Thriftism

If you're already shopping at Walmart, the phone app is a must have. While shopping in stores, it saves quite a bit of time usually spent searching. The app will tell you the aisle your item is located in or if it is out of  stock. This definitely helps me if I'm looking for something new (like puff pastry for our cranberry brie bites, who knew it wasn't with the pie crusts?). It also has this great feature called "Savings Catcher". You do need to sign up for an account to use this feature. It compares prices of all items you purchased with other stores in the area. If there is a cheaper price elsewhere, you get money back in the form of a prepaid card or for use on walmart pay. Here's how to use it. Download the walmart app and save your receipt.  Tap the savings catcher icon and then hit the orange "Add a Walmart Receipt" button. Scan the bottom of your receipt. You can then see a digital version of your receipt. Plus once the...

Are gas coupons worth it? YES! The number one argument I hear is that you don't really save that much for all the hassle you go through to use a coupon. That is pure laziness talking. How often do you buy gas? Whether it's once a week or once a month, those savings can really add up--Think of getting a free tank of gas every year. Or maybe hit up the dollar menu once a week since we don't eat out much while following a tight budget. Possibly it still doesn't sound like much, but those little savings (gas, groceries, survey earnings,etc) are really what keep my budget alive some months. When you're set on saving or paying off loans, a couple dollars goes a long way. Gas coupons are awesome because they are fairly easy to come by as well. Coupons really aren't that difficult to use and walking into the gas station, well that can be an excuse to move around a bit. No one gets enough walking in these days anyway. :) I've listed a few places that you can obtain...

If you have an individual phone plan, you've probably noticed your phone bill is hugely expensive. Unless you can add lines and shares the costs of the plan or get a company discount, it is a lot of money to pay every month. I faced this dilemma earlier in the year and noticed that contracts cost more than a monthly prepaid month. In fact, at AT&T if I had stayed on a contract plan, my bill would be about $25 more than it currently is on a month-to-month and with a contract I wouldn't have unlimited minutes. With the monthly plan, I get unlimited minutes, text, and since I have a basic phone, I get unlimited internet as well. I believe it is also cheaper to do a month-to-month for a smartphone. Sprint might be better because it has unlimited everything for $80. This includes unlimited data on a smartphone, which is the better option for those who watch tv on the phone. Many of the contract plans continue to have a limit on minutes, which is not very viable in this day and a...