I recently heard about a program called You Data. I decided to try it out, and am pleasantly surprised. I spent about 5 minutes setting up my profile and a minute or two looking through the ads and I made $5.50. I realize that's not a lot of cash but for this stay-at-home Mom looking for a few ways to bring in some extra income, it's a start.
They are still in the early stages of business and don't have a ton of advertisers, but I am hopeful they will grow their business, and in turn my paypal account :)
If you are interested, here's how you can start your own You Data account.
1. Follow the link in the ad above to sign up.
2. Setup your MeFile profile with your household statistics, interests and hobbies.
3. Look through your ads and start earning some money.
4. Check back every few days for more ad offers.
** You will need a Paypal account to use this program.
Sunday, January 20, 2013
Saturday, January 5, 2013
Getting Started
One thing that was difficult for me when we decided to go to one income was how we'd afford everything we needed for ourselves and our new baby. It's a big change adding a new life to the family as well as the family budget. One way we are able to make it happen is by using coupons. I did this before, but have turned up the savings a bit.
Here are my suggestions for getting started.
1. Don't be so picky about brands.
I used to be a Huggies girl just because CVS had been running such good deals. When Walgreens had their jumbo pack of diapers on sale for $5.99 with coupon savings of $4.50 per pack AND a $5 coupon off your next order when you bought three packages, I gave them a try. I used to spend about $0.15 per diaper. I now have 100 packages of diapers in a range of sizes that cost me an average of...Drum Roll, Please...$0.03 per package or $0.000625 per diaper.
The same philosophy goes for food. Don't get me wrong, I'm still a DelMonte girl for my green beans, but there are some places it just doesn't matter.
2. Don't wait until you run out to buy more.
Have you ever run out of something essential like toilet paper and had to run to the store in a hurry? At that very moment, stockboys within a 15 mile radius of your house are marking up the toilet paper in anticipation of your arrival. That's not exactly how it happens, but it sure feels like it. I hate to pay full price for anything I know I could get cheaper. When I find something on sale that we use regularly, I stock up. We could probably eat out of our pantry for months. We'd miss the meat (because there is something oh so wrong about canned meat), but it could be done.
The experts call this stockpiling and it comes in handy. During hurricane season everyone else was flocking to the grocery stores for toilet paper, water and canned goods while we were putting up plywood and preparing in other ways.
3. Don't buy something just to use a coupon.
I think this one is self explanatory. :)
4. Plan your shopping trips around store sales.
There are plenty of websites that will help you combine the sales ads with the current coupons if you don't want to put in the time.
The Krazy Coupon Lady - I love this website. There are matchups for most every grocery store and an entire database of printable coupons. Her whole site is free to use as well.
Refund Cents - I have used this site in the past but found I was wasting too much time reading the message boards (that's where I found the bulk of the info on savings). She has grocery and drug store match ups as well. It's $12 for a 1 year subscription and you will make that up in savings the first week.
Grocery Game - I have not personally used this site, but have heard good things. The only negative I can see is that you pay a fee per store you select. All that information is available elsewhere (KCL or RC sites mentioned above) but I believe you can select your deals and have it print a list for you. For some, that may be valuable information.
Here are my suggestions for getting started.
1. Don't be so picky about brands.
I used to be a Huggies girl just because CVS had been running such good deals. When Walgreens had their jumbo pack of diapers on sale for $5.99 with coupon savings of $4.50 per pack AND a $5 coupon off your next order when you bought three packages, I gave them a try. I used to spend about $0.15 per diaper. I now have 100 packages of diapers in a range of sizes that cost me an average of...Drum Roll, Please...$0.03 per package or $0.000625 per diaper.
The same philosophy goes for food. Don't get me wrong, I'm still a DelMonte girl for my green beans, but there are some places it just doesn't matter.
2. Don't wait until you run out to buy more.
Have you ever run out of something essential like toilet paper and had to run to the store in a hurry? At that very moment, stockboys within a 15 mile radius of your house are marking up the toilet paper in anticipation of your arrival. That's not exactly how it happens, but it sure feels like it. I hate to pay full price for anything I know I could get cheaper. When I find something on sale that we use regularly, I stock up. We could probably eat out of our pantry for months. We'd miss the meat (because there is something oh so wrong about canned meat), but it could be done.
The experts call this stockpiling and it comes in handy. During hurricane season everyone else was flocking to the grocery stores for toilet paper, water and canned goods while we were putting up plywood and preparing in other ways.
3. Don't buy something just to use a coupon.
I think this one is self explanatory. :)
4. Plan your shopping trips around store sales.
There are plenty of websites that will help you combine the sales ads with the current coupons if you don't want to put in the time.
The Krazy Coupon Lady - I love this website. There are matchups for most every grocery store and an entire database of printable coupons. Her whole site is free to use as well.
Refund Cents - I have used this site in the past but found I was wasting too much time reading the message boards (that's where I found the bulk of the info on savings). She has grocery and drug store match ups as well. It's $12 for a 1 year subscription and you will make that up in savings the first week.
Grocery Game - I have not personally used this site, but have heard good things. The only negative I can see is that you pay a fee per store you select. All that information is available elsewhere (KCL or RC sites mentioned above) but I believe you can select your deals and have it print a list for you. For some, that may be valuable information.
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
Welcome
My family has been saying for years that I need to write a book on how to save money using coupons. I feared that I'd have little more than a pamphlet once all was said and done, so I decided to start a blog instead.
Of course I get a few impatient sighs from the cashier or the person behind me in the check-out line, but it's usually replaced by shock and disbelief when my bill "magically" cuts itself in half. Coupons are like gold to me and I rarely leave home without them.
Through this blog I hope to share my tips for maximizing coupon value and eliminate the confusion and embarrassment associated with this hobby of mine...couponing.
Stay tuned...
Of course I get a few impatient sighs from the cashier or the person behind me in the check-out line, but it's usually replaced by shock and disbelief when my bill "magically" cuts itself in half. Coupons are like gold to me and I rarely leave home without them.
Through this blog I hope to share my tips for maximizing coupon value and eliminate the confusion and embarrassment associated with this hobby of mine...couponing.
Stay tuned...
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