This Is the Cheapest Date We’ve Ever Seen

Worried about breaking the bank this Valentine’s Day?

We think we’ve found a way for you to save money on date night — and get a little closer with your other half in the process.

Two friends shared the trick on YouTube last week in their video “Bo & Matthew Sneak Into a Movie Theatre.”

Their secret? Go in together dressed as one person.

And it worked.

After a few trial runs, the two men found a configuration that would work — Matthew wrapped his legs around his friend and clung tight.

They pulled a huge pair of pants and a couple of T-shirts over his backside, which resembled a large, hanging stomach (if you don’t look too closely).

YouTube via Huffington Post

The pair went to the box office in their marsupial-like disguise and purchased a single ticket for The Avengers.

We’re not clear whether the clerk suspected the ruse.

But you can probably agree you’d want to be 110% certain before accusing a man of actually being two men dressed in one outfit.

I know I’d err on the side of costing the theater its $12.

How to Really Save Money on Valentine’s Day

But seriously. There are certainly better ways to get into somebody’s pants on Valentine’s Day.

If you’re not down to snuggle quite this much with your beloved to save on a Valentine’s matinee, may we recommend some less-deceptive (and totally legal) ways to enjoy some frugal romance?

Grab this Restaurants.com deal for $100 dinner and a movie for just $30.

Follow these tips to save money without looking cheap.

Pick up one of these last-minute gifts for under $5. Don’t worry; they don’t suck.

Skip the movies, and plan one of these budget-friendly dates instead.

Try these tips for saving on Valentine’s Day for kids (though, we have to admit, the two-person-one-body trick would be way easier with a child…)

Your Turn: What extreme measures have you taken to save money on a date? Share your stories in the comments (bonus points if you have it recorded)!

Dana Sitar (@danasitar) is a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder. She also writes about writing, life, comedy and love for blogs and books and sometimes things people care about, like Huffington Post and that one time she had an article published in the Onion.

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U.S. Loses Top 10 Spot in Economic Freedom

The United States has fallen out of the top 10 countries of the world in terms of economic freedom according to the latest Index of Economic Freedom.

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10 Ways to Have a Financially Happy Marriage

Are you tired of thoughts about money that make you ill?

Perhaps you’ve said at one time or another:

“Will I have enough money for retirement? How can I pay off my credit card debt? How do I manage all of these medical bills? I wish I had more money to have fun, but that dreaded house payment is eating me alive!”

OK, maybe you haven’t thought about all of these, but remember I’m the financial planner, and these questions and thoughts plague many.

So perhaps that begs this question: Is there such a thing as a financially happy couple?

There are many financial battles to overcome, but you can believe financially happy couples do exist. And let me assure you, feeling happy doesn’t have anything to do with driving a Maserati.

Simple but smart, these 10 ways will make anyone breathe a sigh of relief. They lighten the load, and if you can just make a little progress with each one, your smile is certain to start growing a little wider.

1. Make Giving a Priority

Giving, to your church, a charity, or in other ways is the best way to keep money from ruling over your life! It helps us to learn to be more selfless and not put money as the top priority in our lives.

I know a couple that secretly pays dinner bills for restaurant goers from time to time. What a nice gesture! It would be easy to keep the money for themselves but they choose this selfless act of kindness.

For us it started with tithing. Trust me this wasn’t easy for us. I’ve had a church background all of my life, so tithing comes easy to me.

With my wife, Mandy, it’s taken some time and trust in Jesus to allow the both us to tithe together. It made for some interesting conversations, but the power was in the conversation and being able to work it out together.

We also sponsored a child through Compassion. It’s a small amount each month, but we know it will make a huge impact on the kid that we’re helping. Giving should be contagious.

2. Manage Spending Well

I won’t bore you with a budget speech, but I will tell you it’s smart to have a plan for your spending; otherwise, your money will own you. It will tell you where it wants to go every month (with so many temptations to spend) and you’ll likely do as it says.

If you’re read my blog, you’ll know that I hate budgeting, even though I recognize that budgeting is super-important for a couple to succeed financially.

That’s why I thank God everyday that he put Mandy, in my life, and she loves to budget. Opposites attract, right?

I might be the financial planner in our relationship, but Mandy is our household CFO and is charge of all our finances. Mandy keeps it simple and uses an Excel spreadsheet and paper and pen. You can also set up a spending plan and track it using personal finance or budget software like Mint.com or YNAB. The key is to find what works best for you and your spouse.

3. Seek Alternative Sources of Income

My friends, it’s not all about cost containment and smart spending. You can only squeeze your pennies so tight. Seeking alternative sources of income is a game changer. Everyone has some skill that could be marketable. And if you don’t have any marketable skills, you can certainly learn some.

Six years ago, I never thought that starting a blog would produce extra money for our family. That became even sweeter when a few years later Mandy’s blog was able to replace her income from her old corporate job. Making extra money allowed us a little breathing room so we weren’t always stressed out on how to pay the bills.

We definitely treated ourselves to several new and nicer things. But after we got through that phase, we’ve started to focus more on giving back. Either through more giving or investing into ways to share our message more like this blog. The other exciting and unexpected thing that we discovered is that by working on our businesses together we’ve grown that much closer.

For ideas on how to make extra money, you might like this post: 100 ways to make $100 fast.

4. Have Long-Term Goals — and Share Them

Financially happy people have long-term goals. They have a plan for their finances, how much money they’ll need once they retire and even consider funding college or leaving an inheritance for their kids.

Those concepts feel overwhelming when you’re just trying to pay for the last doctor’s visit? Start small and get some help.

Find a financial adviser you can trust that will help you create your plan and show you what just a little bit of savings each month into your 401(k) or IRA can do for you several years down the road.

For example, we didn’t have a lot to save for our kids to go to college someday, but we decided to start small. What used to have two zeroes behind it now has three. It’s amazing what small, steady plodding can do!

Make sure your goals aren’t always centered around money, too! Some of our long-term goals include traveling to foreign countries and being strong Christian parents that our sons will respect. Working toward these goals together infuses a sense of happiness that can’t be avoided.

5. Have Short-term Goals — and Share Them, Too

Yes, short-term plans are important, too. I don’t mean monthly, but think about what the next three years are going to look like. Set some attainable goals — such as funding your savings account with X amount of dollars, paying off your car loan and starting contributions to your long-term plan. These are all admirable short-term goals that can be achieved in three years or less.

Even shorter goals may be establishing a spending plan, carving out time to talk to your wife about money at least once a week (not on a date night or at the dinner table with the kids) so that you make sure you’re both on the same page and overcome obstacles together.

I’m a big believer in setting long- and short-term goals. Every quarter I write down my quarterly goals as well as review my one-year, three-year and lifetime goals. This is for my business and even more importantly my life and family goals.

I wasn’t always a believer in writing down goals, but after doing it for over three years now I see the importance. One example is the two-week RV trip that we took last sumer. Never in a million years would we have been able to take that trip unless I made it a short-term goal. I can remember in January I put the trip on my calendar for May 29 so that I couldn’t back out.

6. Avoid Debt

I won’t tell you anything you likely don’t already know here, but credit card debt is going to be the No. 1 killer of your financial happiness. Yep, once you dig yourself into a hole, it’s difficult to get out of. High interest payments can add up to cost you more than the initial spending on your credit card — and you’ll soon be telling yourself it wasn’t worth it.

I’m all in favor of using a credit card to fund expenses each month, but those have to be planned expenses. You don’t deserve a shopping spree or night out on the town if you can’t afford to pay for it with money in your checking account.

Sorry, but it’s the truth. OK, so perhaps you’ve made that mistake. Now what? Check out online software like Ready for Zero to create a free debt plan. You’ll also love this blog post by Dale Partridge that outlines how to become debt-free by age 30.

When Mandy and I first got together, I had credit card and student loan debt, while my wife had none. Even worse I didn’t recognize that I was on a path of self-destruction because of my buying habits. It wasn’t until I tried to convince my wife (she was my girlfriend at the time) that I needed a new flat screen TV.

Did you catch that? I “needed” it. What I needed was a stern kick to the groin.

She wasn’t that harsh, but she did voice her concern about getting the TV and putting it on my credit card. At first I resisted, but after a few days I realized she was totally right. That was a huge steppingstone for us in getting on the same page of not letting debt ruin us.

7. Learn to Be Content

If you’re not aware, the Bible offers a lot of sound advice that applies to today’s finances. Learning to be content is probably the most important. I said “learning” because contentment doesn’t come naturally and you have to be open to it. We all know the phrase, “keeping up with the Joneses,” right?

If you decide to run that race (and stretch for the car, house and all that fun stuff you may not been able to really afford, you think you need or deserve to have), you won’t finish.

You’ll keep running and running because there is always another Jones family to chase after, and at the end of the day, stuff can never make you financially happy. You can certainly have financial peace, but that doesn’t have anything to do with a closet full of clothes (or that Maserati).

I can hear many critics saying, “Jeff, we’ve seen your house on Pinterest. Is that really being content?” I have to somewhat agree, but God has blessed us over and over again, and we never put ourselves in a situation that could have ruined us financially.

We’ve learned to work hard, save money, and then reward ourselves. Besides, have you seen our three young boys? As much as they run and jump around like psycho ninjas, we need our big house.

8. Save for Emergencies

Another idea for peace of mind is a short-term savings account that funds the unexpected. Financial gurus will tell you that you need six months or more income set aside, but honestly, I’m a little tired of hearing this because most people have an extremely difficult time saving this much money and that takes a while to do.

I think it costs a lot of money to live these days, particularly with kids. So my advice goes back to seeking alternative sources of income. Start a savings account funding project, if you will. Earn a little extra money for the sole purpose of funding this account. Might you be able to save $500 in that account in six months? Could you have $1,000 in 12? I bet you could if you’re willing to work a little bit extra to seek an alternative source of income.

One slightly unfair advantage we had on this was me deploying to Iraq right after we were married. Before I was deployed, we were lucky to have $500 in our savings account. Before I was deployed, we made a commitment to take all the extra money I would make and pay off all the debt we had, max out our Roth IR’s and get our savings account to an amount we were both comfortable amount.

By the of the deployment we had $5,000. I can remember coming home from Iraq and so proud of achieving that. I was proud because it was the most money I had ever saved in my life — and we achieved it together.

9. Don’t Let Your House Own You

The biggest expense most people will ever have is their house, whether that be as a renter or homeowner. In general, you’ll hear or read that the house payment shouldn’t exceed 25 percent to 30 percent of your take-home pay. Yet, many people will extend this to 50 percent and are left with nothing to live on or save at the end of the month. It’s so incredibly difficult to do all of the above if your house is eating your money away.

If you can’t afford to buy with a 20 percent down payment, don’t. Happily rent until you can. There are a lot of advantages in renting, and homeownership is certainly not the default answer to a roof over your head, as it was in the past. If the house is getting the best of you, I strongly recommend you consider downsizing or making a change. Yes, it can be a difficult experience on many levels, but it will be worth it in the long run.

10. Seek Mentors

Personal finance is a journey. Problems aren’t solved overnight. Forget about the get-rich-quick mentality — it sends more people to the poor house than it makes them rich. There are plenty of obstacles to overcome and a lot of perseverance needed to stick to our plans and make progress. That’s why it’s critical to find a mentor, counselor or coach you can trust to help guide you along the way.

Preferably, find someone who has traveled similar paths. Coaches can be found via your church or through organizations such as Crown or Dave Ramsey. Coaches can be leveraged to help with specific obstacles or goals, or they can be used on a quarterly basis for an overall review.

One of our mentors is our CPA. He’s amazing at doing our taxes and also at advising us on our growing pains of running several businesses. In our last meeting, which ran almost four hours, we talked about life and how to balance everything we are doing. Since our CPA is a family man (he has four kids) and runs several businesses, his mentorship is invaluable.

Time to Get Financially Happy

There you have it: 10 tips for a financially happy marriage, and none involved buying an extravagant house or the Maserati I mentioned in the introduction. They are simple and stand the test of time. Anyone can follow them.

Print this article and find a coach. When your coach asks you about your goals, let the person know you’d like help implementing every one of these tips and to hold you accountable to avoid some of the mistakes that were mentioned.

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Business Briefcase: Local Century 21 agent gets national award

Caponigro gets honor from high customer satisfaction index Century 21 Real Estate LLC has recognized Kathleen Caponigro of Century 21 Unlimited Real Estate in Mountainhome with the Century 21 Quality Service Producer award. This national award is presented annually to those Century 21 affiliates who receive a minimum return rate of 30 percent on their [...]

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Bruegger’s Will Give You 3 Free Bagels on Thursday! Here’s How to Get Them

When I was growing up, my mother packed all my school lunches.

Despite the fact my lunchboxes sometime supplied bullies with making-fun fuel, I remember those lunches now fondly. They served as a tangible reminder of how much my mother loved me.

And I know she really loved me, because all of my sandwiches were made on bagels — instead of regular bread.

Trust me, if you really want someone to know you care, roast beef and cheddar on an everything bagel will do it.

Bruegger’s Bagels Anniversary Giveaway

Even if you don’t have a bagel sandwich to give you the warm and fuzzies, you’re in for a treat: You can get three free bagels at Bruegger’s this Thursday, Feb. 4, from open to 11 a.m EST.

Why, you ask?

Well, it’s Bruegger’s 33rd anniversary, and they want to share the love with you.

Ready to Claim Your Free Bagels?

All you have to do is head over to the Bruegger’s website. A pop-up will display, asking for your name and email address.

(Psst — if you accidentally click out without claiming the offer, try reloading the page in Incognito or Private mode, or clearing your cookies.)

Type in your information, click the big red button and bam: a coupon for free carbs will show up in your email inbox. You can either print it off or load the deal on your smartphone once you’re in-store.

Then, enjoy your delicious bagels, free of charge!

Happy anniversary, Bruegger’s.

Your Turn: Will you head to Bruegger’s Bagels this Thursday for your free bagel treat?

Jamie Cattanach (@jamiecattanach) is a junior writer at The Penny Hoarder. She also writes other stuff, like wine reviews and poems.

The post Bruegger’s Will Give You 3 Free Bagels on Thursday! Here’s How to Get Them appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.

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10 Ways to Trick Yourself Into Saving Money

As adults, we shouldn’t have to trick ourselves into doing the right thing. Yet, most of us still do it all the time.

Raise your hand if you have ever hidden food from yourself, set your alarm clock a few minutes fast or even moved it across the room (so you have to actually get up to turn it off), or rewarded yourself for doing mundane chores.

You may not eat that bag of Twizzlers if it’s not sitting in front of your face, after all. Hitting the snooze button is a lot less appealing when you have to walk across the room every eight minutes to do it. And while you don’t want to do the dishes — like ever — if you promise yourself ice cream afterwards, you’re up and scrubbing before you know it.

Sound crazy? Rest assured, none of these strategies makes you crazy, nor do they make you lazy. Most of us trick ourselves into doing (or not doing) all sorts of things, with various levels of success.

10 Ways to Trick Yourself Into Saving Money

Let’s face it; adulting is hard. Sometimes the last thing in the world we want to do is the right thing – whether that’s mowing the grass, exercising before work, or whipping up a nutritious home-cooked dinner instead of calling up Jimmy John’s.

Sadly, the same principle applies to money as well. The perils of adulthood have a way of making saving money hard and spending money easy. Did I mention that Jimmy John’s delivers?

Here’s the good news: In the same way you blend vegetables into a smoothie and pretend it’s dessert, you can trick yourself into saving money, too. Here are 10 ways to save yourself from bad decision-making by forcing your own hand.

1. Institute a Waiting Period Before You Make a Purchase

Buying stuff you don’t need on an impulse can be absolutely tragic for your budget. But, what if you made up a random waiting period and convinced yourself to follow the rules?

Chris Huntley from Huntley Wealth & Insurance Services performs some variation of this strategy with his wife, but only with purchases of $50 or more. If any purchase exceeds $50, they have to check in with each other first. Strangely enough, this one extra step is often enough to deter Chris from going through the trouble.

“This could be as simple as a quick text message, but I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been deterred from buying something because I knew I had to run it by Brenda first,” he says.

The fact that Chris and his wife keep each other accountable might be why this situation works out so well. Regardless, this just goes to show that making up rules can work – but only when you’re disciplined enough to follow them.

• Related: Master the 30-Day Rule

2. Boost Your Tax Refund Through Payroll Deductions

If you struggle to save something meaningful each year, you can always force yourself into saving via payroll deduction. Morgan Quinn, a content designer for Tada, a new tax service from Intuit, does exactly this; she claims fewer exemptions on her W-4 so that extra cash is withheld from each paycheck.

“I end up with a nice little tax refund at the end of the year, which is usually around $1,400.00,” she says. Morgan uses this money to plan a trip or pad her savings account. “Some people say this technique is like giving the government a free loan, but it’s an easy way for me to save and it feels like free money.”

To that, most of us say, “Meh.” Who cares about giving the government an interest-free loan for a few months if you would blow those extra dollars on junk anyway? If you have trouble saving money, this simple trick could help you save with no effort on your part.

• Related: Six Ways to Hack the 52-Week Money Challenge

3. Transfer Coupons and Discounts into a Savings Account

If you’re constantly scouring the Internet for deals or whipping out your coupon binder, you could be saving boatloads of money on everything from groceries to office supplies. But, what if you actually transferred those savings into an actual savings account?

Eric Nisall from DollarVersity once tricked himself into saving money by doing exactly that. Each time he used a coupon or earned significant savings somehow, he would move that money into a special account. Over time, this helped him build a stash of cash that practically came out of nowhere, he says.

“So, if I went to the grocery store, or any shopping really, I took the ‘total savings’ from the bottom of the receipt and transferred it,” says Eric. “I transferred all of my overtime payments as well. Since I only budgeted for gross spending and regular paychecks, I didn’t notice any difference in my everyday account.”

The key here is remembering to transfer the money, then keeping your hands out of the cookie jar. But if you can make it work, the savings you glean from coupons and deals could really add up over time.

4. Remove Credit Card Numbers from Your Favorite Online Shopping Sites

Addicted to online shopping? Maybe it’s the convenience factor – or maybe it’s because you’ve made it so darn easy for yourself. By setting up an account and saving your card information, you’ve opened up the door to a world of financial hurt.

Michelle Diamond of FitNPoor.com found a workaround that helps her avoid impulse buys, although she had to find a third party to do the dirty work.

“I have my husband delete my saved credit cards on Amazon,” she says. “It gives me time to think if it’s worth getting up, finding the debit card, and typing the info in again.”

Nine times out of 10, says Michelle, the extra effort dissuades her from making an impulse buy — she’s too lazy or forgets about the purchase completely. Other times, she saves money by delaying purchases until she really needs something.

“I put off buying swim diapers for four weeks with this method,” she says.

5. Trick Yourself with a Zero-Sum Budget

Our favorite type of budget is the zero-sum budget. While it isn’t rocket science, this type of budget does something amazing: It forces you to hide money from yourself every month.

Here’s how it works: At the beginning of each month, you make a list of that month’s fixed and estimated expenses, tally them up, then transfer the amount of money you need into checking. All extra dollars you earn that month and the month before sit safely in your savings account – or “out of sight, out of mind.”

Joe Saul-Sehy of the Stacking Benjamins podcast uses this strategy to funnel more money into his savings account every month. He sets his pay up so that all new monies are transferred into his savings account via direct deposit. At the beginning of each month, he transfers what he actually needs into his checking account – per the zero-sum budget rules. This works like a charm, says Joe.

“My brain then thinks money’s already saved and I’m less likely to spend it,” he says. “It works far better than you’d expect.”

• Related: How and Why to Use a Zero-Sum Budget

If hiding your money from yourself — keeping it “out of sight and out of mind” — is the only way you’ll save it, then so be it. Photo: House Hammer

6. Convince Yourself That You’re Broke

When your checking account is flush with extra cash all the time, you might be tempted to splurge on something out of the ordinary. We’ve all heard how extra money “burns a hole in your pocket,” and it’s absolutely true. If you always have extra funds at your disposal, you’re a lot more likely to buy stuff you don’t need.

Now imagine your checking account is hovering just over zero. Your bills are paid for sure, but the money left over for “wants” has been depleted.

If you actually have that money stashed in an account that is harder to get to, you might feel artificially poor at this point. Elizabeth Colegrove from Reluctant Landlord keeps her checking account near zero for this exact reason – it makes her feel squeezed financially, which results in almost no “extra” spending.

7. Maximize Work-Sponsored Retirement Accounts, and Live On the Rest

By now, most of us know we should be saving more for retirement. Sadly, far too many people aren’t stashing away nearly enough.

One way to remedy this situation is a corollary of the previous trick: Contribute the max – or as close to the max as you can – to your work-sponsored retirement account. That way, your employer will automatically deduct the money every payday, and you won’t have to lift a finger. It’s a lot easier not to spend that money when it’s socked away before you see it.

Colegrove says her family employs this strategy with her husband’s paychecks each month. “I automatically max out my husband’s retirement account before we see his income,” she says. “It’s harder to raid the account when it gets paid first.”

• Related: Not Investing Yet? Here’s How to Get Started

8. Transfer Raises Straight Into Savings

Hui-chin Chen of Money Matters for Globetrotters tricks herself into saving more each year by automatically saving every raise she scores at work.

“I keep spending constant, assuming I’ll never make more money, and save every cent of additional income,” she says. According to Chen, this strategy has helped her double her savings rate over time.

One way to take human error and forgetfulness out of the equation is to make this move automatic. Each time you get a raise, say at the end of the year, you could bump up the contribution to your work-sponsored retirement account by the same increment.

Let’s say you earn a 3% raise this year. To save that amount automatically, just have your employer take an extra 3% for retirement out of every paycheck from that point on. That way, you won’t get used to the extra income and start inflating your lifestyle, making it easier to continue living on your current salary and saving the rest. (What’s more, you might still notice a small bump in your take-home pay, since that 3% is withdrawn before taxes.)

9. Ask Yourself One Important Question Before You Make a Purchase

Have you ever gone into Target for bread and left with a cart full of random purchases? This kind of scenario plays out all the time, and with drastic consequences to our finances.

But, what if you asked yourself one simple question before you bought anything? What if you found one sequence of words that convinced you to leave Target without that cart full of stuff?

Lena Presley Gott of What Mommy Does found that asking herself one simple question is enough to talk herself out of most impulse buys. Before buying anything, she asks herself: “Did I need it yesterday?”

If the answer is no, then she doesn’t buy it. If she didn’t need it yesterday, then she probably doesn’t need it today either, right? And she probably won’t need whatever it is tomorrow, which makes it easier to stick it back up on the shelf where it belongs.

• Related: Master the 10-Second Rule to Curb Impulse Buys

10. Trick Yourself with Money-Saving Apps

Money-saving apps are all the rage these days, and for good reason. Many of them help the average consumer save more money over time without a lot of effort in their part.

Michelle Jackson of the Shop My Closet Project says she does two things, and two things alone, to save as much as she can every month.

“I use cash and save my change, and I am using Digit to save in a pain-free way,” she says.

Digit connects to your checking account and uses advanced algorithms to help you save nominal amounts of money — $2 here, $5 there, when it knows you can best afford it — on a regular basis. And for the most part, it’s painless, which is probably why the app has become so popular.

• Related: Three Apps for America’s Money Management Woes

Final Thoughts

In a perfect world, we would all do the right thing all the time. We would exercise five days a week, eat 11 servings of fruits and vegetables every day, and change the oil in our cars every three months. And of course we would all max out our retirement accounts, set up targeted savings accounts for everything from roof repairs to family vacations, and live a debt-free lifestyle from day one.

But we don’t live in a perfect world, and real life can suck sometimes. That’s why some of us sleep in our workout clothes: It may seem like a desperate strategy to force yourself to the gym at 5:00 a.m., but you can’t argue with the only thing that works.

If you need to leave your wallet at home when you leave the house, then so be it. At the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter how you convince yourself to save; it only matters that you do.

Being an adult is hard these days, so you have to go with what works. And sometimes, that means protecting yourself from your own worst enemy – yourself.

Related Articles

• How My Cheese Addiction Taught Me to Automate My Savings
• 11 Strategies to Minimize Shopping or Avoid It Altogether
• A Look at the Average American Budget – and How the Average American Can Start Saving More

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If We Knew How Much Money You Could Save Collecting Rainwater, We’d Have Started Years Ago

Before you step in the shower, do your laundry or wash your car, think about how you can save money by saving water.

Sure, some people put bricks in toilet tanks and use other unorthodox techniques to save water and money. But there’s another way to reduce the amount of water you pay for: Catch the free stuff using rain barrels.

One woman’s rain barrels have helped her saved more than $2,000 in five years.

And in some areas, you can actually get paid to install rain barrels, in addition to the savings you’ll see on your water bill.

Curious about how to use all this season’s rain and snow to your advantage? Here’s a look at how rain barrels work, and the potential savings.

How Rain Barrels Help You Save Money

Setting up rain barrels allows you to collect and store water from your gutters and roof. While you won’t want to drink it, you can use the collected water in your garden, or to wash your car or exterior home surfaces.

Karen van der Hoop and her husband live in Richmond, British Columbia. They’ve been using rain barrels since signing up for the City of Richmond Rain Barrel Program in 2011 and buying one barrel for $20. (Full disclosure: She’s the mother of The Penny Hoarder’s senior editor.)

“We use the water to fill watering cans and hand water tomato and bean plants, rhubarb and zucchini, as well as new plantings,” she said.

“We also connect a hose to [another barrel] to slowly water a dogwood tree.”

She also volunteered to join her city’s water meter installation program. Since her city’s standard water rate is based on a four-person household, van der Hoop and her husband “were sure we would pay less than the flat rate.”

The programs paid off.

“We saw a reduction in our water meter charges, and loved that we were using a natural resource wisely,” van der Hoop said.

How Much Can You Save Using Rain Barrels?

Rain barrels are a great way to conserve water and obtain free water for your plants, but how much money can you save with them?

A lot.

Over the past five years, van der Hoop has saved the equivalent of $2,037.83 using her rain barrels.

Every year, she saved hundreds of dollars over the flat rate for water. In 2011, she saved 485.31 Canadian dollars (about US$366.37), and that success inspired her to buy a second rain barrel and connect the two, later adding a third and fourth.

In 2012, she saved a whopping CA$677.39 (about US$511.37). In 2013 and 2014, she saved CA$599.35 (about US$452.22) and CA$532.38 (about US$401.69), respectively.

While she didn’t have final numbers for 2015 yet, by October 2015, van der Hoop had already saved CA$444.73 (about US$306.18).

Could Rain Barrels Work for You?

Richmond is a suburb of famously rainy Vancouver, which receives an annual average of 46 inches of precipitation.

But you might be surprised how much rain and snow your city receives every year.

New York City receives more than 44 inches of precipitation per year, while Chicago gets more than 33 inches and Washington, D.C. sees about 39 inches.

“Just 1/4 inch of rainfall on a typical roof will fill a rain barrel,” reports the Massachusetts Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs.

“A modest amount of rainfall can supply much or all of your outdoor watering needs — a full rain barrel will water a 200-square-foot garden.”

The cost of water varies by region and usage, but the average cost of water in the U.S. is $2 per 1,000 gallons, according to the EPA.

Save Even More With Rebates From Your City or State

Check with your local water district to see if you’re eligible for a rainwater harvesting rebate. Many municipalities even offer financial incentives for participating in these programs.

In San Diego, you can receive up to $400 in rebates for using rain barrels on your property and the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California offers $75 rebates.

City of Los Angeles residents can receive $100 rebates for using water barrels.

Those living in Albuquerque earn Rainwater Harvesting rebates based on the amount of rain they can store. Residents receive $25 for 50 to 149 gallons and up to $150 for barrels that can hold 1,500 gallons or more.

Where to Get a Rain Barrel

Some cities offer rain barrels at reduced prices, so the first step is to check with yours.

You can also find them at Walmart and hardware stores starting around $70, or get out your tools and build your own rain barrel.

But before you get too excited about installing your rain barrels, be sure to check local rules and regulations — water catchment is illegal in some areas.

Your Turn: Have you used a rain barrel? How much money did it help you save?

Kristen Pope is a freelance writer and editor in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

The post If We Knew How Much Money You Could Save Collecting Rainwater, We’d Have Started Years Ago appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.

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Parliament takes hard line on women’s state pension age increases

Marina Gerner

Westminster.jpg

Requests to provide transitional state pension arrangements for women born in the 1950s are rejected.

On Monday afternoon (1 February), a debate on the state pension age changes and transitional arrangements for women born in the 1950s took place in an unusually packed Westminster Hall committee room.

Women who were born in the 1950s have faced repeated increases to their state pension age.

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Thousands of retirees enter 'drawdown captivity' as market falls hit pensions

Marina Gerner

pensionsbarchart.jpg

In the first six months following the introduction of pension freedoms in April 2015, over 43,000 drawdown plans have been sold, according to a report from retirement specialist Retirement Advantage.

In the first six months following the introduction of pension freedoms in April 2015, over 43,000 drawdown plans have been sold, according to a report from retirement specialist Retirement Advantage.

But the company estimates that the current market volatility could have wiped 8% off the value of a typical drawdown fund since April 2015.

Retirees enter 'drawdown captivity' as pensions suffer market falls

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In the first six months following the introduction of pension freedoms in April 2015, over 43,000 drawdown plans have been sold, according to a report from retirement specialist Retirement Advantage. But the company estimates that the current market volatility could have wiped 8% off the value of a typical drawdown fund since April 2015. Income drawdown plans aim to give people more flexibility with their pensions. Each time money is moved into drawdown, up to 25% can be taken as a tax-free lump sum. The remainder stays invested and taxable income can be drawn directly from the pension. However, drawdown income is not secure: it could run out, if you take out too much, if you live longer than expected or if your investments do not perform as you had hoped. Wait for markets to recover In the current economic climate, many people could be much better off waiting for markets and pension values to recover before taking an income from their fund, says Retirement Advantage. It points out that a retiree who took out an income drawdown plan at the start of April 2015, for example, would have done so when the FTSE 100 stood at 6961 (7 April 2015). The FTSE 100 closed on 28 January 2016 at 5931 points, down 15%. But most drawdown customers will be in a mixed portfolio of equities, bonds and cash, which could have fared slightly better with a drop of 8% before charges. The report highlights the danger of market falls for someone who has just retired and has to continue drawing an income from their shrinking portfolio. For example, a £100,000 drawdown plan invested in a mixed portfolio of assets (after withdrawing an income of £5,571 which matched the annuity rate available at the time), would now be worth £86,522, or 13.5% less than nine months ago. 'This won't be a great start to your retirement,' says Andrew Tully, pensions technical director at Retirement Advantage. 'Losing around a tenth of your pot in 10 months will leave many people feeling queasy about the future. 'It is easy to say don't panic, but you might well be spooked if you are relying on drawdown to generate an income, as you will probably need to sell units in a falling market.' This, he says, may push people who do not want to crystallise losses but are short of alternatives for paying the bills into a period of 'drawdown captivity'. The old days of using either an annuity or a drawdown plan are over, says Tully. 'If you want to sleep easy at night, then a blend of both products may be best. 'You can secure a guaranteed income to pay the bills, and this allows you to adopt a longer-term strategy for the growth element, giving flexibility to ride out stock market storms.'

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With Just One Question, This 10-Year-Old Completely Changed How Her Dad Thinks About Money

I love kids. Not only for their tiny adorable shoes — OK, a lot of it is their shoes — but also for their perspectives.

The way they see the world is so refreshing.

Little (or not-so-little) kids sometimes say super random things that make me question my whole existence, thinking, “You’re right — why do I do it that way?” or “What is the point of this?”

Recently, author and speaker Jon Acuff had a similar experience: His 10-year-old daughter asked him a simple question that changed how he viewed money.

This Kid’s Wiser Than She Knows…

It happened while Acuff was describing a work opportunity to his wife; though the job didn’t fit with his goals or mission, it paid well.

That’s when his 10-year-old daughter jumped in, asking: “Why would you ever do something just for the money? You already have some.”

And like that, Acuff says his view of money changed.

“Kids think you need some money,” he writes. “Adults think you need ‘enough money.’

“The problem is there’s no such thing as enough money. It’s a myth like Bigfoot, the Loch Ness monster or kale chips that taste as good as regular chips.”

He’s right: None of us will ever have “enough money.”

We’ve all read stories about miserable millionaires and lottery winners who blew it all. To us, it seems like these people had more than enough money — but ultimately, that wasn’t what mattered.

Because, as Acuff so eloquently puts it:

The problem is that money is a something that pretends to be an everything.

He’s not saying money isn’t important; money, after all, allows you to do thing like feed your family, start a business, pay for college, take your kids on vacation and cover the cost of health care.

What he is saying?

Don’t let money be your everything — and don’t let your impossible pursuit of “enough money” cloud the other parts of your life.

“I’m not against money, but I’m done with enough money,” writes Acuff. “There’s no such thing and like a 10-year-old told me, some money is a lot more fun anyway.”

Your Turn: Do you think this 10-year-old is onto something?

Susan Shain, senior writer for The Penny Hoarder, is always seeking adventure on a budget. Visit her blog at susanshain.com, or say hi on Twitter @susan_shain.

The post With Just One Question, This 10-Year-Old Completely Changed How Her Dad Thinks About Money appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.

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Eleven Ways I Entertain Myself for Free

As you read this article, my town is facing the brunt of an enormous winter storm. We’re anticipating between one and two feet of snow with winds in the 30 miles per hour range with gusts much higher than that, which means that we’re going to have very large snowdrifts (probably over ten feet in places), highly impassable roads, and whiteout conditions for at least a day or two.

Suffice it to say, I won’t be leaving the house today, and neither will my children nor my wife. We’re snowed in, which means that we’ll have something of a lazy day together.

Usually, days like this mean that we spend a part of the day taking care of unfinished household tasks and another part of the day is spent on hobbies and entertainment. The thing is, even at home, a lot of those forms of entertainment rely on extra expenses. Watching Netflix means a home internet service and a Netflix subscription. Watching cable television means a cable or satellite service. Looking online for sales ends up costing money, too.

What my family and I often look for are things to do that we enjoy that don’t cost anything. We just try to use the things we have on hand.

For us, that includes just our home internet connection (since I need to have that for my work), basic electricity, basic home appliances and kitchenware, and running water.

Here are eleven things I do for entertainment that use nothing more than those items. These things provide more personal value and enjoyment than I will ever be able to consume over the course of my whole lifetime.

Read Books from the Library (or My Existing Collection)

Few things are nicer on a lazy afternoon – particularly one where you’re stuck indoors – than to curl up with a good book and get lost in the pages.

I love reading books. I read some purely fun page-turner fiction, some highly challenging works of literature, and all manner of nonfiction from which I learn all kinds of different things. Sarah is also an avid reader and we encourage the same in our children.

Right now, for example, I’m in the midst of Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates and Epitaph by Mary Doria Russell. My wife is currently reading Fool’s Quest by Robin Hobb (at least, that’s what’s on her bedside table). My two oldest children are simultaneously reading The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall. All of these books were either gifted to us or came from the library.

Reading a book doesn’t mean you have to grab something challenging or confusing or boring. Go to the library and grab something purely fun. If you like crime shows, pick up a mystery novel, maybe something by Elmore Leonard. If you like horror, grab something by Joe Hill. If you like to learn, find any topic you want to learn about and seek out a book on that topic. You have the freedom to pick a book that’s about exactly what you want.

Then settle back in a comfy chair and get lost in the pages. If you got that book from the library or off of your shelves, then it’s not costing you a dime.

Make an Art Project out of Found Materials

This is something that I often do with my daughter, whether the weather is nice or cold. We simply look around for materials with which we could make something interesting or beautiful, gather them up, and make something out of them.

Sometimes we’ll make a collage out of old magazines and posters. Sometimes, we’ll explore outside and collect leaves and pinecones for a table centerpiece. Maybe we’ll dig through drawers for some markers or pens and make a drawing.

It’s just a free-form art project, made out of whatever we can find.

Now, while this is fun to do with your child, it’s actually interesting to do this on your own as well. I’ve used found materials to make greeting cards, wrapping paper, and wall decorations in the past.

For example, just a few years ago, I took a bunch of old photo prints that I had digitized along with some construction paper, some blank greeting cards, and some glue and made homemade stationery. I made a rectangle of construction paper just slightly smaller than the front of the card, positioned the print on top of that (because the print was just a bit smaller than the construction paper), and glued the three layers together to make a beautiful and unique greeting card. I ended up making piles of these and giving them away as gifts for people.

It’s all about finding an interesting use for the things you have on hand. Just look around for anything that’s visually interesting, both inside and outside, and use them to make something new and cool.

Watch Movies from the Library (or My Existing Collection)

You could take almost everything I wrote about books in the earlier section and apply them here.

They’re free from the library. Or, if you have a collection at home, it’s free to watch them, too.

All you need is some kind of a DVD player to watch them. Likely, there’s one on your computer, if nothing else.

They’re a perfect way to spend a couple of hours, wrapped up in a blanket on the couch or in a comfortable chair.

There are movies that will make you laugh. There are movies that will make you cry. There are movies that will make you think. The best ones manage to do all three.

And it’s free.

Attend a Community Board Game Night (or Play with My Family)

Within a thirty mile drive of my home, there is a community board game night every single night of the week. Some store, some church, or some restaurant is hosting a board game night.

Board game nights are incredibly fun – and they’re free to boot. All you have to do is show up and you’ll find dozens of people there, most of which have armloads of games of all different themes, lengths, complexities, and styles – everything from ten minute long team word games to four hour long careful economic games and pretty much anything you can imagine in between.

Board games occupy a special place in my heart, as they provide a great opportunity for face-to-face social interaction while doing something thoughtful together. Board games can be played by anyone and you’ll find people ranging from four year olds to seventy year olds at game nights with almost every age in between.

If you have some games in your closet, you don’t even have to leave the house for a game night. Just pull out a game you haven’t played in a while, put it on the table, and encourage your family members to play with you. Or pull out a few decks of cards and invite some friends over.

No matter what you decide, it’s still a fun social time that involves as little or as much thinking as you desire.

Visit Nearby State Parks and Walk All of the Trails

The state I live in, Iowa, contains 85 state parks, 6 state forests, 2 state fish hatcheries, 24 state wildlife areas, 20 state wildlife management areas, 2 state wildlife refuges, 1 national historic site, and 3 national wildlife refuges. Virtually all of them are completely free and completely open to the public. Most of those places have trails and interesting areas to explore, often far more than you can explore in a single day.

To me, that’s a checklist. Every single one of those place is an easy day trip from my house. I can pack up some picnic meals for the family, head out for the day, come back at bedtime, and everyone had an awesome day in the outdoors, exploring new places and seeing new things.

Sure, this is tough to do during an Iowa winter. I can’t really go visit those parks and recreational facilities when the weather is really bad (I can, I suppose, but the visit isn’t nearly as nice as it could be). So, what do I do instead?

I plan. I look at the maps for various parks online and plan out some weekend day trips for my family. I make a page or two in my notebook outlining a meal plan, everything we need to pack, and our destination, along with a list of a trail or two and a playground or two to check out. That way, when a lazy Saturday appears in the spring, we can head out and do some exploration without having to think about it at all. I just grab a planning sheet, grab the stuff we need, and we head out.

Make a Complex Meal or Other Food Item

One of my favorite foods to make is homemade pasta. It’s actually not all that complicated – it’s basically flour and eggs mixed into a pasta, rolled really flat, and sliced up. The thing is, it takes a little while to make it and in a busy life, it’s the type of thing that can easily be put off. You can use boxed pasta, right?

Except when I have a chunk of spare time, that is. That’s when I bust out the flour and the eggs and the rolling pin and do something cool.

Making something extra special for a meal is something I deeply enjoy. Going through the steps of making something from scratch, whether it’s a loaf of bread or some pasta or some salsa or coq au vin or tofu scramble, instead of relying on shortcuts is incredibly fulfilling for me personally. Plus, it usually ends up making for a fantastic meal.

Not only that, it’s usually cheaper in terms of the material cost than buying something prepackaged at the store. It’s not a ton cheaper, don’t get me wrong, but the raw ingredients usually save you a little bit. It’s not enough to make, say, from-scratch pasta effective use of your time as a money saver, but it’s good enough to realize that you’re actually saving a few quarters by doing things like this yourself.

For me, it’s not only deeply enjoyable to do this when I have the time to do so, but it’s also something that’s not going to cost much at all and is going to often save me a few dollars.

Learn About a Topic

In a given day, I hear about quite a few things that I don’t understand fully. Someone will reference a political issue that I don’t quite grasp, or I’ll hear a reference to an artist or a political philosophy that I don’t understand. My child will ask me how yarn is made and while I can give an approximate answer, the string of “whys” leads me down a path into the details of the textile industry that I don’t quite know.

Rather than just shrugging my shoulders and moving on with life, I’ll often make a quick note of that thing that I don’t quite understand. Then, later on, I’ll spend some time figuring it out.

I’ll usually start at Wikipedia. While Wikipedia isn’t a perfect trusted source, it’s usually more than good enough to give you the basics on a topic, from which you can branch out into more trusted sources. I might look up a philosopher on Wikipedia – let’s say Immanuel Kant – and then discover after reading through his entry that he wrote the Critique of Pure Reason, upon which I’ll download the full text of that book to my Kindle (or get it from the library).

I do this kind of thing quite often, usually several times a week. I’ll spend time taking a topic that I don’t understand, chasing it through a simple knowledge portal (usually Wikipedia) to give me the basics, then moving from there to more trusted sources once I have some idea of what I’m really looking for.

Given the combination of Wikipedia, Project Gutenberg, and local libraries, you can learn about almost anything that your heart desires. For free.

Go Geocaching

Here’s a secret: most of the time, when I go to state parks, I don’t go just to walk around on the trails. I’m usually geocaching, too.

Geocaching is basically a global treasure hunt. There’s a website, geocaching.com, that lists literally tens of thousands of specific locations throughout the United States where you can find “caches,” which are small hidden containers. These caches usually contain a tiny log book and some of the bigger ones contain cute little tchotchkes, like Mardi Gras necklaces, interesting rocks, and so on. The idea is that you find a geocache, log it in your geocaching notebook or on geocaching.com, sign the log book (often with a nickname), and, if you want, take one of the tchotchkes and leave one of your own.

There are several things that are really fun about doing this. First of all, even if you know the location of a cache, it can still be tricky to find it. The location is given to you as GPS coordinates (which means you’ll either need to have a GPS unit or look for the spot carefully on Google Maps before you go), but when you get to those coordinates, you still need to search around in a 20 foot radius or so to find the cache. It feels like a hunt. Second, it’s fun to “collect” caches you’ve found and keep track of them and increase your “found” count. Third, it’s fun to leave something interesting in the caches (or sometimes find something interesting), like a polished rock or something like that. Fourth, it gives you a “mission” sometimes when you’re out exploring on trails.

And, finally, the whole experience is free. It doesn’t cost a dime, although having a GPS unit or a smartphone does make it much easier.

Make Some Youtube Videos

The videos of Youtube run the gamut from informative and educational to highly entertaining and bizarre. You can find videos of almost every kind, from informational videos on almost any topic you can imagine, endless commentaries, short films, home videos – it goes on and on and on and on.

It’s also incredibly democratic. Anyone with an internet connection can upload their videos to Youtube.

So why not make some videos?

Yes, this does require some sort of device that can record video, but that includes most digital camera models and most smartphones. If you have that, you essentially have everything you need to make Youtube videos.

Think up something you’d like to record. Maybe you’d like to make an instructional video about the nuances of hunting deer. Maybe you’d like to record a commentary about the current political affairs of the nation. Maybe you’d like to review your favorite board game. Maybe you’d like to make a short film.

Whatever it is, try making it. Record some video, then record some more. Choose the take that’s best and edit it a bit in whatever video editing software is available to you. Then upload it to Youtube. Share it with your friends, perhaps.

The whole process is free. It’s also quite fun, especially when your videos get views and comments. It can also even earn you a buck or two if you enable ads.

Learn a New Skill

Ever wanted to know how to write a computer program? Maybe you’ve wanted to learn sketching techniques, or how to do manual lettering with a pen, or how to bake a loaf of sourdough bread.

Whatever skill you’ve always wanted to have – whether it’s a professional skill or personal one – you can likely learn it in your spare time, for free.

For starters, there are Youtube channels and videos devoted to instruction on almost any topic you can possibly imagine. Here’s one on how to get started with calligraphy, for instance, and here’s one on repairing a toilet. You can find videos and channels on almost any topic you can imagine.

Then, rather than just watching, try doing it. Take out your pens and try calligraphy. Get out your baking materials and make a loaf of bread. Change the oil in your car. Write a computer program.

Whatever it is, do it. Yes, you’re going to fumble around at first. You’re not going to do it well right off the bat. You’re going to make mistakes.

Keep trying. Watch more videos. Read more instructional documents. Try it again and again and again.

Eventually, you’ll get better and better. You’ll be able to do it without the videos, and you’ll be able to improve your own techniques.

And, suddenly, you’ll have a new skill in your repertoire, for free.

Write a Letter

Writing a handwritten letter or note seems kind of anachronistic in this day and age. Who writes a letter these days?

The thing is, receiving a letter is still quite fun and, more than that, it shows that you took the time to put pen to paper instead of just typing. It indicates a certain level of time and care, plus there’s the visual appeal of the handwriting on the page.

All you need to do this, of course, is a piece of paper (or a blank notecard) and a pen and a few thoughts in your head. Just write down your thoughts, sign it, and stick it in an envelope. If the person is far away, you’ll have to also add a stamp to it and drop it in the mail.

There’s no better way I’ve found to follow up when someone has done something nice for you. A handwritten thank you note is a very nice touch, something that’s memorable for the recipient as well as a great way to genuinely say thanks.

It’s also a great way to keep in touch with someone in a deeper way. With a letter, you have the opportunity to choose your words as carefully as you wish and express them in your own handwriting, making it clear that you mean what you’ve written.

Plus, the only cost is a piece of paper and a bit of ink from your pen.

Final Thoughts

As you can see from this list, there are plenty of things to do that don’t cost much of anything at all. These are all things I personally enjoy, and together they could eat more free time than I have in the rest of my life.

I didn’t even include the multitude of things that other people in my family enjoy that are free. One of my sons loves to collect rocks that he finds in various places. He uses them to decorate our front gardens. My daughter absolutely loves to knit – while it isn’t quite free, she only needs a few balls of yarn here and there and she can make a sweet stocking cap or scarf. My wife enjoys gardening and saving seeds, which means that most years she doesn’t even have to buy a single seed to keep the garden going.

The story is simple: you can fill your free time with endless activities that cost very little – yes, even without television. There’s such a wide variety of options that almost anyone can find something that appeals to them.

Good luck.

The post Eleven Ways I Entertain Myself for Free appeared first on The Simple Dollar.

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Scottish Power to cut gas prices by 5.4%

Helen Knapman

Scottishpowerlogo.jpeg

Scottish Power customers will see gas prices fall by 5.4% from 15 March, as the provider has become the third of the big six energy companies to announce price cuts.

Scottish Power customers will see gas prices fall by 5.4% from 15 March, as the provider has become the third of the big six energy companies to announce price cuts.

But you can save hundreds more by switching, as we explain below.

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100 Awesome Places to Find Free Coupons for Everything on Your Shopping List

It’s a little confusing when people don’t shop with coupons. It’s basically free money.

But some people are turned off of coupon shopping. Maybe it’s because they don’t want to be that guy at the store holding up the line as they slowly page through their coupon clippings, or because they don’t know where to start.

We can’t help you with that first problem, but if you’re looking for free coupon resources, we’ve got you covered.

And besides, those people behind you can just find a different lane!

Coupons for Specific Brands and Vendors

If you buy a lot of goods from specific manufacturers or stores, you could be saving tons of cash by perusing their coupons. Here are some of our favorites.

Brands

1. Pillsbury: Sign up for Pillsbury.com emails to receive up to $250 in yearly coupons, access to free product samples (quanities limited, one per member) and the easiest recipes sent right to your inbox.

These coupons aren’t just for cookies and biscuits, either. You can get deals on Progresso soups, Nature Valley granola and Big G cereals — including Cheerios.

2. Betty Crocker’s FREE email delivers the best of Betty’s 15,000 kitchen-tested recipes, how-tos and more – straight to your inbox! PLUS, get up to $250 per year in coupons savings and access to FREE samples (quantities limited, one per member)

And they have a lot more than just cake coupons. Not that there’s anything wrong with cake.

3. Tablespoon: This site features both printable and digital coupons. Sign up for Tablespoon’s free email and score up to $250 per year in coupon savings.

Plus, stay on top of your food game with free recipes for doable dinners, delish desserts, party snacks and more!

4. P&G Everyday: Proctor & Gamble manufacture a shocking number of things you have in your home, and their coupon site offers printable deals, clip-to-card coupons, deep online discounts and freebies.

5. Pampers: When do you not need more diapers? To say nothing of toothpaste, tissues and medicine.

6. Kelloggs: Cereal, Pop-Tarts and protein shakes galore! Breakfast just got a lot cheaper.

7. Seventh Generation Coupons: If buying green is important to you, you might consider keeping an eye on Seventh Generation’s coupons page.

They offer everything from household cleaning products to feminine and baby products.

General Grocery Coupons

Your grocery bill is one of the best places to make cuts to your budget — and with so many free coupons available, it doesn’t even have to be difficult!

8. Coupons.com: You’ve probably heard of this one, because it’s one of the biggest coupon sites out there. That means lots of options for you!

9. Grocery Coupon Network is a great resource for free printable coupons.

10. Hopster doesn’t just have free coupons. You can also earn points, redeemable for even more savings!

11. CoolSavings has coupons, coupon codes and freebies — and not just for groceries! I’ve seen toys listed, too.

12. Lozo is really neat — it offers you coupons based on your grocery list. This avoids a common couponing problem: wasting money on something that’s a good deal, but which you won’t use.

If you waste something, any money you spent on it was wasted, too — even if it was only 10% of the original price!

13. Ready Set Eat is a recipe website that also features coupons. If you see one you like, you can search for a recipe using that ingredient!

14. Redplum features printed and downloadable coupons, as well as savings tips and local deals.

15. SavingStar has both paperless savings offers and cash-back deals.

16. Smartsource features both printable and direct-to-card offers that load directly onto your existing rewards cards. Plus, they have sweepstakes for big prizes, like a trip to the Super Bowl!

17. GroceryCouponCart is a good source for printable coupons.

18. Daily Grocery Coupon adds new coupons every day, so you’ll always find fresh savings.

19. Every Day Saver has both printable and digital coupons and updates their offers each month.

20. Common Kindness is one of my favorite coupon sites, because every time you save money with one of their coupons, they donate funds to charity!

21. Grocery Smarts organizes coupons by state, so you know the deals you find will be good where you live.

22. Saving Star offers both grocery and online savings, and offers a rare opportunity to save on fresh produce. Get 20% off of select produce with their Healthy Offer of the Week!

23. Coupons for Print offers printable coupons for groceries and restaurants, too!

Grocery Stores

Which area you live in dictates the store at which you do your grocery shopping.

But most stores have a free rewards program of some sort, and many offer coupons you can clip directly to your card from their online portal — or just free online coupons to print.

Here are some that we found. But if you shop at a store we haven’t listed, be sure to check out their site and policy! Even if you have to create a membership, it’s usually quick, easy, free — and worth it.

24. Fareway’s got free printable coupons — no rewards card needed.

25. Publix lets you click to clip coupons, which you can apply in-store automatically at checkout.

26. Kroger also requires a free membership — but it’s well worth it and easy to sign up.

27. Piggly-Wiggly’s coupons are free and printable.

28. Whole Foods: Yep, you can save money at this ultra-expensive grocer!

29. Vons: Select your digital coupons before you go shopping to save cash at Vons.

30. Shop Rite’s digital coupons are categorized by category and brand, so you can find exactly what you’re looking for with ease.

31. Aldi: Make sure you check out the weekly specials at this small grocer, who already offers better deals than you’d expect!

32. Winn-Dixie’s weekly ad is digitally available, and you can pick up the print version when you walk into the store.

33. The Fresh Market: Save on both fresh produce and packaged goods every week at your local store.

34. Shop ‘n Save: This midwestern chain offers awesome coupons on their website so you can save even more — just as the name suggests.

35. Safeway: Get a “Just for U” membership with your local Safeway to unlock exclusive deals. You can even take them with you on their app.

36. Schnucks: Schnucks’ coupons are free and printable.

37. Acme’s got great, free printable coupons, too.

38. Loblaws: This Canadian grocer offers its patrons awesome deals — and you can easily clip the coupons digitally!

39. Shoppers: Create a free Shoppers account to take advantage of all the awesome digital deals you can clip here.

40. Shaw’s: This grocer has an easy system to send each coupon directly to your printer.

41. Save-a-Lot: Just enter your zip code to see what products you can save on this week at Save-a-Lot.

42. Food Lion: Load coupons directly to your Food Lion card.

43. Albertson’s free printable coupons display a total potential savings at the top of the page — and at the time this article was written, it was over $400!

Pharmacies

You can rack up a lot of spending at a pharmacy. I know there have been times I’ve looked at my CVS receipt with despair!

But never fear: There are some amazing pharmacy coupon resources out there. Here are a few:

44. Rite Aid has printable coupons for everything from laundry detergent to soup.

45. Walgreens lets you clip coupons directly to your Balance Rewards card — and don’t forget that you can get rewarded just for the healthy activities you’re keeping up with already!

46. CVS: Have trouble keeping up with all those receipt-printed coupons you get at CVS? Link your ExtraCare account online so you can take advantage of all those deals before they expire.

There’s an app offering exclusive savings, too!

Other Vendors

Yep, we buy stuff other than groceries and toiletries — at least every once in awhile! Here are coupons for the other stores you frequent.

47. Amazon: If you’re like me, Amazon’s your go-to vendor — whether you’re buying deodorant or kitchen goods. Be sure to check out their coupons so you know you’re on top of the best Amazon deals.

48. Walmart: Even better better prices. Plus, Walmart’s interface lets you share great deals on your social channels!

49. Target: Ah, Target. Everyone’s favorite place to spend $100 when you meant to spend $10. Well, these coupons might pull that total down at least a little bit.

50. Costco: If you’re a member of this warehouse store, double up on your savings by keeping up with their current deals.

51. BJ’s: Print free coupons before your next trip!

52. Old Navy’s coupon codes are listed on their site here, so you don’t have to guess about what savings are being offered.

53. Best Buy’s weekly ad could save you hundreds of dollars if you’re in the market for a new piece of tech.

54. Bed, Bath and Beyond is famous for their coupons — and 20% is a lot of savings when you’re talking about expensive bedclothes and bathroom accessories.

55. Babies “R” Us: Get free, printable coupons to save on all your baby needs.

56. Toys “R” Us: Keep the kids happy — and your wallet, too. Toys “R” Us offers great coupons on the toys your kids want to play with.

57. J. C. Penney puts all their coupons and offers in the same place so you don’t have to do the guesswork.

58. Kohl’s lists sale items and events all in the same part of their website. Don’t forget to redeem your Kohl’s cash!

59. Barnes and Noble: Books are expensive, but that’s no reason to stop reading. Check out Barnes and Noble’s coupon codes and deals here.

60. Sears: You’ll need to become a member, but it’s quick and easy — and it means big savings for you at Sears.

61. Kmart’s deals are members-only, too — but why not make the Blue Light that much more enticing?

62. Michael’s: Engage your creativity with Michael’s coupons. Print them out, or use the promo codes to buy online.

63. Petsmart: Keep tabs on the special offers available to keep pet-related expenses down. That way, you can spend the extra cash on embarrassing dog sweaters.

Non-Grocery Coupons

Even if you’re all set on food and household items, you’re going to spend some money on things like clothes, entertainment and technology.

Those items can be expensive — so make sure you’re getting the best deal you can with the resources below.

64. Groupon: OK, you probably already know about Groupon.

But if you don’t, you should check it out. You can get amazing deals on everything from yoga pants to the classes themselves — to say nothing of fully-loaded vacations. They’ve got a mobile app, too.

65. RetailMeNot’s landing page says it all: 500,000+ coupons for 50,000 stores. They’ve also got an app.

66. Fat Wallet is in the business of keeping your billfold from getting thin. They offer coupons, but also list cash-back and local deals.

67. Valpak has local coupons and coupon codes to use online. Whether you’re shopping for groceries or trying to do your taxes, you can probably find a deal here.

68. Coupon Rocker is constantly updated with promos, coupons and sales for all sorts of vendors.

69. Slickdeals conglomerates featured deals in all different categories, so you can find the best price for whatever you’re shopping for.

70. TechBargains pulls together all the great tech deals going on across the web, so you can make a well-informed decision on your next big purchase.

71. Chippmunk: Set a spending limit and identify a shopping category to be hand-delivered coupon deals perfect for whatever you’re shopping for!

72. Woot! features a different (heartily discounted) deal every day, and has categories ranging from T-shirts to wine. Sign up for their emails to get the deals delivered directly to your inbox.

73. Coupon Cabin gets you up to 10% cash back and coupons.

74. DealsPlus will link you to sites like Groupon or an individual store if they’re having a sale — but you can see all the products and prices in one place.

75. DealCatcher keeps you apprised of the best deals from around the ‘net, and highlights a deal of the day as well as the most popular deals they’ve found.

76. Shop at Home not only shows you deals, it also helps you earn cash back and proprietary “ShopGold,” which you can redeem for gift cards! Win, win, win.

77. Local Saver shows coupon deals local to wherever you are — just enter a zip code.

78. Yipit: This one lists great deals in your area, but it’s also got a browser add-on — you add the Yipit button to your browser and use it to earn cash back every time you shop at one of their vendors.

79. Offers.com shows your sweet deals on everything from batteries to boots.

80. Fast Food Saver: Sometimes, you’ve just gotta have fast food. Why not save a little bit more on it?

Cash-Back Rebates and Shopping Portals

You already know why rebates are awesome, so we’ll let that speak for itself.

But are you familiar with shopping portals? They give you cash back on your purchases just for clicking through their site first.

If you’re shopping online, there’s really no reason not to shop through a cash back portal — you’ll make back a percentage of whatever you spend, and even if it’s a small percentage, it’s still money in your pocket!

If you’re not sure whether or not the vendor you’re purchasing from has a cash-back portal option (hint: it probably does), you can check at Cashbackholic.

If you’re a really savvy saver, you’ll stack that deal by using your rewards credit card — we like the Barclaycard Rewards MasterCard® because it’ll get you an additional 2% cash rewards on any grocery purchases you make.

81. Ibotta has become one of my very favorite apps — and I no longer make fun of my mom for keeping receipts!

Just find the items you already purchased and snap a quick pic of your receipt as proof. The rebates will be uploaded to your account as soon as they’re confirmed, and once you reach $20 you can cash out via PayPal!

82. Checkout51 works similarly to Ibotta, but most of their rebates can be purchased at any store (as opposed to at a specific vendor).

83. Good Search donates a percentage of your purchase price to charity when you shop through their online portal. You can also use them to search the ‘net to accomplish the same thing!

84. Upromise is a cash-back portal that operates specifically with the goal of helping families save for college.

85. Be Frugal is a free cash-back portal that also lists coupons and deals.

86. Ebates is one of the best, highest-paying cash-back portals on the web.

Promo Codes

Hey, speedy! Don’t hit “submit” on that online order until you’ve found something to put into that promo code box.

Even if the retailer isn’t advertising a sale, it’s likely that you can find a promotional code that will work. Here are some resources:

87. Free Shipping: it’s just what you think! Before you click through checkout, head to Free Shipping to see if there might be a code to help you get your items delivered free of charge.

88. PromotionCode.org lists current promotional codes for all kinds of different vendors, so you can make sure you’re getting the absolute best deal.

89. Promo Codes is another great resource for promotional codes.

90. PromoPro: This is another one to check out before you hit “submit”!

Apps

Save even more by going mobile, so you can bring your thrifty habits with you no matter where you go.

Here are some of our favorite mobile apps:

91. The Coupons App has tons of great coupons, and also awesome weekly giveaways! It’s available for iOS or Android.

92. Retale will show you local deals and circulars right from your Android or Apple device.

93. Shopular notifies you of the best deals for all your favorite retailers, so you’ll never miss a sale again. Sorry, Android folks — this one’s iPhone only!

94. Coupon Sherpa is one of the coupon sources I see most when I’m searching for a coupon for a specific place. Download the app onto your iPhone or Android device to unlock deals for restaurants and retailers near you.

95. Receipt Hog works similarly to Ibotta — snap a photo of your receipt to earn rewards. It’s not just for groceries, either! Available on iOS and Android.

96. Snap by Groupon gives you cash back on groceries, no matter where you shop. Available for both iOS and Android.

97. Cellfire works both on your PC and your mobile device — even if you still have a Blackberry! It loads coupons directly onto your membership cards, so you’ll never have to worry about forgetting them.

98. Grocery IQ is available for iPhone, iPad and Android devices — and it shows you coupons and deals based on your grocery list, so you know they’ll be useful for you!

99. Flipp shows you all the flyers for the vendors in your area, so you can, uh, flip through them before you head out shopping. That way, you’ll know where to go to get the best deal. Available for iOS or Android.

100. Target Cartwheel: Target’s proprietary couponing app will help you save even more every time you’re drawn headfirst into the big red bullseye. Available for iOS or Android.

Check out these other apps, too. While they’re not couponing resources, they’ll help you get organized and stay saving:

Key Ring keeps all your digital loyalty cards in one place, so your actual key ring doesn’t get unwieldy in the name of thrift! Available for both iOS and Android.

SnipSnap instantly transforms any printed coupon into a digital coupon stored on your phone, so you never forget a coupon again. Sweet. Available for either mobile operating system.

PriceBlink is a browser add-on that automatically finds lower prices for the items you’re interested in buying. That way, you make sure you never get swindled. You can add it to Chrome, Safari or Firefox.

We hope all these resources help you get started on saving — or up your already-awesome Penny Hoarding game. Happy clipping!

Your Turn: What couponing resources do you use? Did we miss any? Let us know in the comments!

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This post sponsored by General Mills.

The post 100 Awesome Places to Find Free Coupons for Everything on Your Shopping List appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.

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