Day 33/365 With Halloween quickly approaching, it could be easy to forget that with it comes the end of the month. There is so much to do to wrap up before the next month begins, that I feel like I need a checklist to consult. SwagbucksGrocery Store Fuel RewardsExpiring CouponsExpiring OffersExpiring DealsDisney Movie InsidersTimesheets Swagbucks Each month, I try to earn enough Swagbucks for at least one $25 virtual Visa at a discount of 13% or 2175 SB. I checked my Order Status and discovered that I hadn't redeemed for a gift card yet this month, even though I have a ridiculous number of SB saved up. The flip-side to this coin is to check my virtual Visa account to be sure that I am using my Visa gift cards…
329/365 I'll start off by saying that of course this question is going to depend on a lot of factors. However, if you have all of the facts, you can determine for yourself which is best for each of your trips. In this article, I'll go into depth on the costs of each and how they factor into your decision to fly or drive on your next trip. My Dilemma With the new Southwest schedule coming out last week, I'm in a dilemma about our upcoming trips to Disneyland from our hometown of Phoenix. While I love the luxury of flying for each trip, I am getting antsy about using so many points to pay for the flights, and the opportunity cost lost to other redemptions. However, I'm not loving…
317/365 As one last hurrah before school started, I decided to take the kids to Six Flags Magic Mountain for a few days of amusement park fun. Yesterday, I laid out the budget, and today I will include our itinerary, detailing each day. Day 1 Getting an Early-ish Start While we didn't get as early a start as I had hoped, we didn't leave as late as last time. The drive over was fairly easy. I had packed lunch to eat in the car, so we only stopped for gas and bathroom breaks. Hyatt Regency Valencia We arrived at the Hyatt Regency Valencia in plenty of time to settle in, unpack, and head to the park. Our room was on a corner and designated accessible, so it was very roomy.…
316/365 I wanted to squeeze one more trip to Six Flags Magic Mountain in before school started, so we headed over to Valencia at the end of July to celebrate the end of summer! Today I'll share our budget and savings, and tomorrow I'll share our itinerary and what we did each day. Let's go! Entertainment As I shared in my trip report from Spring Break, my friend had convinced me last fall to buy season passes at our local water park since Six Flags was buying it out. Turns out, it was a great value because your Gold Season Pass allows entry into ALL Six Flags theme parks. Even though I had dreamed of visiting other parks around the country this summer, I just couldn't pull the trigger on…
278/365 I may earn a bonus reward if you use the referral links contained in this article. Thank you for your support! With the beginning of the new quarter, it’s time to reevaluate what’s in our wallets. While it's not what Jennifer Garner is looking for, let me walk you through how I decide what credit cards to put at the front of the stack. Chase Freedom This is the one card that most of the other card decisions rest upon since it changes every quarter and Ultimate Rewards are so very valuable. This quarter (July-September, 2019), the categories are gas stations and streaming services. This presents a very interesting dilemma since the American Express Blue Cash Preferred just added streaming services as a 6% cash back category two months…
238/365 This post contains affiliate links, which means I may get a small commission for your referral. Thank you for supporting my blog! Starting tomorrow, you can clip two coupons to your Fry’s/Kroger card to save on gift cards Friday through Monday of this Memorial Day Weekend. This strategy, when paired with a credit card that earns rewards at grocery stores, can help you save on Disney or other branded gift cards! Calculate Your Savings For us, the math works out like this. For each $250 we spend on gift cards, we get $1 off per gallon on our next gas fill-up. Since our largest car’s tank holds about 17 gallons, we can save at least $17 over $250, or 6.8%. Now, I don’t stop there, of course. We also…
214/365 Here it is, the end of the month has snuck up on us. There are a few tasks add to your to do list in the next couple of days. Luckily, it is not the end of the quarter, so we don't have as much as we did last month. Grocery Store Rewards While last month I was eager to use up my expiring Safeway rewards on grocery items, this month I've earned almost 10, so I want to use them for $1 off on gasoline, especially with the current price of gas so high. Unfortunately, I filled up the tank last week, and still have at least a quarter of a tank left. Hopefully I can use it up tomorrow with some errands so that I can get…
198/365 This post contains affiliate links, which means I may get a small commission for your referral. Thank you for supporting my blog! Through April 24, 2019, you can clip two coupons to your Fry's/Kroger card to save on gift cards. This strategy, when paired with a credit card that earns rewards at grocery stores, can help you save on Disney or other branded gift cards! Calculate Your Savings For us, the math works out like this. For each $250 we spend on gift cards, we get $1 off per gallon on our next gas fill-up. Since our largest car’s tank holds about 17 gallons, we can save at least $17 over $250, or 6.8%. Now, I don’t stop there, of course. We also have rewards-earning credit cards at the grocery…
191/365 For Spring Break this year, we headed West to put our Six Flags annual passes to good use. In this part, I'll go over the budget, while the next part will include our itinerary and other fun stuff! If you click here, you can follow along on my trip budget spreadsheet as I go through each category. Entertainment I detest water parks, and even though we have one about a mile from our house, I have so far resisted the temptation to buy annual passes there. Well, resisted is much too strong a word. Avoided, vowed to never, changed the subject, pouted, and put my foot down. Luckily, my kids haven't pressed the issue, but this year, my girlfriend did. She told me last fall that if we bought…
185/365 Here it is again, the end of the month, and so much to do, especially since it is also the end of the quarter. Let's dive in... Grocery Store Rewards I had some Safeway Rewards that were expiring. I don't like to use rewards on gas unless I have 10 at once for $1.00 off a full tank of gas. I love that they introduced "Grocery Rewards" so that I don't always have to scramble each month to "use them or lose them," and instead have some choices. Since our tank holds 17 gallons, and each reward is worth 10¢ per gallon discount on gas, I value each reward at $1.70. I try to pick grocery rewards that will get at least close to that value if I don't…
