that I had a hard time telling my family NO. The money and items I was giving them really added up and I was sick and tired of it. It was money that I could put to my debt. When I started to say no more. I started to see peoples true colors. However, I didn’t care or take it personally because I was on a journey to better myself.
I also started to look back and noticed that I’ve been out of graduate school for almost six years now and I haven’t made any major dents with my student loans and I honestly have no excuse. I would see the debt-free community and I would get so inspired.
People making the same amount of money as me, tackling their debt, paying off student loans and even their home.

The Plan 

Though I have a payment plan. I try my best to throw “for lack of better words” whatever money I have on my student loans. Even if it’s $10. Yes, I’ve made $10 payments. Because every little bit counts and I found that you have to tell your money where to go. But you always have to have a purpose/place for your money. If you get $200 dollars today unexpected. What are you going to do with the money? Go shopping, pay off debt, save it make a principal payment on your student loans or mortgage?” When you have no idea what you’re going to do with the money. That’s when the problem starts or at least that’s where the problems started for me. I would get money and make poor decisions with it. Let’s be honest the possibilities are endless when you're not making the right choices... Though I'm still new on this journey and I still have a lot to learn. I'm thankful for all of the motivation that has come my way and the success stories of people getting out of debt. I honestly believe it's a mindset. I told myself for so many years "oh, you're a single mother making "X" amount. You can't afford to save for retirement. etc. That's the type of mindset that gets people nowhere. I don't want that to be me, that will no longer be me. Taking small baby steps but I'm excited about this journey.


Are you currently on a debt-free journey?

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Financial literacy and frugal living is a passion of mine. Each year I try my best to make personal cuts in my living style. Learning my wants from my needs and also learning just because I can afford something for my children doesn't mean that they need to have it. Today I'm sharing 18 Frugal Things I’m Doing To Save Money in 2018. A lot of this is stuff that I am already doing and plan on implementing more in my lifestyle.

Meal Plan
Meal planning saves me and my family a lot of money. One I'm not ordering out as much and we also have the items that are needed in our home which reduces that amount of time that we're at a grocery store.

Shopping List
Going to the store with a shopping list and only purchasing items on your shopping list. Eliminates overspending and purchasing unwanted items.

Crockpot Life
I did some research and found that a crockpot actually saves on your electric bill because of course, you're not using an entire oven. My goal is to make at least one crockpot meal a week.

Groupon for Dates
I never paid attention until recently. However, Groupon has some really great sale offers if you're paying attention to your alerts and emails. Combine a great deal with cashback with eBates and you're saving even more money. My goal is to also watch how much money we're spending on purchase dates as well and to not just buy because of the price if that makes any sense. Last year we took advantage of some really great deals one being our trip to a local brewery. It was a great deal and out of the norm of what we typically do.

Going out for Lunch
I've learned that most cases, lunch is mostly a lot cheaper than dinner options at our local restaurants and we actually save a by going on dates during the day. Is this ideal all the time? No, however, most restaurants offer lunch specials on the weekends as well and our favorite restaurant actually gives great lunch portions.

Flying Budget-Friendly Flights
I know this is not for everyone and not ideal for every situation. However, last year I took my first basic economy flight with United Airways and the price difference was huge. Let me say that I'm team carry on. So in most cases, this works out for me.

Make Homemade
Last year I really tried to focus on creating more homemade meals. Since I eat mostly a plant-based diet. I typically make a ton of desserts, pie crust, and snacks homemade. It's great because I know first hand of what's going in my food and I have more control of the sugar content.

Use Cash Apps
As prior stated, I'm a huge fan of Cash Back apps and my goal is to use them whenever it's applicable. Some of my favorite apps are Top Cash Back, Ebates, DOSH, and Ibotta.

Plan Ahead for Holidays
I am big on planning ahead for the holiday. and it's never too early or too late for you to start too. I want to get better at actually making and budgeting for the holidays in advance no matter how big or small it may be. I found myself. A little last minute with my gift for Michael this year and I could have actually made the gift weeks in advance since I had everything on hand. I also would like to make more DIY gifts in advance, because once the largest holidays come around I typically get really busy and the projects never happen.

Air Dry Clothing
I love air drying my clothes. Of course, it's a lot easier during the warmer months. However, I'm learning to airdry what I can during the winter time and I've been really impressed with how well I've been doing.

Starting a Garden
For the last couple of years, I've started a garden. I try my best to start a garden indoors. However, I typically forget to water the plant. This year I plan on adding more items to my garden and actually starting in advance. I already purchased a couple of items and I can't wait to get started with it.

Amazon Prime
This is actually my second or third year as a prime member and I actually love the service. I have Prime Music which I love and it's nice to get the items shipped two days or receive a credit if I don't need rush shipping. The two-day shipping really comes in handy, especially during the holidays.

Created/Maintain A Routine
During the fall/winter, my routine has been all out of wack and I really miss having a daily routine. What I love about routines is that it actually keeps you on task and your time and money are accounted for. I have a schedule and a to-do list and know what I need to get done. I know what I need to work on next and what I'm making for dinner. I know what time I want dinner started by because I have a routine. It's not perfect. However, it helps me a lot with staying on task.

Homemade Gifts
This year I want to focus more on personalized homemade gifts. I have a silhouette machine and I need to use it. I did such a great job in the past years making personalized homemade gifts. I have to get back on track with making them and actually setting time aside to create them

Stock Up on Sales
I think I'm the self-proclaimed queen of sales. However, I have to get in the habit of stocking up on items that we use on a daily basis. I know the items that we need to keep on hand and typically run out of on a regular basis. Like spaghetti sauce, stuffing, pasta, and cream of chicken etc. Why pay full price when the items regularly go on sale.

Use a Toaster Oven
Last year during Black Friday. We invested in a toaster oven. I'm so happy that we did. I believe we paid under $20 for it. It's not high tech or anything. However, it does the job and it makes it so much easier when making small portions that require an oven.

Wash After 7:00 pm
I learned a couple of years ago that the electric rates change during the day. I also learned by washing after 7:00 pm at night that I could save money. I typically don't implement this as much during the warmer months. Because I'm typically air drying our clothes. However, it really comes in handy during the winter months with having to use our water and dryer a lot more. I would defiantly check with your electric carrier to see if your rates change.

DIY More
I am all for DIY projects around the house and one of my goals is to learn more about doing DIY projects that are typical for homeowners to do. One of my goals is to put down laminate flooring in our living room and dining room. It's not a huge space and it would be nice if we could complete this task in our home.

What are some ways you're planning on saving in 2018?

As a mom, I'm always looking for legal ways to earn extra money. I remember when I was a preteen and I had my first babysitting gig. It was so much fun. I had no idea how good the money was until I became an adult. Years ago I would take surveys to earn a couple of dollars here and there. The survey company I used still do surveys. However, now they have a cashout limit where before they used to send a check by mail every time a survey was completed. Which was really cool, especially as a single mom. That money really came in handy. Today I'm sharing 7 Ways to Earn Extra Money. I am only sharing sites and companies that I use and love. This is the perfect opportunity to pay down some debt, save or even use the extra money to travel with.

7 Ways to Earn Extra Money

Poshmark

I started using Poshmark a couple of years ago. I had just attended a consignment dollar sale. Actually, a couple of dollar sales at my local consignment store and me being me. I picked up any ole thing which led me to have a ton of clothes that I didn't want or couldn't even fit. I learned about Poshmark that fall and started to list the items that I no longer wanted. This eventually started to turn into a part-time gig. I love being a re-seller. Something about the joy of finding a diamond in the rough that makes it so exciting. For those that are new to Poshmark. They pretty much do everything for you. All you have to do is list the item. They'll send the shipping label to you by email and all you have to do is print it out. You can even order the priority boxes online or go to your local post office and they're free. You don't to worry about calculating shipping. Just package and mail! ( Sign up with code MSCEO to save $5: Poshmark )




Dosh is new to me. However, I am so in love with this platform already. You can pretty much save at all of the places you don't typically get to save at with Ebates and iBotta. I was in love with this app when I realized that I could receive cash back for shopping at Savers! I love that you can save at the typical places like hotels and restaurants too. Dosh also has a $5 bonus when you link your cards to the account.

Though Poshmark is my favorite reselling site. Ebay is my second favorite. I typically will cross-list on Poshmark and Mercari, and eBay. I know, it sounds like a lot. I love that you can pretty much sell anything on eBay. Which, is pretty cool. My least favorite part is the shipping. However, you can invest in a food scale or shipping scale and it makes the process a lot easier.

Has a special place in my heart. I've been using eBates for the last couple of years and it really comes in handy especially after the holidays. I actually just received my latest check mid-February which was super cool. Though you get paid quarterly. It's a great way to earn cash back for items that you normally buy.

I found out about TopCashback a couple of years ago. Though when I originally signed up I wasn't an active user. I honestly have fallen in love with this site. Most occasions, TopCashback has better rebate offers than Ebates. What I love most about this site is that they actually run promotions. They had a ton of promotions during the holidays. One of my favorites was when they offered cash back if you made an online purchase before a certain day/time. Can we say? Yes, Please! Who doesn't love free money?!

I've been using ibotta for a couple of years now and I love that I can cash out at $20. This is a great incentive because I'm getting paid for purchasing items that I would normally buy for my household or self. I love that this app also offers online and in-store cashback offers and they also run promotions. ibotta gives payouts at any time once you reach the $20 minimal at some of my favorites stores like Amazon and you can also cash out with PayPal.

I've only used one company for paid surveys and that's Pinecone Research. There are a ton of survey companies out there so do your diligence. This is a wonderful opportunity to earn extra money. Did I earn thousands of dollars? NO, however, it helped with groceries, gas, lunch etc. I think sometimes people get caught up on "oh, It's only X amount." Which is fine. However, if you can use a couple of dollars and you have the time. Why not? What are some of the ways you like to earn extra money? 

Pin for Later

With the busy holidays fast approaching. I love sharing tips with my readers with apps that I’m using on a daily basis to save money. I know there are a ton of apps out there. However, I only share the apps that I know, love, and use on a daily basis. I’ve saved so much money using these apps, and they’re super easy to use.

Ebates

I use Ebates anytime when I shop online. I just received my latest check in the mail the other and it was a great reminder of why I love using this app. I also love this app that if you’re shopping and have your cart filled and remember mid-shopping that you forgot to use the app. You can still click on the app and your items will still be in the shopping cart. This happens to me all the time. Ebates sends checks quarterly or you can opt to receive a gift card from your favorite store.

Groupon

I love using Groupon. It’s perfect for options especially at the last minute for those picky shoppers. I also love it because if you forget to purchase something for someone on your list. You can easily purchase an item or a restaurant voucher. I always try to give people the gifts that I want and I love using Groupon. It’s the perfect way to learn about new restaurants as well. I’ve found some of my favorite Sushi restaurants that I use without a Groupon on Groupon.

Target Cartwheel

As many of you know that I’m a Target addict. I love Target and I was super excited about the Cartwheel app when it was first launched. I remember going to the store and some of the cashiers didn’t even know about the app. Yes, I’ve been using this app for years. I love that I can walk into the store and scan an item or search for an item using keywords to see if the item is on sale. What I love about this app is that it tells you the dates until the offer expires. You can also plan your trip prior to going to the store which I love in case you want to plan ahead.

Ibotta

I love the Ibotta app. They have so many stores in this app. I love that you can connect your loyalty card and you can also use it for mobile purchases. How cool is that? I use this app throughout the year, especially during the holidays. You can even use it for your mobile purchases with Groupon. I love checking to see what are the latest offers prior to shopping online or going to the store. You can really save a ton with the Ibotta app.

Receipt Pal

Receipt Pal is one of my favorite apps to use. You receive cash or gift cards for submitting your receipts. With all that online and in-store shopping that you’re going to have. Why not get money for submitting your receipts? When I’m doing shopping one of the first things that I do is scan my receipts to Receipt Pal. I love that you are given a certain amount of slots a week to submit your receipts and you can also submit receipts for online purchases. What I also love about this recipe is that you have the entire month to submit your receipt. Which is perfect in the event that you immediately don’t submit it.

What are your favorite money-saving apps? 

I wanted to give a quick check in to share how things went with the $20 a week money challenge I created for myself. If you're new to my blog. You can read all about it here and here. I tried my best to carry over what I learned from last month. I'm proud of myself for staying under budget and not focusing on wants and more so focusing on needs. When I first started this challenge. I was embarking on a Vegan challenge as well. At first thought, I assumed that I would spend way more money as a vegan on food. However, I'm coming to the realization that spent way more money as a pescatarian on food. I still struggle with being an impulse shopper. I literally was at the Dollar Tree on the 31st and I purchased three items knowing that it would possibly bring me over budget for the month. Because I was worried that another store might not have the same items. I just have to do better! It's not that serious! I'm also really proud of myself for meal planning and using what I had on hand and not creating meals just below. I do plan on continuing to do these updates to try to inspire my readers to live broke on purpose and to try and live a debt-free lifestyle.

What helped

• Learning wants from needs
• Going to the store with a shopping list
• Meal Planning

Improvements

• Not being an impulse shopper

Total spent: $78.30 October 

Receipt Pal

Ibotta

EBates

Cartwheel

Groupon

Do you have any apps that save you a ton?

How to Save for Expensive School Trips

It's that time of year when school trips are in full swing. Rather, if you're going on your first college trip or you're a parent preparing for your child's first overnight trip. I wanted to share with you a few tips that I used to save for my son's expensive overnight trips.

Fundraiser

Sell Your Craft

Gift Account

Saving

Growing up my parents did not have any type of system when it came to paying bills and saving. I noticed that they pretty much winged it. My Dad worked a lot and my Mom wasn't the Homemaker type. She kept a clean home and cooked. Finances weren't her thing at all. My Dad pretty much worked from sunup to sundown.

felt like seven days a week. He was exhausted when he did have his free time. As a child, I developed my own savings habits. I would babysit and pretty much save all of the money that came my way. I remember going to Bank of America with my Mom and opening a custodial account. I had my bank book and was super excited to start my journey.


As an adult, I've had not so much great moments with debt. From racking up a ton of bills to spending money I didn't have on WANTS. I remember working and going to the bank to deposit my money and every time I would make a deposit my account would be overdrawn. I didn't track my spending and bill pay and the bank was making a ton of money off of me from overdraft fees. This was way before the time of online banking and mobile deposits. I clearly had no idea what I was doing and at times would find myself wondering what happened to the young lady that took pride of her savings habits? I quickly got it together when I realized that I wanted to purchase my first house at the age of twenty-one. I worked on my wants/ needs and would not take any extravagant trips because I knew I couldn't afford it. Trust me getting to the road I'm on wasn't perfect. I've learned a lot and still have a lot to learn. Fast forward to today and I am so proud of myself for taking the step to creating a Budget Binder. For the last couple of years, I've used a folder to house all of our bills and a bill pay form. I love this system. However, I wanted a place that would include everything that's needed for my family. At some point, I would like to create a Home Management Binder. However, for now, I'm happy that I took the initiative needed to start on my debt free journey. I created a video sharing the items I decided to use and why. It doesn't take much to create a Budget Binder. I pretty much used everything that we had on hand and decided to create and use printable I found online. I will keep you guys updated on my journey. Thanks for taking the time to read this

Do you have a Budget Planner or Binder?

Making My Budget Binder Video