I am a BzzAgent!

A while ago I got a letter in the mail from the grocery store chain Kroger.  I do most if not all of my shopping there.  The letter was an invitation to become a BzzAgent. The letter specifically invited me to get free coffee and if you know me you know I love my coffee. I thought what the hey, might as well log on to the website and see what it was about.  I logged on on found out that the BzzAgent website partners with one of my favorite survey sights MyPoints.  Besides earning MyPoints for filling out surveys you can be chosen to receive free items like coffee, shampoo, cereal you name it.  I filled out some very simple surveys that took me no time at all and earned a bunch of MyPoint points.

Shortly soon after I got an email from the BzzAgent website saying I was chosen to be part of the Green Mountain Fair Trade Coffee Bzz Campaign.  I was so excited! A few week later I got my little Bzz Box in the mail.  Not only did I receive free coffee I was happily greeted with a bunch of coupons! I also had a pamphlet on the Green Mountain Coffee company.

Now, I have to say that I am very accustomed to their coffee as I already buy it in the store before the campaign but I knew very little about what Fair Trade was.  Fair Trade goods are items that are purchased though farms and farmers who compensated fairly for their goods.  When you purchase a Fair trade certified product, like Green Mountain coffee, you are not only getting a great cup of Joe you are ensuring that the workers and farmers are paid a proper wage and then in-turn their communities and families thrive though keeping their businesses sustainable.  Fair Trade is also a non-profit organization they do not do charity but they teach disadvantaged communities how to use Free Trade to benefit their families and communities.  The latter is my favorite part about Fair trade it follows with the.."teach a man to fish and you feed him for life" idea. 

I really like their coffee and to be honest it is typically cheaper then other brands that cannot claim such high standards of practice. They have tons of flavors including Mountain Blue Berry...So, why don't you go get a cup and sit back and enjoy while feeling good about it :)


Want to know more about Free Trade click here



Want to know more about Green Mountain Free Trade Coffee...click below.

How to Generate Income and Make Money For Your Family : Part 2

Besides coupons and cutting cost by making our own house hold cleaners and laundry supplies I have taken to the internet and my cell phone to make some extra cash.

Internet

I knew there had to be a way to earn a small amount of legit money from the internet.  First, I Googled " how to make money from home" I read an blog post about survey sights that listed the pros and cons.  Pros: You can make money just giving your opinion in your spare time.  Which is perfect for a SAHM with very little time on my hands.  Con's: It is not a ton of money but every dollar counts.  Then I Googled reputable survey sights. I found some very reputable internet survey sites and signed up. My favorites are E Poll, American Consumer Opinion and My Points. Much like blogging this is in no way a get rich quick type of endeavor but I earn about 100.00 to 150.00 a month in gift cards.  You can use PayPal but I prefer to not use the paypal deposits because they charge you to redeem your cash. Typically, I request Amazon online credit and I can then purchase items on my extensive Amazon wishlist.  The E Poll site requires you to complete surveys to earn points that you can redeem for gift cards ect. Super-points and My Points site also have surveys you can complete but with they also add an email feature.  They send you emails that you just read and click on and you can earn points for simply visiting a particular website. You are not required to purchases anything or give your email address to these site to earn points.  You can also use both of these websites when you do purchases items online and you can receive points for every dollar you are already intending to spend.  For instance, I purchased items from Macy's website and when I used the site I was able to receive 10 pts for every dollar I spent.  I was already going to buy the items.  I look at it like a shopper card.  I receive points for what I buy then I can get gift cards.

Phone

The way I am using my cell phone to make money is by far my favorite.  You have to have a smart phone FYI...I down loaded an app to my phone called Viggle.  This site awards points for television that you watch.  It works like Shazam or other tagging applications. I am already home with the TV playing so this works really well for me.  You just hit a button and tag into a TV show.  You then earn the points.  Once you accumulate a certain number of points you can redeem them for Amazon credits, Starbucks gift cards ect...So far, I have earned 4 5$ Starbucks cards and 2 25$ Amazon credits!  They often offer bonus points for watching a particular show and my favorite is the Play Along feature when the ask questions that go along with a show where you can also earn more bonus points.  There are rules like you can't tag more then 12 hours of TV in a day or accumulate more then 6000 points in a 24hr period but it is still worth it to me to earn points for something that I am already doing.

How to Generate Income and Make Money For Your Family : Coupons

I am currently a stay at home mom (SAHM) but I am really a full time student and my area of study is nursing.  I will begin my clinical study in the fall of 2013.  I can't wait! But..until then I will be staying at home with our new little baby and it is a blessing.  I am able to exclusively breastfeed among other things.  One of the "other" things I am doing is trying to generate income for our family to allow me to finish school.  I have found that there are more ways to generate income then actually bringing cash in the door and I would love to share my secrets and journey with you all.

Let's talk coupons!

I LOVE coupons and trust me they are not just for groceries.  I use coupons for everything from clothes to make-up.  I have found that the key to getting coupons that you actually want to use is applying for frequent shopping cards at all the places you love to shop weather it be groceries, clothing or make-up.  Yes, when you sign up for the frequent shopping cards and programs they will ask for your email but don't worry about your inbox filling with junk.  All you need to do is unsubscribe from the email and they will stop but you will still receive your valuable money saving coupons in the mail.

Grocery Cards:
I have shoppers card for our local grocery store Kroger and along with saving money at the register on in store deals they also track my most frequent purchases and send me coupons in the mail about once a month for those items.  In addition to those in mail coupons I also downloaded the free coupon app they have to my phone.  I can load e-coupons to my card before I head to the store...TIP* be careful about this. You cannot combine e-coupons and paper coupons for a single item and most stores will double your paper coupon but not the e-coupon..So, if you have a paper one you will probably save more money!  

Frequent Shopping Cards for Retailers:
My favorite frequent shopping card by far is for Express! I love getting coupons in the mail for their store. I love their clothes and practically live in black legging from their store and my husband LOVES their pants and shorts.  Typically, about once every 6 weeks I get a coupon for x amount of dollars off a 30$, 75$, 200$ ect..purchase.  The last time we shopped their I had two of these coupons we spent 500$ but after the discounts it was only 210$ out of pocket!  I did have to split the purchases in to two but it was so worth it.  In addition to the great deal I received I was able to order some items that were not in the store in my size I received FREE shipping to my home!  I also received points for my purchases and once I accumulate a certain number of points I can get cash to spend at the store.

I also LOVE Sephora.  Their card works a bit differently.  I get a free gift on my birthday and I earn points for every dollar I spend and once I spend 'x' amount of money I get a gift.  I am currently saving enough points to get a collection of full size Bare Essentials lip glosses.  

I suggest signing up for these cards where ever you can.

General Coupons:
Personally, I don't like websites like coupons.com or others like that. I never find coupons for things I actually need in my home.  We don't eat a ton of processed foods, chips, or frozen products and usually that is all I run across. Also, I have been meaning to get a Sunday paper subscription for over a year now. I totally get that if I subscribe for a year that I will save .50 cents a paper on Sundays but I keep forgetting to do it.  I also know that not every Sunday paper has good coupons or some at all! Sunday papers that are distributed over holiday weekends like Easter and Christmas DO NOT have coupons so to me that paper would be useless.  The rule of thumb is that if the bank closes there will be no coupons.  Instead, I get a paper two times a month.  I save the coupons in a folder like this one (Jokari-US 55047 E-Z Coupon Holder - Taupe ) and I always take a few minutes to flip though them before I make my list.

Here is the BIG way I save money on groceries without extreme couponing.  I mean honestly what mom has the time to clip coupons for hours and troll the recycling centers for inserts. I have a screaming three year old and a newborn who eats every 2-3 hours. I keep a running list on my refrigerator and we do not deviate from the list.  This is great for two reasons. First, it makes the shopping quick and I usually can get in and out of the store before any major melt downs occur.  Second, It totally helps us stay on budget and I don't fill the house with crap that we don't need.  Right before we run out the door to do the shopping I thumb though my coupons and phone app and add the coupons I want to my card.

These are not ways that I am bringing money into my home in the traditional sense but every penny I save us on things we were going to buy anyways frees up money to be spent in other places.  These are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to my penny pinching ways..Much more to come later!