Have you checked out Daily Worth?

A few months ago, I stumbled upon a GREAT women's personal finance website called DailyWorth. They summarize it best: "DailyWorth is a community of women who talk money. We deliver practical tips, empowering ideas, and the occasional kick in the pants... daily to your inbox."


They have over 200,000 subscribers, and it's easy to see why. What I love most about DailyWorth is that their advice is honest, approachable, practical, and personal. Sometimes it comes from personal finance experts, and other times they feature real-life profiles of women in different financial situations. I appreciate that they don't claim to know everything, and they really want women to take control of their financial destinies. My one caveat is that they occasionally send out sponsored emails, but they always make it known.

Check out their website and sign up for the emails here.

Also, if you're an entrepreneur, they have another email program called CreateWorth. I just signed up for this one, but I'll let you know how it is!

Digital Coupons

I really admire couponers (except when they're in the checkout line in front of me), but I don't have the patience for it, for myriad reasons: our printer is perpetually out of paper, we don't get the newspaper, whenever I cut out coupons I promtly leave them at home (along with my grocery list), and I don't buy that much name brand or junk food, which is what coupons tend to be for, in my opinion.

But, yesterday I was doing some research on new dinner ideas. The Mr. and I are getting a little tired of the same dishes we make over and over again. I found some great recipes on Cooking Light. While I was browsing, I swung by my local grocery store's website (Fred Meyer).

I discovered that, once logging in with your rewards card number, you can download digital manufacturer's coupons automatically to your rewards card! So, I spent 5 minutes or so comparing my list with what which coupons were on sale, loaded them to my card, and headed out to the store.

My biggest win: Crest toothpaste was on sale at 2 for $3.00. I bought one ($1.50), plus my digital coupon for $.75 off, and I got my big tube of toothpaste for just $.75!

Another big win? No coupons to cut, no slowing down the line, no leaving them on the table at home. I saved $8 with only 5 minutes of work. Not bad!

Oh, and I'm testing out these three recipes. I'll let you know how they turn out: Barley and Beef Soup, Asian Green Bean Salad, and  Southwestern Chicken Pasta Salad.

Follow-up: On Plane Tickets

A couple months ago I blogged about a new site I found, Yapta. Check out the original post here.

They send you weekly emails to let you know if any of the flights you've registered on their site have dropped in price. The Mr. and I are going to Kauai this fall, and I had registered our flight information and the price we paid on the site.

Last week, I got an email from Yapta saying the price had dropped. I logged on to the site, and it gave me a direct link to Alaska Airlines' website. In two short minutes, I had a $50 credit for my next flight on Alaska Airlines--the amount that the tickets had dropped! It's linked to my frequent flier account, so next time I go to buy a ticket, I'll apply the credit online.

The one caveat is that this process doesn't work on every airline, but I was surprised at how easy it was to get the credit! The best part? The tickets are now back up to the price we paid for them. It pays to be on top of things!

Fun new coupon website

First, I'd like to say WOW where did the month of April go! Forgive the lack of posts. I'm laying the groundwork for a new life plan of sorts, that I will be able to fill you in on shortly! In the meantime, in my never-ending quest to save money, I have a new tool.

Check out CouponChief.com. There are a lot of coupon sharing websites out there, but I feel like a lot of the coupons don't end up working. Whenever I'm about to check out from an online store, I always do a quick google search for free shipping or discount coupons, but they are usually expired.

Coupon Chief has 50,000+ coupons to 15,000 stores, both brick-and-mortar and online. I've snooped around Coupon Chief's Coupon Codes and they have a ton of coupons for stores I visit, and reported success rates (the whole site is user-generated). They also have coupons tagged for special occasions and interests: check out their Mother's Day store, or Travel store (my fav).

Check out the site and let me know what you think, in the comments!

A word on Mint.com

I try every month to keep an eye on how much money we're spending, compared to how much we're bringing in. However, with a checking account, two savings accounts, 401ks, various credit cards, and our mortgage, it's a lot to keep track of.

Back in my single days, I used Mint.com  to keep track of my finances. As my husband and I started combining our accounts, I lost track of my Mint account, and stopped using it.

Now that we're settled in our accounts and trying extra-hard to save some cash in 2011--we have many out of town weddings to travel to, as well as hoping to take a trip to Europe in the summer-- I decided to make a new Mint account. The best part is that my husband and I can both log on whenever we want to check out our funds, see how much we are spending, or track our investments. Since I've always been the one to manage our finances, it's nice that now he is in the loop without having to ask me a lot of questions!

There are lots of other great features that Mint.com has. My fave five are:

1. Payment reminders: Mint emails me a few days before my credit card payments or mortgage payment are due
2. Long term goals: Mint lets you track specific savings goals and follow your progress.
3. Categories: It divides all of your spending into customizable categories--rent/mortgage, entertainment, travel, utilities, and it shows you all of your different categories in a pie graph. 
4. Accounts: Mint links all of your accounts in one place, and keeps them constantly updated. I can see the status of all of my accounts in one place, without having to log in to each of my accounts online separately. 
5. It's free! 

Oh...and there's a mobile app!

Coupon Clipping for the 21st Century

We've all been stuck in the grocery store checkout line behind the little old lady with a million coupons. Don't be one of those ladies (or gentlemen). Most grocery store coupons are for junk food, aren't that great of a deal, or expire before you remember to use them. Unless you have the time to commit to using coupons, it most likely won't be worth your time or money.

Here's a better idea: Pick your ten favorite stores--clothing, sporting goods, restaurants, furniture, whatever, and sign up for their online coupons. Most national chain stores offer serious discounts every few weeks, including free shipping, buy one get one free, etc.

Yes, you'll get a ton of emails in your inbox, but here's an easy tip: Either set up a separate email address for these offers or set up your email to filter those particular emails into a separate folder, bypassing your inbox. That way, you'll have the coupons when you need them, but won't be tempted to buy things you wouldn't buy otherwise.

Bottom Line: 30% off DSW, 40% off one item at Michaels, free shipping at Banana Republic, and more, all in one week.