Luv Saving Money – Page 638

Protect Your Family Online with MetLife Defender 30 Day Free Trial Available

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

How much have we heard about hacking just in the past month? North Korea hacking Sony Pictures…err…maybe, anonymous hacking Xbox live, Amazon, Playstation network and a few others and releasing names and credit card numbers. A few months ago it was Home Depot’s site that got hacked. Seems like it’s happening all the time.

I have a story myself. I wrote about it a while back. I woke up one morning and checked my email. I had an email from Walmart, and order email with 2 xbox live accounts each $60 a piece. So $120 in charges. The problem is I didn’t order two xbox live accounts, I wouldn’t Trying not to assume the worst I questions my kids and my husband just to see. Honestly I didn’t know how they would do it anyway but I had to ask.

So I call Walmart and tell them, “Hey I didn’t order this, I’m not going to use it, I just want to return it and get my money back” I told them I though they were fraudulent charges. The lady on the other end of the phone, though nice enough, told me there’s nothing they could do because it was an electronic order and electronic orders aren’t refundable. I argued and argued with the lady on the phone but it got me nowhere. So then I contacted microsoft. They only think they could do was to check and see if it was in use and it wasn’t. They said if someone uses it they could cooperate with police to track the person. Then I get a phone call from an insurance guy who tells me I had requested a quote for insurance online for an SUV. He gave me the color, year, model of the car I supposedly requested. I told him I didn’t even own a car like that and told him that I think I might be a victim of identity theft. I contacted my local police but they said they couldn’t do anything because they’re a small precinct only larger police precincts have a cyber crimes unit but he was nice enough to drive to my house and give me some info on cyber crimes. So I started following the steps. I haven’t had anymore issues in a long time but that doesn’t mean it still can’t be happening.

The point of my story is, with more and more cyber crimes like identity theft happening protecting yourself online is essential. What I didn’t know is that MetLife offers a product for Identity Theft & Personal Data Protection . MetLife Defender offers protection for both individuals and families. Ironically we just got our boys their first computer for Christmas. I’m very worried about them venturing online. Sure I’ll be watching them like a hawk when I’m home but still, I know what kind of people are out there. MetLife Defender is for Online Child Safety , Financial data, and health records, really for all your online life.

MetLife is offering a 30 day free trial for their individual plan and family plan. If this is something you’ve been thinking about, this might be a good way to test it out for yourself. Click any link in this post for more info and to start your 30 day free trial.

Saving For Christmas 2015 Should Start Now

Maybe you’ve just put your Christmas decorations away or maybe you still have them up. (I do, I’m avoiding it) But to create a financially stress free Christmas you need to start saving now. Start saving now to avoid using credit cards, start saving now to avoid overdrafting your account trying to squeeze gifts in, save now so you’re not so stressed later.

You might have seen the weekly Christmas savings plan that’s floating around on the internet:

Here’s my issue with this challenge. Actually I have several issues. IF you are actually on a budget or living paycheck to paycheck, in theory, this sounds like a great idea. So you start saving $1 in saving the first week, $2 in savings the next week…hey this is easy right? Ok well then you get to about week 30 and you’re putting $30 a week away. If you get paid biweekly, that’s $60 per pay, $120 per month! If you’re living paycheck to paycheck or already putting money in savings for a safety net (as you should) then this is unrealistic. Then you come down to week…i don’t know 46, 47 where you’ve probably started shopping for Christmas with black friday and cyber monday. Who can put $50 a week away when you’re already buying Christmas gifts? I mean if you can, good for you, but you probably have a little more free flow with your money than others.

So I’ll tell you what I do. As a mom of 4 living the frugal lifestyle. As soon as I finish my Christmas shopping whether it be Black Friday or Christmas Eve, I start putting money back into my holiday club to start replenishing for next year. I get paid biweekly so I put anywhere from $5-$20 per paycheck away, EVERY paycheck. Whatever I can afford to take out of that paycheck and still pay bills and have some fun and incidentals money. If you get paid weekly try putting $5-$10 a week away. If you get paid monthly try putting $20-$30 away per pay. Then, Any other non-paycheck money that comes through such as tax returns, winning money on a scratch off, put a percentage of that away too.

If you put $20 a month away until November That’s $220

IF you put $30 a month away until November that’s $330

If you put $40 a month away until November that’s $440

Then if you put other money away for example you get your tax return and you put $100 of it away you can add $100 to your total. Say you won $60 at a football game for their 50/50 you can put $20 of that away. If you get a holiday bonus you could put 20% of that away, etc. You can see where you can build on your savings. Depending how much you spend on Christmas the monthly amount might be enough for you.

Everyone’s financial situation is different, put what you can away. You can actually use this idea for your safety net savings as well.

Need Local Family Friendly Ideas? Check Out Yuggler

This post is sponsored by Yuggler. Any opinions expressed are my own.

Are your kids on a winter break? My kids have 12 days off for holiday break. Sure they’ll be entertained with their new toys and things for most of the break, undoubtedly I’m going to hear “mom I’m bored there’s nothing to do” Trying to think of ideas in the winter time is hard for me. I’m not a big fan of the cold. Things like tubing is nice except my daughter is too young too do that yet. Plus, it cost money to do that so it’s really a once in a while thing.

Need local family friendly ideas? Check out Yuggler. Yuggler is a cool free app for iPhone and iPad. You can find kids activities near you with the “Near Me” option. Find specific activities like “pumpkin patch” for instance to search for specific activities. There’s in a “Top Rated’ option so you can see the activities that are popular in your area.

Know of a cool place or activity that’s family friendly but is not on the map yet? You can add places to Yuggler so other families can find and enjoy. If someone else adds a new activity in your area you’ll get a notification about the new area. This could be a great way to discover things you didn’t even know existed in your area! I personally added a recreation park, my public library, our local mall, a kids’ fitness center, and a public playground near me but I can think of sooo many more I need to add. You even have the option to add “one time” activities like a local festival or circus comes to town, for instance.

Right now the app is for Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. Yuggler is Free to download on itunes. Just click any link in this post and it will take you right to the itunes download listing. You can also read more about the Yuggler app on their website Yuggler.com

You can also find Yuggler on the following social media sites:

Twitter: @YugglerFamily

Facebook: facebook.com/yuggler

Pinterest: pinterest.com/yuggler

Up to 60% Off at Best Buy

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

Up to 60% off from now until January 17 at Best Buy for Clearance, Open Box, and more. You can get deals on appliances, fitness tech, and more.

I have some Best Buy gift cards to spend so this would be a great way to get more bang for my buck as far as using my gift cards. If you have Best Buy gift cards you might want to consider shopping before January 17 too!
Best Buy Outlet: Save up to 60% on Clearance, Open-Box and More, Ends January 17

Enter to win $250 Amazon or Paypal 2 winners

The Holidays are about over. That means we have to start paying off all the credit card bills. If you are like some and did layaway, or like us and paid cash only, it’s nice to replenish the cash supply. I find that we have more birthdays coming up quickly in our house. OR one of my fave after Christmas activities, mark down shopping. I love buying wrapping paper, holiday decor, and gift sets 40-90% off (depending on when and where you shop).

Here is your chance to win either Paypal or Amazon cash, your choice. A Little Bit of Everything wants to help you out. How great is that. Now you can enjoy whatever you want. Didn’t get that camera or laptop you were hoping for for Christmas? Been itching to add some new clothes to your wardrobe? Maybe you just want to put money back into your paypal account. Whatever your reason, you can’t win if you don’t enter right?

12-22-14 to 1-05-15 Open to US

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