tips – Page 3 – Luv Saving Money

Finding Remote, Work-From-Home Jobs

At a time when many people are temporarily out of work, more and more people seem to be searching for jobs. Jobs allowing people to work from home are very appealing.

The coronavirus quarantine has brought “stay-at-home” orders to many states. I live in Pennsylvania. There is now stay-at-home orders for the entire state. I’m a healthcare worker at a local hospital and my husband is a corrections officer at a state prison. There is no stay at home for us but I feel for those that aren’t able to work right now. I’m somewhere between being grateful to still be working to being afraid to still be working if that makes sense.

If you are one that’s at home right now you may have been looking for possible jobs that allow you to work from home. Most school age children are home with homeschooling set up now which makes it even harder to leave for a job. But if you’ve done the searches, you know there are a lot of work from home scams out there.

Flexjobs is one sources for remote, work from home jobs. Check out their site here:

I was actually surprised how many jobs can suddenly be work from home when it seemed like it wasn’t possible before. Insurance agents, teachers, telemarketers, radio dj’s and more. Turn on the TV and you’ll see a lot of talk show hosts doing their shows from home. I’ve heard of people doing medical transcription from home. I honestly considered going into medical transcription for a short time.

Access to full service starts at $14.99/mo with a satisfaction guarantee.

I hope this site is helpful to you. I wish everyone good health and hope this is all over soon!

affiliate link: I will get a small commission from sales made through my links.

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.

I’m on Week 7 of Noom, Here’s My Thoughts

Have you been curious about Noom like I was? I’ve seen quite a few people asking if they new anyone that has used Noom or what it was about so I figured I’d write up a post to help out. This is not something I got for free. I’m personally paying for the program so I’m a regular customer.

What I’ve Tried In The Past

I tried just dieting and exercising on my own but it didn’t work. I tried MyFitnessPal, it helped some but not much and I fell off with using it. I bought into Beachbody’s 21 Day fix. While it did work, doing the same exercise program every single day for months got monotonous. I was bored of it. I could get into a different program but I had to pay for it again. Plus, I felt like if I gave in and at a couple cookies one day I was a failure. Autumn would always say “Don’t undo what you just did in the kitchen” during workouts so I felt like if I had a scoop of ice cream then I just undid everything and I had no will power. I did Personal Trainer Food. Again it worked, I lost the most weight with this program but I couldn’t afford to keep the prepackaged/measured food coming and never really learned recipes and how to really eat. When the holidays came around I fell off hard and gained everything back.

Finding My Motivation To Try Yet Again

I was looking for my motivation to get back on track and it came in an unexpected place for me. I ordered my bridesmaid dress for my brother’s wedding around the end of June. It fit perfect in the store. When it actually came in in August the girl helping me with my dress barely got it zippered. I was mad at myself and embarrassed. If I gained any more weight I wouldn’t be able to fit in the dress.

I had been tempted to try Noom before. I was afraid of spending money on yet another program that I would fail at. There was a 2 week free trial. I thought, well I’ll do the 2 week free trial and see if it’s for me. If it’s not for me I’ll cancel it before I get charged. The same day I signed up for Noom I went as a guest with my friend to Planet Fitness. I signed up for a Planet Fitness membership the next day. I new I needed to work on both my nutrition and my activity level.

When I Realized It Was Different

Noom uses psychology and technology to help people make a lifestyle change. They offer psych tricks to help you get past the hurdles. No food is necessarily a “bad food” it’s just not a good choice all the time. Eating a piece of cake on your birthday does not make you hopeless. They give helpful information on how to pick out good studies and research in regard to diet and exercise. They offer exercise suggestions. Lots of good info. You use the app each day with a daily “checklist” for lack of a better word. The app use might take about 10 minutes a day but you can break it up throughout the day. It’s easy to do while sitting at your kids practice, waiting for your water to boil, or sitting in the bathroom (hey I’m just saying).

You’re assigned a coach after 2 weeks to help keep you on track and motivated. The coaches are not over-bearing cheerleaders but instead offering encouragement, tips, and lending an ear. Not long after that you’ll meet the group, fellow Noomers in about the same stage of the program as you that you can swap recipes with, encourage and receive encouragement, problems solve with and more.

Do the Trial to See if It’s Right For You

I highly encourage the use of the 2 week free trial to see if it’s something that works for you. If you feel it’s just not for you make sure you cancel before your two week trial is up. I personally love the program but everyone is different. If you go through my Noom referral link you’ll get a 2 week free trial and 20% off if you decide to stick with it!

I personally have lost 7 lbs so far, I’ve lost an inch around my butt and abdomen, my clothes fit better, and I can totally see a difference. I’m able to fit into that bridesmaid dress I need to wear this weekend!

If you’ve been thinking about joining Planet Fitness too, you can get a free day pass to try it for yourself.

FREE Piece of Godiva Chocolate on National Chocolate Day

A lot of people love chocolate. It makes sense there would be a national chocolate day. It also makes sense that chocolate companies would want to help you celebrate. Dark chocolate, milk chocolate, white chocolate, with or without nuts, artisan chocolate, or right off the rack at the grocery store, it’s hard to beat chocolate.

Monday October 28 is National Chocolate Day. I couldn’t love it anymore that it happens on a Monday. I know I could use a piece of chocolate on a Monday. Godiva has a treat for you that day!

In Celebration of National Chocolate Day, Godiva is offering a free chocolate case piece with ANY purchase (while supplies last) at Godiva Boutique, Cafe, and Outlet locations. Only valid on October 28, 2019.

Need help finding a Godiva location? Check the Godiva website and click on the “Boutiques & Cafes” link in the upper left corner of the homepage. Also Godiva is offering a free trick or treat backpack with $50 order with code: HALLOWEEN until 10/20/19

Godiva’s Fall collection is out now. It includes flavors like Pumpkin Spice and Maple Walnut. I love anything Maple so that would be amazing for me. I haven’t treated myself to some Godiva chocolate in a long time. The Boscov’s near my house has a Godiva case. I just might have to get myself a little treat.

Do you have a favorite chocolate? How will you celebrate National Chocolate Day?

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

33 Million American Can’t Afford Winter Travel According to Wallethub

I dream about escaping the below freezing temperature of Pennsylvania in the winter. More so around February time frame. I get sick of the snow, ice, bad roads, layering, shoveling, short days, etc. There are a lot of factors that play into us not being able to do that though.

For us all 4 of our kids are in school so they would have to miss school. Then there is requesting time off from both our places of work and hoping both of use get approved. Add in the fact that we provide Christmas for 4 kids and the financial aspect is there too.

Travel is something my husband and I want to do closer to retirement. For now we just do a family vacation every other year, usually to a beach on the east coast.

Wallethub collected some states on winter travel. Here are some of the highlights:

4% more people are planning to travel this winter than last winter, and 79% of them are planning to spend at least as much as last year.
1 in 3 people don’t plan to travel this winter, and 38% of them – a total of 33 million people – say they can’t afford it.
Millennials are 6X more likely than baby boomers to apply for a new credit card to save on winter travel.
Weather and cost are the leading concerns for more than 8 in 10 winter holiday travelers.
Capital One Venture is the best credit card for winter travel because it has an initial bonus worth $500 in travel for spending $3,000 in the first 3 months and gives at least double miles on all purchases.

Q&A with WalletHub CEO Odysseas Papadimitriou

What do WalletHub’s survey results indicate about how confident consumers feel economically?

“The results of WalletHub’s Winter Travel Survey show reason for economic optimism in the sense that slightly more people are planning to travel this year than last year, and 79% of winter travelers say they’re going to spend at least as much as they did last year,” said WalletHub CEO Odysseas Papadimitriou. “When people are feeling strain financially, you generally don’t see travel increase.”

Why do you think so many people say they can’t afford to travel this winter?

“It should be no surprise that 33 million Americans say they can’t afford to travel this winter. Even though unemployment is near record lows and the stock market is near record highs, there are a lot of things weighing on consumers financially right now. For one thing, we’re racking up credit card debt at a pace reminiscent of the run-up to the Great Recession. Student debt clearly is a problem. And there’s a lot of political uncertainty,” said WalletHub CEO Odysseas Papadimitriou. “It’s also important to point out that people who recognize they can’t afford a big trip are doing the smart thing by staying home and saving up. Far too many people think a vacation is a necessity worth going into debt for.”

Is it worth paying an annual fee for a credit card in order to get better perks?

“It is worth paying an annual fee on a credit card if the card in question will save you more money at the end of the day, after factoring in the fee, than the best no-annual-fee alternative. Unfortunately, the results of WalletHub’s new survey show that only one-third of consumers seem to recognize that,” said WalletHub CEO Odysseas Papadimitriou. “You don’t want to pay for a card if you’re not going to get your money’s worth. But you don’t want to automatically rule out cards with annual fees, either. They can be worth the investment and then some. For example, the average person could earn more than $1,000 in net rewards value – after subtracting annual fees – with the best travel credit cards over just two years of use.”

Why are millennials so much more likely to apply for a credit card to get winter-travel savings than baby boomers?

“Most millennials have grown up in the age of free credit scores and reports, and online credit card comparison. So they may be a bit more comfortable applying for new credit cards, seeing their credit scores dip then recover, switching billing information for services they pay for with their cards, etc. Younger people also tend to be more cash-strapped than older folks, which makes them more inclined to look for savings opportunities,” said WalletHub CEO Odysseas Papadimitriou.

So do you do any winter travel? Do you have any winter travel plans this year?