money saving tips – Page 3 – 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.

Happy Cornerz Sticky Trap Review and Set Up

Happy Cornerz Sticky Traps help catch and monitor pests

It’s December in Pennsylvania. Most people wouldn’t think bugs would be an issue right now. Outside that might be true but inside is a different story. There’s still flies buzzing in the house, fruit flies that seem to pop up every now and then, occasionally lady bugs that found their way in from the cold. We always have house centipedes and spiders in the basement and garage. We tend to not mind them and the lady bugs so much because they eat some of the other pests. Even though the house centipedes are super creepy looking.

The one pest that drives me crazy though are the stink bugs. We started getting stink bugs in our house about 3 years ago. See, they were brought over in a ship from Japan that docked in Allentown. Not on purpose, they just hitched a ride on a cargo ship. Since then they’ve made their way across Pennsylvania and other states. They have no natural enemies and they multiply quickly. Creatures that typically eat bugs like birds leave them along for the most part because of their stink secretion. They’re sort of like the skunks of the bug world. Other than being creepy you can’t just step on them or squish them in other ways because the omit this terrible smell that seems to last forever. I thought I was being smart one day when I vacuumed up a bunch of them. Two problems with that is, the stink bug smell lasted in my vacuum forever and every time I turned it on it would omit that smell. The other, if I didn’t empty the canister outside right away they didn’t die and would find their way out. They can creep through minuscule cracks including window sills.

Sure we tried the bug traps marketed specifically for stink bugs. We even tried bug bombing but it didn’t work. They’re resilient little suckers. The only thing that somewhat helped was to make a spray bottle up with water and a tablespoon of Dawn dish liquid. When you see one just spray it. It couldn’t omit its terrible smell then, it would eventually die from suffocation.

Do they bite? No they don’t but they have no regard for personal space. They’ll sit on your pillow, they’ll fly into your hair (yes they fly), they’ll chill out on the outside of your cup, they don’t care. They make this buzzing sound when their wings beat too that creeps me out. Oh and they smell bad when you try to kill or swat at them.

If we’re not talking about my own personal annoyances with stink bugs they also eat crops and trees. I think that’s one reason we have such an issue compared to our neighbors. We have huge butternut trees that tower over our house. In the fall you can see them in droves climbing up the sides of the house to get to the attic for the winter. I don’t even like to go into the attic anymore. Those nasty things are everywhere.

Introduction to the Happy Cornerz Sticky Trap

Happy Cornerz sticky traps comes along and we decide to give that a try. It’s not poisonous, can use it almost anyway, easy to install, when it’s full just take it down and throw it out.

Sticky traps are versatile in that, you can use them as flat sticky traps or corner traps. they can go in cupboards, on wall joints, shelves, where you need little creepy pests taken care of. If you’re not sure what kind of pests you’re dealing with IE your cereal is disappearing in your cupboard, Happy Cornzers sticky traps are also great for insect and pest monitoring.

Happy Cornerz has been university tested at the Texas A & M Department of Entomology in the Rollins Urban and Structural Entomology facility. They’ve also been tested by a few pest control companies. The hope is that Happy Cornerz sticky traps will be a helpful addition to both pest control experts and private consumers as well.

Installation and Use

I created a video talk to you about the Happy Cornerz glue traps. The video will give you a better look at how you’ll receive the traps, how to use the traps, and where you can use the traps.

Opinions on the Happy Cornerz Sticky Trap

I’m intrigued with how well these worked in the winter time in PA. I’m eager to try these in the spring and summer for ants, mosquitos, etc. I can see where these could also be helpful in sheds, barns, garages, and other buildings. Do you have an ant problem in the cupboard? Use a Happy Cornerz sticky trarp as a flat trap and catch those little buggers. I’m betting you could catch loads of them in that way.

If you’re dealing with a cockroach problem they like to gather in the corners which made the corner placement option fo these idea. They can be set up at ground level or the upper wall corners. They can be placed in the back corner of a cupboard. Wherever you’re dealing with your pests.

Because they’re glue traps, there’s no concerns about safety with pets or children. Worse case scenario is it getting stuck to a pet’s fur. I have 3 cats though and they haven’t bothered with the traps.

They could even be cut if you wanted a better fit in a certain corner or shelf if necessary. Using them as a flat trap would work out nice for the top of refrigerators or high kitchen cupboards. The could also slide easily under microwaves stands, couches or beds.

I was happy to see that at least one of the traps we set up did capture a stink bug. That’s my #1 pest issue so if this trap can do that I’m happy to have it in my home.

I received free samples of the product in order to complete this review and video. Any opinions expressed are my own.

How Do I Save Money On Tires?

If you’ve had to replace tires recently, you know that they’re not cheap. But are there any ways to save on tire? There’s a few options

Coupons, Rebates, and Sales

Tires stores and dealers will sometimes offer deals, coupons, or mail-in rebates. Bridgestone, for instance, currently has a $70 mail-in rebate deal on tires. I’ve seen Firestone offer buy 3 get 1 free deals. Michelin currently has an offer for a $100 reward card with the purchase of 4 new tires. Club stores like Sam’s Club also offer deals on tires frequently.

Have you considered Retread?

So you need tires but you’re not finding a good sale or deal. Have you considered retreads? You may be able to have your own tires retread or buy tires that have already been retread. This can be a cheaper option. Not all tires can be retread to so you can ask at tire supplier that offer retreading.

Extend the Life of your Tires

Your tires are good, you just want to make them last as long as possible. Proper tire care can not only extend the life of your tires but also prevent more expensive repairs. Learn about the importance of tire care and why it pays to take care of the tires you have.

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

Easy and Affordable Eco-Friendly Swaps

I’ve been wanting to do better in regard to making better choices for the earth. I realize there is a lot of changes I need to make. It’s a little overwhelming. One thing I started doing was to keep a stash of reusable shopping bags in my car so I wouldn’t forget them when I’d go shopping. Here are a few more changes I’m making

Choosing Eco-friendly Stores

I’ve been shopping at Aldi more. Even though it’s a bit out of the way they’ve been more eco-friendly for a while and continue to make changes to do better, themselves. Aldi fairly recently announced they would be moving to fully sustainable packaging by the year 2025. There are tons of options for reusable shopping bags out there. I’ve actually got quite a few from local events, swag bags, etc for free.

Making Eco-friendly Swaps

So one issue I kept having was disposable utensils. We have a lot of get-togethers with a lot of people multiple times a year. The idea of washing that many dishes and utensils was daunting but the reality is, I don’t own enough for the amount of people that come to our parties. Initially when looking into biodegradable or sustainable disposable products they were pretty pricey for a minimal amount.

A fate, facebook post helped me to find Avoplast. Avoplast is 100% eco-friendly disposable utensils and straws made from avocado pits! As if there was any more reason to love avocados. How affordable are these? Well as a an example the Avoplast forks come in a 24 pack with free Prime delivery.

It doesn’t appear that Avoplast makes disposable plates or napkins though but there are lots of options for biodegradable plates and biodegradable napkins.

I also found this 114 pc set from Earth’s Naturals that has service for 16 people at a reasonable price.

Everyday Eco-friendly choices

My nieces have some kind of crazy obsession with straws. I keep stainless steel straws handy when they visit. What i like about stainless still straws is, they’re sturdy, they hold up well, and they come in different sizes. They have everything thing from regular size straws to Boba straws. I tried glass straws but they just didn’t hold up in our house. The stainless steel straws definitely do better.

Check out this set of 10 stainless steel straws with silicone tips (a little safer for the kids). It also comes with cleaning brushes. They actually gave me a coupon code to share with you too that is valid until Sept 9, 2019. Use code: METST5FF to get this set for only $5.99 with free shipping! (expires 9/9/19)

Some local convenience stores allow you to buy a branded reusable travel mug and refill coffee for a lower price or even offer so many free refills. Save money and the environment but using reusable water bottles too. There are plenty of different sizes and options from glass, stainless steel, BPA free plastic, and more.

Earth Friendly and Family Friendly Cleaning

There’s lots of reasons to swap out your cleaning products. Not just environmental but for your families health. Fumes and chemicals in some cleaning products can actually cause more harm than good.

There are more eco-friendly options in your grocery store with reduced packaging and free of chemicals but you can also make your own. A simple vinegar and water solution can be great for cleaning windows, counters, and more.

There are also essential oil companies that offer safer cleaning options and essential oil recipes. Simply Earth actually has a subscription service that send you several essential oils each month with natural product recipes. Everything from cleaning products, hygiene products, cosmetics, and more.

You can also choose products that are reusable and let you clean without chemicals using water. E-cloth is an affordable alternative with chemical free options to clean windows, scrub dishes, even remove make up with just water. I’ve used these products myself and they work better than I ever thought. Who knew you can get a good clean with just water?

Are you trying to make earth-friendly changes? I’d love to know what you are doing.