Where Every Penny Counts
Walgreens is offering a FREE 8X10 photo collage for Mother’s Day! You must create your collage and place your order online by Saturday, May 8th and then enter the code GOODTHOUGHTS at check-out. Choose to pick up your collage in store and it’s completely free!
While you’re creating collage, if you have other photos that you need to print, you can get 50 4X6 prints for $5 when you use the code SUMMER50 at check-out.
Start uploading your photos now!
I put off using the free bill pay service that was offered by my bank for months until I got an offer for a “bonus” if I would make three transactions using my bank’s “bill pay” feature. I can’t pass up “free” money, so I decided to check it out. That was almost a year ago, and now I’m hooked!
How it works
If you aren’t familiar with Bill Pay, the first thing you do is “add a payee.” Most banks have a list of pre-loaded payees so you can search for a payee. If your payee is not part of the pre-loaded list, you can add them manually. When you add a payee, you have the option of adding an individual or a business. After you add the payee, there will usually be a calendar of some sort that tells you what the payment delivery time is. You can schedule your payments to be sent and arrive by a specific date. I always select a day that is a few days before the actual payment due date to allow a cushion. Finally, you enter the payment amount and then you will be given a confirmation number. I add this into the Quicken program that we use to track our finances.
Prior to using bill pay, when I would create our budget for the month, I would make a list of payments that needed to be made each week based on payment due dates and our pay day dates. Now, when I receive a bill either in my mail or by e-mail, I go in and automatically schedule the payment using my bank’s bill pay feature. It saves a lot of time, I don’t have to pay for a stamp or worry about my checks getting lost in the mail, and I don’t worry about incurring fees for late payments because the payment is scheduled well in advance (as soon as I receive the bill). If you have payments that are recurring every month, you can also schedule those!
Have you used bill pay yet? What did you think? Many banks offer bill pay for free to their customers. If your bank offers this feature and you haven’t checked it out yet, try it and let me know what you think!
Do you have a Thrifty Thursday idea to share? Don’t forget to link up below!
For more Thrifty Thursday ideas, check out Coupon Teacher, Madame Deals, and Life as a Mom.
If you haven’t signed up for Swagbucks yet, now is the perfect time! This week only (through 5/7 at noon PST) if you sign up for Swagbucks and use the code SWAGNATION5, you will get a bonus 50 Swagbucks!
This week, Swagbucks is also doubling the amount of “winning moments” awarded throughout the day which means that if you use Swagbucks as your search engine throughout the day, you will have more chances to win. They will also be awarding Swagbucks in larger increments!
The new “Daily Poll” was also introduced yesterday. I got one “buck” just for participating! If you submit a poll and they decide to use it, you’ll earn 100 Swagbucks!
Here are a few tricks that I have learned to help you make the most of your Swagbucks account:
*Do a few searches every day until you win at least once. I search for things that I would normally be searching for online anyway and I have found that I can easily earn 10-30 Swagbucks each day by doing this. Your searches do need to be “natural” searches. If it does not seem like your searches are legitimate, they may freeze or even close your account.
*If you have a Facebook account, become a “fan” of Swagbucks on Facebook. Click here to do this. If you check out the wall, there are bonus codes posted from time to time that you can add to your account. (To add bonus codes, log into Swagbucks, and then click on the icon that says “You have X Swagbucks.” There will be a box that says this: Have a SwagCode? Just enter it here and receive your SwagBucks instantly! Enter your code and click GIMME!)
*Publish your Swagbucks winnings on Facebook – when you “win” a buck, you now have the option of posting your win on Facebook. It shows up on your profile and it’s another way to promote your Swagbucks account (and get more ‘friends’)
*Read the Swagbucks blog (you can access this here). Bonus codes are posted here, as well.
*Sign up for the Swagbucks newsletter. They send bonus codes embedded in the newsletter, so it’s an easy way to earn extra Swagbucks!
*Download the Swagbucks Toolbar onto your internet browser – Click on the “toolbars” option on the left hand side of the website after you log in and follow the instructions!
*Post the Swidget on your blog or your Facebook page. You can download it here.
*Tell all your friends – When your friends sign up under you, you win when they win for the first 1000 Swagbucks (this does not include any Swagcodes that they enter)
I have found that I typically earn at least 30 Swagbucks per day just by doing the things listed above. That adds up to 900 Swagbucks in one month’s time (or 2 $5 Amazon gift cards!). I work full time and I only do searched from home (non working hours) and I’m able to do this, so it isn’t something that you have to spend a lot of time on, but you should easily be able to earn $120 in Amazon gift cards in a year’s time. If you’d rather have gift cards for somewhere else, that would give you enough to cash out for $100 in Target gift cards (these can only be used online) or for 8 $10 Starbucks gift cards. If your goal is to do a 100% Cash Christmas, this will help you get started!
**For more information about loadable coupons and how they work check out this post!
This ad is based on the Texas/Louisiana market. My Kroger stores double three “like” coupons with a face value up to $.50 and triple three “like” coupons with a face value up to $.39. Your market may be different. Check with your store for details!
This week there is a Procter & Gamble “Watch Your Savings Grow” promotion. Get an instant $4 off when you buy any 4 participating P&G items. The prices reflected below are the prices after the instant $4 has been deducted: (these are just the items reflected in the ad, there are more in the store) Was anyone else in the Texas/Houston area missing their P&G insert this week?!
Always Infinity pads – $5.99 after instant discount
$1/1 Always Infinity – 5-2 PG
Final Price = $4.99 after discount/coupons
Always maxi pads – $4.49 after instant discount
$1/1 Always pads – 5-2 PG
Final Price = $3.49 after discount/coupons
Bounce dryer sheets (105-120 ct) – $3.99 after instant discount
$.25/1 Bounce dryer sheets – 5-2 PG (should triple)
Final Price = $3.24 after discount/coupons
Charmin – 6 Mega or 12 big rolls – $5.99 after instant discount
$.25/1 Charmin – 5-2 PG (should triple)
Final Price = $5.24 after discount/coupons
Crest Pro Health rinse – $3.99 after instant discount
$.75/1 Crest Pro Health rinse – 5-2 PG
Final Price = $3.24 after discount/coupons
Crest Pro Health toothpaste – $1.49 after instant discount
$.75/1 Crest toothpaste – 5-2 PG
Final Price = $3.24 after discount/coupons
Dawn liquid (56 oz) – $3.99 after instant discount
$.25/1 Dawn liquid – 5-2 PG (should triple)
Final Price = $3.24 after discount/coupons
Downy fabric softener (52-60 oz) – $3.99 after instant discount
$1/1 Downy liquid or sheets – 5-2 PG
Final Price = $2.99 after discount/coupons
Febreze Air Effects – $1.49 after instant discount
$.50/1 (should double) or $1/1 Febreze Air Effects – 5-2 PG
Final Price = $.49 after discount/coupons
Herbal Essences shampoo – $1.99 after instant discount
Olay 8 bar soap or body wash – $4.49 after instant discount
$1/1 Olay Body Wash, In-Shower Lotion, Bar Soap, or Hand & Body lotion – 5-2 PG
Final Price = $3.49 after discount/coupons
Oral B Cross Action toothbrush – $1.49 after instant discount
$.75/1 Oral B Cross Action toothbrush – 5-2 PG
Final Price = $.74 after discount/coupons
Pampers or Easy Ups training pants – $7.99 after instant discount
$1.50/1 Pampers jumbo pack diapers – 5-2 PG
Final Price = $6.49 after discount/coupons
Prilosec OTC (14 ct) – $8.99 after instant discount
$3/1 Prilosec OTC – 5-2 PG
Final Price = $5.99 after discount/coupons
Tide laundry detergent (36 oz liquid) or Tide Stain Release (18 ct) – $4.99 after instant discount
$3/1 Tide stain release (15 ct+) – 5-2 PG
$1/1 Tide laundry detergent – 5-2 PG
Final Price = $1.99 for Tide Stain Release or $3.99 for Tide laundry detergent
OTHER DEALS:
*Blue Bell ice cream – 2/$7
$1/1 Blue Bell printable (must register)
Final Price = $2.50/each after coupon
*Daisy sour cream – $1.88
$.50/1 Daisy sour cream – 3-28 SS2 (should double)
Final Price = $.88 after coupons
*Freschetta pizza – $4.99
$1.25/1 Freschetta pizza – 3-7 SS
$1/1 Freschetta pizza printable
Final Price = $3.74 after coupons
*Hot house tomatoes – $.97/each
*Kellogg’s Fruit Loops, Frosted Flakes, or Apple Jacks – $1.97
$1/3 Kellogg’s Fruit Loops, Frosted Flakes, or Apple Jacks – 4-11 RP
Final Price = $1.64/each
*Kraft cheese – 2/$4
*Kraft salad dressing – 2/$4
$.55/1 Kraft salad dressing – 5-2 SS
Final Price = $1.45 after coupon
*Kroger natural slices – 2/$3
*Kroger mini peeled carrots – 4/$5
*Lean Cuisine entrees – 5/$10
$1/5 Lean Cuisine – 5-2 SS
Final Price = 5/$9 after coupon ($1.80 each)
*Strawberries – $1.77/lb
*Sunny Delight – 10/$10
$.25/1 Sunny D printable (should triple)
Final Price = $.25/each
CRAZY MEAL DEAL: Buy Blue Ribbon Hickory Smoked bacon, get Tennessee Pride sausage gravy (8 oz package), Bakecrafters English muffins (12 oz), 1 lb ripe bananas, or Kroger large eggs
In the past few weeks, I have heard similar stories from too many family members and friends. Basically, they learned that hundreds to thousands of dollars in charges had been made to a credit card, but the credit card was still in their possession. Most likely, they were all the victims of credit card skimming. Although credit card skimming has been around for years, the incidents of credit card skimming appear to be increasing quickly.
What is credit card skimming?
In a nutshell, with credit card skimming, thieves typically use a small electronic device to steal your credit card information. They do this by scanning and storing the data contained on the magnetic strip. Then, they often use this information to create counterfeit cards and the shopping spree beings.
Since we are following the Dave Ramsey plan, we mainly use cash, so I figured we were mainly “safe” but I learned that some of the more common target areas for skimmers are actually places where we still use our debit card: gas station pumps, ATM machines, and Redbox rental units. Other target locations include restaurants and grocery stores.
How to spot skimmers
I was surprised to find how easy it is to disguise skimming devices within the card readers of ATM machines and gas station pumps. Some ATM machines may also contain cameras above the keypad to record your pin number as you enter it or even a fake keypad to record your information. Even though it might take extra time, I think I might start dealing with tellers either in the branch of through the drive thru from now on!
Check out this article on Credit Card Skimming: How Thieves Can Steal Your Card Information Without You Knowing It. There are some great pictures of various skimming devices. It’s pretty enlightening!
In addition to keeping an eye out for hidden devices on card readers, you should also make sure that your credit card never leaves your possession. This can be tricky in a restaurant where the waiter typically leaves with your card to process your payment. All the waiter has to do is use a small hand-held skimmer and then they have all of your information.
Make sure you watch your bank statements closely. If you have online banking, it’s a good idea to monitor your card activity regularly. You may also want to check with your credit card companies to see what sort of fraud protection they have in place. Some companies will monitor your accounts and will cut off access if there is suspicious activity.
What to do if you are the victim of credit card skimming (or any credit card threat/fraud)
Contact your bank or credit card company right away ~ Contact your bank or credit card company right away so that they can cancel the card. By law, you won’t be liable for more than $50 in charges. If your debit card information was stolen, your bank will cancel the account, but they typically have to wait for any activity to hit your account before they will respond. Once the fraudulent charges hit your account, they will typically place a credit on your account for the charges.
File a police report ~ Contact the police and file a police report. Make sure you keep a copy for your records.
Put a freeze on your credit report ~ Contact all three major credit reporting agencies (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion) to put a security hold on your accounts. This will prevent people from opening new credit accounts using your name and information. Also make sure you check your credit report to ensure that no new accounts have been opened.
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