Thrifty mama

So I was going through some finances today, paying some bills, things like that when it occurred to me that some of you new mommies and crafters are probably looking for ways to save some money here and there. Now by no means do I have the greatest ways to save money but a few dollars really help.

 A little note: I am no way affiliated with any of the companies or apps I'm about to tell you about. I do however get a bonus for the Ebates and Ibotta links I post.

I'll start with the crafty side. Easiest way to save a few dollars is by downloading an app. You don't get bombarded with emails if you don't want and the coupon will always be in your hand. Michael's, Jo-Ann's and Hobby Lobby all have their own apps where they give you coupons as well as show you what deals or specials they have. If you don't want the apps to take up space on your phone you can always email subscribe or for Michael's and Hobby Lobby you can print directly from their website. Micheal's and Jo-Ann's do accept competitor coupons. I'm not sure about mobile but printed coupons are taken.

Another great way to save a few dollars is to watch for sales. Michael's and Jo-Ann's usually have something you need on sale and it is great to take advantage of that. I learned a little trick to the Hobby Lobby sales. They repeat their sales every other week or every two weeks. So if you need something from Tim Holtz from Hobby Lobby just wait and watch. Every third week Tim Holtz (and Cricut products!) go on sale. You can also do some online shopping but I'm rather picky and impatient and can never justify the cost of shipping.

Now for the mama side. Coupon clipping can be a little time consuming so I have started using two apps/sites to help with my thrifty-ness. The first is an app called Ibotta. This app lets you cash in rebates at grocery stores, clothing stores, and restaurants. Now I will say that they tend to give you a lot of alcohol rebates but there are a few non-alcoholic rebates I have cashed in. Some have been for diapering products as well as everyday groceries. Again you won't be saving hundreds of dollars and you can't cash out until you reach at least $20 in rebates. BUT that can be in the form of a gift card or cash sent directly to you through PayPal or Venmo. I will say you have to go through the rebates to select them to be able to redeem but I tend to do this when I'm breastfeeding and can't move around.

To sign up with Ibotta click this link: https://ibotta.com/r/26thq

The other site I use is Ebates. This website gives you cash back for online shopping. It's pretty simple really. Just go through their site and depending on the store or website you get a certain percent of cash back. They will send you a check every 3 months as long as the cash back amount exceeds $5.01. You can also withdraw the money using PayPal.

To sign up with Ebates click this link: https://www.ebates.com/r/NATALI20684?eeid=28187

Finally, this is the quickest way to save some money for a very specific store. There is no wait time as you get a percentage or discount as you check out. This is the Cartwheel app from Target. I shop at Target for the majority of my toiletries, cat and baby products. They are constantly updating the discounts they offer and make it easy for you to search and look up. I also love that you can scan an item in store to see if there is a discount. You can stack Cartwheel with your Redcard so I do highly suggest getting that as well if you can. I have saved quite a bit using Cartwheel especially on diapers and diaper cream for my baby.

I hope these little tips helped. Like I said, you're not going to save hundreds of dollars each time but when you have a baby or a limited craft budget every penny saved counts.