O Christmas Tree and Thanksgiving Sale Haul

Thanksgiving day I was able to shop online and finish putting lights on the tree. We had dinner by noon and headed out to Walmart at 6pm. It seemed a lot busier than last year. I got everything I really wanted except for the 6qt crockpot. It wasn't the exact model I wanted any way, so the search will continue. Then we went to Target and waited in the car for an hour till most of the line was inside. Again it was really crowded, but we were in and out in no time. My sister and brother in law had no plan, so I don't think they did as well as I did, but really Black Friday is not a day to browse people! Next was Kohls were we waited in line for a little over an hour, but we had $10 off coupons to not waste. We then hit the mall which was jam pack full of teens! I thought our town had a curfew but apparently in is not in effect on Thanksgiving day. It was so crazy and it was just a social hour for the teens. We were leaving the mall and heading home by midnight. My sister and her husband went home to bed while my other sister and I went to Micheal's and the other mall, both were not bad per crowds. We were in bed by 2:30am.

Friday we got some shut eye and then were back out. Shopkick had 200 points at a lot of stores plus lots of big scans at Target. My phone died since I didn't charge it but I still got 1200+ kicks.

Here is a picture of my haul from Thanksgiving night. I haven't totaled what I spent yet. I think I'm over what I wanted to spend, which isn't good but there is still time to return or my family might want to give something I bought to my kids. It is so hard not to over spend when there are so many good deals. It isn't the best time to but most clothes, but I think it is a good time to buy home goods. I think Justice had a good deal with the plastic bands for the hot item Rainbow Loom. They had 40% plus 20% and they were buy 2 get 2 free. Three hundred packs came out to be $1.90 pre-tax. They are 400 count packs at Micheal's for $3.99, but you couldn't use a coupon.

Friday I came home about 4pm and was able to decorate. I still have two days left for the weekend and I plan on relaxing, exercising, and starting my Advocare Challenge on Sunday. Tommorow early I will post all the websites I have bookmarked to help with the Challenge.

Saving for Christmas

So I'm already trying to prepare for Christmas by accumulating points from different systems for gift cards or gifts. I plan on using these programs to pay for my 5 nieces and nephews. Our family sets a gift limit of $30 per child fro Christmas. Here are the different reward programs I am using to cut down my debt but still have a good Christmas:

Bing search engine now has rewards, here is my link:
http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=9778718&rrid=_c06d8ca1-b4a7-3fcc-fa81-89971795f2a4
They have $5 Amazon gift cards, along with other rewards, for 525 points and you can earn 15 points by searching 30 times on the Bing site while signed in each day. There are also referral points, along with other daily task to earn more points to achieve your goal.

Swagbucks is a google search engine, here is my link:
http://www.swagbucks.com/refer/IAmom
They also have $5 Amazon gift cards, along with other prizes, for 450 points. The points for searching are random but usually around 9 points has been my average. You can also earn 1 point for the daily pole and watch 10 short videos to earn 3 points by getting your meter to 100%.

Checkpoints*
This is a phone application, but you can also search online. They have more strict rules on their searching so I don't use that function.  Read this great review. I am trying to get to 9000 points. Sometimes this app rejects scans, and check ins and I would say is the most deficult of all the point reward programs I use. They do have decent rewards as long as you are a stickler about their rules. You can earn 300 points if you sign up under a referral.(iowamom)

Shopkick*
This has awesome reward gift cards and prizes. It also has extra bonus points for scanning different items, and for walking into different stores. They recently added Target walkin points which is awesome because I go there all the time. See my post here. Currently there is no referral for signing up. http://get.shopkick.com/frog6614

Feel free to ask my any questions on these programs, and I will let you know how this whole paying for Christmas by rewards works out.


*Remember to only scan in the store and do not use any of the online sites to scan barcodes. I know of people who have gotten kicked off earning rewards by doing so, so keep it legit people!

Valentine Gift To Myself

Yesterday I went out and bought myself a Valentines gift.  My husband has been getting irritated with the fact of my phone dying anytime and anywhere.  I have a smart phone (Samsung Fascinate) and it takes a lot of energy to play games, Shopkick, and get my Checkpoints.  So I went and got myself an iPhone 4s.  I used some rewards from Best Buy and from Shopkick to get the phone cheaper, so that was a plus.  I'm also super excited with the fact that it has a really nice camera, front or back.  My Samsung's camera stopped working a couple of months ago, do to some memory card glitch.  Now I just need to figure this new phone out. All in all, Valentine's Day was a sucky day for me and I'm glad it's over.

If anyone has some tips on using an iPhone, I'm all ears!

So here is my afternoon in pictures:

I think it's cool you can see the birds nest in the trees.

The days are semi nice and the snow is melting.

The creek is running, yet there is still some ice holding on at some points.

I walked the .9 miles to school to pick up my daughter at school.

Here is to more sun shiny days!

Shopkick

Earn 100 shopkick points when you sign up with my link today.

http://get.shopkick.com/frog6614

Earn gift cards with your smartphone.

Check in to businesses nearby and earn points and bonuses.  Best Buy and Old Navy have check in points just for walking in to their store.  Also scan items for points.

You can earn gift cards to places such as Target, Toys R Us, Best Buy and Old Navy.

This year I plan on using my points to help buy most of my Birthday and Christmas presents using my Shopkick, Checkpoint, and Swagbuck points.

I have been using Shopkick for about 9 months and have already earned $30 in gift cards with out much effort. Please join me, it's a  free  app.