American Express Charge Card Flip Video Camera Giveaway
The holiday season is in full swing and everyone is looking for ideas to help them stay out of post-holiday financial nightmare. One way to help you spend more sensibly is by using an American Express Charge Card*. Unlike using a credit card, you must repay your full balance at the end of each month thus helping you stay in check with your spending. And unlike using a debit card, you has greater flexibility with no pre-set spending limit. Additionally, American Express Charge Card comes with the Membership Rewards program. You earn points that you can turn around and use to finish off the rest of your gift list. Some of this season’s hottest items avaliable through the program include: HP mini, video games, and Flip video camcorder.
To help promote its Charge Card and the Membership Rewards program, American Express is offering to giveaway 10 Flip video cameras where 10 lucky readers can win one camera each!
For a chance to win, all you have to do is answer this question in the comment section below:
How are you planning to (how did you) make your money work harder for you this holiday season?
Starting on December 16th, I’ll be picking two winners randomly from comments below. I’ll then email the winner for contact information — i.e., your name and address. The information will be forwarded to American Express, who will ship the Flip video camcorder prize to you. We’ll pick two winners each day until we giveaway 10 camcorders at the end of the 20th.
Important: Although the American Express Charge Card gives you more control than credit and debit cards, the ultimate responsibility still rests with you.
Disclaimers:
- The operator of Moolanomy was not compensate for this giveaway.
- All prizes are provided by American Express, and shipped directly to winners.
- The camcorder shown may not be the exact same model or color that you’ll receive.
- No sign up or purchase necessary. Signing up for an American Express Charge Card will not improve your chance of winning.
- Open to residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia.
- You must be 13 or older at the time of entry.
- Only 1 prize per household.
- Void where prohibited.
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membership rewards program, flip video camcorder, american express charge card, video cameras, giveawayRecommended articles
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To make my money work harder for me I opened up my very first standard investment account. I don’t fancy myself much of an investor outside of my retirement accounts but you have to start somewhere.
I’m leaving my Christmas money in the bank. We aren’t really doing much of a Christmas this year — we’ve agreed to not buy any gifts for each other. (Granted, we just bought a TV, but we saved up for that over time and purchased it during the holiday season because, well, that’s when the best prices hit.)
Not spending is the best way to make your money go further!
Typically, I’m an impulse buyer. Luckily, my wife is the queen at finding deals and I’ve been fortunate to learn a few of her tricks. For every item I’ve purchased around the holiday season, I’m diligent to make sure I’ve found the best deal. Even after finding “the deal”, I still look for coupons to help get an even better discount.
This year, I have been looking for online deals on gifts for my friends and family. I’ve been doing this since Thanksgiving and have gotten some really great deals from online retailers. Many websites are offering 50% to 70% off and free shipping.
My Christmas gift to myself is a 401(k). (actually, it’s more of a coincidence as my becoming eligible happened to coincide with Christmas… but i’m still pretty happy. A 3% raise ain’t a bad present!
I’m finally (after months of saving and avoiding any unnecessary expenditures) spending my money on taking a trip cross country to surprise my girlfriend who is going home for New Years (3 days after her birthday).
Instead of using holiday bonuses in savings accounts or using it to buy a new flat screen we have been desperately wanting, we put our bonuses towards our debts. $1000 returned an immediate 20% (5% over several years) in interest we will no longer pay. Money that is working harder than the measily 1.5%APR I am getting in savings. Plus taking almost a year off the time till its paid off, which will give us a bigger “raise” than we got last year (nada).
I plan to make my money work harder by putting it to work cheering up those around me. A well-thought out gift does so much more for them (and for me) than I ever plan on. Instead of using my money for dumb trivial purchases for myself, I’ll wisely spend it on others.
I’m making my money work harder by keeping our Christmas spending to under $200. Most in our families are feeling the recession harder than we are, so we’ve agreed for small gifts or no gifts this season. It helps that we don’t have young children in the family anymore, so the Christmas celebration is less about giving than about being with family and having fun together.
What I did to make my money work harder for me was set my Holiday at the beginning of 2009. By planning ahead I was able to save money monthly. This allowed my holiday money to earn interest over several months. With the current interest rates out did not earn much but the money was there when needed plus some interest. So I would plan ahead so you are prepared for the holidays.
My siblings and I have decided not to exchange gifts this year. (There are now too many children for us to do gifts for each other too!)
Also, we’re big on reading in our family, so that means lots of shopping via Amazon to get that 32% off.
Within the family we agreed not to buy gifts for each other. If we want to buy gifts we get them for the kids instead. For example, rather than get my sister and my niece a gift I’ll just get my niece a gift. This way the kids still get to enjoy the holidays.
I opened up a new savings account at my bank that has an interest rate higher than my online bank.
I’m making my money work harder this year by not spending money that I don’t need to on extraneous things, and by making sure the money I do have is working for me by putting it in a savings account that has a higher rate of interest than the one I had it in previously, funding my retirement fully and giving more!
I am only buying items that are on sale and searching for the best deals on all gifts!
This year, I plan to focus on more practical gifts for my family members. Functional items that they can use in their everyday life and not luxury or seldom used items. I’ve also sewn a few items for the children.
I want to spend more time with family and less time worried about finances and paying for the gifts.
I’m making my money work harder by primarily just buying gifts for people who appreciate them the most — the kids! I’m also doing all my shopping on extreme sales at Amazon (generally saving 60-70% on kid’s items over going to Target at the last minute), and paying with budgeted money on my Amex charge card.
The first thing I did this year to make my money work for me was increasing my contribution account to my 401K. Now my contribution 10%.
The second thing I did was budgeting a larger percentage of my take home pay and made regular deposits into my money market savings account (1.3% interest).
Finally, I also started to buy limited figurine sets that are sold around my area and sold them on eBay for a modest profit. Which in turn helped tremendously when shopping for gifts for my love ones.
I make my money work harder by doing my Christmas 2010 shopping right AFTER Christmas 2009. I always do my holiday shopping off-season all year round. After a holiday, stores mark items way below retail so they’re not left with “old” stock. Winter clothes, buy them just AFTER winter… Specially wrapped candies (i.e. Halloween, Christmas) are usually buy-one-get-one right after said holiday… and so on. Gifts? I check clearance bins all the time.
I’m making my money work harder for me by continuing to have automatic deductions put into a higher yield savings no matter what. I’ve learned not to count on that extra $25/week and as a result these last two years have saved over $2000 accidentally, and it’s earning interest.
For the holiday gifts, I shop around for the best deal by purchasing gift online through web site such as ebates that will give me additional % back. In my free time I also made baby product to sell on Etsy to help support additional purchase that I want but not necessary need. This year for some family member I purchase gift that practice and can be give as a family gifts instead of buying unnecessary item to individual.
I am making my money work harder this year in the market, without paying attention I have contributed to my 401(k) up to the full match week in and week out
The way I make my money work harder is through information. I have and will continue to utilize all the information that is at the fingertips of consumers today. Whether it be comparing deals or learning the truth about company 401ks. There is a plethora of information out there.
I have really started to utilize internet coupon codes this year! We are building a house and it is AMAZING how much money you can save by ordering from websites that have coupon codes, no tax, and free shipping. My husband, who is a CFP, is thoroughly impressed by how much I have saved us!
Before thanksgiving I got new membership of COSTCO wholesale and did lot of shopping in thanks giving earning a good 2% cash back. Also bought everything from CVS which had EB on them, used first EB to buy the 2nd thing, the chain worked out great.
I open up an electric orange account! My money is working harder and gaining more interst AND I got a bonus to opening the account
This year, we planned ahead better and, with list in hand, we got 90% of our gifts at yard/garage sales and thrift stores. For the other 10% we worked the online deals and paid very little for any of it. For instance, we took advantage of the Kodak Friends $15 giveaway for the two of us (for a total of $30) so we could print out $30 worth of pictures of our son from the last 5 years to send to the grandparents and other relatives. We also traded in an old Playstation game for credit on Amazon for $22 and used another free $3 in credit from Amazon they were giving away to get a gift for a niece who has to contend with her Bday being right next to Xmas.
Aside from shipping, we’ve probably spent under $75 dollars for us and all of our immediate family members for Xmas using the power of thrifting and online deals.
We do many things to help with the holiday expenses.
We started a savings account just for the holidays, and have worked with our families to be ‘reasonable’ with gifts. All of the kids are spoiled but we (as an extended family) have chosen to only give homemade gifts, or photo’s to the adults in the family. This has been a change for the extended family over the past few years, but it is easier as the years go on.
While the kids are spoiled by our brothers, sisters and grandparents with gifts, we try to limit our gifts to a few fun things, and the rest of our budget for the kids is spent on clothes and things they ‘need’ more than their ‘wants’ or gadgets. Our kids are pretty laid back anyways, my 6 year old just wants a ball and some books, which makes us laugh. He is getting both, and some other fun things as well.
We also comparison shop, and completed most of our shopping on Amazon. Our shopping was done early to give us time to ship it slowly and to consolidate shipping (which was free once for the amount we were shipping.) We could find a few bargains here and there vs. Amazon, but once shipping was added in we found most things to be equal or more expensive. We also used a rewards credit card (Amex actually!) and will pay off the bill when it arrives. The rewards will be used for purchases down the road.
Finally my parents are in Florida, while we live in Massachusetts, and they are not able to travel this year to see us. We spent most of the fall searching for cheap airfare for the 4 of us and decided to drive (1500 miles each way). This last week however we did a final search and found an airfare that was reasonable on a budget airline from an alternative airport (DirectAir). We are choosing to fly on Christmas and return on New Years to save $50 per person. While not really a money saver we did compare the costs of the flights ($1300 total) vs. the gas, hotel and food for the round trip. The flights are actually about $300 more expensive in the basic analysis, but 8 hours of flights vs. 48 hours of driving made a lot of sense to us. We also get to spend Christmas morning at our own house vs. in the car and should save us some sanity, wear and tear on the car, and maybe a marriage depending on traffic!
I made my money work harder for me by utilizing cash back on Bing.com and my 2% cash back credit card rewards, and also by buying gift certificates at a discount through sites like Restaurants.com!
-Erica
One of my ways I have done this was to buy a coupon book from my cousin in the Boys Scouts. The books cost $20 each, but have a lot of coupons for the city where I live from Movies to Food Places to Operas.
I was able to essentially “kill 2 birds with one stone”: support my cousin’s organization and helps to save money on girlfriend and my favorite places.
I made a list and I’m sticking to it. I’m using my Discover card to get the extra percent back as the cash reward when I do my shopping online, with free shipping of course. Every few months, I increase my automatic transfer to my savings account by $10, I don’t even miss it.
We have done a lot of our Christmas shopping online, this year. Most of what we have bought has been at a substantial discount. We are still spending, (not charging) but we are getting more for our money, by shopping around, checking back, checking discount sites, (slickdeals.net , passwird.com , amazon.com) A lot of good deals have been had the last couple of weeks!
And the first two winners are … commenter #12 (FFB) and commenter #28 (Jason) … congratulation!
The way I’m making my money work harder this season actually specifically involves my American Express Blue Cash card. Since I get cash back and the percentage I get goes up after I spend a set amount in the year I just use the card for everything possible (and don’t carry a balance). By the end of this cycle I had earned enough to pay for all of the gifts I was getting for my children as well as various nieces and nephews! Every cent came from using my card.
I’m making my money work harder by giving gift certificates to http://www.kiva.org or putting money into children’s 529 accounts instead of giving more plastic toys or useless trinkets.
This year we decided to not spend as much as we did the past Christmases by cutting down on presents. Instead, we’ll just save the money and use it for food and expenses and not things that we don’t need.
We have saved a ton of money by price comparing on our iPhones. Of course sticking to our budget is one big way our money is working harder!
I joined LendingClub!
I’m taking a close look at holiday traditions this year. I plan to create some new ones that are focused less on presents and more on the aspects of the holidays that create memories.
I had the most wonderful and relaxing Thanksgiving with adults drinking coffee and playing board games after dinner while kids ran up and down the stairs in imaginative play. Christmas should also be relaxing and enjoyable. Merry Christmas everyone!
To make my money work harder, I spent less by looking for discounts and coupons (in print and on line) whenever possible to make gift purchases. Also, I tried to buy things people would actually find useful in their lives instead of things that will just sit in the closet. In addition, I am keeping my spending low enough not to carry a credit card balance. Plus the credit card I am using gives me points for the purchases. It’s not much, but it’s something.
My wife and I are using credit card points/rewards to help with holiday travel and even to purchase gifts this Christmas.
The best thing that I did was to save money all year round in an ING sub account – so that I was earning some interest on it. I did almost all shopping online and used coupons from places like retailmenot and so on. Also I used sites like mypoints and ebates to get to the retail sites, so that I earn rewards for all the shopping I would have done anyway. And to top it off, I use credit cards to make the purchases so that I earn some rewards on them. Of course I pay it off right away since I have the money sitting in my savings account.
So by doing the shopping I would do anyway, I earn:
1) Interest from ING for the savings
2) Points from myPoints
3) Rewards from my credit card company
And I save on gas, by not driving to the mall and circling it to find a parking spot.
There are a lot of ways to save money during the holidays
* Use credit cards to pay for purchases and earn rewards for buying something you already would (but only if you have money to pay it off the same month)
* If shopping online, use rewards sites like mypoints to hit up some extra points. Also most sites have free shipping coupons floating around
* If you have to travel during Christmas, try flying out on the day of Christmas to save money. This way you can spend Christmas morning at your home and yet meet family and fares will definitely be cheaper
* Another tip would be not to get too caught up with Black Friday deals and such. Find out the cost of the item a week before and see if you are truly getting a discount. Sometimes even when the store tells you it’s 50% off, it might be at 40% off otherwise
* Use swagbucks, Coinstar, mypoints and redeem for gift cards that can be given out as gifts or can be used to purchase gifts
* Homemade cookies, fudge etc can be a great Christmas gift, especially for bachelors and other kitchen challenged people. Double points if you can give something that can be frozen and used for a long time
We did away with gifts completely. Our family moved across the country and a lot of relatives are experiencing difficult times, so we just decided to spend some time together over the holidays and enjoy that. That’s a great gift as it is.
Instead of giving a gift that will be thrown in the closet never to be seen again or tossed in the garage to collect dust, I’m giving a gift that will double in value after the recipient opens it. How?
I’m only giving gifts I know the recipients will absolutely love, mature in value as they age, or use constantly for years to come. This way, they will receive a gift where they get 100% of the value out of their gift based on the cost I paid.
By knowing they got maximum value from their gift, I get 100% of the “joy of giving” metric based on the cost of their gift.
Think of it this way: how many times have you given a crappy sweater to your cousin just because you were obligated to get him a gift. You might have gotten 50% value out of him opening the gift because you knew he didn’t like it, and he only got 25% out of it because he regifted it to another relative he doesn’t like the following year.
By using my costco Amex to get as many cashback rewards as possible.
And the winners #3-4 are … commenter #30 (Damilola) and commenter #42 (Jan) … congratulation!
I planned out exactly what my budget was for each person, stuck to it, and bought everything through websites that participate in Ebates or Upromise and offer free shipping. I spent my $200 budget and have gotten $8 back from Upromise and $12 from Ebates. It doesn’t seem like too much, but I effectively got 10% off, never paid for shipping, and only paid sales tax on one transaction. If you count my rebates, I came in 18% under budget!
I took advantage of free/cheap photo offers: free/cheap photobooks and photo cards, plus free prints. That pretty much took care of our parents and grandparents, so instead of spending $200 or more on gifts for them, I’ve spent less than $50. Thank you for the giveaway!
I was going to open a savings account but with interest rates so low, there’s really no point. So I cut that trip to Florida I had planned and now I am staying home. Duh…
First I list down all the things/gifts that I plan to buy. Search those gifts online and see if I can find some great deals. Discount coupons and the like are love. I also compare the prizes of an item in every store that I can think of. And buy the cheapest one with a good deal.
And there are also times that it’s hard to pick a gift for someone so I just decide to make a personalized card for them. It’s really cheap since I only use materials available in our house like cutouts from a magazine, glue, paper puncher, stamps, etc. and recycling the used papers I have. I only need to spend an extra amount of my time and a little bit of money to finish the card. I guess the message inside would do all the talking. Anyway, it’s better that you remembered that special someone, right.
I opened a Perk Street checking account with $1,000 from my credit card and will receive a 1% reward bonus from my credit card and a $50 bonus from Perk Street in 3 months. I opened a Lending Club account and received $64.62 as a promotion–I used my Perk Street checking account to transfer $935.38 over. Now I’ve invested $1000 and hopefully will receive 10% back (if the people I’ve loaned don’t default!). So if everything works out I will have made just shy of $150 in the next 3 months ($50 bonus from Perk Street, $10 from my credit card, $64.62 from Lending club and around $25 in interest).
I am planning to use my money for home improvement which I am waiting for sometimes.The recession has helped manage to control planning budget for such demanding work…
It’s as easy as budgeting and tracking! It’s amazing how much further your money goes when you give it a purpose!
I’m looking for proactive ways to save money such as eating out less.
Being a senior on a fixed income, I really took advantage of the Amazon/Walmart price war this year. With Amazon’s lightning specials, and free shipping, several of us in the family co-gifted our loved ones with way nicer gifts than we each could have afforded individually!
We set a budget for gifts, started buying early so we could take advantage of deals when offered and paid cash for everything. This helped us make our money go as far as possible.
I entered a lot of giveaways online to get presents for family members. It was a very cheap (free) way to get them all something nice! Just required alot of work but was totally worth it. I also signed up for alot of store newsletters because usually when you first sign up for their emails, they give you some kind of promo deal and every percentage off helps! I signed up for a Macy’s card too to get an extra 20% my purchases that day so I made sure to get more than a few gifts there! It was awesome. And I also attended Walmart’s PRE BLACK FRIDAY Saturday sales and saved a bundle on electronics, which like the giveaways, took extra time and effort on my behalf but saved me alot of money! And if I win, I am giving this flip to my friend Jaime, she’s been dying for one for her upcoming honeymoon! Thank you!!!!
We are doing 90% of our shopping online instead of burning gas and fighting crowds at the malls. It is easy to find great deals at Amazon, NewEgg and hundreds of other online retailers.
Research product prices and features online, so you can be prepared to bargain when you enter the stores.
For example my wife wanted a new camera. We found the one we wanted on Amazon for $299, but we were not ready to purchase without being able to use/hold first. We went to our local photography store with price we would pay in mind. We told them how much we could get it online for and they were happy to make the same deal and throw in a free memory card. Plus, we didn’t pay shipping and handling cost, so we really came out $30-40 cheaper than online.
The salespeople/stores are hungry to make sales this Christmas Season. To get the best price/save the most money you have to know what you want and the cheapest price you can get it elsewhere (online). Also, you have to be willing to walk-away if they can’t lower the price.
Bonus tip: Department stores (Dillards, Belk, Macy’s) are much better places to get amazing deals than at the Mall.
I am completely done! We paid cash for all gifts for our kids & each other this year instead of using credit cards & adding to our debt. That’s a good feeling! Any bonuses we get this year will be used to pay down debt & add to our savings.
I created a faux “hedge fund” for my dating budget. I allow myself $75 per week, and any money that doesn’t get spent during that week is automatically transferred into a “surplus” savings account, which I can transfer back into the date fund within the month if needed. If there is still a balance in the “surplus” savings account by the end of the month it automatically transfers into my Roth IRA.
Automation for the win!
Not only do I try to save money, but I try to save money by saving in ways that help others or help me be healthier. I normally shop at Whole Foods (which everyone knows is expensive), I try to cut back on how often I go there and try to plan the trips there only when I know I need something that is only offered at Whole Foods or hard to find otherwise. I reuse my bags and save 5% to help the environment while giving myself a discount. Believe it or not, this is pretty close to how much the mark up is at WF compared to regular grocery stores. While I am there, I purchase items that are on sale and make food for the week. I use leftovers for lunch and have completely stopped buying my lunch each day from take out places.
I currently live with my parents and am not charged rent. I started putting “rent” in an account that I am using to save for a house. I put my savings into a CD with no fees and I use my check card as much as possible rather than cash to benefit my “keep the change” program. I even upgraded my card to get 10% back on my keep the change rather than 5%. I also switched my visa card to an interest free, cash back program. It should be known that my American Express is still my card of choice though!
I traded in my leased car early and negotiated the trade in to be $1000.00 more than the buy out. I used the savings for a down payment on a car that uses cheaper gas and has a lower monthly payment. Also, I took advantage of the tax rebate for buying a new car.
I stopped shopping at designer stores and purchase my clothes from TJ Maxx and Marshalls. I find they have the same styles at an upwards of 70% off the normal price. The first place I check is the clearance rack. I am still wearing Lucky Jeans, but not many people know that I got them for 6 dollars rather than 75.
I am doing a lot of group presents this year. My Girlfriend and I are treating my parents to a dinner and a night out, rather than both buying them each separate presents. I am using rewards points from my corporate American Express card to purchase the dinner and the show we are going to, and using Marriott points from my travels to pay for the hotel we are putting them up in. Normally that would have been a 600 dollar night. The only thing we will pay for are tips and taxi’s instead! (I only use the hybrid taxis!)
There are many ways to save, but try to keep the environment and others in the loop as saving can be contagious! Show people how you save, and they will want to do it and so on!
Happy Holidays everyone!
My money is working hard at paying off our car which is our last outstanding consumer debt. Debt free in 2010!
This holiday season I turned to Craigslist. Sure you have to sift through a lot of crap to find the good stuff, but it was totally worth it for me! My husband really wanted a Kindle for Christmas and I wasn’t too thrilled at the prospect of shelling out 270 bucks for one. I searched Craigslist and what did I find?…a brand new Kindle, still in the box and never opened along with a leather carrying case also never opened for 200 bucks! They guy selling it had won it at a charity auction and had no use for it – perfect!
Another thing that I’ve done with online shopping is making sure that shipping if free for whatever I buy and finding programs that give you a bonus (i.e. spend $40 and get a $10 gift card in the mail).
Two things we’ve been doing:
1) Instead of buying friends gifts, we’re inviting everyone over for a fancy dinner that we’ll be making ourselves (healthy, cheaper, and fun). We’re also thinking about doing a $5 limit white-elephant party along with the dinner.
2) For those who are getting gifts from us, we’ve been buying things that have either longer warranty periods or lifetime warranties/guarantees. The items may cost a little more upfront, but they’ll be able to replace the products when they break or wear out further down the road. I’ve personally done this quite a few times and feel that the added cost makes my money work better for me in the end.
In saving money during this holiday period i have done w few things which has worked for me.
I have been delivery address books to homes and i get paid doing it.
I drive less and watch for lower gas prices
I shop at discount stores
I buy and sell forex
Lastly i just started repairing cell phones i purchase directly from motorola resell them as refurbished phones on ebay with a waranty.
A 3%APR CD matured and the current rates are very low at less than 2%APR, so I placed the money in a municipal bond mutual fund that is paying about 3%APR and has appreciated in value too. Also, I reinvest those dividends, which are paid monthly in more shares of the fund. And the dividends are tax free. Also, I am not locked into a one-year time frame, as I can cash-out the funds at any time. No more bank CDs for me!
I saved money all year and paid cash for Christmas!
I’m making my money work harder for me by really taking a good look at my shopping list. I realized that my kids don’t need a lot of new stuff, so I only bought them a few things each. I also focused more on what the recipient would really like more so than the price tag. This meant I spent a bit more on some, but it also means I spent a lot less in several cases, thus evening things out.
This year I before selecting and buying gifts. First, I really questioned whether this was a useful or frivolous item. Then, once I decided on a gift, I looked for discounts, coupons, etc. – deep discounts was the shopping mode. Also, I looked for opportunities to repurpose things and make fun holiday crafts for gifts and decorating the house. It reminded me of my mom, who grew up in the depression, who used to repurpose everything! But, now, as an adult it is fun!
We actually started saving money this year in a bank account that is not easily accessible. That means that come time to buy gifts, travel, etc. that we have money to use doing those things. It shouldn’t be a revelation, but it’s a new feeling for us.
My tip: Instead of Christmas gifts to teachers, coaches, etc. our family gives Thanksgiving gifts. It takes a bit of preplanning, but it’s a great was to save money, reduce stress at Christmas and stand out from the crowd. While Christmas shopping, there’s usually Thanksgiving-themed merchandise (kitchen towels, hand towels, throw blankets, tablecloths and runners, picture frames, other Thanksgiving decorations) at substantial discounts – sometimes 90%. I will tuck these away to use next year. My son, husband and I sign a Thanksgiving card, being sure to include a reason why we are thankful for this person. The Thanksgiving gift stands out because no one else does this, and the gift is actually used, since not many people buy specific Thanksgiving decorations. The comments we have received over the years have been overwhelmingly positive. Thanks for asking for ideas!
I do most of my shopping online. I check different deal websites for the prices of the gift I am trying to buy. I then verify the price at different websites, narrow down to the cheapest one and then I try to look for online coupons. Before I buy them, I also check for the buyer rating and the product ratings, this way I can be assured of the quality of the product. This way I save a lot of money and time.
Most online shopping offers tax free products and also ships for free. It is much better than shopping at stores as you can save time and money from driving to the store and do everything from home. This is especially good for me because most of the stores are far from my home.
Actually decided not to purchase some hard drives, and rearranged how i am saving some stuff. Plus used a duplicate file finder to free up more space.
Holding off for another couple months should say 20-30 dollars per drive.
I was able to save quite a lot this Christmas by planning ahead and using the internet. I made my shopping list and then watched for and searched for sales, free offers, discounts, and coupons. I was able to get great deals on all the gifts I wanted and free shipping on most it! There have been lots of printable coupons, too, that I was able to use at local stores for things like toys, clothing, and toiletries. I subscribe to many blogs that post these deals and also to newsletters of the shopping sites. It really takes only a few minutes a day to skim through what’s available and it’s been well worth the time! An added bonus…I did a lot of my Christmas shopping in my pajamas with a cup of hot cocoa at hand!
I actually just received my American Express Business Gold is the mail today! But that’s kind off topic…
To stretch my money further I often scour websites like fatwallet.com and slickdeals.net (redflagdeals.com when purchasing products from Canada). These website have large user communities where deal mavens from across the country share information on sales for many different types of consumer goods, from automobiles to sweaters to computers. Whenever I’m considering making a purchase I first check the user forums of these websites to find where the best deals are and what stores will be having a sale soon.
This holiday season these websites have helped me save some MAJOR cash. With all the gifts I’ve found for my friends and family, I know they’ll be smiling. My wallet will be, too.
With my hours being cut this yeat at work, I had to really save to buy presents for family. I re-did my budget, and got rid of silly memberships and magazines that I didn’t use/read. I went to Wal-Mart on Black Friday (even though I swore to never go again) just for one gift because it was such a good deal! My best friends and I decided to just go out to dinner instead of exchange gifts, which works out well because I’d rather their company anyway! Looking online and in the papers for good deals was a life saver. Comparing these ads to each other was key, because some places have better deals than others, even if you have to travel a little farther, it’s worth it! I also used my debit card for 98% of my purchases, so I didn’t rack up any unnecessary debt along the way!
To make our money work harder, I starting shopping back in August for gifts at thrift stores, garage sales & rumage sales….you would be amazed at the brand new items I snagged for less than $5.
The few I have left to shop for I am trying to online shop & go thru sites like shop at home & ebates to get some money back.
I also joined swagbucks.com & already have a $10 amazon giftcard & whatever I’m buying I’m trying my darnedest for free shipping
And the winners #5-6 are … commenter #17 (Nate Carlson) and commenter #21 (Piya Vlach) … congratulation!
Thnx Pinyofor hosting this competition.
One of the savviest ways I’ve found to make money work harder for me is by buying presents in bulk, COSTCO style.
The idea is to figure out a present that is scaleable, much like an internet site for attracting business for example. Once the idea is set, implementation is quite easy.
My idea this year is simply getting long sleeve shirts to my various friends and family members around the country. I went on a particular custom T-shirt site, and branded each T-shirt with a particular logo. But on each shirt, I customized the lettering to say “Dad”, “Mom”, “Uncle Joe” etc.
With several clicks of the button, I’ve been able to send out 25 custom shirts. Not only do I save time shopping online, I save on unit costs since I’m buying in bulk.
It’s about efficiency (internet), branding, and scale to save money, and to make money!
Best,
Sam
I only shop whereever there are a special big sales, especially shop online which is a lot cheaper than retails. Even better if I shop thru website which offer me a cash back for example ebate.com or retailmenot.con which give me a coupon code for more discount. Also make sure that I use my credit card which give me the most benefit such as cash back, reward or collect points.
FIRST I RE-USE STUFF FROM PREVIOUS HOLIDAYS. LIKE BOWS, RIBBON, CARDS, & ECT. THIS COMES IN HANDY FOR CRAFTING GIFTS. I ALSO SAVE MASON JARS, CANDLE JARS, COFFEE TINS, ECT. THESE WORK WELL IN CRAFTING SOME GREAT GIFTS, EXSPECIALLY WITH CHILDREN. I ALSO SHOP AFTER CHRISTMAS AND SAVE 50% TO 75% OFF TO PUT UP FOR NEXT YEAR. I ALSO SHOP ONLINE USING COUPON CODES, OR BUYING AN ITEM THAT OFFERS A FREE GIFT. FREE SHIPPING IS ALWAYS GREAT TO ONLINE. I ALSO GET AMAZON.COM DEALS. I USE MY ONLINE SURVEY PROGRAMS TO MAKE MONEY & GET GIFT CARDS. I ALSO SHOP AT MY LOCAL DOLLAR STORE FOR THEIR WONDERFUL X-MAS SELECTION, AND MOST TIMES THEY HAVE NAME BRAND STUFF. LIKE CANDLES, MAKEUP, DISNEY STUFF. POSSILBILITEIS ARE ENDLESS. MAKES FOR GREAT GIFT BASKETS OR STOCKING STUFFERS. TAKING ADVANTAGE OF CVS ECB PROGRAM ALSO. USING COUPONS EVERYWHERE I SHOP HELPS SAVE TONS. AND OF COURSE FOLLOWING THESE WONDERFUL BLOGS!
By being kind of a scrooge & not spending any money & saving it. lol
By investing my money in college so i can get a great degree & make lots more money!!!
Instead of giving a gift, give an experience, like swimming lessons or a series of yoga classes.
I’ve stopped counting how many times I’ve needed to go out and buy a new string of Christmas lights to replace the ones that no longer work because they have a mystery bulb (that I can’t ever seem to find) burned-out. So, this year I’m making a savvy investment in L.E.D (light-emitting diode) Christmas lights!
My research told me that they:
Use 90% less energy. They have a 50,000 hour bulb life. And, if you shop around you can get them with a guarantee.
So far, they work great. They use less energy, so I’ll be saving on my electric bill. They’re Energy Star approved, so they’re better for the environment. But, the savings that I’m most excited about are the savings in my time spent not trying to find and replace those burnt-out little bulbs that keep breaking the circuit, and consequently breaking my wallet.
I’m planning on making my money work harder for me through Peer-to-Peer Lending.
The savviest way I made my money work harder for me this holiday season was to have the kids give homemade and personalized gifts for friends and family and to have everyone spend more time doing volunteer work and helping elderly neighbors. I want the kids to understand Christmas is way too commercialized and isn’t supposed to be all about expensive gifts, and homemade baked goods and arts and crafts type presents make great gifts too.
I’m unemployed, so it’s even more important to stretch my holiday shopping dollars.I’ve winnowed my list down to 4 people and have put more thought than usual into gifts I think they will enjoy.
And the winners #7-8 are … commenter #2 (No Debt Plan) and commenter #40 (PJ) … congratulation!
I made my money work for me by opening an online savings/checking account that earns more interest than my current bank.
Thanks!
I paid for everything with my AE card which is linked to my kids college account and bought as much as I could online using free shipping and cash back websites like bing or bigcrumbs or ebates.
As far as the holiday’s go I am making my money work harder by searching for smart deals and coupons on gifts while trying to make smarter gift giving decisions.
We typically don’t spend much money during the holiday season anyway. So, extra spending is not an issue for us.
We (me + wife) decided mutually not to spend on expensive gifts for each other this season and opt for frugal but fantastic gift of spending more time together as an alternative!
To make our money work harder this holiday season, my wife and I made it a point to plan our Christmas shopping & expenses ahead of time this year,
and by doing most of our shopping in advance, prior to Thanksgiving even, it allowed us to avoid getting caught up in the mad rush of holiday consumerism and spending and stick to our planned budget.
It has also made the week before Christmas a lot more relaxed!
to make my money work harder this holiday, I bought delicious holiday foods for my family to enjoy instead of gifts. we shall feast on shrimp,clams,mussels and leg of lamb
And the winners #9-10 are … commenter #43 (San) and commenter #63 (Danny) … congratulation!
Oh wow! San won at Cash Money Life and here. Nice! Congrats.
I paid myself the difference between the sale price and regular price of Christmas gifts, and put in the interest bearing account.
Almost everything is on sale this season. For example, when I “saved” $20 on a purchase, I paid myself $20 and deposited into my IRA. That money will earn interest and I am sure I’ll appreciate having it later in life, whereas Christmas gifts provide short term appreciation.
I also used my CC for all purchases because it earns cash-back, which is like having an additional discount. I paid the card off every week which makes it feel like using a debit card.