Would've, Should've, Could've

I made a silly rookie mistake: I let a Up+ Reward expire! I was so excited about my $4 in Up+ Rewards and had planned exactly what I was going to use it for - only to look at it closely and see that it expired YESTERDAY!!! Such a bummer!

So, if I had been the organized and "on top of things" person that I long to be, this is what I could've done (and my students would've LOVED the addition to the prize bag)! Mentos are on sale 4/$2 (regularly 69¢ each) + you get a $1 Up+ reward when you buy 4! My Plan:

Buy 8 Mentos for $4

Use my previously earned $4 Up+ Rewards

Pay only tax

Get another $2 in Up+ Rewards ($1 for each set of 4) 

Buy another 4 Mentos for $2

Use my $2 Up+ Rewards

Pay only tax

Get another $1 Up+ Reward

Buy 2 more Mentos for $1

Pay Only Tax

Total: 14 Mentos Candies

Total Spent: Only Tax

I should've done it yesterday - but I didn't! Live and still learning. . . :-(

MoveStudio Charlotte - Amazing Savings!!!

MoveStudio Charlotte is a small, intimate Pilates, Yoga, and Dance studio in the Plaza Midwood area. I've been taking classes there since July of last year when I got a Living Social voucher. I figured I would just use my voucher (that was super cheap) and be done with it. Ha! I was hooked! I even paid full price ($15/class) for a while! Then they started offering an unlimited pass for $85/month. Since I was going twice a week, it made sense for me. Well, two days ago they released a new deal that saves you another 40% off the unlimited pass! It's a MoveStudio Charlotte Membership. You commit for 12 months for $50/month and you get the following:

• unlimited classes
• 15% off private and semi-private equipment sessions
• 5% off any retails purchases

Now 12 months is a long time for people to commit sometimes. You may not have childcare during the summer and wonder if it's worth it if you're not able to go often. Or, you may be pregnant and know that you'll need to take 8-12 weeks off just before and after the baby comes! Well, they've allowed for that. You're allowed to freeze your membership one time during the 12 month period for up to 3 months! If you still want to come to classes during that time, you can - and you'll just pay as you go. 

I LOVE MoveStudio because: 

• The classes are small - so I get a lot of personal attention
• It's not super fancy and showy - but simple and intimate
• The instructors are very knowledgeable and do a great job
• I'm supporting a locally owned and operated business - run by a young mother like me!

Not sure you want to commit, having never been there? Try out one of their $5 promo classes! Here's what they're offering this month for only $5/class:

Tuesdays @ 7:30 pm - Cardio Funk

Wednesdays @ - 7:30 pm - Risque Fit

Thursdays @ 7:30 pm - Hip Hop

Saturdays @ 9:30 am - Yoga

Special: Sunday, April 22nd - 4:30 pm - Zumba

So visit www.movestudiocharlotte.com or email april@movestudiocharlotte.com for more information!

Teacher Gifts and Free Shipping (no minimum)!!!

If you wait until the middle of May to start thinking of end of the year teacher gifts, you'll end up running to the store to buy a candle! Buying ahead gives you these benefits:

• Bargaining Power - when you don't have to have something immediately, you can shop around for a deal)
• Time for Creativity - like I said above, if you're in a rush - then whatever you can find will have to do. But if you look ahead of time, you can find some unique/personal items!
• Extra Savings by Buying Online - the ability to have items shipped to your home is huge! This keeps you from impulse buys and saves you time! Also, since you're ordering online - you can go through shopathome or ebates. Coldwater Creek has a 2% cash back bonus on whatever you purchase - and there are thousands more stores to choose from!

So here are some deals I found that look pretty good! 

Coldwater Creek is also offering no-minimum free shipping + 30% off - but today is the last day! It says that you'll need to enter in this code: WFH4801 at checkout to get your discount, but in playing around on the website it automatically added in my 30% discount! So just have it handy just in case! This is what I found in their outlet section under "Home and Gifts":

Happy Feet Gift Set - only $13.99 shipped (regularly $24.95 + S/H)!!!


What fun! Opening the fabric-wrapped box, you discover a little bed of twigs where a pumice stone, a bar of sandalwood soap (mmmm!) and a brisk little brush are all nested together. All shaped like mini-feet! And all made by hand, so each one is unique. It`s a foot-spa in a box to give or to keep.

Featherweight Throw - only $13.99 shipped
(regularly $29.95 + S/H)!!!

For a hint of warmth for those mild evenings when there`s a cool breeze, this linen throw is just perfect. Lightness itself, in an open weave exaggerated with drop needle patterning. Hand wash. 60 x 50 inches.




4 piece Citrus Slice Napkin Set + 4 Wooden Bead Napkin Rings - only $20.97 shipped
(regularly $44.75 + S/H)!!!!

Napkins: Juicy colors and a refreshing print bring out the fun of the season on these table linens. Set of four napkins, each 18 inches square. Cotton, machine wash.

Rings: Carved wood beads create naturally elegant tabletop jewelry. 

Simple beauty at 2 1/2 inches in diameter.

Earth Fare Goodies

Earth Fare's FREE items this week revolve around one of my favorite things: CHEESE!!!!

Babybel Cheese! You only have to spend $5 to get a free package of Babybel Cheese made by Laughing Cow! Just go to the earthfare.com site, register for a "Welcome Home" account, and then follow the clues to find the hidden coupon for free cheese!


Take the "Boot Challenge" and you can get a free bag of Barbara's Baked Cheese Puffs - made with all natural ingredients when you trade in any cheese puffs made with artificial ingredients (Cheetos)!

I also got a text coupon this morning for Tulips!!! You can get 10 stems of tulips for only $1 with any $10 purchase! If you're not signed up for Earth Fare's text promotion, just text the word "Eat" to 71700! 


So here's my plan: 
I'll go to Earth Fare and get $25 worth of groceries/supplements so that I can use my $5/$25 purchase coupon from the City Pass Book. I'll then qualify for all of my other goodies: 
Free Babybel Cheese (about a $6 value)
$1 for 10 Tulips (estimating $6 value)
Trade in my Cheetos for healthy Barbara's Baked Cheese Puffs (estimating $4 value)

All totaled, I'll get about $41 worth of groceries for about $20! Saving at least 50% is my goal at the regular grocery stores when I have big-time coupons to use. Considering Earth Fare is what I consider to be a high-end store (a lot like Whole Foods), being able to save 50% is HUGE! So excited! 

Extra Savings for the Super Thrifty

Viggle is a loyalty program for television that gives people real rewards for checking into the television shows they’re watching. Currently available for Apple iPhone®, iPad® and iPod touch®, Viggle automatically identifies what television shows its users are watching and awards them points when they check-in. Viggle users can redeem their points in the app’s rewards catalogue for items such as movie tickets, music, gift cards and much more.


Here are a few examples of the points you could collect tonight:

325 points for checking into the Final Four Games tonight at 9:00

225 points for checking into Dancing with the Stars tonight at 8:00, or 250 points for checking into The Voice.


What do the points earn you? Here are some examples: 
7,500 points gets you a $5 Starbucks, Barnes and Noble, Burger King, CVS, or Papa Johns Gift Card
14,000 points gets you a $10 iTunes, JCPenny, Sephora, Banana Republic, Foot Locker, GAP, or Old Navy Gift Card
17,500 points gets you a free movie ticket from Fandango (up to a $12 value)
21,000 points gets you a $15 gift card from Chili's
37,500 points gets you a $25 gift card from Best Buy


I downloaded the app 6 days ago and already have over 9,800 points! So - you see there are quite a few options for a wide variety of point ranges! Personally, I'm saving up my points for the bigger prizes. It really is so easy! And I don't have cable or dish - just my bunny ears. So, if you have cable - you have a lot more options!

Shopkick gives you awesome deals and rewards simply for walking into your favorite stores. You can collect your kicks™ rewards at millions of stores in America, and great deals at many of the top national retailers. Once again, it is an app that you download onto your iPhone or Android. Simply open the app and walk into your favorite stores (Target, Wal-Mart, Best Buy, Staples...there are millions of stores listed). Sometimes you get kicks (which are like points) just for walking in. Sometimes the store wants to promote a certain item and you'll have to find that item in the store and scan the barcode to get your kicks.

For the first time in several months, I went to the mall all by myself on Saturday morning. As I was sitting there in the early morning, sipping my coffee and watching all the mall walkers from my comfy spot outside of Macy's, I decided to take a look at the Shopkick app that I had downloaded on my phone months ago, but never used. I simply clicked the nearby tab and it found me there in the mall and gave me points just for being there. Then I saw that I could get 100 kicks just for going into Macy's and trying out the new Dolce and Gabana Light perfume. There were about 3 other stops within the mall that I could make (none of the other required me to try anything - just check in). Before I left the mall I had 177 kicks and it was really fun.

The rewards for kicks are varied - but include retailers like Target, Best Buy, iTunes, Old Navy, Restaurant.com, ToysRus, and lots of others. Rewards start at $2 and go on up from there. Just click here to get started!

Swagbucks. I know you're probably getting sick of hearing me talk about it, but I just deposited $20 worth of amazon.com gift cards in my amazon account, and I just earned another 675 swagbucks - that will earn me another $5 gift card...and all through Swagbucks. So, I just have to mention it AGAIN! Swagbucks.com is an online portal dedicated to helping you earn digital dollars called "Swag Bucks", which can be redeemed for exclusive Swagbucks.com merchandise. You earn the swagbucks by searching the web through their browser, taking surveys, voting in the daily poll, completing special offers, and lots of other ways.

One of my favorite ways to earn big swagbucks is to participate in their special offers. Here is what I do:
Look under the special offers tabs and find the ones that offer "FREE TRIALS". Most of these are things like Netflix, FreeCreditReport.com, Stamps.com, Luminosity, emusic.com, etc. Most of these offer big bucks (like 600+ swagbucks) - for a NO RISK FREE TRIAL. If you sign up for one of these offers every week - that is enough to get you a $5 amazon.com gift card every single week (with a little extra). In fact, that will be enough to get you a total of 5 per month. Simply mark on your calendar when the trial period is over so that you can cancel if you're not interested in continuing - and you've taken on NO additional cost and earned $5!

Plus, do the following for more Swagbucks (SB's):

• Download the toolbar and you'll get 1 SB every day just for having it.
• Use the browser for all of your internet searches and you'll earn SB's.
• Use their coupon database (powered by coupons.com) and earn 10 SB's every time you use one! 
• Vote on their daily poll (literally takes about 5 seconds) and earn 1 SB every day.

So there you have it! Three ways to save some extra big-bucks! Have fun!

Subscribe and Save

 

With our super busy lifestyles, many of us do not have time to monitor all of the savings websites and blogs for great deals! So, an easy solution is to sign up as an email subscriber and all of the deals will be emailed to you. If you have a smart phone - it'll be that much easier for you - because you can simply review the savings emails as you have time (while waiting in line at the bank, carpool, or for fast food - among many other times). 

One of the things I love about the hip2save website is at the end of the day, they post a "Daily Dose" with all the deals that are still available that they've posted throughout the day. They even break them down into categories: Freebies, Coupons/Rebates, In-Store Deals, Online Bargains, Restaurant Offers, etc. I get the email every day at about 6:00 pm (eastern time) and I can quickly scan through the list to see if there is anything that I missed throughout the day that I really want to jump on! You can also subscribe to this blog (look to the right), and each time I post, an email will automatically be sent to you. It's a huge time saver and you're sure not to miss out on any great money saving opportunities!