Uncategorized – Page 46 – Luv Saving Money

Digital Media Academy Summer Campe $75 Off!!!!

This is a sponsored post as part of the US Family Guide Blogger program. I will be compensated for this post. Regardless I only post legitimate offers from trusted sites.

Founded at Stanford University, Digital Media Academy is ranked as one of the ten best summer camps in the world.

Kids and teens learn computer programming, app development, 3D modeling, robotics, graphic design, filmmaking, and much more. DMA summer camps are one or multiple week experiences taught by industry experts and tech professionals.

Campers get hands-on experience creating projects using the latest hardware and software from Apple, Canon, Adobe, and more.
Give your teen a pre-collegiate experience or build a child’s confidence through project-based learning.
25 locations at top universities throughout the U.S. and Canada. Camps are filling fast, register early to save $$$ and stay off the wait list. Code: TECHFUN15

Save $75 off summer camps at Digital Media Academy with code TECHFUN15 at DigitalMediaAcademy.org register by March 31 #CreateTheNext
Call 1(866)656-3342 to speak with a Guest Service Representative or email at info@digitalmediaacademy.org Mention the US Family Guide Special Offer

The DMA Experience from Digital Media Academy on Vimeo.

I know my two oldest boys would just love to attend a something like this. I’ll be checking to see if there is one near me. Have any of your children attended this Academy?

Save Money On Groceries By Planning Ahead

I don’t know why it took me so long to learn this myself but planning ahead before grocery shopping actually saves money. Crazy concept right? Seriously, I would clip my coupons, I’d have a list of things we needed before I went but I never really planned out too far. I’d buy things while I was there for meals. I might think “oh I’ll make Lasagna” so I’d buy the lasagna noodles and the hamburger but maybe I didn’t buy enough cheese for both the lasagna and the homemade pizza I was making. Perhaps I forgot the ricotta cheese so I’d go back to the store to pick it up and end up buying 5 more things while I was there. So I learned to do these things before our grocery trip:

1. Meal planning – We do a big grocery shop every two weeks and a fill in shop at about one week for things like milk, eggs, etc. I would write what I was planning on making for each of 14 days and what we needed. For example: meatball hoagies and a side of mixed veggies I’d need hoagie buns, 1 lb of hamburgers, mozzarella cheese, bread crumbs to make the meatballs, and mixed veggies. This worked out fantastically to keep from running to the store and being tempted to buy things we didn’t need.

2. Collecting coupons – If I knew what I was buying I could look for specific coupons in the paper, online, on manufacturer websites, etc to save more money on the things I’d be buying.

3. Checking sales – We do the majority if our shopping one specific place but maybe a different grocery store may have a meat sale so we might get the meat at the sale and buy the rest at our normal grocery store. Or I might be able to get great coupon deals on some toiletries at the drugstore down the street before we go. Stick to the list though, right down what sales or coupon deals you’re going for and don’t stray from the list.

4. Checking the money saving apps – If I couldn’t find a coupon for …say…my favorite brand of tomato sauce and it wasn’t on sale I may be able to get cash back from a money saving app like Ibotta or checkout 51.

5. If possible go alone or just with your spouse – I have 4 kids. I know getting out on my own is a rare treat BUT let’s be honest, aren’t you more willing to pick up oreos that weren’t on the list or a gallon of chocolate milk when the kids are around. “Oh honey you’re being so good I guess you can get that bag of chips” You don’t want to feel rushed if you’re trying to coupon too. If there’s a certain day of the week it works better for you to go by yourself then maybe plan for that day.

Planning ahead can really save money in many aspect of your budget. Check out the guest post I did for planning ahead when buying a vehicle.

Apps To Save Money On Your Grocery Bill

This post does contain referral links. Regardless I only posted legitimate apps that I actually use.

Buying groceries is a necessary and reoccuring bill in most homes. Looking at the price of a head of lettuce or a pack of pork chops is enough to make you wonder if it would be possible to live on water and bread sometimes. Of course it’s not so there’s a good chance you’d like to save more money on your grocery bill and still feed your family. I’m sure you know coupons are a good way to save if you know how to use them. But check out these apps that are well worth the download!

Money Saving Apps – There seems to be A LOT of them anymore but I’m quite happy about that. Some apps give you cash back when you purchase specific things, others give you points towards gift cards for completing certain actions. This is where you can get some money back for things you might not have coupons for. Here are some of my favorites:

Ibotta – download the app, choose the store you’re shopping in from the app once you’re signed up. For example, Walmart this week has cash back deals like $1 back when you buy 3 Tuttorosso’s Canned Tomatoes, Save $1 when you buy any 5 Beech-Nut Baby Foods, and even 25 cents back when you buy any brand of pre-package apples. Add whatever you’re buying to your list, take a picture of your receipt and submit. If it’s approved the money will be in your Ibotta account in a day or two.

Checkout 51 – Similar to Ibotta when you buy items listed you get cash back by uploading a picture of your receipt. I’ve received cash back a couple time just for buying the bananas I usually buy. You can check out their site here with links to download from Google Play or iTunes

Walmart Savings Catcher – I don’t know why I hesitated on this app but I’m so glad I finally tried it. It allows you to shop walmart from your phone, refill prescriptions, check out the weekly sales ad, see what prices just got rolled back, and best of all (in my opinion) the “Savings Catcher”. When you shop Walmart look at your receipt. You’ll see a QR code at the bottom of your receipt. You choose the savings catcher option in your app, scan the QR code and Walmart does the work for you to see if any other stores had lower prices. If they did, they give you the difference. I was hesitant, I thought “yea, like they’re really going to catch all the savings and give me money”. Well the very first receipt I uploaded I got $4.58 back. No kidding. You can cash your savings in for a Walmart egift card. You can save it up too and cash it in later for a bigger egift card if you like.

Shopkick – This one is different in that you earn “kicks” which are like points. You earn kicks by walking into a participating store, scanning the bar codes of specific products listed on the app (you don’t have to buy them, just scan them), and of course by making purchases. You can earn kiks at many of your favorite stores like Walmart, Best Buy, Toys R’ Us and more. Save up your kicks and cash them in for gift cards. This one is different because you can earn gift cards without ever having to buy anything if you don’t want to. You can join Shopkick here.

Checkpoints – this is similar to Shopkick in that you earn points for scanning items, checking in at stores, watching videos on your phone, inviting friends, etc. Trade your points in for gift cards. Download the Checkpoints app and use bonus code “luvsavingmoney” for an added bonus when you sign up.

Snap by Groupon – another app that gives you money for buying specific items. It’s run by Groupon and tends to have different items available than Checkout 51 or Ibotta. Sign up for the free app here.

What are your favorite money saving apps? For ways more ways to save, check out my guest post on how to save money on vehicle maintenance.

Safety Features For Your Home You Can’t Afford Not To Have

This post does contain affiliate links. Regardless I only post legitimate offers from trusted sites.

It seems there’s all kinds of safety products available on the market. Everything from identity theft protection to sophisticated home security systems. But what is safety features should your really have in your home when you’re on a budget?

Smoke alarms: I know you hear this all the time. But it’s true. A smoke alarm will give you the time you need to be able to escape if there’s a fire or maybe even put it out if it’s a small one. You can get affordable smoke alarms, you don’t have to go for the top of the line ones. A simple beeping smoke alarm will suffice. Remember to check your batteries on your smoke alarms too. Some will even beep when the battery is low.

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Carbon monoxide detector: We actually got one for free from our local fire department during a fire safety fair. They’ve really come down in price over the years. Our gave instructions to put it in the basement or lowest level of the house nearest our heating system.

House Insurance or renters insurance: If you have a mortgage on your house, your bank may require you to have insurance. Even if they don’t this is really something you don’t want to skimp on if you have a choice. A fire, pipes busting, a freak accident, a burglary, there’s a lot of reasons one might want to have house insurance. Renters insurance is usually very cheap. You might not think you need renters insurance since you don’t own the place but if you have something stolen or there is a fire renters insurance will help replace those items. I lived in a 3 bedroom apartment at one point and renters insurance was only about $16 a year. Granted it may have gone up and it may vary depending on the insurance agency and what you need to protect but it’s almost silly not to have it.

Baby Safety device: If you have a baby or toddler you know (or will soon learn) they get into everything. There are tons of safety devices out there and i’ve tried many of them with 4 kids. The ones I used the most with all my kids was cupboard latches (to keep them from getting a cleaning products and from pulling heavy pans onto themselves), furniture tethers (for chest of drawers), corner cushions for those pointy corners on the entertainment stand, coffee table etc, outlet covers, and baby gates. I did try a stove guard, actually a few stove guards but I never found one that worked quite right. Most baby safety devices are pretty affordable.

Fire Extinguisher: again for obvious reasons. There are a few different types. Getting a multipurpose one for your home is probably a good idea. What I didn’t realize when searching for prices on these things is that they actually make fire extinguisher aerosol cans now too. I’ve never personally used one so I can only imagine they’d only be good for a small cooking fire or something along those lines.

I also did a guest post on safety features to look for when buying a family vehicle.

Small Town Fun For Small Time Money

Be honest, when you think of small towns, what do you thing of? I think sometimes small towns get stigma put on them. Nothing to do, nothing going on. I’m from a small town here in Pennsylvania. Sure the bigger areas might have more options but that doesn’t mean you can’t find some interesting things in a small town. We sometimes have relatives come to the area and ask what there is to do. One of my fave things to tell people to see is the Johnstown Inclined plane. It’s the steepest vehicular inclined plane in the world and only costs a few dollars for a round trip ride. There are not many vehicular inclined planes in the US so it’s really a unique experience for people visiting my town.

johnstown inclined plane — picture credit to wikipedia.org

Johnstown was the home of the 1889 flood that killed over 10,000 people. It’s been featured on the history channel and many other educational channels. One time I visited Disney World and started talking to a couple. We told them we were from near Johnstown, PA and they said “oh that’s where that big flood was” So even people in different parts of the country know of it. The Johnstown Flood museum gives some history and insight to visitors and how and why it happened. Only a couple dollars to get in.

Thunder in the Valley is a huge motorcycle rally that happens for a week in June every year drawing more than 100,000 people some years. Bikers from all over the country come in for the bike rally. There is something for everyone including kids’ areas, motorcycle shows, stunt shows, bands, plenty of food and more. You don’t really have to spend a lot of money though. The stunt shows and motorcycle shows are free. The bands are free. It’s a good time

The Cambria County War Memorial has been getting bigger and better acts in. A couple years ago I got to see Alice Cooper and Rob Zombie for a Halloween tour. On March 11, my husband and I are going to see Jay Leno for an anniversary date. I can’t wait. Of course, since we’re a smaller town the tickets don’t cost near as much as going to a more urban area.

What I’ve found is small towns are pretty proud of their beginnings, their friendly atomsphere, their heritage, and what they do have to offer. Don’t discount a small town the next time you drive through. Stop and experience some of the little treasures you’ll find.

This is just a few things of note to see. There’s a lot more. I also put a fun guide together on places that are better seen in your vehicle on a guest post I did. Of course I had to include the Johnstown Inclined Plane.