{HOT} FREE Photo Calendar!

Here is a SUPER HOT freebie from one of my favorite sites, VistaPrint. They have a FREE photo wall calendar right now! Hurry and grab yours before the deal ends.

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. When you use them, you help support this site. Thanks so much!

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*HOT* Get Alerted For Packages from your Phone & Email!!

What an awesome service from UPS ! I don’t know about you but I cannot stand getting notices that “a package has come that needs a signature” or having to wait all day for a package to come that I know needs to be signed for. It wastes my whole day! Now, UPS is offering My Choice which is a FREE program you sign up for to connect your phone with your address to make deliveries simple. 

This helped me so much recently! As we were in the hospital having our new little one, his baby monitor had been delivered to the house. Had UPS My Choice not alerted me, it would have sat on the doorstep for days, possibly getting rained on or being stolen. But, I had been alerted the day before that it was to be delivered and was able to send someone to put it inside.

You will get notifications when:

• A package is about to be delivered (the next day)
• A package needs to be signed for
• Also, you will be able to sign for the package via your phone! How neat??

(this post includes sponsored content)

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. When you use them, you help support this site. Thanks so much!

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Are you using the FREE Budget Spreadsheet by EasternShoreMom.com?

Budgeting is always something that is intimidating to people. Writing down their expenses versus how much they are bringing in is a scary thought, but in reality it helps you know where your money is going and how you can reach a savings goal. Whether you are saving for a rainy day, a vacation, a house, a car, etc. you won’t get there unless you have a budget plan.

Of course it’s not that scary when Eastern Shore Mom is here to help! I have made a FREE downloadable version of the budget spreadsheet I use for our family’s finances! This has saved us lots of money just by me sitting down and typing out where our money is going and when.

Here is how this works:

Start by downloading the FREE EasternShoreMom.com Budget (download for Excel 1997-2003 EasternShoreMom.com Budget)

Step One: Fill in the month and dates of each weeks. You will see that I break down our budget weekly. This helps us plan on how much we are spending on what each week. So start with this month (I have already written “January” in) then go down the calendar and write the starting day of each week and the ending date of each week where is says “Dates of the Week”

Step Two: Fill in your weekly expenses. I have already made a category for Child Care, Gas, Groceries, Misc. & Bills. Note that the category of “BILLS” needs to be filled out below the highlighted lines where is says “List your bills here”. This form is made to calculate everything for you. So when you plug in your bills below, it is going to total them and bring them up to the top under “GAS” and the total will be next to “BILLS”.

Be sure to fill in each week’s expenses, so if your mortgage is due the first of the month, put it under the first week. If the cell bill is due at the end of the month, put it under the last week’s bills.

Step Three: Fill in your income. Underneath your TOTAL from your expenses is a place for you to fill in how much your bring in each week. Once you fill in the amount you bring in each week, the sheet will automatically calculate how much SAVINGS there is by subtracting the TOTAL amount from your expenses by your INCOME field. This is all done for you automatically inside the sheet, so don’t try to fill in the SAVINGS field yourself!

Step Four: Track your budget. If you need to stick the allotted money in envelopes each week to make sure what you have budgeted is what you are spending, do so. Be sure at the end of the week to check off what you have paid that week and make sure you didn’t go over budget. If so, be sure to change that category so your SAVINGS line updates with the new amount.

Final Step: DEPOSIT! At the end of the week, take the total amount under SAVINGS and make your deposit! If your budgeting went according to plan, that amount should be waiting to move over to the Savings Account and a new week begins!

Example:

Tips for the spreadsheet:

Save a BLANK one- Be sure to go ahead and save one that is blank. Open it, go to File, Save As, then name it “EasternShoreMom Budget Plan MASTER COPY”. Once you do that, open it again, go to File, Save As, then name it “January 2011″. Do this so you always have one that is not typed in because…

Don’t Delete the Formulas- I have inserted formulas in each HIGHLIGHTED cell (or little box). Be sure NOT TO DELETE (or backspace) inside these highlighted boxes, as it will delete the formulas I have inserted and the sheet won’t calculate correctly. If you do delete a formula, refer to the one you have saved blank (tip above) and select the cell (or little box) that you deleted and copy and paste over the correct formula.

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. When you use them, you help support this site. Thanks so much!

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Let’s Earn Some FREE Gift Cards With ShopKick!

I just signed up for ShopKick not too long ago, have you heard of it yet? I am SOOOOO excited!

Shopkick is a free downloadable application for iPhone or Android phones that automatically recognizes when you go into participating stores, restaurants and more. You earn points called “kickbucks” for anything from entering the store to scanning select bar codes while there that you redeem for different rewards including Target, Best Buy, Macy’s, American Eagle and Old Navy Gift Cards. We will also get scan-able coupons which we can use and redeem at checkout.

You can get 50 Kickbucks when you sign up with my link. In turn once you have the app you can get your own unique link under the “Me” Tab to share with friends and you will both get 50 Kickbucks.

You can add stores to your Faves list on the app, and once you do you it is quick and easy to view and redeem your coupons. Be sure and wait til you are at the register to use the coupons- they expire 12 hours after tapping the word “use”. Once you are the register- tap the word Use, and up will come a coupon & bar code for the cashier to scan.

Get started with ShopKick here – I just started too – so we will keep each other up to date on our finds!

 

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. When you use them, you help support this site. Thanks so much!

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Bogged down at the Register with Coupons? ESM’S Method to a Quick Checkout!

Feel like you have been listening to the “BEEP” of the register scanning your coupons forever? If you are a Publix shopper as we are, boy do we have a method for you! No “thank you” notes necessary after this tip that we learned after talking to a few cashiers. Here is the order in which to hand your coupons to hurry your lane along and get out of the checkout in record-breaking time:

1. Dollars-Off Coupons ($5/$25 coupons or other $$ off coupons you may have that your store accepts)
2. Competitor Coupons (Target, Winn Dixie, or whatever competitor coupons your store accepts)
3. Publix Store Coupons
4. Clipped/Printed Manufacturer Coupons
5. Walgreens Register Rewards (If your store accepts these)

How do I know what competitor coupons my store accepts? Customer Service or the cashier should have a coupon policy printed out with the competitor coupons accepted listed on the back.

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. When you use them, you help support this site. Thanks so much!

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Absolutely FREE Credit Score & Report (no credit card required!)

This is an awesome thing! I see the Free Credit Report commercial all the time, but when you go to their website they want you to put a credit card on file and sign up for a temporary membership that you must cancel or you are charged $XX of dollars. Yuck! What if I just want to check my credit score?

Credit Sesame! I just did this myself and it took less than three minutes. I simply typed in my information, verified a few questions, and up appeared my credit report. Any bank or credit advisor will say it is so important to check your credit score every so often, to make sure there are no discrepancies.

This program gave me my credit score, how it is rated among other, PLUS a way to “simulate” my new credit score if I add a new card, pay one off, etc. That is always a good thing to check before making those important decisions.

Head on over to Credit Sesame now and get started!

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. When you use them, you help support this site. Thanks so much!

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Publix Ad Preview Beginning 1/30

The Publix ad sneak peek is up! As always, a HUGE thanks to Michelle at I Heart Publix for getting this list together for us each week!

CLICK HERE TO SEE THIS WEEK’S PUBLIX AD SNEAK PEEK

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. When you use them, you help support this site. Thanks so much!

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Things to NEVER Buy at Goodwill: Do you Agree?

Here is an interesting article on what one person would NEVER buy at Goodwill. Now, me being the thrifty queen I am, there isn’t much I wouldn’t buy at Goodwill aside from personal items like under-roos and such. This person wouldn’t buy silverware or a blender at Goodwill! Now, I don’t understand that.

Check it out for yourself. Do you agree?

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. When you use them, you help support this site. Thanks so much!

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*HOT* Get Alerted For Packages from your Phone & Email!!

What an awesome service from UPS ! I don’t know about you but I cannot stand getting notices that “a package has come that needs a signature” or having to wait all day for a package to come that I know needs to be signed for. It wastes my whole day! Now, UPS is offering My Choice which is a FREE program you sign up for to connect your phone with your address to make deliveries simple. 

This helped me so much recently! As we were in the hospital having our new little one, his baby monitor had been delivered to the house. Had UPS My Choice not alerted me, it would have sat on the doorstep for days, possibly getting rained on or being stolen. But, I had been alerted the day before that it was to be delivered and was able to send someone to put it inside.

You will get notifications when:

• A package is about to be delivered (the next day)
• A package needs to be signed for
• Also, you will be able to sign for the package via your phone! How neat??

(this post includes sponsored content)

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. When you use them, you help support this site. Thanks so much!

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Print Coupons, Without a Printer!

Ever seen a coupon online that you want to get but you are not hooked up to your printer right now? This happens to me all the time because I am on my laptop, and I am lazy at that second and don’t want to walk all the way into the office to the printer and connect. This is when I figured out I can still get the coupon even if I am not connected to the printer.

(Warning: Your Milage May Vary. The steps below are ones that work for me but I would test your computer on a coupon you don’t really need first just in case.)

1. Print the coupon as you would normally, not hooked up to the printer
2. After it says you’ve printed it, try waiting 5 to 10 minutes and hook up the printer. Your coupon should then print!

What happens is if the computer can’t print the page, it keep the item in que to print the next time you connect to the printer. This works as long as you don’t shut down your computer before you print. If you shut the machine down, the items in que disappear.

Try it now! Head over to Coupons.com and see if this works for you.

Another time this helps:

When you are out of ink and haven’t made it to the store but there is a HOT coupon you want to print before it is gone!

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. When you use them, you help support this site. Thanks so much!

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