budget – Page 9 – Luv Saving Money

After About 16 Years We Finally Switched Cell Phone Carriers and Saved Big Money

Years ago, I started my wireless service with AT&T. At the time it was just me and I don’t think smart phones were really a big thing. Maybe they were but I just don’t remember. My bill wasn’t bad and I got a nice discount through my employer.

When my husband and I got engaged I added him to my cell phone plan. Still it was reasonable and again, I don’t think smartphones were that big at the time. I think I had a plan that had unlimited talk and 200 texts a month. That was just fine for the two of us.

After we got married we ended up adding my father-in-law to the plan. Then several years down the road my oldest son. Cell phones and plans changed and our wireless bill was crazy. Even with the 24% discount I was getting through my employer it was insane. We stayed with AT&T though because we’ve had our numbers for so long and figured that was as good as we were going to get given the nice discount through my employer.

Then AT&T started with sketchy sales tactics. “Oh you’re getting a new iPhone we have a promotion right now where you can get a new ipad for $1” I asked about the catch, of course we had to add another line for it. I did it but almost immediately regretted it but we were stuck with it then. After having it for a year and a half I did a live chat. I told them I wanted to remove the ipad from our plan because it never connected to service anyway and could only use it with wifi. I told them I only wanted to do it if there was not going to be a penalty. If there was then we’d just keep it on the plan until we had to. They said no problem, took it off our plan then charged us $60.

We had talked about switching over to Consumer Cellular for some time but still had payments left on our phones. The ipad incident made me want to be done with AT&T. A few coworkers had switched to Consumer Cellular and save a lot of money. Then my father -in-laws phone broke. All the new phones were expensive or required a 2 year contract. I got a call from a sales agent for AT&T trying to talk me into getting my father in law a new Samsung for only $1 and I could save money if I switched plans and there would be a two year contract. I thought, oh no it’s the pad incident all over again. I said no. My husband and I decided it was time to call Consumer Cellular.

The sales agent was so nice and helpful. Answered all the questions I had and then some. You guys, we are saving over $100/mo by switching over AND get WAYYY more data to use. We only had 4 GB of data to share between the 4 of us with AT&T. Of course that never worked out with my teenage son and me being a blogger and social media influencer. We now have 25GB of data with Consumer Cellular for less!! Even without my employer discount. We have the same coverage because they use AT&T and T-mobile cell towers, we got to keep our phones, and keep our numbers!If you want to check out Consumer Cellular to see if they can save you money on your wireless bill too check out Consumer Cellular’s website here.

The links in this post are my Consumer Cellular referral link. If you go through one of those you’ll also get a $10 credit on your first bill!

Create Images For Your Needs with DesignCap

As a blogger and social media influencer, I used design websites and software fairly often. There is one in particular I had been using for years which will remain nameless. One day I decided to cute expenses and got rid of that website. Then I realized how much I used it. When I decided to sign up again they raised the prices. I felt like I had no choice though. Having no graphic design knowledge, I needed simple. Then I came across DesignCap.

DesignCap is very affordable even offering a free option. The top tier account is DesignCap Plus and it’s still more affordable than that other site I was using.

Design cap is not just for header images and social media headers though. They offer templates for infographics, business cards, invitations, reports, brochures, and more! Making this a great tool for businesses and entrepreneurs to use too. Create images for your needs. Pull from DesignCaps stock photos or your own.

Here is just one example of the eye-catching templates on DesignCap:

DesignCap is easy to use and requires no graphic design experience. You can use one of the templates or create your own designs. Add in your own business pictures, change words, fonts, sizes, whatever you want.

DesignCap is localized to 7 different languages including: English, German, Spanish, Japanese, Portuguese, French, Chinese.

The site was so easy to use. They offered more options for images, icons, colors, and fonts than the old site I was using. I created the header images for this post in a matter of minutes. It was so easy, no stress or frustration. I encourage you to try it out today.

Visit DesignCap.com to create an account.

I was gifted the DesignCap Plus account to try it out all the features for this post. No other compensation has been received.

Best Way SleepLux Mattress Review

So about a month ago, my mother in law asked me if she could stay over night at our house to spend some time with the kids. She said her husband was working late shift and she didn’t really want to be by herself anyway. So I said, of course. I figured she could sleep in my one son’s room since he wasn’t there that night anyway. Well my two youngest told her they wanted to stay to all sleep in the living room. My mother in law ended up having to sleep on the love seat, my youngest son slept on the floor in a sleeping bag. My daughter tried to sleep on the couch with grandma but didn’t make it and ended up going upstairs to her own bed. I had thought a few times before that we needed an air mattress but this really did it.

Then about a week later my son had friend sleep over. We had received the SleepLux 22 ” Queen mattress and the SleepLux 15″ twin mattress to review. The kids got to try out the mattress that night.

I could not believe how easy they were to set up. If I can go back about a decade or so ago, we had an air mattress but we had to pump it up with a bicycle pump and it was a real PIA to set up. It ended up getting a hole it in it, we tossed it out and hadn’t had one since. BUT the Bestway SleepLux ones are AMAZING. You just plug them in to the wall with a little plug that is attached and tucks away in it’s own compartment. You turn the little knob to the right and it pumps itself up! Less than 5 min y’all!

You would not believe how excited our guests were to try it out too. The adults wanted to try it out, the kid wanted to try it out, you name it. Well The kids ended up sleeping on it for the slumber party. They all told me it was really comfortable and asked if we could leave the up for a while.

To take them down, you just turn the knob the other way and wait for it to deflate. Once deflated you can fold them up and put them into their own convenient storage/carrying bag. The bags are actually pretty sturdy and have a strap on them so they are easy to take with you on a camping trip, for a sleepover, or wherever you might need to use it.

Unfortunately, some of our guests couldn’t make it. The flu has been going around something fierce in our area. I just had my son off of school last week due to some flu-like symptoms. But that brings me to another point, these mattresses are easy to clean too.

Bestway SleepLux air mattresses are surprisingly affordable for the value!

You can find Bestway SleepLux air mattresses at Walmart

I received the above mentioned products at no cost from Tryazon. This post also contains affiliate links.

Why Choose Extended Stay America?

When searching for family friendly, pet friendly, affordable accommodations for a trip or vacation it seems like it can be a lot to ask for. We’re a family of 6. Most hotels can’t accommodate all 6 of us so we’d have to book 2 rooms at least. I feel like often time we have to give up amenities just to keep the cost down. In the end it really doesn’t help anyway because most hotel rooms don’t have a way to cook in the room other than a microwave if you’re lucky. Which runs into money eating out for all the meals with a family of 6. If you can find a room with decent amenities to accomodate a family then asking if you can take Fido or mittens along too, you may as well forget it. Then you have to look at hiring a pet sitter or boarding your pet which…again…runs into more money.

There is one place though that will save you all the hassles while being surprisingly affordable. Extended Stay America.

With Extended Stay America you can enjoy the benefits that you’d expect to find in a hotel like housekeeping services, clean rooms, convenient locations, and wifi, mixed with things you’d expect to see more in a condo or vacation rental like: a kitchen with a refrigerator, microwave, and stove top, on-site guest laundry.

Think of the money you’d save not having to eat all your meals out. Oh speaking of which, many Extended Stay America locations also offer FREE grab-and-go breakfast so there’s one of your meals taken care of already!

There are flat screen tv’s in all rooms so after a long day of having fun and exploring you can relax with your favorite show before bed or catch the news to plan your next day’s adventures.

While you’re relaxing you’ll notice the upgraded bedding with extra pillows to help ensure a good night sleep. So comfortable you might forget you’re not at home especially when Fido is whining to be taken outside. Which brings me to another point.

Extended Stay America knows a vacation just isn’t a vacation if you fur babies aren’t with you. Or if your staying temporarily until your new home is ready. That’s why Extended Stay America allows up to 2 pets per room at just $25 extra per pet to stay for cleaning service. Even at that, still a lot cheaper than boarding your pet.

With so many locations you can find one close to your destination. I saw there is one in Wilmington, NC. We keep thinking about visiting Wilmington again to check out the beaches. I’d love to go back to the plantation house in Wilmington again. They offer blacksmithing classes that my husband is interested in.

Rooms start at just $65 per night! Honestly I just did a search for June for the Wilmington area and was surprised to see there are still several room choices available and the most expensive one I saw was $114/night but that will all the bells and whistles of daily full service housekeeping and a sleeper sofa in addition to the 2 beds in the room.

Check out Extended Stay America for your upcoming vacation or business trip and book here:

This post does contain affiliate links. I will get a small commission from sales made through my links. Any opinions expressed are my own.

NEW Snail Mail For Kids: Kids Get Personalized Letters in the Mail!

Kids love getting stuff in the mail. I know mine do. Snail Mail for Kids is a new opportunity for them to get something fun and personalized through the mail.

Snail Mail for kids will send your kids a personalized letter once a week. You can choose monthly, 3 month or 6 month plans. You kids or grand kids will receive letters personalized to them with fun things included like stickers, trading cards, souvenirs, and more.

I know my kids would be coming home from school going “Did my snail mail come in yet?” Everyone likes getting something fun in the mail right? Hmm maybe they should make this for adults too lol

I was surprised to see how affordable it was to get weekly mailings. You can get your first box for 50% off!

My question personally was, ok I have 2 kids that would enjoy this I guess I’d have to pay for 2 subscriptions. NOPE it actually says that if you have 2 children it says they can include 2 kids and 2 enclosures at no additional cost. I think that’s awesome. If you have more than 2 kids you can have the letters addressed to the entire family. IE The Smith Family. That’s awesome. As a mom of 4, so often I’ve had to pass on things because I just couldn’t afford to do it for everyone. It’s hard to get a subscription box for one kid then another kids going “Can I get one too?”

While some subscription services can get pretty expensive this one is much more affordable especially for families with multiple children!

I think this could be an interesting way to encourage reading in kids. My youngest is 6 years old and learning to read. She’s doing pretty well but, anything I can do to encourage a love of reading, I’ll try it.

Snail Mail for Kids is also giftable. Just choose the gift option.

This post does contain affiliate links. I will get a small commission from sales made through my links.