Baby Steps to Saving: Target Red Debit Card

I wrote a series of posts a while back called Baby Steps to Saving...about smalls steps you can take to start saving big money.  I get it there are a million deals and we are all busy people so what are small things that will have a BIG impact on my budget....these are those things.  I thought I would resume the series as we have a lot of new fans (HELLO NEW FANS!!!!).  Below are the links to my previous posts!

Baby Steps to Saving: Swagbucks

Baby Steps to Saving: Amazon Prime

Baby Steps to Saving: Ebates & Shop At Home

Baby Steps to Saving: Samples

Baby Steps to Saving: MyPoints.com

So many of my deals are for Target so how would you like to save an additional 5% off your purchase without doing ANYTHING?  Well it is as simple as opening a Target Debit Card...I know I know lots of you are thinking a store card but WAIT read just a little bit further and you will see this is NOT a store charge card.  My friend Monica introduced me to the Target REDCard Debit Card that can be used on all Target in-store (cannot be used online) to save 5% automatically. Even if you don't use coupons this is too simple not to utilize.

A Target Debit Card draws right from your existing checking account, just like writing a check. And if you need extra cash - easy. You can use it to request up to $40 cash back at checkout.   Not a charge card but a debit card (and you were going to use your debit card anyway) to help you save an additional 5%.  After signing up there is nothing to do but wait for your card and then SAVE MONEY.

Go here to sign up online or you can ask a cashier in store to help you sign up!  Easy right?...see we are taking Baby Steps to saving you big bucks.

Baby Steps To Saving: My Points

Getting Started With Saving Can Seem Overwhelming...all the deals, coupons, and lingo are difficult to navigate.  So I have written a series of posts about taking Baby Steps to Savings. Below are the other posts in the series.

Baby Steps to Saving: Swagbucks

Baby Steps to Saving: Amazon Prime

Baby Steps to Saving: Ebates & Shop At Home

Baby Steps to Saving: Samples

MyPoints is a rewards program that gives you points for reading e-mails, shopping, taking surveys, doing web searches and completing a variety of other activities. Once you accrue enough points, you can redeem them for a gift card to your choice of over 70 merchants.

Getting Started:

To join MyPoints, just visit MyPoints.com and complete the registration process. Membership is free, and it only takes a minute to join.

Start Earning Points:

There are a lot of ways to earn points on MyPoints. Start by completing your profile for a quick 60 points. Then, explore the site's offering to find other points-earning opportunities that interest you.

Top Ways to Earn Points:

• sign up to receive BonusMail e-mails from MyPoints. These are promotional offers from their advertisers. You'll receive five points if you click on the link contained in the e-mail, and even more if you decide to take advantage of the offer
• before you place an order online, check to see if the merchant is a MyPoints participant. If they are, access the merchant's website from MyPoints.com, and you'll be rewarded with points – usually a certain number per dollar spent.
• complete the surveys that are sent to your e-mail. You'll typically receive 10 points if you don't qualify for the survey and 50 points if do
• print coupons from the website. You'll earn 10 points if you print the featured coupon and 25 points if you print five or more of the regular coupons
• download the MyPoints search toolbar, and earn points each time you use it to do a web search
• refer a friend, and you'll earn 250 points if they join
• watch for double points days, instant win games and other promotions to speed your points earnings

Redeeming Your Points:

The biggest challenge with redeeming your points is deciding which gift card to choose – there are just so many great ones.  Click on the "rewards" tab at the top of the screen to view a list of all of the available gift cards. You'll find $10, $25, $50 and $100 cards on the list, so you can save up your points for something big or cash in quickly for a small reward – the choice is yours. Once you have enough points for your chosen reward, just click on it; fill out your shipping information; and you'll receive your gift card in the mail in two to six weeks.

Make the Most of Your Points:

A $10 gift card to one store may go for 1,400 points while a $10 gift card to another store goes for 1,500 points. Make the most of your earnings by seeking out the deals that maximize the value of your points.

Also note that certain card amounts may be a better deal than other card amounts from the same merchant. The $50 CVS card, for example, may require fewer points per dollar than the $10 CVS card. Crunch some numbers, and find those deals.

Baby Steps to Saving: Samples

I know some of you think saving money and finding deals is too hard, or that it takes too much time (believe me is doesn't have to).  Or maybe you are new to saving money and find it all a little overwhelming.  So we continue our feature called Baby Steps to Saving.

Our first three features:

• Baby Steps to Saving: Swagbucks
• Baby Steps to Saving: Amazon Prime
• Baby Steps to Saving: Ebates and Shop-At-Home

Ok so this is by far the easiest savings tip of all, if you follow no others this can be a simple step that will at minimum make checking the mailbox a whole lot more fun....and it could save you a whole lot of money.  If you check my website periodically you will see that at minimum I post about one free sample a day.  For the most part I request all of these myself and can tell you that it only takes seconds to fill out the address information.  

Tips to Samples:

1) These offers don't frequently last long so when you see them take a few seconds to go ahead and request it (it may not be there later)

2) Most samples request a email address, I keep a separate e-mail address that I use exclusively for signing up for samples and other offers.  I do this to avoid spam in my general e-mail and also so I don't lose track of valuable e-mails.

3) Frequently the sample request a birth date.  I don't like giving out that much personal information so I typically pick a different birthdate.

The picture at the top of this post are all the samples and offers that I got in the mail in a three day period.

• Sonic coupons that will make for great dining deals (you can get a few of them here)
• Coupon for a free cup of Yoplait Yogurt
• Coupon for free bag of Purina One Beyond Dog Food
• Similac Formula coupons
• American Baby Magazine- (with Amazon 20% off coupon inside)
• Taste of Home Magazine
• Coach $100 off a $300 purchase coupon (if anyone would like this email me and I will mail it to you)
• Den-Tek floss sample
• JCP shopping coupon

Baby Steps to Saving: Ebates and Shop At Home

Ok all you newbies to savings...has all this saving money caused you to go into cardiac arrest yet?  I know when I first started saving I was astonished by how much I would save, and without sacrificing all the luxuries.  That is what we are aiming for here, saving money without feeling deprived, hence my tag line "Champagne Life on a Beer Budget."  Can you believe we are already on our 3rd installment of the Baby Steps to Saving series? 

The 1st installment covered Swagbucks the AMAZING search engine that gives you points just for searching.  You can redeem these points for gift cards.  Last year I earned over $200 in gift cards for just searching the web like I would normally.

The 2nd installment focused on Amazon Prime, and must for any of you that frequent Amazon.  A free trial service that will give you FREE 2nd day shipping on all orders.  You may be shopping Amazon more frequently after you get all those gift cards from Swagbucks.

So here goes...another step towards saving.  How many of you like shopping online (ummm, me too)?  How would you like to save a percentage off each online purchase, that will be sent back to you in the form of a check. Seriously every ones hands should be raised right now...yes even you reader from Russia (yes I have the ability to see where I have readers).  Well then you need to join Ebates and Shop At Home.

Both Ebates and Shop At Home give you a percentage of each purchase made (to thousands of store online), that will be saved in an account.  Once you reach a certain amount, you can cash out and a check will be mailed to you. 

An example of the savings (keep in mind that you can earn percentages back on each purchase, combine with coupon codes, and sales to make for AWESOME deals)

 Target 3%

     Walmart 2%

    Ebay- 1-3%

JCP- 3%

  Sears- 4%

Ebates currently has a deal, that you earn $30 when you refer 3 friends....this is a great time to join if you haven't already.  Only catch is the your referrals have to make a $25 purchase for your referral to count. 

Baby Steps To Saving: Amazon Prime

I know some of you think saving money and finding deals is too hard, or that it takes to much time (believe me is doesn't have to).  Or maybe you are new to saving money and find it all a little overwhelming.  I am writing a feature called Baby Steps that helps ease you slowely into saving money.  My first feature was Baby Steps: Swagbucks,  teaching all about the fabulous search engine that rewards you with gift cards (to places like Amazon) just for searching.  Now that you have gift cards to shop with this is how you save on the shipping!

Amazon is probably one of my favorite places to shop online.  They regularly have amazing deals and as it gets closer to Christmas we will be seeing even more great deals on toys and gifts!

Amazon offers free shipping for most items sold directly from Amazon.com when you spend $25 or more.  That can be a little inconvenient though if you find a great deal on an item under $25 and you don’t want to buy anything else.  This is why I want to share with you three different ways to get an Amazon Prime membership.  Amazon Prime gives you Free 2-Day Shipping on all orders sold from Amazon.com – regardless of the price!

1. Amazon Mom – This is a new program that is open to anyone who is responsible for caring for a baby or young child (not just moms). By joining Amazon Mom you get 3 Free Months of Amazon Prime!

2. Amazon Student – You can get a Free Year of Amazon Prime if you are a student! Only students currently enrolled in a college or university who have a valid .edu e-mail address to confirm their status are eligible to participate in Amazon Student.

3. Free Trial - Amazon is currently offering a Free 1-Month Amazon Prime Trial - available to anyone! Since this is a trial, you will need to cancel after one month.  After you’ve signed up for your free trial, here’s how to set up your account to NOT automatically renew so that you don’t have to remember to cancel. You will be charged $79 for a Prime membership at the end of your trial if you don’t cancel!!

• Go to “Your Account” on the Amazon homepage.  (Look in the upper-right corner of the page above cart and wishlist.)
• Click on “Manage Prime Membership.” (In the top “Orders” box)
• Select “Do Not Upgrade Automatically.”

If you sign up for Amazon Prime using one of these methods then you can save a lot of money by not paying shipping fees or buying more than you need!

Baby Steps To Saving: Swagbucks

I know some of you are new to saving, and don't know where to begin or perhaps you are not into cutting coupons.  There are easy and simple ways you can save without doing much work.  In what I hope will be a weekly feature I will show you how to take baby steps to saving big bucks.  

What is Swagbucks?

Swagbucks is a online rewards program.  You earn and accumulate Swagbucks primarily through searching the Internet (just like with any search engine), but you call also earn through entering Swagcodes from the SwagBlog, Swag Facebook, or Swag Twitter sites, and some other random activities like watching videos or entering you birthday.  Once you accumulate 450 Swagbucks, you can redeem it for a $5 Amazon gift card, as well as for other gift cards from Target, Starbucks, Southwest Airlines, and more.

How can I make searching easy?

You can use Swagbucks as your homepage, and accumulate Swagbucks through searching, but the easiest way to earn is to download the Swagbucks Tool Bar.  Second, you will earn at least 1 Swagbucks each day by opening your browser.  Also, the toolbar makes it easier to get messages from "The Swag Guy" when there are codes available.  And finally, it allows you to do searchs that can earn you Swagbucks.  Like just now when I was typing this post, I searched CVS Deals and was rewarded with six Swagbucks.

How do I download the Toolbar?

Step #1: Log into you Swagbucks account.

Step #2: Click the toolbar tab on the left side of the page

Step #3: Click the big purple box that says "DOWNLOAD"

Step #4: Choose if you want to use Swagbucks as your default browser, I don't have it as my default browser- but know lots of people that do.

Step #5: Start Searching

Is Swagbucks Worth It?

After the initial sign up, and downloading of the toolbar there isn't anything to do except use Swagbucks to search just like you would any other search engine.  Last year I earned $200.00 in Amazon Gift Cards...for basically doing something I am already doing (searching the internet). 

What is the best approach to maximizing my Swagbucks?

For at home use I would download the toolbar (after all you will get 1 Swagbuck a day just for opening your browser).  At work most employers don't like you downloading toolbars onto the computers, but if they are ok with it you can always make Swagbucks your home page and you can still search and earn even at work.