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Time for another Saving on a Shoestring update! (Yes…I know it’s almost the end of September. It’s been a busy month!)
Before I share my exciting news…it’s time for a little PEP TALK. How are you all doing with your savings for the Cha-Ching Christmas Club?! Now that Christmas is only three months away (YIKES!), it’s a good time to calculate your savings.
If you have been collecting Swag Bucks and plan to use them toward Christmas, I recommend redeeming your rewards now! You can redeem two rewards per day and up to 5 of the same rewards per month. Don’t forget that you can get the best ‘bang for your buck’ with those $5 Amazon gift cards, which usually take a couple of weeks to get added to your account. Then you can add them to your Amazon account or just keep them in your Swag Bucks account and save them for your holiday shopping!
And now for my EXCITING news!!
I’m happy to share that I reached 100% of my savings goal for the Cha-Ching! Christmas Club!
It’s exciting to me to think that I will have a few more months to put away money from rebates, Swag Bucks and surveys to give us even more room to be generous this Christmas!
And as for Project Cruise 2012: We are up to 17%!
*****
How about you? Have you been saving and scrimping toward a reward or are you a part of the Cha-Ching! Christmas Club? (Remember that you can use this Cha-Ching Christmas Clug Savings Tracker to help you track your savings!) Then leave a comment or a link below sharing your savings update. And then PLEASE encourage each other by leaving comments here or on the blogs listed. If we work on this together, it will be so much more fun!
AND just to add to all the fun going on around here, I will give a $5 Amazon gift code to one person who leaves a direct link to their savings post or a comment sharing an update on their savings. (I figure it’s just one more way to help you save on that shoestring!)
The giveaway will end September 24 at 10 a.m. EST. I’ll use Random.org to select the winning comment or link. Winner will be notified by email and listed on this site.
Note: If you have a blog, here is the HTML code for the Saving on a Shoestring button above:
<p><a href=” https://chachingonashoestring.com/category/saving-on-a-shoestring/” title=”Saving on a Shoestring”><img src=”https://chachingonashoestring.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/Saving-on-a-Shoestring-button-1252.PNG” alt=”Saving on a Shoestring” /></a></p>
I started online surveys several mos. ago & have quote a bit of Amazon codes I will be using for Christmas!!! Very excited to not be using the credit cards this year to pay for gifts.
I started saving my Swagbucks this summer for upcoming Christmas gifts. Plus, I coupon!
Just linked over from MoneySavingMom. We finished our Christmas fund last month. It is a very modest savings. But all I want for Christmas this year is to pay off our second mortgage loan. Once we do, we will only have our first mortgage and have 14 years left on the loan. But that is only if we make the minimum payments! Thanks for inspiring others!
Congratulations on reaching your goal!
My biggest contribution to saving money since becoming a Stay at Home Mom is couponing and becoming a bargain hunter. I love scoring deals and getting items for free or super cheap! I’ve also started using SwagBucks and really following blogs to get free items-I love all the promotions out there!
I am not sure if this will qualify-we were steadily save $80 every other week to build an emergency fund. This summer our A/C broke and needed to be replaced, so our fund is now depleted. I was sad to see it go, but happy to have had most of the money to pay upfront for the new air conditioning.
I am so excited! I have saved $330 for Christmas. And I only really started in June. I can’t wait to see what happens next year when I save all year long. I have used Swag bucks and Mypoints mostly. But I also cashed in my Wachovia / Well Fargo Rewards. I am so glad that I get to have an awesome Christmas and won’t break the budget. I also have 2 family birthdays right at Christmas. This year the Holiday’s won’t be a worry for us.
I have been doing surveys with e-rewards. I have earned 3 – $25 gift cards for American eagle. I love swag bucks! My husband makes fun of me for searching for everything. But he is enjoying using the Amazon gift cards. ( about $50 worth)
I have three kids and have finished Christmas shopping. Most of the toys were bought at KMart when they had the extra 50% off clearance toys. Along with that I had the BK-Ironman coupon for 20% all toys. Spend under $50 for all of the toys. I was floating on a cloud that week.
i’m saving verizon businesslink reward points`to get an LLBean gift card for a sweet pair of mary janes on clearance! $45 shoes`for $0 out of pocket – cha-ching!
we just got back from disney, so for me, the savings starts again for next year. i have already started christmas shopping, getting $50 in free stuff from amazon (paid $9 for some ear buds hubby had to have). i love all the savings ideas and tips; swagbucks is great and i love all the facebook freebies.
I don’t have a website to link to either. I didn’t have a savings goal but started couponing and watching the sales after I was laid off from my job. I just cleaned out my house and garage and had a yard sale and decluttered everything! The money I made is going towards a crib & bedroom furniture for my baby’s room. Plus it’s so nice not having all those things in my house that I don’t use or need anymore! I’ve also started stockpiling and stocking up on gifts when places like Target have their toy clearance sales. My swagbucks are getting cashed in shortly for some Christmas gifts as well!
Hi Kaley!!
I don’t have a link to a website 🙁 However, I began trying to save so that I can pay mostly in cash for Christmas this year. I’ve consigned clothing, done the Swag Bucks thing, participated in a garage sale and couponed (love CVS for that!). I think I’ve saved close to $200 — I need to get a more accurate number 🙂
Cathy
i have a credit card that puts away 1% of all i spend (on clearance of course!) to my kids college accounts. works for me!!! 😉
Ok, reading your story and the others posted here have inspired me to keep better track of my savings and rewards. I relish each time I save more than I spend at the grocery store (like last night spending $12.88 and saving $32) or cash in on Amazon giftcards from Swagbucks, but I really haven’t kept a running tally, and I haven’t used the rewards as a Christmas club type plan. But I think I will try to do that now. To date, my main goal of couponing has been to have more money to add to savings instead of having to draw from it since I’m home with my kids and my husband had to take a pay cut this past year. Thanks for the inspiration!
I started couponing in June of this year & am so excited about the saving I’ve been doing! So is DH!!! He tells everyone what I am doing – it’s pretty funny. So far I’ve been able to spend the same amount every month, BUT I have stockpiled. We now have our hall closet filled with household necessities. I’m now working on our food supply. Last week, a friend of ours had to have an emergency surgery – and they don’t have insurance. I was so glad to be able to go to my closet and “shop” for them. I was able to give them a bag of household/personal items & 3 bags of groceries!!! I was so excited to be able to help them out! 🙂
I started doing Swagbucks this year and I LOVE it. I can’t believe how quick you can add them up. I think I’ve already cashed in about $50 for Amazon. I do like the idea of keeping them in your account though. I will do that from now on. That way I keep all my money for Christmas.
I recently started “couponing” about 6 months ago when my son was born. I was so freaked out and scared that we wouldn’t be able to afford diapers but our financial situation has completely turned around since I started couponing. We have paid off our 5 year car loan in a year and a half, getting ready to pay off a second car in December and we’ll have our credit card in Feb/March. It’s such an awesome feeling. We even took a very unexpected quick trip to DC with some of the savings from couponing. Your blog has been such a blessing.
Congratulations!!! Doncha just love that feeling of accomplishment?! 8-]
I have $40 in Amazon GC’s from SwagBucks now and, hopefully, will soon cash out again with $30 from Inbox Dollars! I opened a Christmas Club account at my credit union on 31 December and am putting (some of) my survey money and rebates in there and it’s now up to $65! Also, I’m getting close to enough for another $10 GC from MyPoints. Then again, I might hold out for $25, if they don’t raise the ‘price’ again. All those little bits really add up!
Way to go, SophieMae! I love it!
Hi! I am so happy that you reached your goal! It would be difficult for me to spend $50 on Christmas with 5 children and 3 families to buy for, BUT…last Christmas you inspired me and with Swagbucks, rebates, My Coke Rewards, Pampers Gifts to Grow, and saving my change to cash in for FREE Amazon gift card codes at Coinstar, I have taken a HUGE chunk out of my Christmas spending! I have already finished shopping for 8 family members and one of my children and have only spent $14.00 oop! Thank you so much for the inspiration!
Fantastic job, Beth!