The Saving Money Dance

On a cool December evening about 15 years ago, a friend came to retrieve the washing machine he'd loaned us for our first ten months in the house. Rather than waiting for my dad to arrive with the furniture dolly, my friend and fiancee (now husband) took it upon themselves to carry it down the stairs. It didn't end well.

Bad Idea Pants. They wear them well. 

Fortunately, my friend was wearing work boots, because the washing machine hit his ankle. He still had to take a few weeks off from running. (Ugh!) Fun fact: a washing machine picks up speed tumbling down stairs. In other good news, we got a new washing machine and my husband learned something about refinishing a section of hardwood floor.

That evening, I went on with my plans of enjoying myself at an ornament and cookie exchange at a friend's house. I ended my evening with a trip to a new grocery store, where I got great deals on dry ingredients for gifts in jars I was making as Christmas presents. Loving a good bargain, I did a little jig when I got home and told my fiancee about the fantastic prices I'd found. My joyous jig was forever named the Saving Money Dance.

These days, I do the Saving Money Dance a lot when shopping online. I use eBates to get cash back on purchases at a variety of retailers. It's installed in my browser, so automatically checks for cash back when I'm shopping. I also have the app installed on my tablet and phone, and shop directly from there (it links to the retailers sites) to get cash back anytime. Give it a try:

eBates

Honey is another app that works in the background while you shop. It looks for coupons for online retailers and gives you a chance to apply them during checkout. Much like eBates, it can be used in a browser or app. Easy peasy!

Honey

Raise is a good site and app for buying discounted gift cards. You can choose to receive notifications when the price drops on your preferred stores and restaurants. The gift cards need to be printed or used electronically, so not the best for gift giving, unless you just forward the recipient the email. You can easily load your purchased gift cards into the store app (such as Starbucks, Gap, etc.) to earn the retailer's rewards from using the app. Best of all, eBates sometimes offers cash back on Raise purchases!

Raise

And there you have it. Possibly some new apps / sites to try as you finish your holiday shopping, possibly a wasted two minutes reading this blog. 

Tell me about your favorite ways to save money. I'm a coupon user and comparison shopper. How about you?

Anyone else have a saving money dance? It makes bargains extra fun in my house. :-) 

If You Can't Beat 'Em, Join 'Em

You know those annoying people who repeatedly send and post referral links to shopping websites? I'm tired of receiving them. But if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. So here's my list of referral links, condensed into one post, with the option to stop reading now.

Twice.com. This was the first online consignment store I used. (eBay and CFS sites don't count.) I started using it about a year and a half ago to get rid of professional work clothes. I found that I wasn't wearing my suits and dresses all that often while taking care of a baby, and traded them in for muumuus and yoga pants. High-end, designer brand muumuus and yoga pants, that is. No Mossimo clothes on Twice.

Sign up for Twice. Help me get credit for more muumuus.

Thred.up.com. I started using this site about a year ago on a friend's recommendation. Their payout isn't as good as twice.com, but they do accept more brands. They also buy and sell children's clothing. I don't know how their payout is for those, or what the quality of them is like. 90% of LEG's clothes are hand-me-downs, so I keep handing them down to other people or donating them. I have been happy with what I've purchased from thredup for myself.

Use my referral link for Thredup to buy toddler clothes, then tell me how the quality is. I'd like to use you for a recommendation and referral points.

Fabletics.com. Now that I've been unemployed for 26 months, I'm finally out of the muumuu and yoga pants phase. Workout clothes are where it's at. Get dressed in the morning, go the gym or for a run, and stay in your moisture wicking, comfortable workout clothes all day. With fabletics, you enter your style preferences and sizes, then they select a variety of outfits for you each month. You choose your outfit, or customize based on what you prefer, they send it. All brand new clothes, no pre-sweated-in workout gear. I'm ridiculously picky about certain aspects of workout clothes, and have been happy with my two outfits from fabletics. Both pairs of tights are thick, with a wide waistband that sits flat, gusseted crotch, and flat-lock seams. Puffer vest isn't overly puffy. The long sleeved shirt doesn't have tight cuffs or a thick seam at the wrist.  I returned one shirt, because it just wasn't my style once I tried it on (scoop neck was too deep), and the return process was easy.

Brand new workout clothes from Fabletics. And a credit for me.

Zulily. Zulily sells all kinds of brand new stuff, at good prices. I rarely buy anything from Zulily any longer, but here's a referral link anyway. Just because they have one. I usually wait for my neighbor to buy something, then jump on her free shipping deal and ask her to place an order within 24 hours for me. I use her for free shipping, she uses me for credit card reward points. It's a symbiotic relationship.

Sign up for Zulily. Get good deals on brand new stuff.

Just wait. Soon I'll start inviting you to a plethora of direct sales parties. But they'll be "book parties" or "online parties." I won't even have invite you to my house. I won't clean my house for you (not that I do much of that anyway), and I won't prepare food for you. I'll just use your purchases to get credit towards free product for myself. And I'll never invite you to do anything but attend my direct sales parties. No coffee dates, no group runs, no trips to the park, no dinner parties. Just direct sales parties.

Now go sign up for something so I can get free stuff. Please and thank you.