Save On Your Shopping this Holiday Season: 3 of My Favorite Online Resources

I've shared a few tips before of little and easy ways I've found to save money, without having to make any real sacrifices. Today I wanted to introduce another tactic that you can use whenever you do any online shopping to get cash back for your purchases (which is especially timely if you prefer to do most of your Christmas shopping online like I do!).

Get cash back for online shopping

One of my favorite sites is Mr. Rebates, a completely free site that links to various online merchants that you'd normally shop at. When you are going to buy something online, log into Mr. Rebates first and see if they have any affiliations with the site you'll be shopping at. Then, all you have to do is click on the link from their site to the merchant of your choice and continue your purchase as usual. By clicking from their site to the merchant site, you'll actually get a percentage of your purchase back as a rebate. 

For example, if you were going to buy something from CafePress, they recently were running a special where you could get 22% of your purchase price back if you clicked through the Mr. Rebates link to the store and made your purchase. The thing I like especially with Mr. Rebates (as opposed to other cash-back shopping sites), is that the percentages they reward are often higher than those at other sites. Then, once you accumulate at least $10 in rebates, you can get the rebates sent to you via check or PayPal.

I've been using Mr. Rebates for a couple years now, and have cashed my rebates out (via PayPal) every couple of months, resulting in receiving more than $200 back over the lifetime of my account. And that's just with minimal shopping! Plus, if you sign up for Mr. Rebates, you'll get a $5 credit in your account to begin with.

Click here to sign up for Mr. Rebates (and get a $5 credit to your account). 

Find the best deals on Amazon

Another of my favorite shopping sites is Amazon.com. You can find almost anything there, and usually their prices are lower than what you'll find elsewhere. The thing is, though, that the prices often fluctuate. That's why I like the site CamelCamelCamel.com, which tracks Amazon prices and will let you know what the historical high and low prices are for an item and can alert you when a product hits any threshold you've set.

I've used this multiple times to make sure I'm getting the best deal possible. (And then, of course, I always make sure to pay my purchases with the Amazon gift codes I earn for free from Swagbucks, a search engine where you can earn points for the searches you do or for completing other tasks. Click here to learn more about Swagbucks and how to get started earning free gift cards from them.)

Plus, if you're going to do any shopping at Amazon, click through my affiliate link and Life Blessons will earn a small referral percentage back from any purchases you make--free for you, but it helps support everything that goes on here!

Use online coupons and free-shipping codes

Finally, another favorite shopping site in my online arsenal is RetailMeNot.com. It is like a search engine for coupon codes. You simply type in the store or website you want to shop at, and it will see if there are any available codes (for percent or dollars off your purchase or free shipping codes, which you sometimes can stack together in one purchase).

I like that you don't have to worry about signing up for store emails or anything to get the codes; they're all collected in one place (and they've collected codes for a ton of sites) so it really is a one-stop shopping. Combined with Mr. Rebates and any gift cards earned from Swagbucks, and your savings from online Christmas shopping this season will really add up!

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How I Got My Daughter's Cloth Diapers for Free: Swagbucks

For more than four years, I've used the search engine Swagbucks instead of Google for the main reason that you earn points when you use it. You can save up those points and then cash them in for all kinds of prizes, my favorite of which is for Amazon.com gift cards.

Recently, I shared on MoneySavingMom.com about how I'd saved up a bunch of my Amazon gift codes earned through Swagbucks to purchase my daughter's cloth-diaper stash, as modeled on my cute daughter above! I also wanted to share that testimonial here, as well. (And if you aren't familiar with Swagbucks, you can read my thorough guide to getting started and using Swagbucks here. And you can sign up for it here!)

Here's my testimonial about using Swagbucks to pay for my daughter's cloth diapers, as featured on MoneySavingMom.com:

I have been using Swagbucks for the past four years, saving up my points and always cashing them in for Amazon gift cards. This perk came in handy recently as I saved my codes for a couple of months (cashing in enough each month to get the $25 of Amazon gift cards) to purchase a cloth-diaper stash for my now-newborn daughter.

I’d always known that I wanted to cloth-diaper my children and after doing a lot of research before she was born, I found all the essentials could be found on Amazon. I picked out six diaper covers (Thirsties brand) and two dozen high-quality, unbleached prefolds.

On Amazon you can make a baby registry and once your due date draws near, they email you a code to get 10% off any remaining items on your registry. That discount alone made for a great deal but since I’d saved up my Swagbucks codes, the deal only got sweeter: I was able to get my daughter’s entire first year’s worth of cloth diapers (and some cloth-diaper friendly laundry detergent, too!) for absolutely nothing out of pocket!

It took a couple of months to save up enough of the codes to cash them all in, but it was worth the wait because now I don’t have the dreaded cost of months’ worth of disposable diapers to worry about. (Not to mention my daughter sure looks cute in them!) And all it took was simply switching my search engine!

Sign up for your own Swagbucks account to get started earning your way toward free gift cards, or read more about my experience using Swagbucks.

(By the way, you can check out everything else that was on my Amazon.com baby registry here. Sometime soon, I want to revisit that post and update about which products ended up being my favorites!)

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Diaper Bags, Decisions, and Dollar Signs

Thanks so much for all your input earlier this week in regards to my diaper bag quandary. Quite a few of you chimed in to tell me what issues you’d faced with your own diaper bags, what qualities mattered the most, and what you liked to carry around with you in your own bag. (You can see all the comments and feed back here.)

Whew. There’s a lot to learn and wade through when it comes to shopping for baby, so I appreciate you all opening up in hopes that it will ease and guide my decision-making.

It’s not really that picking a diaper bag is a huge ordeal or life-threatening or any of that. It’s just that there’s so much to take into account with a new baby and I want to make sure that when we make purchases, that we’re making them wisely rather than on something that we’ll end up discarding or disliking soon after.

A few years ago, I learned about that firsthand when I went shopping for hair straighteners. I remember going to Target and picking out a $30 or $40 hair straightener. With daily use, it ended up dying after a year. So I went back to target and purchased another straightener, this time $40 or $50. It still ended up dying about a year later. Finally, I polled my friends, read reviews and bought a $100 straightener. It’s lasted me for more than 4 years now, effectively costing me only $25 a year.

Sometimes spending more up-front can end up costing less over the long-run. That’s kind of the same mentality I try to sort through when it comes to almost any spending decision: How can I make the most of this purchase?

Anyway, so that’s the approach I’ll be taking as we start making our way down this newfound buying-for-baby road, which is why I really appreciate you all taking the time to chime in on share your own experiences with me. It helps all the decision-making that goes into it a ton easier to have the firsthand accounts!

In case you missed it, here are some of the highlights from the diaper-bag suggestions post you offered up, in summary:

• Yes, you definitely need a diaper bag. And you'll probably be better off buying a bag that's intended as a diaper bag, versus a random bag you have in your closet.
• It doesn’t have to be huge but it will probably need to be bigger than you expect.
• Pick one with lots of pockets and organization options, so that you can find things quickly without too much digging around.
• Some people preferred backpack style vs. messenger-bag style. Which makes me interested in getting a convertible one that can do both.
• Make sure it’s waterproof. There will be spills!
• Plus, you can read all the other comments everyone shared here.

If you have any other insights (whether it’s to add more to the diaper-bag discussion or just about other best-buy baby purchases), I’d love to hear them in the comments!

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The One Thing We Didn’t DIY This Year

This spring marked a first for me: It was the first time I paid someone to do my taxes.

For a died-in-the-wool DIY-er who makes her own bread, bodywash, pizza sauce and salad dressing, who takes it upon herself to fix a broken window, mend her own clothes, and even try to grow her own food, well, it should be obvious that I like to be able to do things on my own.

There’s some satisfaction in being able to say “I made that” or “I did that,” to know how something works well enough to do it yourself. There’s a sense of self-reliance and independence in taking up hammer or rolling pin or trowel and go at it yourself, wearing the smudges of ensuing dirt and flour and paint like badges.

But every year when it rolls around to April 15th, I find myself stuck and stalled by one thing that I haven’t yet managed to conquer on my own: taxes. As someone who works from home, there are a myriad of tax-benefits available to me and that right there is what takes something that can be a simple fill-in-the-blank sort of scenario into one that, in our household, turns into hours spent typing in numbers, looking up definitions, rifling through receipts and piling up papers.

We’ve tried the DIY approach to doing our taxes, buying different levels of the tax software that’s out there, from the free stuff to the $100-a-pop professional edition. They all end up with the same result: utter frustration.

Last year, we even pretty much gave up on trying to take any deduction or write-off other than the standard deduction.  We knew there were lots of ways we could trim our bill down (because we did end up owing quite a bit), but we simply didn’t know what to do with it all. So, in defeat, we threw our hands up to the whole process and just stopped trying to sort it out, which only absolved some of the stress.

This year, though, we decided, kind of as a last-ditch effort to save our sanity, we hired a CPA to do our taxes. It was a woman recommended by one of my husband’s coworkers. I spent a few days ahead of time—in mid-February—preparing all our receipts and expenses and income and bills, typing them tidily into Excel spreadsheets.

We went into the meeting and within an hour had tackled what would have taken us an entire weekend spent trying not to be short with one another, trying not to get irritated with the system, trying not to hate every single second of it.

Instead, we walked out of there without any of the aggravation and a sense of relief that someone who knew what they were doing was able to walk us through the over-our-head process. For the peace of mind, I considered it a wise use of money. And, we got back a nice return, to boot, so there was nothing to complain about!

Sometimes even for the most ardent of DIY-ers, there's a time to call in the pros. For me, I have decided that tax time is the right time for us to do just that!

Tomorrow’s the last day to submit your taxes. How was the process for you?

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What I've Been Doing with Our Extra Books: Selling Them on Amazon

One of the first things I remember admiring about my husband, back when we first met, was his love for reading. I remember listening to him share what he had learned in this book or read about here and it felt, only two days after our first date, like a kindred spirit already.

When we got married, this love for reading became evident in our collection of books that easily filled our bookshelves—taller than we were—and spilled their way into the other shelves throughout our apartment. But it really hit home when we were making our grand Grand Rapids-to-Atlanta move and had to haul all those books that 800-mile stretch of highway and up two flights of stairs.

With my muscles pleading for mercy, I knew we needed to whittle those suckers down. Not only did we have duplicates of some of the same books (see, I told you we were kindred spirits!), but we had collected many books that we would honestly never read or reference again.

So, I decided to look into selling them online, something a few other bloggers I follow seem to have had luck with. I was a little weary of this at first; I've only ever bought a couple things off eBay to begin with. But I figured it was worth a try, so I crossed my fingers and threw some books up for sale on Amazon, using their "used" section.

Within days, books started to sell; five in the first week, two more the week after. In the first month, we made about $75 profit selling books, dvds and cds. (Want to see what is currently up for grabs from our Amazon shop? Check them out here.)

Especially exciting was one book I'd picked up a few years ago at a dollar store with intentions of giving away as a gag gift. It was this retro-looking book called "How to Be a Man" with tongue-in-cheek advice about being macho and masculine. Anyway, when I looked it up, other sellers were hawking it for upwards of $60! Since I'd only paid $1 for it, I put it up for $24, unsure if anyone would even pay that much for it. What do you know, but someone did snatch it up, stretching that dollar investment much further than I'd ever expected!

I've been selling our extra books on Amazon for more than a year now and have used it as a nice little way to add some cash to our savings accounts, although sometimes it's only $5 or $10 a month, depending on how many books we manage to sell. You can read more about how to sell your books and other media through Amazon here.

If you're interested in trying to sell books on Amazon, here are some tips:

Know that they do take a commission off the sale. I've found it's usually between $3 and $6 off every book. So even though you put in a sale price of $5.99, after they take their commission and you pay to ship the book (I also make sure to include delivery confirmation on every package), you're only left with about $3.50. To me, if it's a book I didn't want or need anyway, that's still a better price than I would get if I took the book to a resale shop or tried to sell it at a garage sale.

You aren’t going to be able to sell every book. This is especially true with bestsellers or classics because tons of people are already selling them for pennies, which you can’t compete with at all or you'll lose money.

You have to package and ship the books yourself. That can be a bit of a hassle, and you'll have to provide your own shipping supplies.

An alternative way to make some extra money. If you don't need the money immediately and are willing to wait for your books to sell, it can be a potentially profitable way to get rid of media that’s just eating up space on your shelves and make more money than you would taking your stuff to any resale shop.

(Get more details about how to sell your books and other media with Amazon here.)

Have you ever sold anything on eBay, Amazon or Etsy to make some extra cash? What's been your experience? Share your thoughts in the comments!

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Insights About Saving Money & Setting Some New Financial Goals for the Future

I was in the midst of compiling lists of service-providers to phone, tracking down cardboard boxes to fill up with our belongings, and checking item after item off my list as we prepared to move into our new house when Crystal Paine’s book, The Money Saving Mom’s Budget, arrived in the mail for me to review.

It came at a time when it seemed that there was barely any free time to spare, let alone sit down and read a book while there were contracts waiting to be signed and logistics to be planned.

But as one who has followed Crystal’s frugal-living and personal-finance blog. Money Saving Mom, for more than a year now, I’ve learned to always be impressed by her take on approaching spending and saving at home. Her story is an inspiring one, where she and her husband scraped by while he made his way through law school so that they didn’t take on a dime of debt. Then, once he was out and making money, they lived humbly so that they could save up enough cash to buy their house outright.

While that kind of story isn’t likely to work for everyone (how I'd love to not have a mortgage!), I always admire the way with which she approaches learning to live within your means and seeking out good deals without forgetting that money is not everything in life; God is. She has her priorities in line and that is what matters most to me. (For instance, she's giving away all the proceeds from her book to Compassion International! Love that!)

So with all that in mind, I cracked open the book and started making my way through the first chapter, which happened to be on goal-setting. As my husband and I are in the beginning stages of starting a new chapter in our own financial lives with our new house, this chapter was especially fitting and timely for me.

Even though I’m no stranger to budgeting and setting goals (for instance, you can read more about setting up our travel budget here and how we've tamed our wild eating-out budget here), it had been awhile since my husband and I had sat down and retooled our goals for saving with this new house. We knew from the inspection that it would need a new roof in the next five to ten years. The house also was on a septic system, which can have a limited lifespan, so we knew we wanted to be saving up for that in advance, as well.

In her book, Crystal advises that you figure out what your financial goals are—whether it's saving for a house, a car or even your Christmas gifts—and then build each of those funds methodically over time as part of your monthly budget.

So, we figured out the approximate cost for making those repairs, and then figured out that by saving at least $250 a month, we can save $3,000 a year. Within four years, we’ll have enough to be able to pay for both services! Hopefully they won’t end up coinciding with one another, but we like to play it on the safe side.

Previously, we had just been saving everything extra that we had at the end of the month, but it wasn’t a set amount. This was the key difference for us that will hopefully help us save more, since the money is set aside at the outset rather than as an afterthought.

That’s how Crystal has approached almost all of her savings goals; a little bit at a time while keeping her other spending expenses low.

And the rest of the book looks at many different ways to do just that—keeping your spending under control and finding smart ways to trim your budget—with ideas such as using a cash-only system to trimming your grocery budget (with and without using coupons, which you know I'm in support of!!) to a whole slew of other ideas to learn how to take control of your money, rather than let your money have control over you. Some of the ideas are familiar ones but then others are smart, out-of-the-box ones that I would never have thought of!

From reading her blog and now her new book, I can see how well these practical ideas have paid off for her and am encouraged to apply many of them to our own finances, as well!

You can find The Money Saving Mom’s Budget on Amazon and read Crystal’s blog at Money Saving Mom. (Plus when you purchase her book, she's giving away all the proceeds! How cool is that? You can read more about that here.)

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Learning to Live Proverbs 31: Cultivating the Art of Resourcefulness

One of the things I’ve noticed since getting married is how suddenly it put my homemaking urge into overdrive. Given, much of it boils down to necessity: Living for two essentially on a one-income salary, there’s a greater need for me to learn how to make things stretch.
I’ve always had an eye for sales and mark-downs and flitting from Target to thrift shop to TJ Maxx. But now, there seems a purpose to it. And I am enjoying the “challenge” of learning to make-do, to see the benefit it makes to our family now, and knowing the foundation it is laying for the future.

We’re all familiar with the wifely image presented in Proverbs 31, she who is “of noble character” and “worth far more than rubies.” When I went back and read that section a few days ago, I took note of how much of that section focuses on the work of her hands.

There are about 20 verses that describe what it is about her that makes her so commendable. Of those verses, 11 revolve around the work she does for her household to provide and prepare it for the future.

In one of the books on the role of a Christian wife that I read, the author emphasized that women learn to be content and resourceful with what they do have. Oftentimes (especially if you are a stay-at-home mother), there’s little you can do about your income.

But as a wife who deals with much of the day-to-day decisions of the household, you have the ability to put your creativity to use and bridge this gap through your savings, your spending and your handy DIY projects.

These are the things God has placed in our hands; we are called to appreciate those gifts, make the most of them and avoid lamenting other things we wish we had.

So for now, while I’m still a newlywed and still awhile away from motherhood, I’m starting small on this journey of homemaking. I don’t expect to figure out all the corners to cut or save every single penny. What I do want to do is learn and keep learning how to do this.

Right now, that means things like learning how to make store-bought items from scratch, scouring sale ads from local groceries and even clipping coupons, which I never understood until now. For now, those baby steps are good enough for me.

She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness.
- Proverbs 31:27

For the month of December, I’m taking a break from writing new posts to better enjoy the holidays with family and friends. Instead, I’ll be sharing some of my favorite posts from my first two years of blogging here. I hope you enjoy getting to do a little time-traveling with me, and I’ll be back to ring in the new year with all new posts! (Click here to see today’s original post.)

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An Introduction to Using Swagbucks: The Search Engine that Rewards You for Your Curiosity

I've had a few people ask me to share more about Swagbucks—what it is and how it works. So, I decided to compile an introduction to Swagbucks to hopefully provide some more insight to those interested in learning how by simply switching the search engine you use, you can get free gift cards and prizes. Read on to find out how to sign up for Swagbucks for free, what kinds of prizes you can win and more!

What is Swagbucks?

Basically, Swagbucks.com is a new search engine, with the perk that they reward you for searching with them. Swagbucks uses Google and Ask.com to generate its search results so it's not really any different if you already use either of those. Except that you can get rewarded for it!

You sign up for an account with them, and they reward you with points as you perform your searches through Swagbucks. When you rack up enough points, you can cash them in for gift certificates or selected products. If you want to sign up, follow this link. If you do, it'll show that I referred you, and I'll get extra points for doing that.

And I can vouch from my own personal experience that Swagbucks is 100% not a scam. I was a little weary at first of whether it was legit or not. I've been using it for more than two years now, and have accumulated thousands of points which I've redeemed for more than $100-worth of gift cards.

The kinds of prizes you can get

Prizes run the gamut and it seems like they're continually expanding options. Most of the rewards I've chosen have been for Amazon.com gift certificates, however you can also choose from gift certificates to Starbucks, Target, iTunes, Macy's, Restaurant.com, Red Envelope, as well as PayPal Cash.

They also offer products as prizes, including perfumes, magazine subscriptions, DVDs, reusable water bottles, video games, school supplies, and even electronics like a turntable or flat panel tv (although, as you might guess, those last ones cost a lot more points!).

My experience using Swagbucks

I originally found out about Swagbucks from a coworker in April 2009. Since then, I've cashed in more than $100-worth of rewards.

Looking back at my rewards history, it seems pretty consistent that I've earned enough points every month to cash in for at least one $5 Amazon gift card. The $5 Amazon card is worth 450 points. I tend to get between 8 and 13 points for my searches, although not every search will result in points. And recently I got 47 points for a single search! It's usually random, but if I do a few in a row, one of them is bound to add points to my account. And make sure you definitely search on Fridays, because every Friday is Mega Swagbucks Day where they award extra points.

Plus, I haven't noticed any difference in the "answers" I get from my searches. Since Swagbucks is an aggregate of Google.com and Ask.com, the search results remain pretty spot on. You can also limit your search to images and news items, which I love!

Making the most of Swagbucks

One of the best things I did to make sure I am earning as many Swagbucks as possible, is that I changed my internet settings and set my search toolbar to automatically direct any searches through Swagbucks. (Usually in your internet browser window/toolbar, there should be a place where you can change your default search-engine options.)

Swagbucks has been expanding a great deal since I joined over two years ago, adding a variety of ways to earn additional points beyond just your regular browsing. You can download their toolbar, answer surveys and polls, shop through the Swagbucks site, earn points for trading in old electronics, as well as complete specific tasks (called "jobs") that you can cash out for Swagbucks. Personally, I like to earn extra points by taking the daily point (an easy way to grab an extra point) and by printing online coupons via Swagbucks (which I talked more about here).

Even without taking advantage of every way to earn Swagbucks and sticking mostly to just the normal everyday search engine usage, I've still done quite well! It's been a nice way to pay for some of our little extras; I know some people who save up all their Swagbucks points and redeem them at Christmas so that they don't have to spend any money out-of-pocket on presents!

How to sign up for Swagbucks

If you want to sign up, please follow this link. If you do, it'll show that I referred you, and I'll get extra points for doing that!

For the month of December, I’m taking a break from writing new posts to better enjoy the holidays with family and friends. Instead, I’ll be sharing some of my favorite posts from my first two years of blogging here. I hope you enjoy getting to do a little time-traveling with me, and I’ll be back to ring in the new year with all new posts! (Click here to see today’s original post.) 

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Resources to Stretch Your Holiday Shopping

I've shared a few tips before of little and easy ways I've found to save money, without having to make any real sacrifices. Today I wanted to introduce another tactic that you can use whenever you do any online shopping to get cash back for your purchases (which is especially timely if you prefer to do most of your Christmas shopping online like I do!).

How to get cash back for online shopping

The two sites that I'm recommending, Ebates and Mr. Rebates, are completely free sites that link to various online merchants that you'd normally shop at. When you are going to buy something online, log into these sites first and see if they have any affiliations with the site you'll be shopping at. Then, all you have to do is click on the link from their site to the merchant of your choice and continue your purchase as usual. By clicking from their site to the merchant site, you'll actually get a percentage of your purchase back as a rebate. 

I wasn't really sure how these worked and whether they'd be worth it or not. However, I've been using both of these for more than a year (with minimal online purchases, mind you) and can confidently recommend both of them, as I've received checks or gift cards from both without a hitch. (Including rebates and the promo gift card, have earned about $100 over the past year or so that I've been using them both. Considering I don't do all that much shopping to begin with, that's not too shabby!)

A closer look at "Ebates" and "Mr. Rebates"

For example, if you were going to buy something from CafePress, they recently were running a special where you could get 22% of your purchase price back if you clicked through the Mr. Rebates link to the store and made your purchase. Then, once you accumulate a certain amount of money, they will send you a check for the amount. (For Ebates, the threshold for refund is $5.01, and for Mr. Rebates it is $10.)

Plus, there are tons of websites (more than 1,000) that they offer rebates for shopping through, including Target.com, BestBuy.com, Orbitz, eBay and tons of smaller sites. The rebate percentages often range in the single digits, though select shops do get higher percentages (like in the CafePress example above). It is free money to me, so even if it's just a few bucks here and there, it's been worth it to me.

Sign up for free, plus extra perks

Everything about using these sites is completely free, from signing up for an account to getting your check sent to you. Plus, if you sign up for Ebates and make a purchase within 30 days, you can choose a bonus gift card. (I chose a $10 Home Depot gift card that came promptly once I made my first purchase. You can also choose a $10 gift card to Target or as well as a couple of other store or cash-out options.) Or, if you sign up for Mr. Rebates, you'll get a $5 credit in your account to begin with.

Click here to sign up for Ebates (and chose your bonus gift card).
Click here to sign up for Mr. Rebates (and get a $5 credit to your account).

My experience using these cash-back sites

I like having both accounts because each offers different deals and sometimes one will offer a higher percentage back. There are other similar sites, but these are the two that I've liked most and used. Both sites also keep updates about any coupon codes a certain store might be currently offering that you can take advantage of, as well.

The only problem I've found is actually remembering to go to these sites first before making a purchase! I've kicked myself afterward for forgetting to go to these sites first and missing out on some extra cash back! But if you can remember to use them even a handful of times, especially while you're doing some online Christmas shopping this season, I think you'll manage to rack up a nice bit of spare change.

Click here to sign up for Ebates (and chose your bonus gift card).
Click here to sign up for Mr. Rebates (and get a $5 credit to your account).

For the month of December, I’m taking a break from writing new posts to better enjoy the holidays with family and friends. Instead, I’ll be sharing some of my favorite posts from my first two years of blogging here. I hope you enjoy getting to do a little time-traveling with me, and I’ll be back to ring in the new year with all new posts! (Click here to see today’s original post.)

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Saving Money at the Grocery Store (Plus, a Chance to Win a $25 Kroger Gift Card)

Awhile ago, the Wall Street Journal featured an article about using coupons—advocating it as a serious (and worthwhile) way to save. And the argument was based solely on numbers:

The writer found that the average saving per coupon is $1.44. (Personally I’ve seen very few coupons for that much, but that’s what the research evidently says.) Assuming it takes you a minute to find and clip said coupon, you make $1.44 per minute. Translated into an hourly wage, that’s $86.40.

Okay, now you’ve got my attention.

“Very few of us ever do this kind of math, because we tend to treat low finance differently from high finance, and small sums differently from big ones,” the article states. “And the individual amounts of money may seem small, but they prove the old adage about tiny acorns and mighty oaks. Someone who saves $25 a week will save $100 a month, and $1,200 a year. Over a lifetime that can easily grow to $100,000 or more–even after accounting for inflation.” (Waste not, want not, right?!)

When my husband and I moved to Atlanta and our future financial stability was still unknown (as it was for many months), I started to dip my toes into this world of clipping coupons and shopping grocery sales as a way to save money in case we ever did find ourselves in a situation without income. (Fortunately, that never happened!)

I was impressed by the variety of coupons for high-quality products that could be found—ones for Seventh Generation cleaning supplies or Smart Balance butter, products we were already buying. So even though now that my husband has a stable job and I'm freelancing away, I still make it a point to use coupons and shop sales to get some of the products we would already be buying at significant discounts. Even if we only save $10 a week, that's more than $500 a year!

So how do I do it?

Personally, I don’t buy a weekly newspaper; instead, about once or twice a month, I’ll log onto websites where you can print out your own coupons from home. I especially like to use Swagbucks for printing my coupons, because you earn extra points for every coupon redeemed. If you want to learn more about using Swagbucks, you can read my article with more details here. If you're already using Swagbucks, you can find the Coupons section under the tab that says "Earn." You can also find print-at-home coupons at Coupons.com or Smartsource.com.

Then, usually at the beginning of each week, I'll log on to the websites for the stores I shop at most often and check out their weekly ads and make a note of any good sales I see for products we can use. And if I can use a coupon on top of an already good sale price, all the better.

One sale that's going on right now is at Kroger, where you can get a gallon of milk for free or a $3 credit off your total when you purchase four participating General Mills products. The sale lasts through November 26, and you can find out more about it here. If you routinely buy cereal and milk, this can be a nice way to put a little dent into your grocery budget. Add in some coupons, and you're golden!

Plus, in celebration of their current sale, Kroger is giving away a $25 gift card to one Life Blessons reader to use to really maximize their savings! 

enter this giveaway

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You may enter up to 3 times, by completing any of the tasks below. Please leave a comment on this post for each entry and a way to get in touch with you if your email address is not linked in your profile. 

1) Leave a comment and let me know how you save on groceries. 

2) "Like" both Life Blessons and Kroger on Facebook (please include your first name and last initial in your comment)

3) Follow both Life Blessons and Kroger on Twitter (please include your Twitter username in your comment)

details about the giveaway

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The giveaway will end at 11:59pm on Sunday, December 11. One winner (US addresses only, please) will be selected using Random.org from all valid entries. (Entries that do not follow the rules or cannot be verified will be disregarded.) The winner will be emailed and will have 24 hours to respond with their mailing address, and the sponsor will mail the gift card directly.

Disclosure: The Kroger gift card, information, and giveaway have been provided by Kroger and General Mills through MyBlogSpark.

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Waste Not, Want Not: How I Saved $600 in Less Than an Hour

There’s a saying you’ll hear if you hang around me at home long enough: “Waste not, want not.” My husband has heard this adage over and over again, whether I’m digging out the last vestiges from a ketchup bottle or popping some bread heels in the freezer to save for making bread crumbs in the future.

It’s because I believe that with just a little extra effort, saving even a little bit at a time adds up. Recently, though, I was impressed by how we managed to save a lot at once, just by taking a few minutes to crunch some numbers.

We are fortunate that my husband gets pretty good benefits through his job. For the first year of our marriage, we had to buy our own private insurance because he was finishing up school and I was freelancing full-time. So when he got the option to sign up for things like health and dental and vision insurance and a flexible spending account, we eagerly signed up.

But when it came time to re-enroll in our benefits programs this year, we sat down at our kitchen table, with the spreadsheets and a calculator in hand, and started tallying up the costs. As the numbers on the calculator screen grew, we started to wonder if some of those supplemental insurances—namely, vision and dental—were really as good a deal as we thought, given we’re both young and pretty healthy.

For our vision insurance, we were paying about $250 a year for my husband and myself. Dental insurance was another $600, because we could only choose between purchasing a single or a family option. As it turns out, though, the single option would be paid fully by my husband’s work, so we were essentially paying $600 just for me to be covered.

Since we’d already used both insurances for a year, I dug into the folders where I file away all our medical expenses and started adding up how much the services would have cost if we hadn’t had our insurance.

The vision insurance, it turned out, was a great deal, where the total cost would have been $500 had we paid for everything ourselves. Essentially, a discount of 50 percent.

The dental insurance, though, was actually costing us more than we were using: We were paying $600 while the costs billed to our insurance for my visits were less than $300. I called up our dentist and confirmed how much costs would be if we paid out of pocket and she said since I’m already an established patient, they’d be even cheaper; likely $100 per visit.

We ended up deciding to drop the family-plan dental insurance and just keep the insurance on my husband, since that would be free. For my services, we could pay out of pocket (using our flexible spending account with money earmarked especially for those purposes) and still be paying less than the insurance would cost. Of course there’s the chance that something could happen—a rogue cavity or filling—but I haven’t had a cavity in a few years, so that seems unlikely. Even then, we figured if something does happen, we shouldn’t end up paying more than the $600 we would be paying just for premiums.

Then we can take that extra amount, a couple hundred dollars, and sock it away into a savings account that we can put to use at another time.

It took about thirty minutes of culling through the paperwork and calling the dentist’s office to confirm their rates, but in the end we’ll be saving $600 through the course of next year.

Waste not, want not, indeed!


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Learning to Spend Less: From $376.25 to $0

From our first month of marriage, my husband and I started tracking every expense. The first month as newlyweds was eye-opening. We weren’t living an extravagant lifestyle; we didn’t even have air conditioning or a television! Yet when we sat down and looked at our spending, we were shocked. Especially when we looked at how much we'd spent on eating out alone.

This was the category on our budget that we have had to wrestle the most with. And not because we’re foodies who love to eat out at fancy restaurants or are too lazy to cook. It was more out of habit: After church on Sunday, we’d swing by Qdoba or Subway and grab something to bring home for lunch. We’d spend a Saturday evening at the coffee shop and sip cappuccinos. We were used to socializing over meals with friends, and so that’s what we did together as we settled into our new life together as Mr. and Mrs.

As we looked at the numbers after that first month, we could hardly believed that those little eating-out trips racked up to $376.25! The most expensive meal that entire month was when we took a friend to Mellow Mushroom and spent just over $30 for pizza, and pretty much every other receipt totaled $10 or less. (I have kept itemized Excel spreadsheets of my spending for years, so I have the records to prove it.)

Lest you think that all we did was eat out, I’m sorry to say that wasn’t the case: Our grocery budget the same month totaled $386.29.

That kind of sticker shock, combined with the uncertainty of how long we’d have paychecks coming in, was enough to convince us that we needed to get our spending—even as little as it seemed to us at the time—under control.

I thought of all this today when I walked past our budget, tacked on a corkboard in our kitchen that is always out in plain view to see whenever we walk by. I glanced at our eating out category for the month so far: $0.

Oh, how far we have come!

We haven't starved to death, and we haven't felt denied. We simply have made different decisions. Yesterday, my husband told me how a bunch of his coworkers went to IHOP for some food. What did he do? He carried in his packed lunch and ate it (pb&j sandwich, carrot sticks, dip and all) in the midst of their eggs-and-bacon meals. He didn't have to do that, but he decided that it was worth it, to save the money that he could have spent there for a meal somewhere else that he would enjoy much more than what you can find on the IHOP menu.

It’s been a slow transition of us learning to scale back and find our footing with our financial resources. And sometimes that’s how it is; you can’t change things overnight. You have to create new habits and new ways of thinking. But, slowly (isn’t that the way things always work?) they take hold and you look back and wonder how it was ever any different.

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A Blog Post About Riches

Though I've not been doing as much blog writing as I'd like, I have been doing a great deal of blog reading. One post that especially spoke to my heart was one from Brooke's blog about finding ourselves overwhelmed with worries of what we can and can't afford:

"...in these times when i give into fear, or talk too loudly about limited income, or mention all those things we “can’t afford,” i paint this picture that makes it seem like to follow Jesus is almost akin to being an economic martyr.

it isn’t.

i need to give testimony to this: we are paid well; we are living in abundance. our boss is our Dad, and our Dad is very rich."

She goes on to witness to the riches that festoon her life: fresh fruit and organic eggs for breakfast, coffee shop trips, a tax return that paid for a new water hearter, donated items for a baby-on-the-way. And though there are at times struggles to make ends meet or wants that go without, she sees the beauty in them, too:

"His provision always comes, and always in perfect time. sometimes it comes through the offer of a job for pay, or picking up an extra shift at work. sometimes He prompts someone to share/give to us items that we need, or to just give us cash. sometimes we get checks from unexpected sources for odd reasons (like a refund check for having overpaid on car insurance). sometimes things are on sale. sometimes we’re able to barter services. and through it all, He is teaching us to revel in the beauty and freedom of simplicity and thrifting. and He shows our hearts what is really necessary and what is not, giving us grace to let go of the frills.

i am wealthy. my goodness, i am so rich."

I need this reminder. We have chosen to live a life that is simple and not marked by extravagant incomes. But that can often get forgotten when we focus on what we do not have instead of what we do have (quality free time, hobbies, homemade bread!). This kind of thinking completely distorts the picture because we have found ourselves never wanting, never missing bills, never having to choose milk over bread. We are not poor by any means! And yet it can be so easy to find ourselves bemoaning what we lack, even when they are by all accounts luxuries.

Oh, to truly embrace what we have rather rather than yearn after that which we don't...

I'd encourage you to go read Brooke's post in its entirety!

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Resources to Stretch Your Online Shopping

I've shared a few tips before of little and easy ways I've found to save money, without having to make any real sacrifices. Today I wanted to introduce another tactic that you can use whenever you do any online shopping to get cash back for your purchases (which is especially timely if you prefer to do much Christmas shopping online, like I do!).

How to get cash back for online shopping

The two sites that I'm recommending today, Ebates and Mr. Rebates, are completely free sites that link to various online merchants that you'd normally shop at. When you are going to buy something online, log into these sites first and see if they have any affiliations with the site you'll be shopping at. Then, all you have to do is click on the link from their site to the merchant of your choice and continue your purchase as usual. By clicking from their site to the merchant site, you'll actually get a percentage of your purchase back as a rebate. 

I wasn't really sure how these worked and whether they'd be worth it or not. However, I've tried these two out for a couple of months (with minimal online purchases, mind you) and can confidently recommend both of them, as I've received checks or gift cards from both without a hitch. 

A closer look at "Ebates" and "Mr. Rebates"

For example, if you are going to buy something from CafePress, you currently can get 22% of your purchase price back if you click through the Mr. Rebates link to that store and buy your purchase. Then, once you accumulate a certain amount of money, they will send you a check for the amount. (For Ebates, the threshold for refund is $5.01, and for Mr. Rebates it is $10.)

Plus, there are tons of websites (more than 1,000) that they offer rebates for shopping through, including Target.com, BestBuy.com, Orbitz, eBay and tons of smaller sites I've never even heard of. (Although, noticeably, there are no bonuses for shopping at Amazon offered by either site.)

The rebate percentages often range in the single digits, though select shops do get higher percentages (like in the CafePress example above). It is free money to me, so even if it's just a few bucks here and there, it's been worth it to me. 

Sign up for free, plus extra perks

Everything about using these sites is completely free, from signing up for an account to getting your check sent to you. Plus, if you sign up for Ebates and make a purchase within 30 days, you can choose a bonus gift card. (I chose a $10 Home Depot gift card that came promptly once I made my first purchase. You can also choose a $10 gift card to Target or Barnes & Noble.) Or, if you sign up for Mr. Rebates, you'll get a $5 credit in your account to begin with.

Click here to sign up for Ebates (and chose your bonus gift card).
Click here to sign up for Mr. Rebates (and get a $5 credit to your account).

My experience using these cash-back sites

I like having both accounts because each offers different deals and sometimes one will offer a higher percentage back. There are other similar sites, but these are the two that I've liked most and used. Both sites also keep updates about any coupon codes a certain store might be currently offering that you can take advantage of, as well.

The only problem I've found is actually remembering to go to these sites first before making a purchase! It hasn't yet become a habit for me, and I've kicked myself afterward for forgetting to go to these sites first and missing out on some extra cash back! But if you can remember to use them even a handful of times, especially while you're doing some online Christmas shopping this season, I think you'll manage to rack up a nice bit of spare change.

(I started using them earlier in the summer and, including rebates and the promo gift card, have earned about $25. Considering I don't do all that much shopping to begin with, that's not too shabby!)

Click here to sign up for Ebates (and chose your bonus gift card).
Click here to sign up for Mr. Rebates (and get a $5 credit to your account).

It's only one extra click and results in a little free money, so I think it's definitely worth it! 

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We just paid off the last of our student loans and are officially debt-free!

 

We just pressed "Submit," and sent off the last payment for our student loans, making ourselves officially, completely, 100% debt-free.

That's a good feeling, let me tell you.

It's a good feeling because, while I know student loans are considered "good debt," they're still debt nonetheless. And when you are working a job that can end pretty much at any point and your husband is still trying to battle the job market himself for a full-time job, this is time for celebration.

It's also a celebration, because it's another milestone we've achieved during our short marriage already. I'm grateful for the lessons we're learning during this time in our marriage, when we have to adhere to a strict budget and get excited when we find free events or figure out how to make our pantry last a few more days until the new month starts. I'm grateful that we're learning to make decisions and sacrifices together and learning the value of saving and planning. I'm grateful that we're learning these lessons early, now while we're young and supple and resilient, we can bounce back from them with greater ease.

I know that as we grow older, we'll have more sacrifices to make. And at least now, we're not getting too comfortable in the DINK (double-income, no-kids) lifestyle that can make cutting down to one income or making room for children harder to stomach once you're used to the extra pocket change and indulgences. I'm very aware of how hard it can be to "go back" once those habits are ingrained.

While sometimes it would be nice to have a little bit more for this or for that, right now we are basking in the strides we have made and making it a point to give thanks our current state—however welcome or unwelcome it might be—and celebrating as we go along.

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Swagbucks 101: A Primer for Using This Search Engine for Free Gift Cards

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Swagbucks 101: A Primer for Getting Started & Earning Free Prizes!

I've had a few people ask me to share more about Swagbucks—what it is and how it works. So, I decided to compile a little "Swagbucks 101" to hopefully provide some more insight to those interested in learning how by simply switching the search engine you use, you can get free gift cards and prizes. Read on to find out how to sign up for Swagbucks for free, what kinds of prizes you can win and more!

What is Swagbucks?

Basically, Swagbucks.com is a new search engine, with the perk that they reward you for searching with them. Swagbucks uses Google and Ask.com to generate its search results so it's not really any different if you already use either of those. Except that you can get rewarded for it!

You sign up for an account with them, and they reward you with points as you perform your searches through Swagbucks. When you rack up enough points, you can cash them in for gift certificates or selected products. If you want to sign up, follow this link. If you do, it'll show that I referred you, and I'll get extra points for doing that!

And I can vouch from my own personal experience that Swagbucks is 100% not a scam. I was a little weary at first of whether it was legit or not. I've been using it for more than a year now, and have accumulated thousands of points which I've redeemed for more than $100-worth of gift cards.

(My assumption is that they earn money through advertising and rather than pocket all that money like the other search engine sites do, they pass some of that off to users in the form of Swagbucks and rewards. I'm not certain that's how it works, but that's my educated guess!) Plus, I don't receive any spam from them; the only emails they ever send are to let me know when one of my prizes is available.

The kinds of prizes you can get

Prizes run the gamut and it seems like they're continually expanding options. Most of the rewards I've chosen have been for Amazon.com gift certificates, however you can also choose from gift certificates to Starbucks, Target, iTunes, Macy's, Restaurant.com, Red Envelope, as well as PayPal Cash.

They also offer products as prizes, including perfumes, magazine subscriptions (including Woman's Day, Shape or Paste), DVDs, reusable water bottles, video games, school supplies, and even electronics like a turntable or flat panel tv (although, as you might guess, those last ones cost a lot more points!). 

Do keep in mind is that when you redeem your Swagbucks for a prize, it will take about a week to fulfill your request, but that hasn't been too much of a problem for me. I normally just make sure to redeem them as soon as they add up in my account so that they're ready whenever I have the whim to do some online shopping.

Try Swagbucks for yourself

Type in a search in the box below, and see how easy it is for yourself:

My experience using Swagbucks

I originally found out about Swagbucks from a coworker in April 2009. Since then, I've cashed in more than $100-worth of rewards.

Looking back at my rewards history, it seems pretty consistent that I've earned enough points every month to cash in for at least one $5 Amazon gift card. The $5 Amazon card is worth 450 points. I tend to get between 8 and 13 points for my searches, although not every search will result in points. And recently I got 47 points for a single search! It's usually random, but if I do a few in a row, one of them is bound to add points to my account. And make sure you definitely search on Fridays, because every Friday is Mega Swagbucks Day where they award extra points.

Plus (and most importantly), I haven't noticed any difference in the "answers" I get from my searches. Since Swagbucks is an aggregate of Google.com and Ask.com, the search results remain pretty spot on. You can also limit your search to images and news items, which I love!

Making the most of Swagbucks

One of the best things I did to make sure I am earning as many Swagbucks as possible, is that I changed my internet settings and set my search toolbar to automatically direct any searches through Swagbucks. (Usually in your internet browser window/toolbar, there should be a place where you can change your options. When you go in there, you can type in the address of the search engine you want your browser to use automatically. Add Swagbucks.com, and then you can search without having to open a new window for every search.)

Swagbucks has been expanding a great deal since I joined over a year ago, adding a variety of ways to earn additional points beyond just your regular browsing. You can download their toolbar, answer surveys and polls, shop through the Swagbucks site, as well as earn points for trading in old electronics. 

I haven't really done any of those extras; just the normal everyday search engine usage and I've still done quite well! It's been a nice way to pay for some of our little extras; I know some people who save up all their Swagbucks points and redeem them at Christmas so that they don't have to spend any money out-of-pocket on presents. I just don't have that kind of patience :)

How to sign up for Swagbucks

If you want to sign up, please follow this link. If you do, it'll show that I referred you, and I'll get extra points for doing that!

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Being Intentional about Saving Money

Over the winter, Michael picked up a book from the library that he devoured about smart spending and saving. The logic is completely down-to-earth: suggesting that if you want to save more money, start by spending less. The family's goal was to be completely debt free and live simply enough so that the husband and wife only have to have part-time jobs to support themselves and are completely set for retirement.

Boy, does the idea of only having to work part-time sound like such a luxury to me!

Anyway, one of the things the book recommended was to create budgets and savings for all of your expenses. So there's a line-item in your budget not only for groceries and eating out but also for more periodical purchases like oil changes for your car or gifts or vacations.

We decided this was something we wanted to do, but it wasn't until we took our trip to Savannah (and came home and typed our receipts into our monthly budget) that we decided to get serious about setting up a bank account strictly for traveling. I wanted to do this so that when we decide to get out of town, even if it's just a weekend trip like Savannah was, we don't feel guilty about it because we've already put the money aside and that's what it's been earmarked for.

We also set up a savings account like this for our car; to sock away money to cover oil changes and other necessary upkeep, but also to save up for whenever we need to buy our next vehicle. (Which was soon put too use last week when we had to get our brakes replaced!) When I bought my Civic, I was fortunate enough to be living at home at the time so even though I bought it new (used Hondas were more expensive than brand-new!), I'd already saved up enough for a hefty down payment and was able to pay the whole thing off in less than a year. On an entry-level budget. That was such a freeing experience that I would love, love to be able to continue to do that in the future--pay our debts off ASAP and get out from under that monthly burden.

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3 Easy Ways We've Learned to Stretch Our Finances (No Coupons Necessary!)

  

The past few months, Michael and I have learned a lot about finances and budgeting, since, up until recently, we were never quite sure what the next month might bring us as far as a paycheck. We couldn't bet on having money later and so we learned to be intentional with our money and trying to make each dollar count and stretch further.

One of the things that has been especially helpful for us during this time has been to get creative. One of my favorite avenues has been to find ways to make extra money--and here's the beautiful part--by doing things we already do. There are multiple opportunities out there that offer rewards for things you're already doing, and I've tried my hardest to tap into that and maximize that as much as possible. It might require a wee bit of time up-front researching, but I think the rewards pay off: Free money is free money!

Here are my top three suggestions for ways to get rewarded for doing things you already do:

Swagbucks Search Engine
What are Swagbucks? Basically, Swagbucks.com is a new search engine, with the perk that they reward you for searching with them. Since you do it already, probably at least a couple times a day, why not get rewarded for it?

A coworker had recommended it to me and I thought I'd try it out. I've been using it for about a year and have cashed in reward for $50 worth of Amazon.com gift certificates. It's been a nice way to pay for some of our little extras and not have to pay out-of-pocket for the whole thing.

Here's how it works: You sign up for an account with them, and they pay you with points as you perform your searches through Swagbucks. When you rack up enough points, you can cash them in for gift certificates or selected products. Swagbucks uses Google and Ask.com to generate its search results so it's not really any different if you already use either of those. I was able to go into my internet settings and set my search toolbar to automatically direct any searches through Swagbucks so that it's almost completely seamless. (Here's a more in-depth article I wrote about using and understanding Swagbucks.)

If you want to sign up, follow this link. If you do, it'll show that I referred you, and I'll get extra points for doing that! (Come on, show the love!)

Cash-Rewards Credit Cards
If you're disciplined about using credit cards and have the money to pay off your balance each month, I think there is no reason why your credit card shouldn't be paying you. I've had a rewards credit card for the past 5 years or more and have received hundreds of dollars of checks as well as gift cards for things like my camera. It's a nice little perk when a $50 check shows up and covers unexpected expenses like buying new car tags or getting an oil change, things I often forget to budget for anyway.

After doing some research and recently switching my own credit card, we're now using a Citi Cash Returns. It's 1% reward on everything you buy, and they automatically cut you a $50 check after you rack up $5000 worth of expenses. Discover and American Express also have some good cash rewards programs. Or you can sign up for a store-specific rewards card like the Target or Gap card, which rewards you with points or gift certificates to their stores. That might be a good pick for you if you want to reward yourself with a fun, free shopping spree every once and awhile. Personally though, I like the flexibility of cash.

In my researching different cards, I've found that 1% back on most purchases is pretty standard, but if you know of anything better, please let me know! I am hoping in the next couple of years, rewards percentages will increase but for now,  1% is better than nothing.

High-Yield Savings Accounts
Michael and I are starting to save up money for some of our big down-the-road purchases, including when we're in the market to buy a home. With our money just sitting there (for who knows how long!) it was important to me that we take as much advantage of that as possible and tried to find as high a savings rate as possible.

The two routes that I have found for nabbing the best savings account rate is either to use a high-yield online savings account or check out local credit unions' rates. (You can also look into CDs and Money Market accounts, but like I mentioned before, I like the flexibility of having access to my money and sometimes those lock you into time periods without giving you much more of an interest boost.)

For about two years, I kept my savings online in a high-yield online account from FNBO. When I first opened it, I was making a pretty nice rate (about 5%, I think). As the economy tumbled, so did their rates (down to 1.5%, which is still 3x the national bank average), so I started looking around for something better.

That's when I looked into credit unions here in Atlanta. I found a local credit union that offered 2% interest that we were able to qualify for because my dad works for the US Postal Service. (Some credit unions are harder to join than others, but oftentimes you just have to live in that area or work--or in my case, be related to someone who works--in a particular sector.) Even though the interest rate was only slightly higher, we decided to transfer all our savings over, especially since this would give us local access to all of our money. Another bonus of joining the credit union is that we also earn 1.5% on our checking account, too. (Here's a good site for researching and comparing online savings accounts rates.)

All told, through these miscellaneous tactics, my rough estimates are that we can expect to get an extra $500 in rewards, cashback and interest payments over the course of the year just by doing these three little things. See how little things add up? (I'm a little impressed myself at how much it amounts to!) Try it for yourself and see what little ways you can save a little bit more cash, without clipping a single coupon!

Do you have any advice to share about some ways you've found to cut, save or add money to your bottom line?

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We're officially a one-car family.

Well, it's official. We are now a one-car family.

Even up to now, we've mostly used my Honda Civic (the infamous one that was broken into in our parking lot), since my husband bikes to school and I work from home. There's not the greatest need for two vehicles except when we need to haul something or both want to run errands.

So the other week, the clutch went out on my husband's truck. We took it to the shop who estimated the repairs to run between $1,200 to $1,600.

With nearly 200,000 miles on his truck, we decided it was time to cut our losses while we were ahead, rather than gamble that more things won't start breaking down on the truck and cost even more money. We were able to sell the truck to a worker there for $100, but will save even more on car insurance, tag registration fees, upkeep, etc.

We're going to try to live with one vehicle as long as possible until it's completely inconvenient to do so. Fortunately, I just got word the other day that my freelance job will last through summer, which is an incredible blessing! My husband graduates in May and will start looking for a job, so even then we should be fine. It's only when we both have outside full-time jobs that we'll need to start looking for another vehicle, presuming that our workplaces aren't near each other.

And while we wait, we'll stash the saved money in a car fund--either to use for repairs on the Civic or to use for when we do need to add another to our name. For now, we're choosing to consider this a blessing rather than a liability, and praise God "whether we win or lose."

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photo by eternal

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Daydreaming about our someday, future home

photo by linda yvonne

Lately, I've found myself daydreaming. Daydreaming about a home for me and Michael where we can put down our roots and call our own. I'm not sure where this came from, because I've always been content to rent and not have to worry about financing repairs or upgrades or handling a mortgage. And I'm still content to do so, but somewhere over the past few weeks, it's as if a switch went off inside of me that made me begin thinking about our future home.

Even when we were dating, Michael and I would go for walks through little neighborhoods and point out which houses we liked. Fortunately, we both gravitated toward the same kinds of homes: Small cottage-like homes with character and charm. (Yes, this was something I filed away in my mind while we were dating: "Reason #429 why I want to marry this man! We like the same kind of houses!")

I've always leaned toward having a smaller home, mostly because I've always hoped to stay at home once I have kids and I know that a larger-home mortgage is apt to be a burden on a single income. In speaking with some friends, they've shared the blessing that a small living arrangement provides: Less to furnish (which allows you to pick the pieces you really like and have an excuse to spend a bit more). Less to clean. Less to hoard. They attest that it's a practice in simplicity and minimalism, which I can definitely appreciate.

But I also like the idea of cozy home, where someone is just down the hall or in the next room--almost where you're forced to live amongst one another, even when you don't feel like it. (And, I expect that during the teens years, that will be the reality!) In a book of stories about the Amish and their daily life, the author shares that the way the Amish structure their homes is very intentional: Bedrooms are constructed quite small and the only room in the house that is heated is their family room. (I believe they call it a "great room.") They do this because they want everyone in the family to spend their free time together, to congregate in one area of the home and interact rather than retreat off into separate bedrooms.

Now, we're not ready to start shopping or putting down bids anytime soon; we want Michael to have a stable full-time job first, so that we can know neighborhoods to look at and what kind of budget we have. Recently, I came across a blog of a couple who is saving up to put 100% down on their first home purchase. I'm not sure how realistic 100% is for us and our timeline, but I think that the idea behind it is quite inspiring and something that I've added to my prayer list. (Also inspiring because I used one of those online calculators and found out that with the amount we currently have saved as a down-payment, we'd pay $69K in interest over the course of a mortgage!)

For now it's a percolating thought that's got me thinking. I'll be curious to see what our someday-home looks like and how closely it resembles the one I've been imagining!

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