Christmas on a Budget: Family game and movie night for under $10!

I firmly believe in staying within a budget for Christmas.  For the past two years, our family has done a “cash Christmas” and I can’t tell you how nice it was in January to not be haunted by credit card bills!  One of the ways I’m able to stay within my budget each year is by shopping for Christmas gifts year round!

There are some GREAT deals at Big Lots this week.  If you price match at Walmart, you can also use coupons (Big Lots does not accept coupons) and you can put together a family movie and game night basket for under $10 that includes the following items:

-Toy Story Operation and/or Battleship – $1 each after coupon when you price match the Big Lots ad (see the details on the Big Lots ad and price matching at Walmart here)

-Skittles – $.80 after coupon

-Movie – $5 (from Walmart’s selection or at Big Lots)

-Popcorn – approximately $1.50 for a box of microwave popcorn

-Popcorn Bowl – $1 at Dollar Tree stores right now! (see the picture above)

The retail value of this gift is $20-$25!

Stay tuned for more “Christmas on a budget” gift ideas!  Do you have a “Christmas on a budget” idea to share?  Comment or send me an e-mail!

*This post may contain affiliate links. Please refer to my disclosure policy for more information

 

30 Ways to Save for a Cash Christmas: Opinion Outpost!

Almost three years ago, my husband and I took Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace Universityclass and began using a “cash only” system.  The last two years, we have used cash and gift cards that we’ve earned throughout the year to pay for our Christmas.  I can’t tell you what a relief it was to not be bombarded by credit card bills in January right when our property taxes and Homeowner’s association fees are due!

If you’d like to save for a “cash Christmas” this year, it’s not too late!  There are still plenty of ways that to earn some extra cash and gift cards for the holidays if you start now! For the next 30 days, I’ll be highlighting ways that you can stash away some extra cash!  Check out previous posts from the 30 Ways to Save for a Cash Christmas series here.

Opinion Outpost is another survey site, and my personal favorite!  They will send you links when you potentially qualify for a survey.  Complete the screener and if you qualify, you will be able to complete a longer survery and earn points. You earn points for completing surveys and for every 50 “opinion points” you earn, you can choose to cash out for a check, a $5 Amazon gift card, a $50 Restaurant.com gift card, or a $5 Citibank pre-paid credit card.  I joined last March and earned $272 just for completing surveys throughout the year last year!

If you are not familiar with Opinion Outpost, here’s some more information about it:

How it Works

Once you register, you will receive e-mails about potential surveys you may qualify for.  When you click on the link, you will have to answer a few quick “screener” questions.  If you qualify forthe survey, you will then be directed to the survey.  If you don’t qualify for the survey, sometimes they will ask you if you want to see if you qualify for any other surveys.  Other times, you will be directed to a link where you can enter an instant win game to win $50.

As you complete surveys, you get a certain amount of reward points.  These points correlate to dollar amounts.  For example, 10 points is equal to one dollar.  From my experience, most surveys range from 10 to 30 points each, but I have completed a few 50 point surveys, an 85 point survey, and a 100 point survey.

To ensure that you qualify for more surveys, I recommend filling out all of the information in the “Member Profiles” section.  There are ten different areas – consumer, general, health, household technology, leisure & activities, personal finance, personal vehicles, professional, shopping, and travel.

Cashing Out

To “cash out” click on the “Rewards” link on the left of the page.  This will show you what your current accumulated award balance is.  Once you accumulate $5, you are eligible to cash out.  This is a much lower threshold than other companies require for cashing out.  You can cash out for a check, an Amazon.com code (sent instantly to your e-mail address), a Citi gift card(virtual or physical), or a Restaurant.com gift card.

If you haven’t checked out Opinion Outpost yet, you really should!

*This post may contain affiliate links. Please refer to my disclosure policy for more information

30 Ways to Save for a Cash Christmas: Pampers Gifts to Grow points

Almost three years ago, my husband and I took Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University class and began using a “cash only” system.  The last two years, we have used cash and gift cards that we’ve earned throughout the year to pay for our Christmas.  I can’t tell you what a relief it was to not be bombarded by credit card bills in January right when our property taxes and Homeowner’s association fees are due!

If you’d like to save for a “cash Christmas” this year, it’s not too late!  There are still plenty of ways that to earn some extra cash and gift cards for the holidays if you start now! For the next 30 days, I’ll be highlighting ways that you can stash away some extra cash!  Check out previous posts from the 30 Ways to Save for a Cash Christmas series here.

Pampers

Today’s “Way to Save” is by collecting Pampers Gifts to Grow points.

Have you signed up for Pampers Gifts to Grow yet?  If you’ haven’t, you’ll get 100 bonus points just for signing up here!

If you’re not familiar with Pampers Gifts to Grow, you can enter codes from Pampers diapers, wipes, and training pants and accumulate points that can be redeemed for rewards.  I typically save mine until they have gift card offers, but you can also get Shutterfly items (photo prints, photo calendar, photo books, etc.), toys, Diapers.com codes and more!  Right now, for 1,000 points, you can get a $10 Diapers.com gift certificate, a 20 page Shutterfly photo book, or a $10 BJ’s gift card!  I earned enough points just by entering bonus codes over the last year to get a $10 Red Robin gift card that also includes acoupon for a free kid’s meal!  They’ve just added new rewards including a $10 Applebee’s gift card!  You could use any of these items as Christmas gifts!

Here’s a new bonus code worth 5 points:  BABYISDUEANYDAY (valid until 8/6)

Here’s a list of other codes that may work if you haven’t entered them before – there’s 260 possible pointsplease let me know if these are no longer working so I can update the list! 

50 POINTS:
GIFTSTOGROW4MOM
JOINNOW4REWARDS
WELCOME2PAMPERS

10 POINTS:
10PTSFREECODE4U
CAREFORNEWBORNS
CONGRATS2NEWMOM
GETSTARTEDNOW10
GTGCOUPONPOINTS
GTGREWARDS4MOMS
GTGWELCOME10PTS
PAMPERS4MOMJFM1
PAMPERSGTG10PTS
WELCOME2VILLAGE
WELCOMEGTGPTS10

*This post may contain affiliate links. Please refer to my disclosure policy for more information

30 Ways to Save for a Cash Christmas: My Points

Almost three years ago, my husband and I took Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University class and began using a “cash only” system.  The last two years, we have used cash and gift cards that we’ve earned throughout the year to pay for our Christmas.  I can’t tell you what a relief it was to not be bombarded by credit card bills in January right when our property taxes and Homeowner’s association fees are due!

If you’d like to save for a “cash Christmas” this year, it’s not too late!  There are still plenty of ways that to earn some extra cash and gift cards for the holidays if you start now! For the next 30 days, I’ll be highlighting ways that you can stash away some extra cash!

MyPoints

My “highlight” today is My Points.  My Points is an EASY way to earn gift cards to help pay for your “cash” Christmas.  I joined the site about 6 years ago and in that time, I have earned gift cards to places such as Chili’s, Target, Rainforest Cafe, Amazon.com, and CVS.

Here are some easy ways that you can earn points through My Points:

*Read the e-mails you receive – You will get 1-2 e-mails per day with various offers (I have not gotten any additional spam from this site, but you may want to sign up with a different e-mail address). Click on the “get points” icon in the e-mails that you receive and they will be added to your account! I usually earn 150-200 points each month just by doing this!

*Print and redeem coupons – you can print your coupons through MyPoints and you earn points each month when you redeem them!

*Earn points for your Bzz Agent reports – If you are a member of Bzz Agent (and if you’re not yet, you should join that, too!), you will typically earn 50-100 points for every Bzz report you submit. These are added to your My Points account!

*Shop through the links on their site – I usually do most of my shopping through Ebates, but if a retailer is not listed with them, I always check out My Points next!

Your points will add up before you know it and with 1,500 points, you can cash out for gift cards from several popular retailers including:

*Barnes and Noble
*Bass Pro Shops
*Bath and Body Works
*Borders
*Chili’s
*Gap/Old Navy
*Panera Bread
*Red Lobster/Olive Garden

The best part is that you get 100 bonus points just for signing up here!

*This post may contain affiliate links. Please refer to my disclosure policy for more information.

 

Tuesday Tips: Six Ways to Earn Amazon cards!

If you’ve been reading my blog for long, then you know that I ? Amazon!  I buy everything from grocery items (cereal, drinks, pasta sauce, cracks, and other snacks) to batteries, Pull-Ups, toilet paper, razors, laundry detergent, books, movies, and more from them!  Taking advantage of Amazon deals and using gift cards I’ve earned to pay for them has really helped us to cut our budget!

If you’re wanting to cut your budget and looking for more ways to earn Amazon cards, here are six “legit” ways I’ve found to earn Amazon gift cards!

1.  Change jar ~ Since we use cash only, last year, my husband and I decided to start achange jar where we would keep all of the change we earned from purchases.  We were very surprised that we accumulated almost $200 last year by doing this!  Part of it went to help pay for a family vacation we took last summer.  The rest of it was “cashed in” for Amazon gift cards to buy Christmas gifts.  When you visit a Coinstar machine, you have the option of “cashing out” but then you have to pay 9.8 cents per dollar. They also have an option where you can get “free coin counting” if you opt for a gift card or gift certificate instead. Amazon is one of the choices and the e-certificates you get for Amazon never expire! They also offer gift cards for Albertson’s, Borders, Cabela’s, CVS, Eddie Bauer, iTunes, JC Penney, Lowe’s, Old Navy, Overstock.com, Regal Entertainment Group, and Starbucks.  Our change jar that we started again in January is now full, so I’ll be cashing it in sometime this week.  I’ll let you know how it turns out!

2.  E-PollEpoll.com is a survey site that I have been with for several years now.  The surveys are typically fairly easy and usually relate to TV shows.  I usually get 2-3 surveys each month.  You earn points for completing the surveys which can then be exchanged for gift cards to Amazon and a number of other retailers including Best Buy, Target, Home Depot, and Red Lobster.  They also have surveys for kids in the 2-5 year age group and the 6+ age group.  I’ve started getting more surveys now that my kids are older!

MyPoints
3.  My Points – My Points is an easy way to earn gift cards for Amazon or a number of other retailers.  All you have to do is read the e-mails they send,  shop through links on their site, or submit Bzz Agent reports.  I’ve been with them for several years now (I can’t remember when I started!) and I’ve earned many gift cards just by reading the e-mails and submitting my Bzz Agent reports.

4.  Opinion OutpostOpinion Outpost is another survey site, and my personal favorite!  They will send you links when you potentially qualify for a survey.  Complete the screener and if you qualify, you will be able to complete a longer survery and earn points. You earn points for completing surveys and for every 50 “opinion points” you earn, you can choose to cash out for a check, a $5 Amazon gift card, a $50 Restaurant.com gift card, or a $5 Citibank pre-paid credit card.  I joined last March and earned $272 just for completing surveys throughout the year last year!  You can learn more about Opinion Outpost here.

Search & Win
5.  SwagbucksSwagbucks is one of my favorite “rewards” sites.  You earn points just for searching the web, which is something you do are probably doing on a daily basis anyway!  You can find out more about Swagbucks here.

6.  Crowdtap ~ Crowdtap is my newest “find”  I just signed up a few weeks ago.  In addition to earning gift cards, you can also try out new products for FREE! Some of their recent products have come from Old Navy, Vermont Teddy Bear, and Playtex. Plus, you can sign up to host “House Parties.” You can also donate to charities, which makes it even better in my opinion. Some of the charities you can choose from include the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, Autism Speaks, the American Red Cross, and the American Society for Prevention of Cruelty for Animals.  I haven’t earned a lot from them yet, but I’m having fun with their discussions and Quick Hits!

Also, check with your bank to find out if they offer rewards if you use your debit card.  We recently found out that we were earning points from our bank for using our debit card and one of the participating retailers that we can cash out for gift cards with is Amazon!

By doing these simple things, you’ll be well on your way to cutting your budget on household expenses or funding your 100% cash Christmas!

*This post may contain affiliate links. Please refer to my disclosure policy for more information.