4x Fuel Rewards on Gift Cards at Smith's (Nov. 18- Dec. 8)

For the next 3 weeks (Nov. 18- Dec. 8), Smith's is offering 4x fuel rewards on gift cards. 

If you bought a $50 gift card, you would earn 200 points which is equivalent to $.20 off per gallon of gas up to 35 gallons. When you fill up, make sure that you bring two cars to maximize your savings.

So stock up on all the gift cards that you'll need for your Christmas shopping. Or stock up on gift cards to all of your favorite restaurants. This is the perfect time to buy gift cards!

*If you live outside of Utah, check your local Kroger store to see if they're participating.

Saving Money on Christmas Shopping

It's November and you know what that means... Christmas is right around the corner!

I love Christmas! I love everything about it. The music, the lights, the parties, the treats, EVERYTHING!!! I especially love Christmas shopping and finding awesome deals. My kids know they're not getting what they want unless I can find it for a good deal. When they open their presents, they sometimes ask how much I paid for it because they know I wouldn't have bought it unless it was a good deal. They've learned to really appreciate a good deal!

So I'm going to share my tips on how to get more for your money at Christmas time. There are a lot of really great sales out there and you don't actually need to go shopping on Black Friday to get those sales.

First, decide what your budget is going to be for Christmas gifts. Then have your kids make a list of everything they want. You can make it a running list and add things and take things off because kids sometimes change their minds. Check different stores online to find out how much each item will cost and write it down on your list. I usually check Amazon, Walmart, and Target and that gives me a pretty good idea about how much each thing will cost. Then check the websites frequently to see if the price drops. If the price drops significantly, buy it. If you can get everything on your list for a lower price you'll be able to save a significant amount or maybe even get more for your money.

When the Black Friday ads come out, check the ad for each store. The ads should be coming out in a few weeks and you will be able to view them online. Decide if there's anything that is worth going shopping for on Black Friday. You might find something that's worth going to the store for but keep in mind that you might have to go early and wait in line. It also might cut into your time with your family on Thanksgiving.

If you find something in the ads that you really want, check around online. You may be able to find it for the same price before Black Friday.

Here are some things that I have learned about different stores:

Amazon
Amazon is very competitive with their prices. If there is something advertised at another store, there is a good chance that Amazon will lower their prices to match it. Right now Amazon has their Countdown to Black Friday sale and you can get some awesome deals. They also have a Holiday deal page with lightning deals. If you're not familiar with this you need to check it out. I've used this multiple times and scored some amazing deals. How it works is each day there are specific items that will go on sale at certain times. The price won't be listed until the sale is live. Once it goes live, you can buy it for the sale price but the quantities are limited. I've seen things sell out in less than five minutes! If you're an Amazon Prime member you can have access to certain deals a half hour early.

I would recommend checking the Lightning Deals page every morning to see if there's anything you want. If you find something, go back to that page at the designated time and buy it. But you have to hurry because it can go quick.

Here are the links:
Lightning Deals 
Toy Lightning Deals

Walmart 
There are some great deals at Walmart on Black Friday but that place can be a madhouse! I know because I've been there on Black Friday! Did you know that some of the items advertised in the Black Friday ad are also sold online for the same price on Thanksgiving day? Last year I got on the Walmart website at midnight before Thanksgiving when the sales went live and I was able to get many things that I wanted without having to go to the store and fight the crowds. Just remember, the more popular items will sell out fast and if you can't get it, you might have to go to the store during the Black Friday sale.

Kohl's
Sometimes I feel like I have to get a little creative when I shop at Kohl's. A lot of their prices are higher but when you combine the 20-30% off coupons and the Kohl's cash, you can get some great deals. They also let you stack coupons which I think is great! Kohl's also has a rewards program Yes2You Rewards. You earn 1 point for every dollar that you spend and once you've reached 100 points, you'll get a $5 reward certificate. This is in addition to all of the other deals that they have.

Kohl's also sells a lot of things online for Black Friday prices and their sell starts a few days before Thanksgiving. So there really is no need to even go to the store. Plus, around Thanksgiving, they usually offer $15 in Kohl's Cash for every $50 you spend which is a great incentive!

Target
Target is also very competitive with their prices. Right now they are offering free shipping on all purchases made online until Christmas. No minimum purchase required! They also have a Cartwheel app that is awesome. If you pay attention to the Carthwheel app you might be able to score some great deals. Some of their deals are available one day only so you have to go to the store early because they run out fast!

You can also shop online at Target for Black Friday. The sales usually go live at midnight before Thanksgiving.

*When shopping online don't forget to shop through Ebates and earn cashback! It's a great way to earn some extra cash. I've earned about $120 just by shopping online!

Have You Been Using Swagbucks?

I love Swagbucks and I use it all the time. It's a great way to earn some extra money for Christmas. 

Swagbucks is a website that lets you earn Swagbucks for completing certain tasks such as online searches, daily polls, surveys, watching videos, and shopping online. You can then cash in your Swagbucks for a gift card of your choice.

I set my search engine and home page to Swagbucks. Then I use Swagbucks to do all of my online searches instead of using Google. Throughout the day, I am randomly rewarded with Swagbucks for my searches. 

I also shop online through Swagbucks. How it works is you type the store name in the search box. It will then tell you how many Swagbucks you'll earn for your purchase. If it says 4 Swagbucks per dollar, that's equivalent to 4% cash back. After you make the purchase, the Swagbucks will be added to your account.

You can spend as much time on Swagbucks as you want. If you do a lot of searches, surveys, and videos, you'll probably earn a lot of Swagbucks. I don't usually spend too much time on the site but I've earned about $200 in the last few years to spend on Christmas. It's a great way to help me stretch my dollar. 

To sign up for Swagbucks click here.

Earn 50,000 Bonus Points When You Sign Up for the Southwest Airlines Credit Card

Right now you can earn 50,000 bonus points when you sign up for the Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards credit card and spend $2,000 in the first 3 months. You need to apply by January 15, 2016.

This is an awesome deal! They normally offer 25,000 points so this is the best time to sign up for this card.

We used this card to book our flights to California next month. We booked our flights from Salt Lake to Los Angeles for under 10,000 points per person. So 50,000 points goes pretty far!

This is the best way to save money on flights. I use my credit card for all of my purchases and pay the full balance each month. If you're going to be spending money anyway, you might as well get some rewards from it!

To apply for this credit card, click here.

Earn 4x Fuel Rewards on Gift Cards at Smith's (Now through Oct. 3)

Right now at Smith's you can download a coupon to your rewards card to earn 4x fuel rewards. The coupon expires October 3. Just login to your account and download the coupon and it will automatically be on your card when you check out. If you don't have an account click here to sign up.

This is a great way to save money on gas. They sell gift cards for many restaurants and retail stores. Some examples are Target, Amazon, Disney, Kohl's, Red Robin, Applebee's, Chili's, Subway, Little Caesar's. (Plus many more!) I always stock up whenever they have this promotion.

If you bought a gift card for $50, you would get 200 points which equals $.20 off each gallon up to 35 gallons. If you filled up all 35 gallons, you would save $7 from that $50 gift card. That's equivalent to getting 14% back.

*If you live outside of Utah, check your local Kroger store to see if they're participating.

For Two Weeks Only Earn 4x Fuel Rewards on Gift Cards at Smith's

For the next two weeks, Smith's is offering 4x fuel rewards points when you purchase gift cards. If you bought a $50 gift card, you'd get 200 points which equals $.20 off each gallon up to 35 gallons. If you stock up on gift cards you can really rack up the points! We usually stock up on restaurant gift cards or gift cards to any store that we're planning on going to. When we fill up at the pump, we bring 2 cars to make sure we get the maximum savings by filling up all 35 gallons. This is a great way to save by buying something you were already going to buy.

*If you live outside of Utah, check your Local Kroger affiliated store to see if they're participating in this promo.

Sign up for Ibotta to save on groceries

Have you heard of Ibotta? If not, you definitely need to check it out. It's a free app that gives you cash back on grocery purchases.

How it works is you check the Ibotta app before you go to the grocery store. There will be certain items that are redeemable for cash back. You will need to unlock each item that you want by watching a short video. After you buy those items you scan your receipt and the barcode of the item and you'll get a credit into your Ibotta account. When you're ready to cash out, they'll transfer the money into your Paypal account or you can get it in the form of a gift card.

What I like best about this app is the items that are redeemable are things that you normally buy, like milk, eggs, cheese, and produce. It's hard to find coupons for these items. There are also certain redeemable items that are not brand specific. I like this because sometimes I have a coupon and the store brand is still cheaper.

Each month there is a different team bonus that you can earn by reaching a certain amount in earnings. The more teammates you have, the faster you'll reach the bonus!

If you sign up and use the referral code below you'll be my teammate and you'll also get an extra $1 when you redeem your first offer within 14 days.

Referral code:

excjdey

So sign up at Ibotta today! It's a great way to earn some extra cash just for buying things you're already buying.

Best Travel Rewards Credit Cards

Using credit card points is a great way to save on travel. However, if you struggle to make ends meet and you think you might not be able to pay off the balance in full, then this probably isn't the best idea for you. You don't want to go into debt just to get a cheaper flight or save some money on your vacation. If you know for sure that you're going to pay the balance in full every month, then the benefits from credit cards can be awesome. My husband was a little skeptical when I suggested this. He hates credit cards and hates debt! I told him to let me try this for a few months and if I didn't pay off the balance, he could cancel the credit card. It's been almost two years and I haven't paid a dime in interest and I've made over $2000 in travel credit!

Here are some of the best travel reward credit cards:
Barclaycard Arrival 40,000 bonus points, 2 points per dollar, receive 10% of your redeemed points back ($0 intro for the first year, $89 annual fee after first year)
Capitol One Ventures card 40,000 bonus points, 2 points per dollar ($0 intro for the first year, $59 annual fee after first year)
Chase Sapphire Preferred 40,000 bonus points, 2 points per dollar on dining, 1 point per dollar on all other purchase ($0 intro for the first year, $95 annual fee after first year)
Southwest Rapid Rewards card 25,000 bonus points, 1 point per dollar, 6,000 bonus points at your anniversary each year (sometimes they offer 50,000 bonus points) ($99 annual fee)
Alaska Airlines 25,000 bonus points, 1 point per dollar spent, coach companion fare every year for $121

The way the points convert is 40,000 points is equal to $400. With the airline specific credit cards, 50,000 points is equal to about $800.

If you don't want to fly with a certain airline, you might want to consider one of the first 4 cards. You can fly with any airline and you can also redeem your points for other travel such as hotels and car rentals. But if you know you're only going to fly with a certain airline, you might want to get that airline's credit card.

We had the Barclaycard and I really liked this card. I used my credit card for all of my purchases and paid the balance in full each month. After redeeming our credit card points, it only cost us $800 for our family of 6 to fly to Orlando! Not bad, right? We then received 10% of the points we redeemed and I used that towards our rental car. We got a mini van for 10 days and only paid about $200!

Grocery Coupon Apps

There are a lot of apps that save you money on groceries. It's like using coupons at the grocery store without actually having to clip coupons. They all work pretty much the same way. Each app has different items with a designated amount off. After you buy the items, you submit a picture of your receipt and you're credited the amount of money you saved. When you reach a certain amount you can cash out. You can get cash or a gift card, depending on the app. It's pretty simple.

Here is a list of the apps that I use:

Checkout 51

Snap by Groupon

Savingstar

Ibotta

I usually check all of these apps before I go grocery shopping to see which coupons I would like to use. I only buy things that I would normally buy. I don't buy something just because there's a coupon for it. Each time I go shopping, I usually get anywhere from $ .25 to $4.00. I know that's not a lot of money but if you do this every time you shop, it will add up fast.

Also, if you shop at Smith's (or a Korger affiliated store) you can load coupons to your rewards card. When the item is scanned, it automatically comes off your total. So easy! 

Earn 4x Fuel Rewards Points at Smith's

Smith's is offering 4x fuel rewards points through Dec. 9th. So you have just under a week to buy gift cards for Christmas. Or if you just want to stock up on restaurant or retail gift cards, it's a great way to save money on gas.

(Deal is expired) Earn 50,000 Bonus Points When You Sign Up For The Rapid Rewards Credit Card

If you're looking for a rewards credit card to earn flight miles, now is the time to do it! Southwest Airlines is currently offering 50,000 bonus points when you sign up for their Rapid Rewards credit card and spend $2,000 in the first 3 months. You have until February 28, 2015 to sign up. The bonus is normally 25,000 points so this is an awesome deal!

Here is how the points break down:

If you booked a flight that was $200, you could redeem it for about 10,000 points. A $300 flight would be about 16,000 points and a $400 flight would be about 25,000 points.

The 50,000 bonus points would be enough for at least 2 roundtrip tickets, depending on where you fly to. Plus you earn one point for every dollar that you spend using the card. 

This is such a great deal. If you want to sign up, you can apply here.

Black Friday Ads (2014)

A lot of stores have started to post their Black Friday ads online. I compiled a list of some of the ads that are available. I will continue to add more links once the ads come out so keep checking back.

Best Buy
Kmart
Kohls
JC Penney 
Radio Shack
Sears
Shopko
Target
Walmart

*Also, check my post on Black Friday shopping to find out how to get these prices online without going to the stores on Black Friday. 

Great Deal ~ Franz Bakery

I recently discovered Franz Bakery and I thought it was amazing! I bought all of this bread for $15!

They have so much bread to choose from and it's all delicious. It freezes well so you can easily stock up. Plus, if you spend a certain amount you get to pick some bread for free! We all know how much I love getting things for free! 

They have stores all over the Northwest. Check it out!

Earn 4x Fuel Rewards Points This Saturday

I just saw in my local Smith's ad that they're offering 4x Fuel Rewards points this Saturday November 8th. So if you're planning on buying gift cards to shop for Christmas gifts or you just want to stock up, this is a great time to buy them to save on gas. If you live outside of Utah, check the ad for your local Kroger store near you to see if they're offering the same promotion.

*To see my post on how I save money on gas, click here.

How To Get Black Friday Prices Before Black Friday

It's about that time of year again! Christmas is just around the corner...

I love Christmas! I love everything about it. The music, the lights, the parties, the treats, EVERYTHING!!! I especially love Christmas shopping and finding awesome deals. My kids know they're not getting what they want unless I can find it for a good deal. When they open their presents, they sometimes ask how much I paid for it because they know I wouldn't have bought it unless it was a good deal.

I usually go to a few stores every year on Black Friday but I've never gone in the middle of the night. Once I went to Walmart at 10 pm on Thanksgiving and it was CRAZY!!! I got everything I wanted and it was a huge adrenaline rush. I actually really loved it! But I just don't like the fact that the stores are opening earlier and earlier every year on Thanksgiving. I think that time should be spent with family and not in a store.

So did you know that you can actually get Black Friday prices without going shopping on Black Friday?

Here are my tips...

First, decide what your budget is going to be for Christmas gifts. Then have your kids make a list of everything they want. From that list, make another list of what you want to buy. Check different stores online to find out how much each item will cost and write it down on your list. I usually check Amazon, Walmart, and Target and that gives me a pretty good idea about how much each thing will cost. Then check the websites frequently to see if the price drops. If the price drops significantly, buy it. If you can get everything on your list for a lower price you'll be able to save a significant amount or maybe even get more for your money.

When the Black Friday ads come out, check the ad for each store. The ads should be coming out in a few weeks and you will be able to view them online. Decide if there's anything that is worth going shopping for on Black Friday. You might find something that's worth going to the store for but keep in mind that you might have to go early and wait in line. It also might cut into your time with your family on Thanksgiving.

If you find something in the ads that you really want, check around online. You may be able to find it for the same price before Black Friday.

Here are some things that I have learned about different stores:

Amazon
Amazon is very competitive with their prices. If there is something advertised at another store, there is a good chance that Amazon will lower their prices to match it. Right now Amazon has their Countdown to Black Friday sale and you can get some awesome deals. They also have a Holiday deal page with lightning deals. If you're not familiar with this you need to check it out. I've used this multiple times and scored some amazing deals. How it works is each day there are specific items that will go on sale at certain times. The price won't be listed until the sale is live. Once it goes live, you can buy it for the sale price but the quantities are limited. I've seen things sell out in less than five minutes! If you're an Amazon Prime member you can have access to certain deals a half hour early.

I would recommend checking the Lightning Deals page every morning to see if there's anything you want. If you find something, go back to that page at the designated time and buy it. But you have to hurry because it can go quick.

Here are the links:
Lightning Deals
Toy Lightning Deals

Walmart
There are some great deals at Walmart on Black Friday but that place can be a madhouse! I know because I've been there on Black Friday! Did you know that some of the items advertised in the Black Friday ad are also sold online for the same price on Thanksgiving day? This is unadvertised and you never now which items will be sold online but it's worth a shot. Last year I wanted to get a Little Tykes kitchen for my daughter that was advertised in their Black Friday ad. So I woke up early on Thanksgiving and I checked the Walmart website. The kitchen was in stock! I added it to my cart and it took 15 minutes to get to my cart because there were so many people on the website. But I got it and I was so excited that I wasn't going to have to leave our Thanksgiving dinner early and fight the crowd to buy a toy for my daughter.

Kohl's
Sometimes I feel like I have to get a little creative when I shop at Kohl's. A lot of their prices are higher but when you combine the 20-30% off coupons and the Kohl's cash, you can get some great deals. Kohl's also has a new rewards program Yes2You Rewards. You earn 1 point for every dollar that you spend and once you've reached 100 points, you'll get a $5 reward certificate. This is in addition to all of the other deals that they have.

Kohl's also sells a lot of things online for Black Friday prices and their sell starts a few days before Thanksgiving. So there really is no need to even go to the store.

Target
Target is also very competitive with their prices. This year they are offering free shipping on all purchases made online until Christmas. No minimum purchase required! They also have a Cartwheel app that is awesome. If you pay attention to the Carthwheel app you might be able to score some great deals. Some of their deals are one day only so you have to go to the store early because they run out fast!

*When shopping online don't forget to shop through Ebates and earn cashback! It's a great way to earn some extra cash just for shopping. It's totally legit. I've earned about $75 in the last year!

*To maximize your savings, check out my post on how to earn money by shopping online.

How I Save Money on Gas

Here is my big secret:

Gift Cards

I do the majority of my grocery shopping at Smith's. If you live outside of Utah, any Kroger affiliated grocery store works the same way. When you buy groceries at Smith's, you earn one point for every dollar that you spend. 100 points equals 10 cents off each gallon of gas (up to 35 gallons).

When you buy gift cards, they offer 2 points per dollar. Frequently they have promos where they offer 4 points per dollar. They have a huge selection of gift cards. They sell gift cards for most restaurants and retail stores.

If you bought a $25 gift card to your favorite restaurant, you would earn 100 points (during the 4 point per dollar promo) which equals 10 cents off each gallon. If you got 35 gallons of gas, you would save $3.50 which is essentially earning 14% cashback from buying that $25 gift card.

So how do I maximize my savings on gas? Every time I go to Smith's, I think about where I'm going to shop during the week. If I need to go to Target, I'll buy a gift card. If my kids need clothes, I'll buy a Children's Place gift card. When we remodeled our bathrooms this year, we bought A LOT of Home Depot gift cards. I also stock up on gift cards to our favorite restaurants. When we go out to eat, we look through our stash of gift cards and choose where we want to eat. The best part is that they're already paid for! I usually earn enough points every month to get at least $1.00 off each gallon of gas. 

What I recommend:

*Stock up when they offer the 4 points per dollar promo.

*Buy gift cards for restaurants and stores that you frequently shop at.

*With the holidays coming up, buy gift cards for whatever stores you're planning on shopping at. If you're giving gift cards for Christmas gifts, this is the place to buy them.

*Make sure you keep track of what gift cards you buy and actually use them. If you're buying gift cards just to save on gas, it kind of defeats the point.
*When you buy gas make sure you take two vehicles and purchase all 35 gallons to maximize your savings. Get a $1 off per gallon and buy 35 gallons...guess what, you just saved $35.

*Enjoy your gas savings!

How to Find a Good Deal on a Rental Car

A few weeks ago I did a post on flying for less money. If you're going to fly, you'll need a rental car and that can get pretty pricey. So I came up with some tips on finding a good deal on a rental car.

The most important thing you can do is shop around. Don't just go with the first car that you find. I have never found a good deal going directly through the rental car company. Instead, I look at different websites that compare prices with all of the different car rental companies and find the best deal for you. If you compare prices with all of these different websites, you'll find a great deal on a rental car. Here are some of my favorites:

Car Rental 8
I have always been able to find a good deal through Car Rental 8. Every time I've checked this website, the prices have always been really low, if not the lowest.

Book through your airline
The last two times we flew, I booked our rental car through Southwest Airlines. It was about the same price as Car Rental 8 but I decided to go through the airline to get the bonus points. For certain cars, the airline will offer points in their frequent flyer program. But you have to make sure the extra points are worth it. If you book a car that earns you 600 bonus points you have to figure out how much money you will actually get back and if that's the best deal you can find. 600 points may seem like it a lot but it's actually only worth about $10 so if you can find a car that's more than $10 cheaper, go with that instead. If you have a credit card through an airline, you may also earn double or triple points just for booking through the airline.That's in addition to the bonus points I already mentioned.

Check websites like Priceline, Expedia, and Travelocity
These websites are great for comparing the prices of different rental car companies; however, I've always found a better deal through Car Rental 8 or the airline.

Another great tip is to use your credit card points to help pay for your car. When we went to Florida in April, we had the Barclaycard credit card. After redeeming 80,000 points which cut the cost of our flight in half, the credit card company rewarded us with 10% of our points back. So that was $80 right there. By the time we went on our trip I had about 22,500 points to redeem which cut the cost of our rental car in half. We rented a mini-van in Orlando, Florida for 10 days for $450. After we used our points, I only payed $225. Not bad!

Here are some of the best travel reward credit cards:
Barclaycard Arrival 40,000 bonus points, 2 points per dollar
Capitol One Ventures card 40,000 bonus points, 2 points per dollar 
Chase Sapphire Preferred 40,000 bonus points, 2 points per dollar on dining, 1 point per dollar on all other purchase
Southwest Rapid Rewards card 25,000 bonus points, 1 point per dollar (sometimes they offer 50,000 bonus points) 

How to Fly for Less Money

Our family loves to go on vacation and I am always planning our next one. We usually go on vacation to states that are close to Utah and we always drive because flying can get pretty expensive, especially with 4 kids. But we recently went to Disney World and I realized that flying can actually be affordable if you know how to plan it right.

1. Finding the right fare

Flights fluctuate like crazy! The prices of flights change every day, sometimes even throughout the day. About 6 months before your trip, start checking flights and comparing prices. This way, you can figure out what the average fare is and decide how much you're willing to pay. For example, when I started looking into flights for Orlando, I decided that a good rate was about $320 but I was hoping to find flights for under $300. I was willing to pay about $320 if I hadn't found a flight 1-2 months before our trip. About 3 1/2 months before our trip, I found a flight for $270 so I booked it. I knew that the chances of finding something cheaper were pretty slim and even if I did, I was very happy with the price I got. It was well under what I was hoping to pay.

The best time to book a flight is about 3-4 months before your trip. Once you get to this point, check flights every day, or even a few times a day. A good website to check is Fly.com. This website checks and compares most airlines to give you the best deal. On this website is a fare calendar that will tell you the lowest roundtrip price for each day in a month. If you click on it, it will take you directly to the airline to book the flight. Some airlines, like Southwest Airlines, are not included in this search so you'll have to check those airlines separately.

2. Sign up for airfare alerts.
Before you plan your next trip, sign up for Airfare Watchdog. This is such an awesome website! You sign up for the city that you want to fly to and they'll send you email updates when the flight prices go down. I signed up for cities that I want to watch like Orlando and a few others. This is how I found our flight to Orlando for $270.

Early this summer I got an email alert for a roundtrip flight from Salt Lake to San Diego for $118 per person. We weren't planning on going on a trip but this was such a good deal and we couldn't pass it up! So my husband and I decided to go to San Diego for a weekend. It was so much fun! I also recently helped my sister-in-law find roundtrip tickets from Salt Lake to Phoenix for $98. This website really is amazing.

3. Use credit card reward points.

I strongly recommend this, but I don't think it's for everyone. If you struggle to make ends meet and you think you might not be able to pay off the balance in full, then this probably isn't the best idea for you. You don't want to go into debt just to get a cheaper flight. If you know for sure that you're going to pay the balance in full every month, then the benefits from credit cards can be awesome. My husband was a little skeptical when I suggested this. He hates credit cards and hates debt! I told him to let me try this for a few months and if I didn't pay off the balance, he could cancel the credit card. It's been a year and a half and I haven't paid a dime in interest and I've made over $2000 in travel credit!

We had the Barclaycard and I really liked this card. With this card we earned 40,000 bonus points, which was equivalent to $400, and 2 points per every dollar that we spent using the card. I used my credit card for all of my purchases and paid the balance in full each month. So when we combined our awesome flight deal and our credit card points, we only spent $800 for our family of 6 to fly to Orlando. Not bad, right?

Here are some of the best travel reward credit cards:
Barclaycard Arrival 40,000 bonus points, 2 points per dollar
Capitol One Ventures card 40,000 bonus points, 2 points per dollar 
Chase Sapphire Preferred 40,000 bonus points, 2 points per dollar on dining, 1 point per dollar on all other purchase
Southwest Rapid Rewards card 25,000 bonus points, 1 point per dollar (sometimes they offer 50,000 bonus points) 

Most of these cards waive the activation fee but charge a yearly fee after the first year. If you don't want to pay fees, there are other cards available but the rewards of those cards aren't as high. In my opinion, the rewards of the cards mentioned above outweigh the fees that you would pay.

4. Get creative with how you save.

Anyone can save money and there are many ways to cut back. Only you know your spending habits and how you can save. To save up for our flight, I donated plasma for a year. I'm a stay at home mom with no income of my own so this gave me such a huge sense of accomplishment to be able to pay for our flight.

Good luck planning your flight! I hope these tips help you to save money on your next trip. If you have any other tips on finding good deals on flights, leave a comment below.

How To Earn Money By Shopping Online

I love to shop online. I do the majority of my shopping online because it's convenient and I don't have to leave my house or take my kids into a store. Love it! There are a lot of websites that offer cash back when you go to their website before you shop online. It just takes a little planning ahead.

Ebates
This is one of my favorites. How it works is each store offers a certain percent cash back for any purchase you make at that store. The amount varies store by store and sometimes there are promos where they offer a higher percentage than normal. This especially happens during Christmas time. I once made a purchase at Toys R Us and got 8% cash back! It may not seem like a lot but it adds up fast. Just search for the store that you want to shop at. Click the link and it will take you directly to that store's website. Whatever percentage offered will automatically be added into your account after you make that purchase. They will send you a check in the mail for the amount that you earned that quarter. I have been using ebates since November and I have made about $75. I know that isn't a lot of money but I earned it by shopping so I think it's awesome! If you want to sign up, head over to the ebates website.

Swagbucks
This is another one of my favorite sites and I use it daily. How it works is you earn swagbucks by doing various things like daily polls, searches, surveys, shopping online, playing games, watching videos, etc. Those swagbucks can be turned into gift cards for stores like Walmart, Target, Amazon, etc. You can even earn restaurant gift cards. You can spend as much or as little time as you want on this site. I usually just do the daily poll, online searches, and some shopping so I really don't spend too much time on this site. Last year, I saved up my swagbucks for a full year and I earned an $80 gift card. That definitely came in handy when I was buying Christmas gifts for my kids. Just head to the swagbucks website to sign up. It's easy to do and it's totally legit.

SavingStar
This website works a lot like Ebates. You shop online and each store offers a certain percent cash back. They also offer cash back on grocery purchases. The money you earn for shopping online or grocery purchases goes into an account and you can cash out or get a gift card whenever you're ready. Go to the SavingStar website to sign up.

Flight Rewards
Many airlines offer cash back on online purchases. If you have an account with an airline to earn flight miles, you can also earn more points by shopping online. I know Southwest and Delta Airlines do this but I'm sure there are many more airlines that offer this service. Just go to the airline's website and sign in to your rewards account and look for online shopping. This is a great way to get more points so you can fly for less.

***Make sure when you're shopping online that you go to one of these websites first so you can earn some extra cash. It's easy to omit this step and just go directly to the website when you want to shop but you won't earn any money that way. I usually check all of these sites to see which one is offering the highest percentage back and then I shop through that site. The money adds up fast! I like to save up all year and use the money I make towards my kids' Christmas presents. It makes it so much easier to buy them what they want for Christmas and stay in budget.