I'm listening

It's been one of those weeks my mom would've been really helpful. I pride myself on being self motivated. I like to figure things out on my own. Some say stubborn, I say potato. I would like to be perfectly clear that I was a good kid, just like to figure it out on my own. 

I hate to say most of the time I took my mom's advice for granted. She was almost always right. Would've saved a lot of time and heartache to listen. 

Since school started I've been finding myself in the pressure cooker. Last Sunday night as I lay in bed exhausted and restless at the same time, the lid blew. New job, grad school, housework, exercise, Terry, Tea, me-how do all these pieces fit? They can't right now. I imagine my mom telling me that before hand. I imagine I wouldn't listen. 

So now that I figured it out, what to do? Grad school had to go. I was only 2 weeks in. Maybe I'll find time one day. Maybe I'll decide that's not my direction. If I've learned one thing it's that life doesn't always go where I want, but it always ends up in a good direction. My mom was a worrier, definitely got it from her. But as much as she stressed, she always threw her hands up and said "It's gonna be ok." She would've gone on a trip somewhere, went shopping, hugged her kids. Thanks Momma I'm listening.

Tax Time

Confession time: I have never done my own taxes. My dad always does them. I am a self professed terrible math person who makes the most basic errors all the time. This year I decided to give it a try. H&R Block online was recommended by friends and FREE! so why not? Worst case scenario I quit and go in to the office right? So armed with our 7 W-2s and other various numbered forms I sat down for a long process.
I started out timidly, anxiously double checking each figure I entered. After the 5th W-2 (thanks to my job loving husband) I was feeling more confident. H&R walked me through each step and explained everything. So easy! Even paid the extra to file my state. So BOOM! taxes are done! I feel like a superhero! Or at least a grownup. My money resolution is really starting to come together.

My two cents on travel

Money Monday

Late again...crazy week! I had a trip to Houston, a surprise family reunion Monday and Tuesday, and now I'm on my way to San Antonio. This brings me to my topic: saving money while traveling. 

1st: Buy supplies before going

I have a notorious habit of snacking while on the road. All those little gas station stops add up. A quick trip to the store before leaving stops that habit in its tracks. Not only is it cheaper (yay coupons!) but it's also healthier. Here's my snack mix for this trip:

Nutragrain bars

Oatmeal packets

Applesauce squeezies (can you tell breakfast is my favorite meal?)

Jerky

Coconut water

2nd: Budget

This is my weak spot. Especially on trips. This weekend for example we went to my friend's baby shower (yay Penny!)

I want to buy this sweet family so much cute baby stuff. Luckily I enlisted help from my other friends and Terry to keep me on my toes. I made sure to ask them if it was a wise purchase. 9 out of 10 times it wasn't. 

3. Credit card rewards

Terry has a rewards card we use only for travel. It keeps me in the budget (hello limits!), and it gives us points for rewards on future trips. Our card of choice is the Disney card by Chase because Disney is our favorite place ever. 

These are my tricks to make travel cheaper and thus allow for more travel. Where are your favorite places to go? How to you budget to get there? 

Money Monday College Edition

Let's talk college. If you are like Terry and I, college loans are just a part of life. I am forever grateful for my degree and wouldn't have my career without it. I consider it an investment. It also brought me my husband and my best friends. But I sure would love some help paying for all that. This is where upromise comes in. Upromise by Sallie Mae applies a percentage of your shopping to pay down your loans. You can also apply a percentage to future loans. It's customizable and there are so many ways to save. 

1. Register your credit cards, debit cards, and some gift cards to get a percentage off your purchases.

2. Shop online through the upromise site. Not only do your get your percentage, but there are good deals and coupons.

3. Register your loyalty reward cards: CVS, Brookshires, and Kroger are my main cards.

4. Download the app. The app will show you local restaurants that participate. 

5. Invite your friends and family. Grandparents or any other awesome person in your life can link to your account and give your their points. 

If you have a loan through Sallie Mae, or would like an easy start to a college fund for your little one, I would highly suggest upromise. 

Nexercise!

Fitness Friday

Yay! An on time Bloggity! This week's Fitness Friday is about my favorite fitness app Nexercise! This app is free in the iTunes store. If you want to get healthy, go get it now. I'll wait...

So cool feature #1: You get points for exercising. These points can be used to get gift cards and now they've added donations. I only need 10,000 points to make a donation to the American Cancer Society or get an iTunes gift card. 

Cool feature #2: Your friends can join you and exercise together or compete. I love the flash fit mob.

Cool feature #3: It has a huge list of exercises so even I can't get bored. All it takes is 2 minutes of movement. That's a commercial, an elevator ride, waiting in line at the grocery store. And it really adds up. 

Cool feature #4: It tracks you while you're moving or you can log afterwards. It tracks distance and in some instances heart rate.

Cool feature #5: It connects with your music, Facebook, and twitter. 

For someone who is beginning my fitness journey, it's convenient and fun. For Terry, who is a more experienced fitness person, it's convenient and fun. And for free, what could it hurt. Join me next Friday for calorie tracking 101. 

Are you one of those extreme couponers?

My Money Monday post was late. Too late Tuesday anyone? So in an effort to save money, I started couponing. After watching the whole season of Extreme Couponing on Netflix and talking to my friend, I was convinced I would have to build a basement to stockpile shampoo and toilet paper. Terry said no stockpiling allowed so I had to change my strategy. Here is my non crazy guide to couponing without stockpiling for the Zombie Apocalypse.
Step 1: Get coupons. Lucky for me, my dad gets the daily paper and just throws his out. So I take his. I know some of those extremers (my nickname) dumpster dive for multiple copies. I prefer not to. That's totally up to you. Also, join loyalty programs like Kroger, Brookshire's, and one of my favorites CVS.
Step 2: Organize your coupons. This was the trickiest part for me. The setup that works best for me is my Thirty-One small notebook with envelopes for each month. I list all the coupons on the envelope. Also, I don't keep coupons I don't use. This is in honor of Terry's no stockpiling rule. I'm not buying it just cause it's on sale.
Step 3: Research the sales. This part is super easy thanks to awesome coupon bloggers that do all the homework for you. My favorite is SouthernSavers.com because it lists the major stores I visit and have loyalty cards for. You can save the deals you want that week to a printable list and even print additional e-coupons.
Step 4: Make a list of what you need. Terry and I make a weekly grocery trip now. We used to go whenever we needed something. Huge money waster. Usually Sunday mornings we'll go out to Target and Kroger. We make a list of meals for the week and add any essentials that need to be restocked.
Step 5: Group coupons with sale items. This is the biggie for me. Double coupons and sale items increase your savings. But be careful with deals where you have to buy a certain number of items to save...my first trip out I came back with 8 bottles of mouthwash. (No stockpiling!!!)
Step 6: Enjoy watching your total drop (also to check for mistakes) and brag about your savings to everyone you know. (My favorite part!) One recent shopping trip to Target I saved $85 on a $200 shopping trip. The cashier asked if I was an extreme couponer. That made my day. I may not walk out of the store for free, but I have been saving 30-40% on each shopping trip.
So do you coupon? Have any helpful savings tips? Share in the comments section and look out for the next (hopefully on time) Money Monday!

A penny saved...

New Year challenges:

It's that time again, time for resolutions. This year is quite the challenge. I find myself thinking about Teagan and being the best I can be for her. So I came up with my top two goals for 2013.

2: Money Management 

I have come a long way in the money department. Paid off some debt, worked on a budget. But I really want to start saving for Tea. So here are my baby steps for my baby. 

-Pennies in the piggy bank

All the loose change from our pockets goes in Tea's piggy. I gave up my Dr Pepper and Gardettos habit which also helps goal #1. That's $1.50 a day, 5x a week! Her first full piggy made $150. All the money goes into her savings account.

-upromise by Sallie Mae

Sallie Mae has an awesome program called upromise where a percent of what you spend shopping and eating out goes to an account for college. 

-Coupons

Saving money leaves more for Tea. I am really enjoying couponing. The toughest part is finding the sales to match with coupons. Thankfully there are blogs that save this working mom some time like southernsavers.com. This blog is my favorite bc it lists deals at Kroger and CVS which are linked to my upromise account. 

So those are my two goals for the year. Join me for my new blogs with more tips on Money Mondays and Fitness Fridays.